Screenshot taken from Pearl Jam's "Do the Evolution" music video
To ask how one could describe a day in their life would be incorrect, as no one can truly sum up one day accurately. No, it would be more acute to ask a person to describe their habits in the most common order they perform them. More specifically, in relation to the topic set by this class, what common rituals are done concordantly with popular media: sound recording, radio, television, movies, the internet, books, magazines, and newspapers and video games. Although some of these topics are not common in ones lifestyle they do play some small part, be it through past influence or uncommon present occurrences -- say, turning on the radio during a silent car drive or reading the newspaper just to pass the time. Asking one to utilize all of these topics into one “day” is unrealistic, and would no doubt result in many students telling fiction, but to spread them out through specific instances, as this assignment thankfully allows, would give we, the students, a chance to detail our relationship with the media. While I admit to using all of the above topics, at least once every week, there is a habitual pattern that has formed between several key media platforms. To start with the highest ranked: the internet.
Image snagged from carefulmarketing.com
"The hallmark of Web 2.0 is media convergence, the technological merging of content in different mass media."
pg. 51, MEDIA AND CULTURE
Any day of the week, be it for work or entertainment, I use the internet… sometimes far more than I should. Facebook, Yahoo Mail, YouTube, and even Rotten Tomatoes… just to start. Coming home from class, I’ll pull out my laptop and go to Facebook; more accurately, Crackbook. Although trying not to spend too much time on it, I get hooked; what starts as checking what my friends have to say and updating my status gets muddled up with applications, invites to social gatherings, and occasional chat from people who notice I’m on. At times, I’ll completely forget why I was there only to quit out and remember later. After Facebook, I move on to Yahoo Mail -- a short task which can be dragged on depending on the amount of emails my parents have sent me in a day, telling me how much they miss me and if I need anything. Rotten Tomatoes isn’t necessarily a regular place I go, but more of a time waster when I’m thinking of going to the movies. Ratings heavily impact my decision on movies and I can get instantly turned off by an extremely low score from critics; even if the user ratings are positive. YouTube, on the other hand, is a very common website I go to. Despite having a fair composition of music on my iTouch, YouTube has everything I don’t and more plus free entertainment when nothings on television and I’ve overplayed any video game I have. As fun as it is to watch a guy get kicked in the nuts or marvel at BASE jumpers, music is my primary goal.
A Hilarious News-Parody, compliments of YouTube and The Onion.
"Online role-playing games have helped to cement the idea of the Internet as a place of convergence - World of Warcraft, for example, is now a comic book series, and a movie is in the works. The "massively multiplayer" part of MMORPG also indicates that video games - once designed for solo or small group play - have expanded to reach large groups at once, similar to traditional mass media."
pg. 54, MEDIA AND CULTURE
In a close second with the internet is, unfortunately, video games. What may seem as a harmless time waster can turn into an addiction which, if left uncheck, can become disastrous for one’s wallet. My primary modus operandi involves two “consoles”, one which is also used for homework: the Xbox 360 and the PC (or personal computer). These days most everyone has an Xbox 360, although some are unable to afford the costly price tag (and yet there are those who can afford MAC computers). A good number of those owners are FPS-diehards (FPS stands for “First-Person Shooter”). Call of Duty, Halo, and so on. However, the Xbox 360 isn’t limited to this perspective: 3rd Person Shooters and Role-Playing Games are a few other genres, sometimes combing with each other for a more expansive experience. For example, the game BioShock is a mix of FPS and RPG. Where, in a normal FPS, you are limited to deciding what equipment you can use and how you play the story, BioShock allows the player to increase specific stats and powers through special booths. This level of customization also applies to weapons, where there are booths specifically designed to increase the stats of a specific weapon (such as increasing the magazine on a pistol or making a pump-action shotgun semi-automatic). BioShock is also very much a free-roamer, to an extent. Call of Duty, for example, gives a player a campaign and specific path they must follow. In BioShock, one can wander around specific levels exploring the environment before heading to the next level. The PC, my favorite, is what some would consider to be the pinnacle of gaming. The PC, unlike consoles, can better render environments and characters and be modded overtime for maximum performance. Admittedly, crafting an excellent computer can be costly (most likely ranging around 2000 dollars for an optimum “Rig”), but then again, MACs can go up to 4000 dollars with hardware that isn’t all impressive. Along with having a good home computer, the 2000 dollars will guarantee an excellent gaming experience. Plus, unlike the $60 price tag on 360 games, PC gamers, who are aware of how to work the system, can “acquire” video games.
Credit goes to The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy (Television The Drug Of The Nation)
and YouTube.
"Television is the medium from which most of us receive our news, sports, entertainment, cues for civil discourse, and, most of all, our marching orders as consumers."
-Frank Rich, NEW YORK TIMES, 1998
pg. 145, MEDIA AND CULTURE
Behind video games is the television -- another time waster which can drag on longer than it has to. In an ordinary day, I could be sitting on the couch in the apt. common room; typing away on my laptop, when an episode of House MD or Family Guy comes on. What was otherwise a fairly boring homework session suddenly turned into something a little more interesting. Sure, the work gets done slower, but is more entertaining. Once I’ve finished homework, and too lazy to get up and put away my laptop, I’ll relax and watch whatever’s on. Slothful as it may sound, the feeling of turning off my body and mind is extremely nice however unhealthy. My relationship with the television was very strong when I was young, but has since taken a backseat to my life as occasional entertainment.
Image courtesy of RottenTomatoes.com
"At a cultural level, movies function as consensus narratives, a term that describes cultural products that become popular and provide shared cultural experiences"
pg. 242, MEDIA AND CULTURE
Coming up fourth is Movies. Last summer (not the summer of 2010, but of ‘09), nearing the arrival of college, I was up late bored. It was a Friday night and I knew the movies would be open until midnight -- so, I decided to look up what was playing. Using Google to snatch showtimes, I noticed that “District 9” would be playing within the hour. Throughout the summer, I had wanted to see it but never got the time due to work. I thought, “What better time than 11 o’clock, right?” Driving off into the night, I reached the theatre fifteen minutes later (I live in Chelmsford, but the nearest theatre is in Lowell -- our gangster neighbors). Because I had time, I stopped by the concession stand for popcorn and a soda (no ice -- can’t stand the taste of a watered-down coke). The rest of the night consisted of me in pure awe over a little film from South Africa. It’s become something of a habit for me to do late night movies; all stemming from a familiar catalyst seen in this essay: boredom.
Video courtesy from YouTube, Cee-Lo Green "F**k You"
"The new medium of radio was to the printing press what the telephone had been to the letter: it allowed immediacy. It enabled listeners to experience an event as it happened."
pg. 109, MEDIA AND CULTURE
Radio is more or less an occasional thing. Say, I just closed up the drycleaners I work at. After a long day being wrist-deep in ball-sweat and deodorant-stained dresses, I’m concerned about getting home fast so I can bathe and have a good dinner. But, as you can imagine, I’m feeling stressed and antsy -- even worse, I don’t have my iTouch to play some of my favorite tunes.What’s the remedy? Clicking the power button on the car radio, I flip the “seek” button until I read 92.9; alternative rock radio (in Massachusetts, at least). Although my favorite tunes don’t always play, it’s a good moot point for anything similar. Occasionally, I’ll just flip the “scan” button and stop at anything that is appealing and stress-relieving
Image courtesy of GuitarPlayer.com
"They spring up as fast as mushrooms, in every corner, and like all rapid vegetation, bear the sees of early decay within them... and then comes a 'frost, a killing frost,' in the form of bills due and debts unpaid... the average age of periodicals in thsi country is found to be six months."
-NEW-YORK MIRROR, 1828
pg. 285, MEDIA AND CULTURE
Magazines and Newspaper are uncommon, but I have found them quite useful when waiting for the bus or when an assignment calls for them. Sitting in the lobby of Spinner Place, waiting for the shuttle to take me on-campus, I’m occasionally a bit early. Depending on the time of the class, I might be too awake to sit still -- causing me to frequently look from the clock on my cell phone to the electronic screen showing the bus. This has the tendency to make the wait seem longer and unbearable. What is there to help me, but a stack of magazines fill with deals around town for food! Snatching one up, I’ll search through it for good deals. Unfortunately, most deals are at restaurants that don’t appeal to me or for furniture that I can’t afford. To take another example: I am waiting in the lobby of Spinner Place for the shuttle to take me to campus. As the bus arrives, I realized that I needed to get a news article for the class and talk about it. Looking to my left, I spot several copies of the New York Times.
Image courtesy of Topnews.in
"All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after your are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened... belongs to you: the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was."
-Ernest Hemingway, ESQUIRE MAGAZINE, 1934
pg. 316, MEDIA AND CULTURE
Books were a big part of my life growing up but, like radio and television, have taken more of a backseat role in recent years. Growing up, I read several series of kids books (which, for the life of me, I can’t remember) that dealt with adventures and collecting strange and mysterious items to save someone. After that, I started reading “A Series of Unfortunate Events” but only got through the first four numbers before I switched to a more popular series written by J.K Rowling. From 5th grade, onward, I was glued to the novels and spent inordinate hours reading “The Half-Blood Prince” and “The Deathly Hallows”. At 12 in the morning, not days after the books release, I was glued to the last Harry Potter book -- desperate to read every last bit up to the end. Even at 3 AM, with a neck and shoulder ache, I continued.
"You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements."
-Norman Douglas, SOUTHWIND, 1917
pg. 346, MEDIA AND CULTURE
