MEDIA AND ME PART DEUX: The Butterfly Effect of Mass Media in the Life of a College Student

Screenshot taken from Pearl Jam's "Do the Evolution" music video

"During the 2008 elections, the news media played a major role in helping us get to know the candidates and understand their platforms. How well, then, did the news media help Americans understand the complex issues raised during the national election?"

pg. 4, MEDIA AND CULTURE

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

Although I can’t summarize a specific week nor day to explain my uses of all these media platforms, there are incidents where I have used a little of each. With this in mind it is easy to see how media has impacted my life, be it minimally (Magazines and Newspapers) or prominently (the Internet). Each platform of media represents a puzzle piece in my life, all of whom have lent some aid in molding my life to the current person you see. If either piece was missing, I could have very well turned out to be a different person. Without the Internet I might be spending more of my time writing in a journal and playing more sports while wondering about the world beyond New England; maybe without Newspapers, I would suffer from not being prepared for my Public speaking class. Sometimes, it’s just better to accept things the way they are and not ponder too much on “what could be” -- instead, it is more prudent to ask “what is to come?”

MEDIA AND ME PART ONE: CHAMPLAIN IN 60 SECONDS

How awesome is our 60 second commercial? Extremely awesome!

A. What specific contributions did YOU make to your team's production of your video?

For the production of the video, I worked as the voiceover throughout the video.  Along with this, I helped to revise my side of the script a tad -- but that was all I really did.  I threw out a few suggestions but the work I did was only a fraction of the team's combined effort.

B. What grade do you feel YOU earned for your work and participation in your team's video?

I might not have done all the video editing, nor have an onscreen role, but I did have my voice recorded (sometimes having to do multiple takes).  For the part I was required to do, I think I did very well and deserve a good grade; B+/A.

C. What was the hardest aspect of making your video?

Honestly, there wasn't really any hard aspects (at least from my standpoint).  But the more time consuming aspect was probably doing multiple takes for lines and getting good locations for the video.  I'm not sure how the editing process went, but if it was as smooth as everything else, I'm sure the only "hard" aspect of the video was taking the time to film.

D. Other than finishing the VIDEO, what was the most rewarding aspect of making your video?

Probably being a voice actor (haha)! It was very fun being able to lend my voice to the video and watching everything play out.  But, really, the most rewarding aspect had to be seeing the final product of the group's work -- seeing everything play out and watching everyones work come to fruition was just fantastic.

MEDIA MEDITATION NUMBER FIVE: Thanksgiving Matrix

Courtesy of YouTube

Ok, where to start.  Well besides feeding conspiricy theories, spawning parodies and driving people paranoid, this film proved to be very entertaining.  The initial moments of the film focus on the character of Trinity, portrayed by Carrie-Anne Moss, escaping "Agents", one of whom is portrayed by the fantastic Hugo Weaving.  The action-packed opening ends with a truck going through a public telephone booth.  If you want to understand, then you're going to have to "Jack In" to the movie.  Anyway, after an interesting club sequence, we are taken to cubicle scene where Mr. Anderson, AKA NEO (portrayed by Keanu Reeves), is himself escaping the Agents... only to leave in their custody later.  It's frustrating, but understandable.  

I don't want to spoil anything more, even though the movie has been out for a while, as this is a movie you really have to see.  This movie really set the bar when it comes to action and story -- to the point where practically everyone has seen it, perhaps more than once.  It also brings up important philisophical questions.  Is ignorance bliss? Are we in a perverbial matrix? What is real? What can we define as real?

What is the Matrix?

While this makes for an interesting conversation starter at the punch bowl, it is just a film.  A film asking the same questions we've already been asked in the past.  The answer is not the same for everyone.  Some like to believe that we are under control, we are supervised, we are grown.  Some of us are surrealists.  Some of us aren't.  Overall, it's an entertaining film.

If you haven't seen it yet, then get out from under your rock -- take the red pill.

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Eli Roth's fake trailer for Grindhouse

Apparently, with the success of Machete in theatres, Eli Roth is now making his fake movie Thanksgiving into a film.  Based in Plymouth, MA (my home state), this slasher seems to parody all of the classic horror stereotypes rather well.  When it comes to theatres, I might pick it up.

But they need to do Werewolf Women of the S.S. too!

Directed by Rob Zombie

Nic Cage as Fu Manchu, oh yes.

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On an unrelated note, inspired by the first video at the top, I found this little gem on youtube as well...

"Where We're Going, We Don't Need Snow..."

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Oh yes...

GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE

Thesis: Guitar Player Magazine is dedicated to both aspiring and veteran musicians; displaying the latest products, offering professional insights, and even some basic lessons of favorite songs.

Five Facts:

a: Guitar Player was started in the late 60's, but flourished in the 80's thanks to editor Tom Wheeler. 

b: A subscription of 12 Issues is only $14.99, while 24 issues for only $22.99.

c: Readers praise Guitar Player Magazine for its wide variety of musicians (all with different styles). 

d: GP offers guitar lessons for popular songs: for example, in this month's issue, Matthias Jabs gave an interpretation of Jimi Hendrix’s All Along the Watchtower.

e: GP also gives reviews for the latest equipment.  For instance, this month reviewed the specs of five different AMPs. 

Triune: Like all magazines, Guitar Player primarily mixes the NEOCORTEX and LIMBIC brains -- the first 19 or so pages are colorful images and poses of artists displaying their products, with specific fonts to emphasize the point their trying to make. Later, the pages are primarily detailed with interviews and product descriptions -- utilizing the NEOCORTEX.

TRENDS: The magazine utilizes a strong EPISTOMOLOGICAL SHIFT in many of the pages -- using professional guitarists to advertise their products (a way of saying: if you play this, you could be professional). There’s also a good PERSONAL SHIFT, with multiple artists (Dweezil Zappa, Wilson King) talking about their genre of music and how they got into that specific type of music.

Principles: Guitar Player uses blatant PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES, such as flashy fonts and bright colors in their products. There’s also a sort of even PACING in the magazine: the first few pages are straight up advertisement, which is followed by an even amount of articles. The articles and advertisement then play an even game of volleyball over the pages.

Persuasive Techniques: The magazine plays a unique game of BANDWAGON and BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE: products use both popular artists and professional models to advertise -- as if saying that their product is used by professionals AND plain folks like you and me. There’s also some HYPERBOLE: “The Greatest Guitars are products of Great Vision”

MEDIA MEDITATION NUMBER FOUR: Where'd Old Vegas Go? (M-RATED BLOG)

Are you ready for a blast from the past? Well, too bad.

Oh, boy, another Video Game...

Don't fret, because this is a fairly popular title.  More importantly if you played its predecessor, Fallout 3, you should feel right at home here.  

FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS, just like the rest of the series, takes place in post-apocalyptic America, in the year 2281.  Just like the rest of the series, you'll find that the atmosphere has a unique 40's/50's vibe -- seen in both technology and the game's music (I'll get into it a little later).  Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, this game is not a direct squeakquel to FO3 nor does it make any mention of the 3rd installment's plot.  And, just like most of Obsidian's games, it's pretty buggy.

STORY: The game starts pretty bluntly; you are a Courier who has been ambushed on delivery across the Mojave desert.  A unknown figure in a checkered sport jacket hints that your delivery was rigged for you to die... right before he pulls out a 9mm and, to put it simply, pops a cap in your dome.  Luckily, you are dug out by a robot (with the face of Vegas Vic) and brought to a nearby town to be healed up.  After you are patched up (in the form of character creation -- your gender and race (Caucasian, Afro-American, Hispanic, Asian) are all customizable) the doc leads you through the steps to customizing your initial stats for the game before you are shoved out the door into a wide open world.

GAMEPLAY: The gunplay in New Vegas is not much improved from FO3, with only slight touch ups and some new weapons added.  However, the key theme of this game does open up for plenty of gambling (which, unfortunately, takes a while to get to).  Blackjack, Slots, Roulette are all here.  No poker though -- a shame.  And, just like in real Vegas, the better you do -- the more Casinos will bribe you with food, hotel rooms, and so on.  Get too lucky, however, and you'll get banned from gambling in a specific casino.  New Vegas also brings a new element to gameplay: Factions.  There are nearly two dozen factions in the game, some of which you can join through working for them.  However, aid one faction and its rival will turn against you -- even hunt you down.

GRAPHICS: If you bought this game, it wasn't for the graphics.  In comparison to current "Next-Gen" titles out on the market, New Vegas is a step down -- looking exactly like its 2 year old predecessor.  Remember my mention of bugs? You'll find that models will occasionally glitch out, even to the point where a dog's eyes will float outside of its head. Nice goin, programmers!  Plenty of the gun textures are also very iffy, if not worse than the previous title.  

SOUND: I brought up the game's music earlier.  The game's tricked-out watch (called a Pip-Boy) not only allows you to check your inventory, stats, and quests, but allows you to tune into two separate radio stations -- each with a unique vibe to it.  The "Mojave Music Radio" station plays strictly western music, while "Radio New Vegas" (hosted by none other than Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton (who voices himself in-game)) plays both news going on in-game (mainly, your character's exploits) and popular Rat-Pack Era music (including Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra).  Although the music is nice, you'll find that the game's system has a bad habit of repeating the same songs a little too much.  

Fun as the game is, I wouldn't recommend buying it until it comes cheaper (and, if you read my last blog, you'd know a special place where you can get good deals, in the future).  

Well, ain't that a kick in the head?

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Where will Jeff tread next? Will it be another game review (God, let's hope not) or will he shake things up with a thought-provoking blog focused on today's corruption of the media?!

Nah, it'll probably just be the Matrix.  Yep, The Matrix.

MEDIA MEDITATION NUMÉRO TROIS: Rickles Roast with a Side of Zombies?

Don Rickles roasts Dean Martin on his own show.

Midway through the summer, I discovered this gem on youtube -- among others -- and found myself laughing.  I don't recognize some of the celebrities brought up by Rickles, but the way he delivers his jokes is hilarious.  He never breaks eye contact, he lets it stream out naturally, and he doesn't degenerate into strings of curse words.  Rickles is also very animated; he doesn't remain static and read off of a cheat sheet, he uses the stage to his advantage and isn't afraid to let it all out.  He perfects his EMOTIONAL TRANSFER to the audience.  And his PACING is flawless.  Rickles manages to tickle my LIMBIC BRAIN in 6 minutes; something most comedians today can't do in an hour.  Now, I'm not saying all of today's comedians are bad... just that most of them lack the natural ability Don Rickles possesses -- the ability to deliver a joke with such surgical precision.  Of course, this is just me sucking up to a comedian who's pushing 85.  

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IGN's Video Review of Left 4 Dead 2.

HUMANS VS ZOMBIES, CHAMPLAIN

Because of the "Humans vs. Zombies" game currently going on campus, I figured I'd make an honorable mention to the genre of horror that has persisted since the popular inception of George A. Romero's 1968 hit: Night of the Living Dead.  The video above is a Video Game review of Valve's sequal to their Co-Op hit, Left 4 Dead -- aptly titled, Left 4 Dead 2.  Both games were on sale for about 7 dollars each, a few weeks ago, on Valve's special media platform, and a great example of CONVERGENT MEDIA, "Steam".  Steam is not only digital distribution software (aka, buying and downloading video games), but it also operates as a multiplayer and communications platform.  Unlike retail outlets, Steam also hosts special deals for certain video games; taking percentages off for limited times (such as the Left 4 Dead 66% off sale).  

I don't considder myself an avid gamer, but the zombie genre of horror has always been a favorite of mine; and a video game based upon said genre is right up my alley.  I'm not going to buy every game that has a zombie in it, however -- the game has to be good; other people need to reccommend it.  So when my roommate from last year, who barely plays video games, praised it, I felt the need to pick it up (of course, I ended up waiting a year to get it... money's tight during college!).  Surprisingly, it was really fun.  Being a zombie game, it obviously works on the reptilian brain, but moreso this game likes to squeeze your reptilian brain for every juice of fight or flight its got.  The zombies attack in mobs, there are "special" zombies that can have special abilities ranging from a "Hunter" who will jump great distances and pounce on you, to the "Tank" who can sustain a lot of gunshots and pummel you to death... did I mention it can grab chunks of pavement and throw it at you? This specific "Special Zombie" even gets his own theme song that creeps in with its glutteral roar -- as if its size, speed, and durability wasn't enough to stimulate the Reptilian brain.  

Not someone you'd want to be cornered by...

Now, I don't remember how the rules of the "H.v.Z" game go (I played once last semester) but it is the equivilant to a week-long game of nerf tag.  One "Original Zombie" or "O.Z" is chosen from a group of those willing, and every person he tags becomes a zombie.  To distinguish zombies from humans, Humans must wear a bandana on their arm, leg, or anywhere visible (EXCEPT THE HEAD) -- Zombies wear bandanas on their heads.  Throughout the course of the week, there are missions that humans can complete for points -- which risks them getting infected.  To combat the undead, Humans use nerf guns and socks to temporarily knock out their opponent.  To keep the game from interfering with classes, the insides of buildings are safe zones -- meaning zombies can't infect humans inside.  Despite seeming pretty nerdy as someone outside looking in, the game is surprisingly very fun and challenging; requiring both organization and physical fitness to survive.  

I didn't sign up this year because I'm more worried about passing my classes... but I might sign up next semester!