A Must Read - The Time Traveler's Wife

There are few things I love more in this world than a good book. While I don't always have enough time to get into or even find a really great book, when I do, I am so excited I want to share it with EVERYBODY. I decided to write about the latest GREAT book that I have written here, since novels are just as much a part of the media that makes up our culture as our favourite tv shows and magazines are.

This book is called "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. The novel tells the story of Clare, who meets the love of her life, Henry, when she is six years old. The only problem is that even though Henry is only 8 years older than she is, the version of him that she first meets is 36 as he has time travelled to the past to meet her. She awaits visits from his future self while waiting to meet him in real time. While this sounds confusing ... it is all beautifully and captivatingly told in a way that makes me deny the fact that it is science fiction. It is not science fiction, it is a.. dare I say timeless (?) love story with the kind of heart aching intensity of stories like "The Notebook." (Speaking of the Notebook, I 'IMDB'ed (www.imdb.com) the book to see if it was being developed into a movie, and it is - Rachel McAdams is set to star as the main character.)

I can't recommend this novel enough for anyone who loves a really good love story.

American Idol Subversion

So, apparently American Idol has become such a cliche that many people are rallying together to start a 'grass roots' protest against them, by SUBVERTING the entire premise of the show. According to the Globe and Mail, anti-fans of the show are so bored/tired/angry (?) about the show that they have rallied to ensure that Sanjaya Malakar wins Idol. Apparently Malakar is a terrible singer - if he won, his win would subvert the idea that the best singer wins the contest. There are many websites devoted to this Idol Revolution, including www.votefortheworst.com. While I find it mildly interesting that people are deliberately trying to have the worst singer win for the sake of having the worst singer win, I am still not sure why so many people are angry. If you don't like American Idol, think it is a silly popularity contest, find the songs annoying and the judges unbearable, why watch? Why create blogs and sites and grassroots protest strategies? Aren't there more important things to get riled up about?

The Blog Assignment

What Is Required?

At least 2 weekly entries
Every week you are to create at least 2 entries in your Media Blog. The entries must relate to media in some way, perhaps by voice your opinion about some kind of issue or controversy.

At least 4 weekly comments on other blogs
Every week you need to check out some of the blogs in the class and comment on different postings. You should have at least 4 comments a week, but quality is more important than quantity, so be sure to comment on issues that you are truly interested in.

Check in on my blog
Think of my blog as the class blog. I will be regularly contributing to my blog and perhaps posting points of interest about blogs in the class. Occasionally, I will have assignments posted on my blog that I feel are relevant to our study.

How Will This Be Marked?

The rubric will be coming, but basically, this will be a significant portion of your final mark since you will be working on it for the rest of the semester. There will be periodic due dates so that I can give you a progress mark on your blog. I will give you at least a week’s notice before any marking dates. You will be marked on your thoughtfulness, your mastery of the medium, your comments, your creativity.


What Should My Entries Be About?

Here are some of the types of entries that I will be looking for. You are not restricted to these categories, but this might help you if you have blogger’s block.

1. Pop Culture
In this category you will observe something new or strange about pop culture. This could be a new trend, a t.v. show, a movie, etc. You should explain what it is and why it is significant.

2. Question?
This should be something you have noticed and wondered about. Anything that puzzles you, perplexes you, something you find strange. You should have lots of questions … and perhaps no real answers.

3. I’m Outraged!
This should be something that you have noticed in the media that you do not agree with, you find offensive, insulting, etc. You should explain WHY you are so outraged. If it is possible, explain what you are going to do about it, and most importantly, RANT!

4. How Interesting….
This is a free for all category where you record things that you have found interesting. It may overlap a bit with the pop culture category, which is fine.

5. Advertising
Anything new or different in the world of advertising, an ad that you thought was interesting or controversial in some way, new trends, etc.

6. Hey! That’s a Subversion!
Hopefully we have talked about subversion enough in class that you have started to recognize it in your own travels. Look for something that seems to be different from what is expected … I will post some examples on my blog.

Thanks Everybody!

Well, I think the first two days of blogging were a success and I was thrilled to get some positive feedback from everybody. I really hope that everyone continues to be eager and enthusiastic. Please let me know if you have any ideas about the unit; I love feedback and suggestions. I think I am going to have "blog marking day" be Sunday, so please make sure that you have your internet safety assignment done by then (email it to me if necessary) and also be sure to have added your childhood story (I love them!) and two comments to my articles. I will give everyone some feedback on Monday, when we start blogging.

Also, there may be a problem with signing up for a blogger account at school, so this might need to be done at home. Let me know if that will be a problem for anyone.

Cheers!

Pop Culture - The Trendiness of Torture

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As some of you may or may not know, I am a huge fan of both 24 and Lost. I watch them religiously, and I think about them constantly. Recently, they have both been in the news as Human Rights Organisations have questioned the abundance of torture that is portrayed in these shows. I have never thought of myself as someone who would condone the use of torture or even as someone who would find entertainment in the depiction of it. But it is true; my two favourite shows use it quite a lot. In Lost, there is usually a lot of remorse surrounding the use of torture. Poor Sayid is tortured by his own use of torture. He feels really bad about it; and really seems like he will never torture someone again.

Now Jack Bauer, on the other hand, tortures an average of ten people per day ... at least. He is also tortured quite a lot. Heck, everyone is tortured on 24, that's just what happens. Sometimes I even find myself yelling "bring in Johnson!" to the television (Johnson is CTU's torture guy - although anyone can torture anyone). What is going on here and just how did torture get so trendy? How is all of this entertaining torture affecting the real world?

Martin Miller of the LA Times reported on this issue of increased torture and reported that "from 1996 to 2001, there were 102 scenes of torture, according to the Parents Television Council. But from 2002 to 2005, that figure had jumped to 624, they said. "24" has accounted for 67 such scenes during its first five seasons, making it No. 1 in torture depictions, according to the watchdog group.

The increase in quantity is not the only difference. During this uptick in violence, the torturer's identity was more likely to be an American hero such as "24's" Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) than the Nazis and drug dealers in pre-9/11 days. The action-packed show, which drew a hefty 13.6 million viewers last week, was among the first and certainly the most prominent to have its main character choke, stab, or electrocute — among other techniques — information out of villains.

"It's unthinkable that Capt. Kirk would torture someone," Danzig said.

While hardly alone in the entertainment universe of television and movies in portraying torture, shows such as "24" and later ABC's "Lost" were sought out by the human-rights activists because of their popularity, both here and around the world. Even in Iraq, such series can sometimes substitute for or trump military training, and transmit a dark message to soldiers.

"That's all people did in Iraq was watch DVDs of television shows and movies. What we learned in military schools didn't apply anymore."

EEK! 24 and Lost inspiring real soldiers and how they are really acting in the real war?

(Unfinished)

Candy for Criticism

Find a spelling or grammar mistake on my blog, write me a note about it in a comment (include the error and how I should fix it), and receive free candy immediately. It's that easy!

Happy editing!

A Thorny Heart

Ouch!

I'm Outraged! - Gossip Girls!

"'Welcome to New York's Upper East Side, where my friends and I all live in huge, fabulous apartments and go to exclusive private schools. It's a luxury life, but someone's got to live it.'

This is the eighth book in the internationally bestselling series. It's almost graduation and the lives of New York's private high school elite are really heating up. Everyone's got into college and it's clearly time to party - not that they haven't been doing plenty of that already! Blair and Nate's relationship has moved on to a new level - but will the love affair continue? Or will Nate's love affair with his bong get in the way? Only time can tell how everyone will end up, bit one thing's for sure: love is in the air, and it smells a lot like Gucci envy."

That is a sample of what you can expect in the series "Gossip Girl" by Cecily von Ziegasar. With a target audience ranging from girls aged 11-20, these books are the latest teen craze. Now, as an English teacher, my policy has always been, if a student is reading ANY book, that's great. Until I actually picked one of these books up!

-advertisements galore

(Unfinished)

Stranger Than Fiction

I watched Will Ferrell's new movie "Stranger Than Fiction" in theatre and on DVD this week. It is a charming and wonderfully weird movie that is about plot conventions without actually having any in it.

It follows the mundane daily routines of Howard Crick, a man who works for the IRS and is obsessed with numbers. (Warning: Will Ferrell plays the straight man.) He suddenly starts to hear his life being narrated by a mysterious voice. Meanwhile, Emma Thompson plays the author who is trying to figure out how to kill the main character in her latest novel.

Howard begins to realise that he is a character in a book, and sets out to advance the plot (his life is rather plotless). After ruling out many conventional plots, he decides that the plot convention he is to follow is unlikely love, when he sets out to make the woman he is auditing fall in love with him. This becomes apparent only after he realises that she absolutely detests him.

I love this movie for the superb acting and very clever script. The characters are unique, but do follow some stereotypes and conventions. Howard Crick is the boring, stuffy, numbers driven taxman and Emma Thompson is a "fantastically depressing" author suffering from writer's block. Oh, there is also a hilarious extra scene in the special features that includes two book interviews by this hilarious woman who does a great spoof of the typical ultra-cheery morning show host.

I definitely recommend this movie if you are up for something .... strange.

A Subversion of the Typical Female Pop Star

Just a quick recap on subversion: Subversion refers to an attempt to overthrow structures of authority or "the norm". It is an overturning or uprooting, usually of an unhealthy stereotype.

Recently I was listening to my iPod and the song "I am a Queen" by India Arie came on. The lyrics stand out as an uprooting of the "traditional" lyrics that 20 year old girls are usually singing about. Most female pop singers sell themselves through sex, both with their suggestive lyrics and mildly pornographic videos. Have a look at India's lyrics:

Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don't
Sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won't
Depend on how the wind blows I might even paint my toes
It really just depends on whatever feels good in my soul

(chorus)
I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be
India Arie

When I look in the mirror and the only one there is me
Every freckle on my face is where it's supposed to be
And I know my creator didn't make no mistakes on me
My feet, my thighs, my lips, my eyes; I'm lovin' what I see

(Chorus)

Am I less of a lady if I don't wear pantyhose?
My mama said a lady ain't what she wears but, what she knows
But, I've drawn a conclusion,
it's all an illusion, confusion's the name of the game
A misconception, a vast deception
Something's gotta change

Don't be offended this is all my opinion
ain't nothing that I'm sayin law
This is a true confession
of a life learned lesson
I was sent here to share with y'all
So get in where you fit in go on and shine
Clear your mind, now's the time
Put your salt on the shelfGo on and love yourself'
Cuz everything's gonna be all right

(chorus)

Keep your fancy drinks and your expensive minks
I don't need that to have a good time
Keep your expensive car and your caviar
All I need is my guitar
Keep your Kristal and your pistol
I'd rather have a pretty piece of crystal
Don't need your silicon I prefer my own
What God gave me is just fine

(Chorus)

Dove Evolutions

The Dove Evolution campaign shows us what goes into making those glossy, superhuman ads that we are bombarded with everyday. Now, I think we need to remember that Dove is still a company that is trying to profit, but it is refreshing to see an ad campaign that is also being socially conscious. It almost makes we want to go out and by a bar of Dove soap. (Isn't it funny that the simple act of me writing this entry is giving Dove free advertising? I guess that's why controversial ads work so well. )

I'm Outraged! - Mobile Billboards??!??

Last summer, I was visiting a friend in Montreal. We were sitting on a patio in the gorgeous downtown area, when all of the sudden a billboard drove by for Heineken beer. Now, I'm NOT talking about a truck that happened to have some advertising on the side of it, I'm talking about a thin billboard that was being pulled around town, for the sole purpose of advertising.

The billboard was even thinner than the one you see in this picture, which looks like it could be possible to put something inside the truck. I have to admit, I was OUTRAGED! In this day and age, where the polar icecaps are being melted by the CO2 we are emitting at a mad pace, how can any company hire people just to DRIVE around all day? We are in an environmental crisis, yet companies like HEINEKEN are being socially irresponsible enough to contribute so profoundly to this huge problem.

So what did I do? I ranted a lot, and when I got home, I checked out Heineken's website, which had a lot of babble in it about how much they cared for the environment. I decided to email the head of public relations, and tell him that I was upset. He emailed me back ... and unfortunately I didn't keep the email, but it was basically "oh, yes, we will look into this matter... blah.. blah."

Perhaps encouraging, I tried to find a picture online of a Heinekin mobile billboard and couldn't, so maybe they stopped. Also, I found a petition from Toronto demanding that mobile billboards be illegal and a company boycott for companies that advertise this way. Check out the link! http://www3.sympatico.ca/alwaysweb/mobile_billboards.html.

And that my friends, is why I am outraged.