Podcast Tour Through the Human Body

I loved our group idea for our podcast. Although we waited a little late to start this group assignment I was rather quite impressed by how well our script turned out. Unfortunately we didn't have time to actually record our Pod cast, but we read it aloud and this helped us to improve the script and think of sound effects that we would have used if we were to actually record.
At first we were just going to do a tour of residence because we weren't sure of what we were supposed to do. But I am really happy that we came up with something different because I actually did learn a lot about the human body but doing the project. We had a sort of magic school bus meets Dora the Explorer type theme where taught the audience but also tried to interact and engage the audience by giving them time to respond to what we were saying. I wish that we could have actually recorded but none the less we did learn how audio can play a role in telling a story and we came up with some wickedly gross sound effects, if you could imagine.


Our Pod Cast Script: The Human Digest Tract

Robert: Hello everybody, my name is Robert Martin and I will be your lead tour guide for today. I have been told we are going to the land down under the skin. I hear it’s misunderstood with all the smell, anyone been there before?

(Silence)

Robert: No, well then lets get this party started. Please attach your safety harnesses and hold on, we do not want anyone to be lost in this journey. Ok, here we go!
I would like to introduce you to my assistant guides who will answer any questions or concerns you may have. We have Jeremiah Clark and he will be helping the people in the far back, Elisha Allensen who will be helping people on the left side, and Caitlin Gillan will be helping people on the right.

Jeremiah: Now, just to let everyone know we are currently gliding right over the tongue. It is wet and slimy and those large rock-like boulders smashing together are teeth. They are strong, but not stable enough to make a safe landing on because you never know when they will start to shake or move. This is the main reason nobody has ever landed on the teeth.

Caitlin: Just a reminder to keep all hands and feet inside the craft at all times. If you look directly above you, you will see a punching bag. These are the tonsils; they are believed to extract certain poisons from the food we eat, but we cannot be sure of which ones.

Elisha: Here comes the pharynx. We have to time our entry according to it’s movements in order to enter safely with the flap open. Otherwise – lets not think of the otherwise, now everyone be careful, this can be dangerous.

Robert: Well, thankfully everyone made it in ok. Now isn’t this tour fun? What’s a little danger anyway? Ok, now here comes the fun part. This is the oesophagus and we will be turning vertical soon. Does anyone know what the oesophagus does?

(Silence)

Jeremiah: Here, let me tell you. The oesophagus uses peristalsis to transport the food from our mouths to our stomachs. According to this human body dictionary, the oesophagus uses rhythmic contraction of smooth muscles to propel contents through the digestive tract.

Elisha: Be careful, the walls are muscles and they can constrict you. Try to stay in the centre, otherwise they will- again lets not think of that.
Caitlin: Look at the bright pink muscles at work trying to squish us. Oh, and look at the clear fluid, that’s called saliva. It is another part of healthy digestion and this fluid also helps to break down digested food.

Robert: Alright, we are nearly at the stomach. We will have a little break and you may go and explore if you wish, and for anyone listening at home here is a quick description of the stomach.

Caitlin: The stomach is a pinkish-grey colour about 30.5 cm long and 15.2 cm wide at it’s widest point. The stomach's capacity is about 1 quart on average. Now this is where the food gets broken down into smaller pieces.

Elisha: Now everyone be very careful. The clear colourless liquid in the stomach is not saliva. It is stomach acid that breaks down food. Make sure you stay away from this otherwise you will be brok-

Jeremiah: Moving on, can anyone guess what kinds of food are being digested in this stomach?

(Silence)

Elisha: Judging by the contents, this it appears to be meat. Meat takes the longest to digest and can sit in the stomach for as long as three days, depending on the serving size. This food over here that is wilting and looks old appears to be spinach. When the stomach acids begin to break down vegetables, especially dark green ones, the vegetables become fluids or partial fluids with the stomach acid.

Robert: Okay everyone, moving on. It is time for us to go through the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine.

Caitlin: Here in the duodenum is where most of the chemical digestion takes place and it is the shortest part of the small intestine.

Robert: We are about to ender the jejunum, the second part of the small intestine.

Jeremiah: Here the pH balance appears to be 8, slightly alkaline. This helps certain parts of foods to dissolve properly.

Elisha: Lucky we’re hovering otherwise-

Everyone: WE KNOW!

Robert: Okay everyone, we are nearing the ileum. The ileum is only about 2 to 4 meters long, so it is not too much farther in the tour.

Caitlin: Notice the colour of the ileum is paler than the colour of the jejunum, and that there are more fat cells surrounding it’s walls.

Robert: Everybody, we are approaching the large intestine. This is where the remaining water in the stomach will be absorbed. Then our tour will end when we reach the elimination of waste.

Jeremiah: The first part of the large intestine is the cecum. This part has been misunderstood for many years and is now known as the bridge into the large intestine from the small intestine.

Robert: You are right Jeremiah, and we are about to enter the colon.

Elisha: Oh, I won’t say anything other than Eww.

Caitlin: Do not worry, this is perfectly acceptable. Waste elimination happens often. In fact, it is supposed to happen 3 times per day. Get ready everyone, we are nearly finished our tour.

Robert: Here we go everyone! Please put your seatbelts back on. Our exit seems to be going well. Please keep calm; we will be out as soon as possible. We are about to experience a little turbulence, please be cautious.

(Minutes Later)

Robert: Okay everyone, this concludes our tour, and I hope everyone enjoyed it. We hope we will see you again and we thank-you for riding the digestion tract with us today.

Cited Work:

Cole, Joanna, and Bruce Degan. Inside the Human Body. New York: Scholastic, 1995.

Owen, Robert. "Pathophysiology." The Digestive System. 2006. Colorado State University. 25 Nov 2007.

Mayo Clinic Staff. Redundant Colon: A Health Concern? Ask a Digestive System Specialist. MayoClinic.com. Retrieved on 25 Nov. 2007.

Learning How to Learn

In class we have been talking a lot about learning how we learn. I am in the stage in my life where I am trying to figure out who I am, and who I want to be. Even just coming to University has been a big step in discovering more about myself. I took an extra year, a "victory lap" so to speak, in high school so I could figure out what the heck to do with myself. Although the extra year was one of the best things I could have done for myself, it was also frustrating. I had no idea what I wanted to do, all I knew was that I had to further my education. My sister was the only one in my family to go to college, and she had always put such emphasis on how important going to school and getting a good job was. Then all my friends had up and left for University, setting the bar for me yet again. At this point in my life however, I had no idea what I wanted to do or where I pictured myself in ten years. I was never one to get good marks in high school, I've always been just average, which was alright with me, but all my friends were some sort of prodigies, getting 80's and 90's, participating in all sorts of extra curricular, getting scholarships and awards coming out their ying yangs... I kinda felt like I was left in their dust.... waa waaaa, poor Caitlin :P Then I was hit with a stroke of luck.I always knew I wanted to do something with English, or writing, but I could never put my finger on it. I was reading Marilyn Mansons' autobiography actually, and he says something about his publicist... BAM. I would make a perfect publicist. I'm obsessively organized, I love working with people, I want to organize and plan events and promote organizations and people, why not? thats it from there I started researching public relations and I spoke to my guidance councilors, who helped me create an awesome portfolio and I got accepted into every university I applied to, Don't ask me how. My highest mark in all of high school was maybe an 85 and my over all average barely touched 75%. None the less, Guelph-Humber was my first choice and here I am. Last year alone really helped me gain confidence, and helped me realize that I can get a lot done in a very short amount of time.
Now in my first year of university I am beginning to learn more about what is important to me, where I need to improve and where my strengths lie. I am getting better marks now then I ever got throughout my entire high school, or elementary career. I know thats because I am doing what I want to do. I know I am not the type of person who can sit down and memorize names and dates, I can't figure out atoms and electrons or any of that. I can figure out basic math, and I can read a story and tell you how it made me feel, or what it meant to me, or why the author used certain words. I'm not good at regurgitate information, which is to say I can't memorize, which is probably why I wasn't the strongest of students. But I passed because I can gather information, and I comprehend what I'm reading, and take time to figure out what it means to me. Some people just read information and then spit it right back out without forming an opinion. These are also the people who can't have a conversation, but ironically they also tend to be the students to do amazingly well in school. Many mistake memorization for intelligence simply because that is how we are tested in school. But I am finding that University is a whole different game. The media studies program in particular seems to be based on how one collects and present information, and for the first time ever we are allowed to say "I" in an essay. Finally essays and assignments are weighed heavier then tests and exams. This is so exciting for me because this is how I want to learn. I want to be graded on how well I can express an opinion or idea, oppose to how well I can memorize some one else's work. At the same time, this system is so new and so much more work the I'm used to. I'll hand in an assignment and think I did really well, only to get it back and find that I failed, or visa versa. In either case, I find that I'm learning what I want to learn and now I have to learn to absorb everything and use it to create something uniquely my own. These blogs for instance, I am not a horribly creative person, I can't do all the cool things I've seen some other people with their blogs, but once I get writing I can't seem to stop. However, I have also learned the more I write, and the more I read the better I'll become. Pretty soon I'll be able to cut this blog in half, and still say everything I have just said, and it will probably read that much more fluently.

Ten Things Wrong With the Media 'Effects' Model

While reading this article about how the "media effects model" does not conclude any substantial evidence on how the media effects its audience, I was reminded of the interview with Marilyn Manson on "Bowling for Columbine." In this interview, Michael Moore is asking Marilyn Manson (Brian Warner) why his music is associated with violent behavior. His responses to this was that he could see why the public would blame him, because he is an easy "poster boy for fear" but at the time of the Columbine shootings, the president was shooting bombs over seas. Brain Warner goes on to say that people are blaming him for violent behavior because he sings some rock and roll songs, but who has a greater influence, him or the president of the United States?
I personally believe that even though our society is bombarded with violence in the media, and that we are becoming desensitized to such music, television, and other mediums are not to blame. I listen "violent" music, and if anything it acts as an outlet rather then a catalyst to violence. Also in the essay "Why we Crave Horror Movies," by Stephen King he makes the same point. He speaks of how we need that violent outlet found in media so that we don't feel the urges to actually perform violent acts.
Maybe that is why in "Ten Things Wrong With the Media 'Effects' Model," David Gauntlett speaks of a study done that divides violent behaviour from the media. He says, "Hagell & Newburn (1994) found only that the young offenders watched less television and video than their counterparts, had less access to the technology in the first place, had no particular interest in specifically violent programmes, and either enjoyed the same material as non-offending teenagers or were simply uninterested" (Gauntlett).
At the same time however, maybe everyone needs some sort of outlet for violent behavior whether it be through media or something completely different. Also, in comparison with the Marilyn Manson interview, Gauntlett speaks of how more influential the news may be to violent behavior, however it is very rarely studied. He says, " If the antisocial acts shown in drama series and films are expected to have an effect on the behaviour of viewers, even though such acts are almost always ultimately punished or have other negative consequences for the perpetrator, there is no obvious reason why the antisocial activities which are always in the news, and which frequently do not have such apparent consequences for their agents, should not have similar effects" (Gauntlett).
I agree with Gaunlett points, and have always believe that the media should not solely be blamed for violent behavior, but rather we should be looking, at the " perpetrators of actual violence as their first point of reference, rather than the media"

Gauntlett, David. Ten Things Wrong with the Media `Effects` Model. 16 November 2007. http://www.theory.org.uk/david/effects.htm

Technology: World at Our Finger Tips or Are We Loosing Our Grip?

We are in the information age. Information is everywhere, attainable at the speed of light. I wonder how human beings ever lived without it simple because I never have.
When I was younger, I never needed a cellphone, now I wonder what how I ever did anything without it. My cellphone is an extension of myself, any one can get a hold of me anywhere at anytime. Wait, is that a good thing?
Also, when I first came to school I didn't have a computer. I felt isolated and lost. I had to do my homework at school, I could only listen to the cd's I had, My only source of entertainment was books, I couldn't surf the net. Life without a personal computer was just horribly inconvenient.
My cousin doesn't have the internet, and I asked her how she did research for school, and she said that she used books! Could you imagine how LONG that would take!? actually having to search for the right books and then having to read each book one by one. I'm being sarcastic obviously, but its true, the internet is just so much easier.
My mom and I always have the conversation about how human beings are loosing personal interaction now with msn and texting and other technology based communications. I agree with her, mostly how we can chat for hours with our friends and never see the light of day or feel another human beings touch, but again it's the convenience of it all!
But what if it gets to the point where humans can't handle the power of technology. There has been so much medical advancements, but what if we don't quite understand what we're doing? Human beings don't yet understand how our bodies and our brains work, and we are experimenting with technology, maybe we have not seen the repercussions yet. Information is flying at us at astonishing speeds that it is hard to despiser the truth from the lies. People care more about their jobs then about their families, and everything is run by money money money. But still, the convenience! We literally wouldn't be able to live without it.

Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry? Uh oh!

Great, a entire book telling me why my future career is completely evil. Basically, ``Toxic Sludge is Good For You,`` is a book about how public relations and other corporate systems work in persuading the public in order to boost sales or corporate awareness. Public relations works to sway the publics opinion of a product or industry. For example, the book shows a very clever cartoon of a toxic waste plant saying ,``we need to do something to improve our environmental image,`` the next cartoon shows the same plant with a banner saying, ``proud sponsor of Earth Day 95`` hung over the waste. The book lists many examples of how public relations can take practically anything and put it in a good light in order to boost publicity. More publicity leads to awareness of a corporation and a boost in sales.
I enjoyed this book. I was surprised by how easily we are persuaded by public relations. ``Toxic Sludge is Good For You`` says, ``the best PR is never noticed``and the truth of the trade is that, ``pr is executives are today mediating public communications as never before.`` To me this implies that everything the media puts out is carefully planned to send exactly the right message across to the public. After reading this book I am a lot more critical about what I see and hear. I`ve also started thinking about what my role is going to be in public relations. I don`t think I could pull off the same stunts as the ones I read about in this book while still being able to sleep at night. There has to be more to pr then lies and deception....right?

Rampton, Sheldon and Stauber, John. Toxic Sludge is Good For You. Maine: Common Courage

Press, 1995.

Dealing with Stress!!

So it`s that time when the end of the term is so close....yet so far away. I have two weeks left of class, yet the pressure is bridging the peak. Right now it is exam time, final essay and project due dates all seem to land on the same day. I`m feeling the pressure of being in my first year of university. I don`t remember ever being this stressed out in high school come exam time, but I have always heard that the first year of university is designed to weed out the weak.
I think I have worked hard, but at the same time I have realized that there was definitely room for improvement. I know I slacked, but in all honesty without a little bit of play, never mind being a dull girl, I would have gone absolutely crazy. So the question is how do I cope with stress? and are these strategies healthy? Over the past few weeks I've been taking out my frustration by blabbering on and on to friends who are feeling the exact same pressure as I am. I feel bad boring people with my problems, but at the same time its relieving to know everyone is feeling the exact same pressure. When ever I get in over my head, I force my self to stop, walk away, turn on the tunes and just breath!! Its usually at this time that I have to remind myself that eating my problems away is not a healthy coping strategy. ha ha. I'm proud to say I am not the type of person to take my frustrations out on over indulgences in alcohol or drugs, cause I couldn't imagine being sick and hungover on top of being stressed. I don't think marijuana is necessarily a bad thing, but I believe that as soon as you need a substance to cope with life, your addicted. and I never want to need a drug to help me cope with everyday life. I know people who need marijuana to fall asleep at night, and I just wouldn't want to have to rely on something like a drug, to help me with as something as amazing as sleep!!! I don't know if this is a good thing or not, but I think having a good nap is one of the best coping strategies. I love waking up and feeling refreshed, able to get back to work with a clear rested mind. At the same time when I'm as stressed as I have been., falling asleep can be one of the hardest things. I keep tossing and turning thinking about all the things I have to do. I'm definitely one of those people who if I left a light on down stairs, I'll get up and go turn it off, or if I realize I forgot to do something, I have to get up and go do it, no matter how comfy I may be. But I digress. I think it is extremely important to find productive and healthy ways of dealing with stress. I'm a Virgo, so when I feel myself getting over whelmed I make lists of what has to be done and due dates. Honestly these lists help a lot. They help me rationalize how much work I actually have and a steady time line to get everything done. I can honestly say, thanks to my anal retentive list making, I have never handed anything late in my life. Ever. Everyone has to find their own strategies. Mine don't work for other people, and other peoples strategies don't work for me, but honestly, relying on drugs and alcohol to overcome obstacles, are not conducive strategies for anyone.

Film/Video Production, How Informed are you?

For this project my group decided to interview people to judge how informed they are with issues in the media. It was a Rick Mercer type report where we would tell people completely false information to see their reaction and also to judge how informed they were about whats going on the in the media today.For this project I filmed the video and helped with the editing. Everyone in out group did an amazing job and we all worked so well together. Everyone did their part and I think we got some great coverage! I was surprised to find how easily people believed what they were told. No one doubted the information we gave them, some agreed, and some disagreed, but no one stopped to ask questions, no one thought critically or logically even when we told them the obvious problems with the "new legislation." For example, we told people that Canada had passed a law for a tri-marriage. Even though gay marriage has not been approved, and polygamy is illegal, people still believed Canada would pass this law. We even told the people we interviewed this, and they still believed that a tri-marriage law ad been passed in Canada.
It was quite funny to see how easily everyone ate up the information we gave to them. Checkout the video at: http://www.teenagemediastudent.blogspot.com/ under the title Faith in News Media.

Irony

Last class, Ian gave a lecture. I wish that he would have presented before our semiotic papers were due because he addressed some aspects of my topic. He spoke of irony in advertising. The lyrics in the song I choose for my semiotics paper were in every way ironic, but before Ian`s speech I did not think to represent the lyrics as ironic.

Burma Activist Project

For our activist project, me and my group wanted to raise awareness of what is happening in Burma. "Burma is ruled by a highly authoritarian military regime. In 1962 General Ne Win overthrew the elected civilian government and replaced it with a repressive military government dominated by the majority ethnic group. In 1988 the armed forces brutally suppressed prodemocracy demonstrations....The country had a population of approximately 50 million. The country was extremely poor; the estimated annual per capita income was approximately $300. Four decades of military rule and mismanagement resulted in widespread poverty, poor health care, and declining educational levels. Primarily an agricultural economy, the country also had substantial mineral, fishing, and timber resources. Extensive state influence over the economy, widespread corruption, and poor infrastructure has led to rapidly deteriorating economic conditions.

The regime's human rights record remained extremely poor, and it continued to commit numerous serious abuses. Citizens did not have the right to change their government. In ethnic minority areas, security forces continued to commit extrajudicial killings and rape, forcibly relocated persons, used forced labor, and conscripted child soldiers. Disappearances continued, and members of the security forces tortured, beat, and otherwise abused prisoners and detainees. Citizens were subjected to arbitrary arrest without appeal. Arrests and detention for expression of dissenting political views occurred on numerous occasions" (Country Reports).

In North America there is not a lot of media coverage on the issues in Burma, therefore most people here do not know about the issues at all, me being one of them. So in order to raise awareness we decided to hold a benefit concert.
In total we had 7 bands who graciously volunteered to play at Reilly's in Toronto. Once we had the band line up and the venue, it was time to get to work promoting the concert and its purpose. We set up a facebook event in order to promote but also to gage how many we could expect to attend the concert. "http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6804651173" Facebook acted as a online invitation that people wouldn't loose and could reference for date and location. We then created beautifully crafted tickets which we went door to door in residence selling for only $10. We had no intention of raising money necessarily, but we had to pay off the costs of renting the bar lounge. We also handed out and hung up posters around residence. We made announcements in the GH Atrium and in class about the concert, and reminded everyone we knew.

The night of the concert was exciting. Because we had done a lot to promote the event I was confident that people would come out to support the cause, but I have to admit there was some doubt in my mind that we wouldn't be able to pay off the down payment for the venue. However, we ended up making close to $1000!!!! All proceeds were donated to a charitable organization in support of Burma. Jeremiah did an excellent job getting video footage. I was went around getting guests to sign petitions and a large banner as keepsake of the evening. I really hope that we can make this an annual even, maybe every year we could host a similar event for different projects that are not getting the recognition they need. I really enjoyed doing this activist project and I'm glad I was part of the group. I originally had a completely different idea, but I joined this group because I liked the idea of hosting a benefit concert, and after watching a documentary and doing research on Burma, it seemed like a very worthy cause.
When first presented with the task of an activist project my original plan was to host some sort of environmental challenge. I wanted to do something like have a line up of cool prizes which people could win by bringing me and my group as much garbage as possible. The people who brought us the most garbage would win the biggest prize, etc. I found some neat websites that sold some really neat decorated fabric shopping bags, and some other neat little environmentally products that could be given as smaller prizes. However, I decided to join team Burma because the cause was something that I had never heard about. I thought our group did a good job of raising awareness, even if it were on a small scale. Everything went surprisingly smoothly and we even ended up raising money for our cause.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. October 18th 2006.
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18237.htm

Cause Knowledge is Power!!!!...Cheesy But True.

We were told in class that literacy is defined as being able to read the instructions on a prescription bottle. Some of the population can and will follow these directions; they are the literate part of the population. Some cannot,they are illiterate. But those who can but choose not to are Aliterate. Sadly I fall into this category. I used to be proud went that I had gone through all my high school English courses writing essays and exams on books I had never read. Now I realize how easily I could have gotten 80's and 90's if only I read the books. But beyond the marks, I would have grown as a person. Not only would my writing and reading skills be sharper, but I would be able to express myself more clearly, and reading has the ability to expands your knowledge of the world, of people, and places and ideas and history. I realize that I have missed out on a lot. When I thought I was being clever cheating the school system, I was actually really dumb. I was only cheating myself. There is a difference between reading cause you have to, and wanting to read. My goal now is not only to read everything I get for class, but also to want to read those readings, and from there, read related and opposing readings.

Semiotics for Beginners Modality and Representation

This Section of Semiotics for Beginners, Modality and Representation, reflect some of the ideas found in Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics. I love thinking about how absorbed into the media we really become. For instance when watching television, there is no denying that we get so attached to the main characters, and of course this is no accident. Everyone involved in making a movie or television show, or writing a novel or even the artist for a painting knows that they must stimulate some emotion in their audience that will attach them to the main character. When we read a book we become so absorbed that we feel that we are the main character. We can relate to them, we imagine their journeys in out minds eye and draw our own picture of what that character is doing, where they are going, who they met etc. And of course this is exactly what the author wanted. The author may have pictured the scenery in his novel differently, but as long as his readers grasp the concept of his characters actions and motives, it really doesn't matter what we picture. Even when authors but great detail into describing the setting, we are all going to picture it a little bit differently. But this is the power that words and images have. Words become such a vast art form because no two people could possibly have the same image in their minds.
Movies and television on the other hand are obviously different from books because more of our senses are stimulated. We see and hear exactly what the producers wanted us to. However, the viewers may still comprehend the message or themes of the show very differently, even if we don't necessarily realize it. We will see images that may seem normal, something we might see everyday, but there also may be a whole different spectrum we don't even notice we are seeing. Almost like some sort of subliminal message. racism, sexism, "isms" of all sorts, dominance, power struggles, very common debates found in society all the time may be so strongly enforced in an image, but we completely miss it because everyone involved in making the movie or show, has a way in making us see only what they want to see. It is not until you take a closer look that you realize the underlying images and their true meanings.
In this site, Daniel Chandler talks about how absorbed we become. He says that in one experiment children were asked to fill in the blanks, and a large percentage of them tried to pick up the pencil in the drawing. Scott McCloud has the same idea when he says how easily we relate foreign objects to our own image, he explains why we can how we can relate two dots and a line: " :|" to a human face. Both examples show how absorbed in the media we can become. An image no matter how realistic or not, is still easily recognized as the actual object. At the same time however, as universal as some symbols maybe, our vocabulary and they way we recognize the word we live in can never be simplified to just symbols. I agree with this completely because as abstract as words and images maybe, that is their art. Humans have created this language to express themselves, and even if our messages are not always perfectly clear, atleaste we can allow other people to think about what they are seeing and hearing.

Killing Us Softly

"Killing Us Softly" is a documentary presentation of gender representation in the media by Jean Kilbourne. Although this topic is generally discussed to death, this documentary is so well done. Kilbourne discusses the objectification of both men and women in the media through very specific advertisements she finds on television and in magazines. Her approach is unique because she shows exactly how advertising depicts constant power struggles in society.She does this by showing how womens bodies are literally portrayed as objects, and how society reacts to and interprets these messages. This objectification contributes to violence towards women because men begin to view women as objects and not human beings. Not only does Kilbourne talk about objectification, but she also talks of the gender roles in society of both men and women. She explains how advertisements contribute to how both men and women are supposed to be presented in society. Men are put in this macho strong image. When men don't live up to this image they are criticized and insulted by being compared to women ( being called a pussy, bitch etc). Kilbourne shows how women are constantly depicted as submissive and meek. We see constant images of women with their mouths covered in some way, or being always dominated by the make role in some way. Even when the women is in front in advertising, if there is a male in the picture he will have control in some way. She also shows how this control is reflected in race and class. The white women is constantly overshadowing a black women or black male.
Some of the images Kilbourne shows are very shocking, even though if you saw them in a magazine you wouldn't have thought twice about it. She pin points very obvious clues to how the media displays gender and race, and how in return we respond and conform to it.

Media Hegemonies

For this project, my group and I planned to map out a celebrity and determine what they own and their net worth. We decided to map out the Olson twins net worth because they are the richest teenagers in the world.
The twins are co-presidents of their own company and their merchandise includes:
Dolls, books, school supplies, videos (both straight to video and feature presentation, make up, hair accessories, CD players, music CD's, games, electronics, bedding, clothes, etc.

*40 million dollars worth of copies from direct-a-video-titles

*1400 sq. feet in every Wal-Mart is dedicated space to their products

*Co-presidents of Dual Star Entertainment Group (their own company)

*They will begin to branch overseas to Britain, Mexico, France, Germany and Japan to sell products there as well.

We realized after getting as much information as we could, that there just wasn't enough. So even though we were trying so hard to be creative, we decided that we might as well map out Time Warner as well.
We were astonished to learn of all the companies that Time Warner owns. Some of their companies include:

Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, 82.4% of CNN, live from the situation room, Larry King live, Anderson Cooper, TBS, TNT, The Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, Court TV, animation 25% of A&E, licensing for Loonie Toons, digital boxes owned by, local news channels, new line cinema corp. time, Turner Home Entertainment, Braves Clubhouse, People, sports illustrated, essence, southern living, cooking Light, parenting magazine, mad magazine, popular science, AOL, alliance with Google, Movie phone, Map Quest. NASCAR, PGA, 50% of DC comics, 50% of America’s Talking, Oxmoor House publishing, Sunset Books, Little, Brown and Company, Time-Life Books, Warner Books, 50% of Central Comedy, Warner Brothers Television, Asia Week, The Warner Brothers Stores, 50% of Bravo, Baby talk Magazine, Warner Brothers motion pictures and the Six Flags Amusement parks.

- In 2000 Time Warner receives 40% of revenues from outside the U.S

- It has the second largest book publishing business in the world

- One of the largest music businesses, with nearly 60% of revenues from outside the U.S.

- A library of over 6000 films and 25 000 television programs, books music, and thousands of cartoons.

It was really fascinating, and kinda scary, to see how many businesses one corporation could own. It proves how easily our news and information can be distorted, especially if one company owns hundreds of different mediums and news companies.

Hazen, Dan, and Julie Winokur. We the Media. New York: The New York Press, 1997.

Life Decisions International- Press Room. Life Decisions International. Retrieved October 19, 2007. http://fightpp.org/show.cfm?page=press&action=display&ID=129

Worthless, Valueless Money.

Reading "Cultural Jamming: Hacking, Slashing and Sniping the Empire of Signs" made me realize people don't care about "real" things anymore. It seems that work, power and money are the only things that hold any substance or value in our culture, and the saddest part about this is that when we die, those are the only things that don't mean anything. But television blinds us into thinking that these things are so important, so vital. When in reality, what is money, really? Humans made up money, its paper for God sakes; and if you really think about it, money doesn't even exist. "Money" whizzes through electric wires, through our debit and credit cards... we don't even have to see it or touch it, and yet it runs our lives. And because of this imaginary thing we are beginning to loose ties to our family values. We loose touch with what reality is. We live to work. Live to make money. Is that the purpose of why we're here? Were we created so that we could wonder around in a money hungry daze? But this is what the media tells us is important. Success to the media is wealth and fortune, the media glamorizes the rich and spits on the poor. Having money equals power.
I realize this is not what the article was about per say, but this article made me realize how much value we put into meaningless things. It also made me realize how much the media controls our lives. Popular culture tells us what is right and what is "normal" and we begin to depend our lives on things that don't actually exist just because that is how our culture evolved and thats what the media deems as important. We need this paper that we call currency for everything. We need it to live. But the only reason it holds any value at all is because humans pretend that it does. We have the resources we need right here, made for us by the earth and yet we are too greedy to divide it fairly, we need "money" to control everything we were given for free. Really it's a shame. I not talking about communism, but when cavemen roamed the earth we didn't need money because everyone took what was theres. They could get anything they needed to live by their animal instincts. But now we can't do anything without money, if you left a human being out in the wilderness with absolutely no tools, they would be screwed. They wouldn't know how to live.
Really it comes down to us wasting our lives trying to obtain money. I find that so funny because in the end, when your lying on your death bed, would you rather be surrounded by people who actually give a shit, or by your worthless valueless money?

Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing and Sniping in the Empire of Signs

"We believe we live in the 'age of information,' that there has been an information 'explosion,' an information 'revolution.' While in a certain narrow sense this is the case, in many important ways just the opposite is true. We also live at a moment of deep ignorance, when vital knowledge that humans have always possessed about who we are and where we live seems beyond our reach. An Unenlightenment. An age of missing information."

After reading the Article "Cultural Jamming: Hacking, Slashing and Sniping the Empire of Signs" I felt rather sad. It was upsetting to think how true this article was. Television is taking over our minds. Now a days everyone, adults and children alike would rather flick on the television then open a book. Children don't go outside to play anymore, they stay in and hypnotize themselves in virtual realities, so much so I wonder if we even distinguish between what is real and what is a game anymore. It is shocking that there are people in North America who can't read, and don't even want to. "Theres nothing you can't get from a book that you cant get from a television faster," I stole this line from Danny DeVito's character in the movie "Matilda" because it is so true. This is how we think. No one cares about books anymore. No one ever reads, and why would we when it is far easier to flick on a television and let the information pour in. We glorify ourselves in having all this information, we are so smart and have come such a long way, but why then are their still people in our society who can't even read? Why think for ourselves when we can just flick on a television and get someone else to do it for us? Maybe, this is exactly what the media wants us to think. So many people would rather have someone else make an opinion for them, then to formulate one for themselves. Soon the government won't have to worry about us speaking out against them because we will be to damn lazy and brainwashed to think of anything for ourselves. We will just go with the flow pretending everything is just fine. This may be a bit extreme but in a certain light its true. Some people don't even have common sense anymore, because we have all been taught to memorize and regurgitate. In high school our tests consisted of remember what someone else said, and then spill it back onto the paper; and if we can get every word exactly right we get an A. You don't even have to know what the information means, as long as you can just repeat it back you still look smart and your rewarded greatly for it.
I think the media has the power to control how we think because they have the power to control what information the public is allowed to know. We take so much pride in thinking that we have freedom of speech and freedom of information, but how much do we really have access too, how much does the media really tell us, and how much of it is manipulated and fabricated before we are allowed to view it? We get so brainwashed by what we see that we hardly ever ask questions about it anymore. We are starting to believe everything we hear and even more of what we see without question. We take everything at face value without using any judgment of our own. This is a scary thought because once we stop asking questions, we stop having power over what we believe and even worse, we allow others to think for us. I think thats why so many people don't vote. we have subsided. We are actually stepping down and letting other people make choices for us. By not voting we are literally allowing other people to speak on our behalf. We are saying, "Here, take my voice. I don't care how this country is ran. I totally trust in you to do a good job, but even if you don't, It's okay, its not like I really have an opinion anyways." Its quite disgusting really.
Here I've gone on about how horrible and soul sucking the media is, but to tell the truth, its our own fault we subside to all the images we see. I think to some degree we do have the ability to question what we see. We are allowed to ask questions and disagree. America needs to learn to turn off the television and I don't know... read a book? We need to learn to be aware of what we are taking in and be more sensitive viewers.


Derry, Mark. "Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing and Sniping in the Empire of Signs."October,12 2007. http://www.levity.com/makrdery/culturjam.html.

Skinny Legs and All

So for the past few years I've been pretty obsessed with author Tom Robbins. His one book, "Skinny Legs and All," would have to be one of my favorites! I really wouldn't know how to explain this book to anyone who hasn't read it so I will gladly post a book review with my comments in between. however, no book review will ever give this book justice. It's just that good!!

"The action revolves around Ellen Cherry Charles and Boomer Petway, newlyweds en route from Seattle to the art scene of New York City in an Airstream turkey. Unfortunately, art doesn't bode well for the couple, and wedded bliss soon becomes a wedded mess. Boomer runs off to Jerusalem, where he can weld to his heart's content, while Ellen Cherry takes up waitressing at Isaac and Ishmael's, a restaurant owned by an Arab and a Jew" (Rambles.net). although does in 3rd person, we see the narrative from mostly Ellen Cherry's point of view. She is the artist but throughout we see how she is constantly restricted and unable to fulfill her love of painting. Then Boomer gets signed in an art show even though he doesn't try to be an artist at all. This is heart breaking for Ellen and the readers sympathize with her. But we also see how all of Boomers art reflects his love for Ellen Cherry (Awww so cute!!)

"But the fun doesn't stop there. Events begin to escalate when a pock-faced Virginian evangelist, intent on rebuilding the Third Temple and ushering in the Second Coming (even if he has to do it by himself), comes to town, and a young Middle-Eastern nursing student named Salome bumps and grinds to the mind-altering Dance of the Seven Veils. In fact, New York City may become more of a war zone than the Holy City itself.
Skinny Legs and All moves through the events of the novel chronologically, occasionally moving to detail different parts of the same journey as seen through the eyes of the different characters. These sections are divided into chapters, in a sense, labeled as "the First Veil," "the Second Veil" and so forth. At the end of each section, Robbins details what will happen to humanity when each of these veils drop -- and the changes that must accompany each unveiling.
Robbins moves adeptly through these layers, effortlessly peeling away the veils of politics, religion, money, sex, marriage and art....What Robbins attempts (successfully, I might add) with Skinny Legs and all is an illustration of the turmoil in the Middle East, all without leaving the soil of contemporary America. Equally disarming, provocative and laugh-out-loud funny, Tom Robbins proves once again that he knows what is important and isn't afraid to point it out" (Rambles.net).

You can see how I relate this book to media. Tom covers issues from war and politics and money to sex, love and art. In so many of his books, Robbins slaps you in the face with such important issues and really makes you think. His books are kinda hard to read, so I plan on rereading the ones I have read. but I also want to read all of his books.


Some of his other books include:

Still Life With Woodpecker
Jitterbug Perfume
Another Roadside Attraction
Fierce Invalids Home Hot Climates
Half Asleep In Frog Pajamas
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues



Clark, M Audrey. Rambles, a Cultural Art Magazine. 10 October 2007. http://www.rambles.net/robbins_skinny.html

Education and Television

Today in class we started talking a little bit about education and television. Lipton said that children shows, such as sesame street, doesn't teach children anything accept how to watch television. I have to say that I completely disagree with him. Now I agree that babies can't learn anything from televison because they cannot yet comprehend words, but the stimulation, such as colours and sounds and watching other beings interact, help to activate a infant's mind. On one level I agree that very young babies do not directly learn anything from television, but theres no denying that sounds and lights help to stimulate the mind. On the other hand, slightly older children, say toddlers between the ages of one and three learn by repetition. Shows like sesame street repeat words, numbers and letters over and over again. Once children recognize these words they can follow a long. Hearing the words over and over and repeating them with the television helps them to learn and remember. Also seeing number and letters being used in a social setting helps children to understand what they mean. Now I don't in anyway believe that a television can substitute as a teacher, but television can definitely help in allowing children to practice and remember words that they are beginning to recognize. I think Lipton was right in the sense that television can't teach a child directly, but when he or she is first becoming accustomed to things such as letters, shapes, numbers and words television helps them to remember by repeating what they know and displaying it clearly and simply for them to remember.

Understnading Comics The Invisible Art

I absolutely loved this book. Scott McCloud uses comics as a medium in addressing such topics as semiotics and art. He captures ideas that seemed familiar but I had never fully grasped. For instance, he talks about how obsessed human begins are with themselves, that we see out image in nearly everything; and its true! Human beings see a face in objects such as light sockets, or cars. I remember when I was little I would look at cars as they passed by and determine whether they were male or female cars based on the shape of their headlights, and the shape of the hood. So when I read this in Understanding topics, it was interesting how McCloud explained that human beings focus on specific details in order to strip that image to its essential meaning. McCloud explains, through realistic art and abstract cartoon art, how human beings decipher a message. A realistic drawing of a face can only be interpreted as a certain face, where two dots and a line, :|, can be interpreted into anyones face. I found many of McClouds concepts so interesting because he was so accurate in describing something obvious, yet, I have not taken the time to think about. I found myself agreeing with everything he said, and realized how sensitive we really are to symbols and pictures, and because he explained his ideas in a comic book he was able to use images and symbols to relate words to pictures.
I love the way McCloud described art. He says that art is anything that human beings do that do not cater to their essential needs; survival and reproduction. Also, he explains how art has transformed our culture. Because of its "independence from our evolution-bred instincts, art is the way we assert our identities as individuals and break out of the narrow roles nature cast us in." Art provides exercise for both the body and mind, art provides an emotional outlet, and has provided us survival as human beings. From art we evolved, coming up with new and great ideas to improve and simplify our existence. The creation and discovery of language, tools, or the wheel, evolved into products of today such as washer machines, watches, glasses and so on. These objects may not seem like art per say, but man has created them. McCloud shows how our actions lead to new discoveries, and how this is interpreted as art.

I love how the book was presented. McClouds ideas translate into one another, and flow with ease. Each idea was the offspring of the idea before. He covered so many aspects of art and culture that I couldn't possibly reflect on all the ideas. After reading this book I have a whole new perspective on how I interpret art, and why I interpret images and symbols the way I do.

Post-Secondary: Right or Privilege

So in class today I accidentally got pulled into a debate about whether or not a post-secondary education was a right or a privilege. I simply asked what Mark Lipton meant when he said that Post-secondary was a right. Instead of a straight forward answer I cleared the way for a full on debate.
His arguments were that if you were not smart enough, did not have good enough grades, or could not afford, then you could not go to post-secondary, no questions asked. I understand why one would think this, but then wouldn't food and water be a privilege? Which is true I suppose. I should be gracious that I have the opportunity to work and vote. but still, those are just privileges that we fought for, but they could just as easily be taken away as they were given. If I can`t afford to feed myself then I suppose that being alive is a privilege. I thank my mother everyday. So, in those regards, do we have any real rights at all?
Mark said that 50 years ago the majority of the class would not be here, which is 100% true, because before there is no way in hell a girl would be going to post-secondary. But this is the year 2007, and my argument to that was thank God that we live in Canada. I believe that being a Canadian citizen has paved the way for Post Secondary to be a right, along with food and water, the option to vote. If I want to attend University, I will attend University, and I am. Canada has some amazing organizations that help people to help themselves. I'm not saying that these rights are handed over, gallivanting towards us on shining white horses, but if someone wants to go to University, now they can. They will have to work damn hard to get there, but if they really try, they will not be denied. Like getting the right to vote. Generations before us worked damn hard to make voting a right. But just like anything else, how easily could thats right be taken away?
Government funding helps those who wouldn't normally be able to attending post secondary, giving everyone a more equal playing ground. Now I've thought about this debate a lot. And I've came to the conclusion that perhaps the putting post secondary into the group of "rights" or "privileges" is not completely accurate. A privilege is a school teacher telling her students that their recess break is something they must earn. The teacher has all authority to keep each and every student in. But when all those noisy students work hard to be quite and encourage their peers to be quite, they gain back that right to go outside and play. Thats the beauty of how our privileges reflect rights, how the two are almost intertwined in Canada. Because democracy makes it so, we really cannot have one without the other. We have the right to freedom of speech, because we fought to not let that freedom to be taken away from us.
I may not be right. But I truly believe that everyone, in Canada at least, has been given the same advantages in achieving a post secondary education. Its how hard you work and how hard you fight that you can change a privilege a right.

1st Group Project

Since the first week or so of class, I've been getting together with a group of about four other girls for our group assignments. I'm rather quite excited to get started on these projects. We did the first one, the, Image Curation last week. We decided to collect images to display eating disorders in women mostly. I personally think that this topic is over done, and although it is an important issue, I think we should have expanded on the idea a little bit more. However, the pictures that I gathered were of past beauty. It was interesting to look at images of what fashion and beauty meant centuries ago. I know that back then it was considered beautiful to be plump or by todays standards "over weight" because it meant that you came from a wealthy family and could afford to eat. The other images include girls from our school and celebrities. We have yet to show our slide show in class but its complete and we are hopefully starting a new project next week. This particular project wasn't my favorite just because I'm very good with the whole technical aspect, and I didn't overly enjoy the topic my group decided on. I am however every excited to start the activist project. I have a really cool idea that I can't talk about right now ;)