ICONIC?

This is my poor excuse of an attempt for animating my icons - this is why I am neither an animator or an artist, lol.

HOW DO I COMMUNICATE?

I communicate in many ways - and different people will pick up varying messages depending on how well they know me, or depending on how they themselves communicate and interpret the world. But let's break this down to make it more clear.


Non-Verbal [In Person]
Often I have been told that I roll my eyes a lot, which probably gives many people the wrong impression about what I am thinking. The eye rolling is often not a conscious thing, and probably is off-putting for many people.


Verbal [In Person]
I act one of two different ways in person - chatty or quiet - which I'm sure is something that applies to everyone. Over the years I have been leaning more towards the quiet side of things. I'm not sure how my quiet ways are interpreted.

When I do get chatty I am sarcastic - very sarcastic. I remember on an episode of Friends when Chandler talked about his sarcasm as a defense mechanism - it probably started off that way for me, but it has just developed into a part of who I am and how I present myself to others. I love dry, sarcastic humor. I love people that can hold their own and throw the sarcasm and confidence back at me.


Non-Verbal [tech and other]
MSN, pictures, text messages, blogs, written letters, assignments for school - there are so many ways to communicate through technology and other art forms - so many mediums to choose from. But for me, most relate directly to my computer in one way or another - web sites - video editing - there's just so much. Yay for technology! But I love getting out a piece of paper, grabbing a pen and just writing - writing about anything that comes to mind. I love my computer, but nothing really beats that.


Verbal [tech]
I used to love talking on the phone. This love dropped when I was introduced to the internet. It dropped again when I got my first mobile phone. It dropped once more once I worked at a call centre for a phone company. Now I use my phone as little as possible. I am not great at carrying a conversation over the phone. I will do it, but I don't like it.

I'm sure that there are other ways that I have left out - if I think of any important ones, I'll post about it.

COPYRIGHT OR COPYWRONG

OK, lame title for a post but whatever, get over it. :P

My sister brought this issue to my attention earlier in the week and she said that I should do a posting on it. The title of the article she sent was "Tories eye $500 fine for illegal downloads" - Hmm... You can pretty much guess where the rest of this post is going.

Does anyone remember a program/company called Napster? Remember when those mp3 files were still new and really kinda cool? Remember when the big music corporations started suing single mothers and 13 year old girls for tens of thousands of dollars for a handful of downloaded music? Well, if new copyright laws go through, this is potentially what we will be seeing again.

What's that you're saying? It didn't work the first time so why try it again? Yeah, pretty much. Targeting all the people they want to have access to their music is not the answer.

The changes in the copyright laws would mean that if you own a CD or whatever, you can make copies for yourself to your heart's content. Burn a copy to your computer - to your mp3 player - even to another CD - but don't you dare think about sharing with your friends. Hopefully you weren't planning on making a mixed tape/cd for a friend or that girl/guy you've been crushing on - because that would make you target to potentially hundreds, even thousands of dollars. Did I mention that if you do make all of these backup copies for yourself, the moment you no longer own the original CD, those copies in your possession are then deemed illegal. Good times.

Ahh, sharing. Apparently it's bad. Sure, I get the issue with downloading music - there is lost revenue for the people who make the music. But not being able to share your music? It's no wonder that more and more people are bypassing the large music corporations.

But what if you do own all of the music yourself - can you prove it? Crossing the border with your tech may be harder in the near future. "Border officials may seize iPods under trade deal" You could have your tech confiscated for no good reason beyond being suspicious [read: quotas and random grabs]. How do you really regulate something like this? How do you single people out?

Excuse me ma'am, I'm going to have to confiscate your ipod - sorry for the inconvenience.

These articles are just the tip if the iceberg. If you do some searches on your own you will find tons on all of this.

So what do you think of it all? I know that there are some avid music fans out there, and I know that many of them enjoy sharing their music finds with their friends.

- More Spin than Win-Win
- Criminalizing everyday Canadians

THE MASS MEDIA

I am only posting this video because I think it's always funny when people poke fun at some of the more obvious aspects of our society. That, and it relates a lot to what Chomsky had to say.

PAPERLESS SOCIETY

We all know that when computers were becoming more mainstream that there was a promise of a paperless society - computers would free us from the burden of the endless pieces of paper piling up on our desks.

We all know that this never happened.

In class the other day the topic of e-books came up very briefly. We talked about the generation gap. Sure, we people like myself and those with more life experience all enjoy the tactile nature of a book bound in paper.

But what about the people being born right now? They basically get a free ipod just for being born. Who is to say that they will not embrace the e-books just as we have all embraced computers, ipods and cell phones?

A writer for the New York Times wrote a short article about her first experiences with an e-book reader - you can read that here.

I don't feel as though I will ever give up my paper books, but who knows - stranger things have happened.

SEMIOTICS OF A MAC AD

We've all seen the Mac vs. PC ads - smart and funny, albeit redundant and predictable. But everyone likes the ads because of all of these things. People also like the ads because they point out the obvious truths.

The ads makes up a narrative of the Mac vs. PC battle. It's almost akin to tuning into a Soap Opera - almost. Nothing really significant changes over time, but enough to keep you interested. We hear about the ongoing struggles of the PC, while we watch the Mac soar to even greater heights.

The setting is always the same - a clean white backdrop. Sometimes there are some props - like chairs, and sometimes another person, or even a dog.

As Lisa was discussing over on her blog, the visual representation of both characters are quite distinct. Cool vs. uncool. Corporate vs. Trendy. Boring vs. Fun. What I had never associated with these ads - at least not consciously - was a link to politics and the different US political groups - the Republicans vs. the Democrats.

Before the recent Obama vs Hillary race for leadership I couldn't have told you a thing about either group - but having watched that race, I can now see a definite divide that resonates pretty strongly with these Mac ads.

[Aside: Were the Republicans and Democrats always so different that you could pit them against one another like we do with the Mac and the PC? Having never really followed American politics before, I really don't know.]

The PCs generally speak to an older generation. They still give off a very corporate feel. When I was last at the movie theatre there was an ad for an HP notebook, and it gave off the message that it could do so much, and he looks pretty cool with it too. I laughed [on the inside] when I saw that. Do many people associate the reliable, functional, and cool aspects of Windows related products? I can't say that I know of many.

Watching the 'Sad Song' Mac ad has made me want to go off and listen to some old twangy country music.

INTERNAL DESIGN

When I think of internal design I think of many different things. I don't just think about the architecture in a house. I think about:

- What's inside our bodies;
- Computers [don't ask me how or why they work!];
- The rings in a tree;
- Shoji Doors / Japanese design;

There are many things that have amazing internal design - people have always loved taking things apart just to see how it works and to see if they can put it back together again. I'm sure if I thought longer I would think of many more examples of internal design that I like to see. But that list is good for now.

JUST A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

We have been enlisted to divulge our favorite things - some in the grand scheme of things, and some actual physical things we like owning or having around.

My 10 faves. (in no particular order)

01. music
02. friends
03. tv/film/theatre
04. dreams/dreaming
05. naps
06. autumn
07. coffee
08. food/cooking/eating
09. smells that make you think of a long forgotten memory
10. emotion [happiness, anger, joy, pain, love, sadness, etc.]

My 5 favorite possessions:

01. My computer [right now that is an iMac];
02. A hand carved wooden mask / A hand carved marble elephant;
03. A fan.
04. Kitchen supplies [pots, pans, etc.]
05. Rune set

And if I could have a number six, I would have to go with my monthly Metropass - I love having that thing around, lol.

THE FOLLOWING MAY OR MAY NOT BE ACCURATE

My analysis of Joe.

Visual:
Casual - often with a music/media related shirt; t-shirts, hoodies; the odd argyle sweater; often lets his hair grow out a bit;

Tactile:
"The Bad Touch" song comes to mind... But also, Joe can maintain himself fairly well, but has been known to fumble a little - breaking an elbow here or there.

Auditory:
Can be quiet. Often when he speaks he attempts to say something that is either thoughtful, or just flat out sarcastic in nature.

Olfactory:
I can't say that Joe gives off any noticeable scent - not noticeable to me anyhow - if he smelled poorly I might have something interesting to write here, lol.

Gustatory:
A type of food - probably a dessert/sweet of some kind. I know that he and his fiance like to bake, and he also falls victim to the William's cookies on breaks.


Joe through different types of media:

Natural:
I found it hard to pick out something for this category, but I tended to think more towards vocals/speech - which probably makes sense knowing that Joe is heavily into music. Though I cannot think of anything too specific.

Artifactual:
data n/a

Mechanical:
I hear that Joe is musically inclined [cue porno music]. He also likes to try different things with his work for class assignments to that they are all different and always changing. When presenting his own work, he likes to be precise, and *sometimes* tries to outdo his competition by going above and beyond the requirements *cough cough Mimico*.

CONTROL

We are to post something about media moguls controlling the world. I will do another post speaking specifically about corporations and some other things, but first I want to talk about something that when it happened made me very sad, annoyed and angry.

It started with George Bush becoming president. It follows with the Twin Towers attack dubbed 9/11 for the date of the attack. What followed was a series of political and media strategies constructed in such a way as to keep the public in a constant state of fear and uncertainty. It was not a time when people were asked not to ask questions, rather it was a time when people were not given the chance to speak their minds, and if they did they were attacked, abused and put to the sidelines.

I remember an episode of Dr. Phil about anti-war protesters. Long story short, he sent across the message very clearly that the peaceful protests were not welcome in America. Why? Because soldiers who hear about it are disheartened by the thought that people are against what they were fighting for. Which would make sense if there had never been any form of protest ever before in history. This was around the time when Bush went off to war and he and the media concocted the question, and seemingly ultimatum, of whether or not you support the troops.

Protesters were silenced. Popular media personalities stepped lightly and didn't ask the important questions. [www.zeitgeist.com - a movie which eventually looks at the 9/11 attacks and points out a lot of the stuff that was swept under the rug, and events that are still not talked about.]

Does anyone remember Madonna? Sure we all know who she is. Controversy surrounded her name. She pushed the envelope and made major commentary on how we all view the world and the way we act. She took on sexuality and religion. But does anyone remember when she came out with her American Life album [aside from the fact that it was not well received]?

For the album's first single she released two videos. The original was quickly pulled due to being too controversial - What?! Madonna backing down to political and media manipulation? Yup, she did, and then released a very boring video instead. Take a look at both and see which you would have preferred.

Original:


Censored:



It's laughable seeing the difference.

Anyway, then there was the Dixie Chicks who openly voiced their opinion about Bush, and they were attacked and threatened for having an opinion that they were willing to stand up for. They were not willing to back down as Madonna had. They went on to fight for their right to have an opinion. They fought for free speech. They let people know that they didn't agree with the war. They went on to create an amazing album and eventually prove to the masses that they were right. [OK, we all know that 'right' and 'wrong' are subjective, but I refer to popular opinion here].

It's interesting to see how people can be herded like cattle into believing one particular point of view, enough so that the people themselves fight to abolish their chances at free speech.

In these examples, the people, the media moguls, everyone really is affected.

Who is to say your opinion on something of less importance, or something that is less obvious isn't being manipulated as we speak?

Posted below are two videos by Death Cab for Cutie - while I just enjoy these songs on their own, it's interesting to see how people step away from traditional music videos and make an effort to be creative.

I Will Follow You Into The Dark


Someday You Will Be Loved



Enjoy :)