Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Final Post
After taking this class, I have decided to stick with my original intent to study Visual Communication. I learned a lot about all aspects of communication in this course, and have subsequently developed an interest in each area of study. My dream is still to be a writer/photographer, however, so I think Visual Communication is my best bet. I am continuing my Communications Media Production major as of next year, and I'm very interested to see how all I've learned in this class applies in that area. Whether or not I continue with the J School, I think this class was a fantastic experience.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
"championship, schmampionship"
That was my original attitude towards the NCAA. That is, when I ever really gave any thought to it. I guess I was happy for us, but I'm not really into basketball. Pretty much the only benefit it served me on Monday night was the excuse to go party. Franklin Street was a mob of sweaty, hilarious happy people destroying public property and lighting stuff on fire. How could I not be proud? Even though I got knocked on the ground, busted my knees, and lost two perfectly good street signs, I think it was worth it in celebration of some kind of campus unity. Oh and the photo-ops were great.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
NetAddiction.com
Blog Assignment
I spend waaaay too much time on the internet. At any given moment, I am either on Facebook, Twitter, a music site, or thinking about these three things. I've realized that I'm actually starting to relate everything I do back to the net. Every thought I have or action I take is a potential status update. It's gotten to the point where the Internet is not just a convenient microcosm for the real world. In my life, it is the real world.
In the past 24 hours I have spent a disconcerting number of hours in front of my computer. I think I've been logged into Facebook since yesterday morning. I've updated my Twitter about 5 times (checked it twice as many). Checked my UNC email 5 times. Gone to Student Central to assess my class schedule for next semester. Checked my Yahoo email account to correspond with the magazine I'll be interning for this summer (Downtowner Magazine in Raleigh, I am very excited). Looked at photos and videos on Flickr of last night's victory riot. Streamed music on Last.fm, Fairtilizer, Hype Machine, and RCRD LBL...I'm beginning to think I have a problem. If the Tar Heels hadn't won and got me out to Franklin Street last night, who knows how much more time I would have been surfing. It's unhealthy!
I'm not sure what my treatment options are at this point. I went to the blog for the Internet Rehabilitation Center...but that just seemed counterproductive. We should just keep rushing Franklin Street, championship or not. I need something to keep me off this addictive torture device!
I spend waaaay too much time on the internet. At any given moment, I am either on Facebook, Twitter, a music site, or thinking about these three things. I've realized that I'm actually starting to relate everything I do back to the net. Every thought I have or action I take is a potential status update. It's gotten to the point where the Internet is not just a convenient microcosm for the real world. In my life, it is the real world.
In the past 24 hours I have spent a disconcerting number of hours in front of my computer. I think I've been logged into Facebook since yesterday morning. I've updated my Twitter about 5 times (checked it twice as many). Checked my UNC email 5 times. Gone to Student Central to assess my class schedule for next semester. Checked my Yahoo email account to correspond with the magazine I'll be interning for this summer (Downtowner Magazine in Raleigh, I am very excited). Looked at photos and videos on Flickr of last night's victory riot. Streamed music on Last.fm, Fairtilizer, Hype Machine, and RCRD LBL...I'm beginning to think I have a problem. If the Tar Heels hadn't won and got me out to Franklin Street last night, who knows how much more time I would have been surfing. It's unhealthy!
I'm not sure what my treatment options are at this point. I went to the blog for the Internet Rehabilitation Center...but that just seemed counterproductive. We should just keep rushing Franklin Street, championship or not. I need something to keep me off this addictive torture device!
Monday, March 30, 2009
THIS JUST IN
YOUR SHUTTER SHADES
ARE STUPID.
Look, I'm all for being trendy and accepted by your peers. But something that serves no function but to help you look douchey has no excuse for being on the heads of otherwise possibly respectable people. Kanye West is delusional. We know this. Don't take his fashion advice.
Take off your shuttershades and face the facts.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
I ain't no couch potato
...but I've watched my share of television.
(blog assignment, by the way)
What constitutes good TV is rapidly evolving. Or perhaps that's not the best choice of words. In the last decade alone we've witnessed a change in format and content of television shows, in both what is allowed on the air and what is well-received by the public. In this sense, the progression of broadcast media is a win some/lose some battle. While some of the best stuff on television would have been considered too controversial in an earlier era, the steady decline in sophistication of most our programming is pretty embarrassing. With that in mind, we've been asked to make a list of the top 10 best TV shows of all time. Just 10? Well, I'll try. Here they are.
10. Pop-up Video: You probably remember your older siblings watching music videos on Vh1 when you were a kid. After school you'd sit on the couch with that big bowl of Cocoa Pebbles, and sing what you thought were the words to Lisa Loeb and Prince songs. Had you been old enough to read, you probably would have been laughing too hard at this show to hum along. The basic premise is that it's regular old music videos, but with witty frame-by-frame captions that pop up on the the screen. Ah the simpler days, when something so basic could entertain the masses. In a perfect world, the show wouldn't have died at the beginning of the century. But you can still see it on Vh1 Classic.
9. Cash Cab: Here's another example of a show with a simple but oh-so-good concept. Basically this cute guy drives around in a cab and picks up unsuspecting strangers who soon find out they are on a game show that takes place IN THE TAXI where if they answer a certain number of general knowlege questions correctly, they get cash. What's not to love? It's the closest thing to a reality show that still earns my respect. I could watch this all day.
8. Ren & Stimpy: This is a cartoon from the 90s about...well I guess they are supposed to be a cat and dog... who are best friends and have all kinds of crazy adventures. I love this show for the simple fact that it is absolutely ridiculous, disgusting, and should never have been shown on a children's channel.
7. My So-Called Life: Another 1990s gem. This was Claire Danes acting debut as an angsty child of the grunge era, who narrates her adolescent woes so relatably that you can't help but fall in love with her. And all the characters, really. My older brother watched this show when he was 15, and I started doing the same a decade later when the re-runs made their way onto The N. Sadly, the show only lasted for one season, buuut I bought all the episodes on DVD.
6. Sex and the City: I was never allowed to watch this show when it was actually on the air. But once I got a little older I tuned in and immediately became obsessed. It's about 4 single, successful New York women and their relationships with men. This show is extremely relevant to modern feminism and challenges stereotypes, and can be pretty shocking at times. Great fashion, great writing, very punny. Every girl wants to be protagonist Carrie Bradshaw, and I am no exception.
5. Seinfeld: There's a reason this show was on for so many seasons. The brain child of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld is a brilliant sitcom about 4 New Yorkers who are surprisingly likable despite all the crap they try to pull. It's one of those things you have to see to understand. But it's a classic, and will always be hilarious.
4. The Colbert Report: I have talked about this show once before but I'll continue to commend it. The media needs more intelligent hosts like Stephen Colbert, and could definitely use some tips from the shows writers, as well. Nothing gets a point across better than satire, and that's why this show is pretty much my main source of television news.
3. Family Guy: I like absurd things. That's the basis of this satirical cartoon about a family of oddballs (including two misfit kids, their idiot dad, and a talking dog and baby). The show is goes about social commentary in an unconventional, completely ridiculous way, and is abundant with wit and humor. Look away at any moment and you'll miss something brilliant.
2. Yo! Gabba Gabba: This is actually a children's show started by, and based on, the toy-design team Kid Robot. It's great to see something for children that's visually stimulating and encourages individuality and playfulness. They have celebrity cameos like Elijah Wood who came and danced like a crazy person, and Biz Marquee, who teaches the kids a new beatboxing skill in each episode. The show also has a pretty rad 80's-electro theme to it, so the soundtrack ain't too bad. My 4-year-old neice watches this show and loves it; although, I have to say, I introduced her to it.
1. 30 Rock: This has got to be, without a doubt, the best show on television right now. It's about a team of writers for a sketch comedy show (based on SNL) who are completely out of sync with one another and put eachother through complete hell. Starred and written in part by Tina Fey, the whole thing is a rich, clever spoof on her career with NBC. If writing for a television show is your dream job, then 30 Rock (short for the address 30 Rockefeller Center) is a gold mine. I'm obsessed with it.
So there you have it. Even with all the "Date My Mom"s and "Wife Swap"s out there, at least there's still a good handful of quality on the tube. And that's enough to keep me sitting on the couch. At least for now.
(blog assignment, by the way)
What constitutes good TV is rapidly evolving. Or perhaps that's not the best choice of words. In the last decade alone we've witnessed a change in format and content of television shows, in both what is allowed on the air and what is well-received by the public. In this sense, the progression of broadcast media is a win some/lose some battle. While some of the best stuff on television would have been considered too controversial in an earlier era, the steady decline in sophistication of most our programming is pretty embarrassing. With that in mind, we've been asked to make a list of the top 10 best TV shows of all time. Just 10? Well, I'll try. Here they are.
10. Pop-up Video: You probably remember your older siblings watching music videos on Vh1 when you were a kid. After school you'd sit on the couch with that big bowl of Cocoa Pebbles, and sing what you thought were the words to Lisa Loeb and Prince songs. Had you been old enough to read, you probably would have been laughing too hard at this show to hum along. The basic premise is that it's regular old music videos, but with witty frame-by-frame captions that pop up on the the screen. Ah the simpler days, when something so basic could entertain the masses. In a perfect world, the show wouldn't have died at the beginning of the century. But you can still see it on Vh1 Classic.
9. Cash Cab: Here's another example of a show with a simple but oh-so-good concept. Basically this cute guy drives around in a cab and picks up unsuspecting strangers who soon find out they are on a game show that takes place IN THE TAXI where if they answer a certain number of general knowlege questions correctly, they get cash. What's not to love? It's the closest thing to a reality show that still earns my respect. I could watch this all day.
8. Ren & Stimpy: This is a cartoon from the 90s about...well I guess they are supposed to be a cat and dog... who are best friends and have all kinds of crazy adventures. I love this show for the simple fact that it is absolutely ridiculous, disgusting, and should never have been shown on a children's channel.
7. My So-Called Life: Another 1990s gem. This was Claire Danes acting debut as an angsty child of the grunge era, who narrates her adolescent woes so relatably that you can't help but fall in love with her. And all the characters, really. My older brother watched this show when he was 15, and I started doing the same a decade later when the re-runs made their way onto The N. Sadly, the show only lasted for one season, buuut I bought all the episodes on DVD.
6. Sex and the City: I was never allowed to watch this show when it was actually on the air. But once I got a little older I tuned in and immediately became obsessed. It's about 4 single, successful New York women and their relationships with men. This show is extremely relevant to modern feminism and challenges stereotypes, and can be pretty shocking at times. Great fashion, great writing, very punny. Every girl wants to be protagonist Carrie Bradshaw, and I am no exception.
5. Seinfeld: There's a reason this show was on for so many seasons. The brain child of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld is a brilliant sitcom about 4 New Yorkers who are surprisingly likable despite all the crap they try to pull. It's one of those things you have to see to understand. But it's a classic, and will always be hilarious.
4. The Colbert Report: I have talked about this show once before but I'll continue to commend it. The media needs more intelligent hosts like Stephen Colbert, and could definitely use some tips from the shows writers, as well. Nothing gets a point across better than satire, and that's why this show is pretty much my main source of television news.
3. Family Guy: I like absurd things. That's the basis of this satirical cartoon about a family of oddballs (including two misfit kids, their idiot dad, and a talking dog and baby). The show is goes about social commentary in an unconventional, completely ridiculous way, and is abundant with wit and humor. Look away at any moment and you'll miss something brilliant.
2. Yo! Gabba Gabba: This is actually a children's show started by, and based on, the toy-design team Kid Robot. It's great to see something for children that's visually stimulating and encourages individuality and playfulness. They have celebrity cameos like Elijah Wood who came and danced like a crazy person, and Biz Marquee, who teaches the kids a new beatboxing skill in each episode. The show also has a pretty rad 80's-electro theme to it, so the soundtrack ain't too bad. My 4-year-old neice watches this show and loves it; although, I have to say, I introduced her to it.
1. 30 Rock: This has got to be, without a doubt, the best show on television right now. It's about a team of writers for a sketch comedy show (based on SNL) who are completely out of sync with one another and put eachother through complete hell. Starred and written in part by Tina Fey, the whole thing is a rich, clever spoof on her career with NBC. If writing for a television show is your dream job, then 30 Rock (short for the address 30 Rockefeller Center) is a gold mine. I'm obsessed with it.
So there you have it. Even with all the "Date My Mom"s and "Wife Swap"s out there, at least there's still a good handful of quality on the tube. And that's enough to keep me sitting on the couch. At least for now.
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