Group Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpK-9XgcAx8&feature=youtu.be

What the Wii ???

As we come to the end of our reading materials, we read one of the most relevant articles. Relevant to college students that is. well. it's relevant to more people than college students. but yea. Jane McGonigal claims in this article that, "Video games can save the world." She includes the 10,000 hours theory that if someone were to spend 10,000 hours on any one subject then he/she will become a master at it. McGonigal gives her idea that if people would play so and so more billion hours of video games per year than we will be able to conquer real world problems. She states there are some games that were made and helped raise some money but never really progressed much because they were simply not fun. The main thing that I don't understand is at what point do we stop playing video games and actually do something? She talks about how the whole world needs to be playing video games... and it seems she thinks we should never stop because ... (through these video games we will be able to solve world problems like climate change, hunger, world peace) uhhhh wha? She just doesn't state so clearly as to when we will all do this. At what point do the gamers of the world do something positive for the world? And so where does that leave us non-gamers? are we just to standby and let the gamers... save the planet? hmmm what if we want to help? well, we obviously won't be as qualified to help save the world as gamers. She has a decent argument. yeaaa people play video games and they learn team work and to never give up... and they figure out ways to complete the video game... get that "epic win."Well, in video games, you get unlimited tries to win. with life. you don't get as much. not quite...

Setting kids up for debt cuz the brands brands brands

Ever since we were young children we have had brands shoved in our faces. If we were brought up in a semi-wealthy family and were spoiled (as most of us in the university were) we know brands. We have never known why they are better. what makes them more expensive. what makes them "last longer" or what have you. the only thing we know is that they are more expensive and we get seen wearing brands... brands that other people wish they could afford. we will feel better about ourselves. As we start out as kids, brand name items such as food and cereal and toys are shown at eye level (the height what would be a kid sitting in a cart) right in the line of vision of kids. With simple advertising genius, brand named items are made with more flair, more decoration, more sparkle, to attract the attention of people who like just that... kids. The genius in advertising really is to start at a young age. As read in the article "Branded for life," "Apparel companies such as The Gap, Old Navy, and Polo have extended their customer bases by creating clothing for infants and children." Well, it only makes sense that they would. When parents spoil their kids with brands, it is really ingrained in the children's head once they grow older. man. what makes us want brands? that is a good question. say you have two shirts. one nike. one no name. SAME EXACT shirt (only the nike has a tiny swoosh on the chest. the nike shirt is 40$ while the no name shirt is 20$. which one do you buy? well,,, the nike one. most times. obviously i am generalizing but what the heck? what is so awesome about that swoosh that makes people (myself included) want it over the no name brand? sorry. this is just my subconscious speaking. not a whole lot of answers here. just really got me thinking. we are ... once again... myself included... some annoying people. like. why brands? just look at this here kid. cute and all. but. branded.       (tommy hilfiger)       

PARASOSH

Okay. we all know that Taylor Swift is the most glorified, beautiful, flawless, amazingly talented, cute, hipster, fashionable, ravishing, elegant, endearing, lovable and just the most beautiful and amazing girl in the world. Well,,, that's at least what I think of her. Some would call this natural experience a parasocial relationship. I would love to tell you that I have a parasocial relationship with Taylor Swift but I do believe with all my heart she knows somebody out there is waiting for her. Somebody out there is waiting to meet her. have ONE coffee date (that's all I need to capture her heart) and sweep her off her feet. This here video is simply a video that discloses much of Taylor's perfectly dry humor and elegant ambiance.

I would go to say everyone has at least one parasocial relationship. A lot of times the females have quite a few with their select classic men that have been in the eye of media and music through film for years. But, many many guys as well have a parasocial relationship with many females in the cinema and music scene. We find "parasocial" interpersonal relationships also throughout many walks of life excluding celebrities and their fans. Many times a person will have a parasocial relationship with someone who they see everyday. I used to have a lot of parasocial relationships with the older highschool girls when I was a freshman and the older junior highschool girls when I was a middle school lol o dear. Parasocial relationships a part of what make the world go round concerning celebrities. It's not always a man liking a woman or a girl liking a woman. It also has to do with... saaaay myself liking Neal Caffrey from White Collar. The man has it all. he is sly. gets all the girls. fly suits. funny. i simply know everything about him and he nothing about me. this is what makes up celebrities. basically... yea !!! it really is. i just discovered it. parasocial relationships are what make celebrities who they are. boom.

good 'ole hipsters

I was particularly interested in one of the first topics we discussed concerning ‘hipsters.’ There is not a plethora of views in regards to hipsters because it’s kind of a love/hate relationship. People either love or hate… well not necessarily hate but either think they are weird yet secretly envy their thematic fashion. I have an argument concerning most of the hipster crowd. Okay. A lot of people (including myself) are interested in art. As we see in the university, it’s always the art students that are the hipsters. Well, those who take art seriously and have a passion for it are constantly striving to create new things as well as make things new and fresh. So, as a natural response to this sort of passion and activity, it is reflected in many other aspects of life in the individual (fashion, music, intelligence, etc…) This is a result of them expressing themselves in a natural way and through the decade, many people have classified these people into a group… hipsters. I grow slightly annoyed at this but at the same time, ignore it. The one thing that doesn’t bother me is when people judge or classify people as hipsters that actually try really hard to fit into that group. As I have stated above, there are two types of hipsters. As we all know, there is the stereotype of hipsters that people bandwagon try to fit in for social gratification and there is the naturally expressive, hipster……. But nowadays, hipster is so mainstream because it is a stereotype that people place and thus know exactly what it takes to be one. There is also the whole deal with people simply taking on parts of fashion related to what most hipsters would wear. There are people that simply like fashion but it happens to mix and jive with that of hipsters’. It’s a big confusing mess but if you do decide to approach a hipster, be careful, he/she might be late for coffee (which I crave) a ride with their fixed-gear (which I have personally built from the ground up for myself ) or a date with Kurt Vonnegut (of whom I also love…) dang.  

Females & Gender Identity

                                                     

The most interesting video that we watched was the video concerning gender Identity. A lot of what I was seeing in the video was really observant but really unnecessary. The narrator of the video continually used new and exciting adjectives to describe the weakness of women but also the strength yet, slow-minded nature of posing males. It really began to annoy me as a photographer because the narrator continued to define and deduce all the women as weak and… I swear he said this… “Unaware and incapable of an oncoming attack.” I just kept thinking to myself, becoming more and more annoyed, “Gosh man, can you please just call these ladies beautiful and the guys strong?!” There is some truth that came from what he had to say concerning the innocence and angel-like or floating appearance of some of the models. As we look in today’s society, most of these women that appear are (as we all know) very skinny, too perfect, too pretty… just too… not normal. While at the same time, plus sizes are beginning to look like a size 4 or 6. What is this world coming to in regards to acceptance and equality? Not to get off track but what the man had to say about the pictures was just TOO deep and philosophical for me. Sheesh man they are simply photographs of women or men, strategically placed into media’s eye to convey a message or a meaning.