Money… March 27, 2007

So I just logged onto my bank account and I have decided that I friggen hate money.  No, on second thought I hate how expensive everything is.  I wish that when you walked into a store that you could barter like you could in the old days. For example, “I will give you a toaster and this sweater for those jeans”.  How awesome would that be?  You could get rid of all of your old shit and get some better new shit in return… what a system.

Considering how I hate money and how expensive EVERYTHING is these days, I also came to the conclusion that I hate the advertising portion of the mass media.  If they didn’t advertise everything then I wouldn’t be so tempted to buy everything.  Some would say this comes down to self-restraint and needs vs. wants and all that shit, but I think it is all about living because when you think about it you only live once.

Take for instance the cost of a Thursday for me to go back to Calgary.  I begin my day with a nice bowl of Shreddies (I love Shreddies).  Then I get a tea at Starbucks on my way to school (that is a want, but ohhh soo good!) which comes to $2.28.  Once I have actually arrived at school I go to class at 10:50.  Then I buy my lunch which is normally about 5 or 6 dollars. Then after I eat lunch I go to my other classes and then eventually school is done.  On my way out of Lethbridge I have to fill up my gas tank…$30.00, check the oil- if that is in need then its about another $6.00 to buy some.  Then I normally have to get some dinner for the road; this can be a cost of anywhere from $5.00- $7.50.  So as you can see to just get through a Thursday going back home can hit the wallet quite hard.

All in all I just think that money and the way that every single product is advertised these days sucks.  Inflation is so friggen high that I can’t even afford to buy half the stuff I need (textbooks for example).  Did you know that it is cheaper to eat at Tim Hortons for dinner then to buy a chicken from Safeway…that sucks!  But again I guess such is life as a student.

I guess I should be giving props to the advertising companies though because they do make everything look so good and appealing!  Especially that Tim Horton’s chicken noodle soup… which I strongly reccomend to everybody!

On a closing note we were talking about in class what a split-infinitive is and how we needed to define it in our blogs.  Well to enlighten everyone, according to answers.com a split infinitive is an infinitive verb with an element, usually an adverb, interposed between to and the verb form, as in “To boldly go”.  This rule is acceptable but not preferable because it is not always viewed as grammatically correct or viewed as a good style of writing!

Now come on, who would not want to eat this:

Oh Computer Games… March 26, 2007

Ok, so I think that the article “Computer Game Criticism: A Method for Computer Game Analysis” is far far far too in depth.  Judging from the first class we had when we had to get into groups of what we liked most, the video game group was “lacking” some people.

I think that computer games are way to complex and hard to understand.  That is probably the main reason that I do not play video games.  For example, in the article it talks about all the different layers that you need to go through to really understand computer games better. Wow, this is not something that in my opinion, consumers really care about.  I think that people want to play the game, understand it right away, and have some fun.  How frustrating is it to buy some new form of technology and have to spend 3 hard-core, in depth hours reading the manual to try and understand the god dam thing.  Kinda takes all the fun out of it.  That is why I like Guitar Hero.  You press the color buttons on the guitar when they show up on the screen… not hard.

The article starts out with Layer 1: The Hardware.  This layer consists of wires, hardware, components, signals etc… Wow, I am already confused and uninterested.  I don’t get why there need to be so many layers.  Then there is Layer 2: Program Code.  This layer is all about the code…. Ok now by this point I am so lost I don’t care anymore.  Layer 2 is also frustrating when you are setting up a new game because there are always those friggen codes that you need to put in to even start the game.  I always hate that part of new things… just give me the game set-up! hahaha I don’t want to feel like I am in school and have to read the instructions for 3 hours like I am studying for a test.

This is my point, I think that people really need to simplify things.  Computer games are like when a doctor talks to you in their “language”.  I think everything should be done is simple terms… let’s make life a little bit easier. 

Now throughout the article it goes on to all the different layers there are to the computer game.  When I got to Layer 5: Meaning, I was kinda scared.  It is easy to just read something and not understand it, or do something and not really grasp it, so this section was rather intimidating for me.  It talked about semantics which is the studying of sings and the meanings that they have.  I guess with all the codes and wires etc… that are required for a game it makes these “semantics” easier, but in society I think that certain signs and the meanings they hold are very subjective and depend on the person.

All in all, I still think computer games and video games are too in depth and take to much effort to really understand them in order to get the “full experience”! I am just too lazy, I would rather just turn on the TV and watch a show and not have to think… AWESOME!

Monday Night Television March 19, 2007

I am in love with Monday nights.  There is so much television I don’t know what to do with myself; I will never be able to take a Monday night class because I am too busy (it was hard enough to give up Wednesday’s- One Tree Hill, America’s next top model and American Idol…i’m still choked).

The night starts off with “Everybody Loves Raymond” at 5:00 and I watch that until 6:00.  Now it is at this time that I eat dinner, possibly read a few pages of assigned readings if i’m feeling up to it, but whose to say really.  Then at around 7:00 I call this my “flip-through randomly” time.  This is when I watch whatever is on that night and just relax and enjoy myself.  The party however doesn’t really start until 8:00.  At 8:00 I watch “Dance Life” on MTV and then at 8:30 is “The Hills” and then at 9:00-10:00 is “Prison Break”.  I do not even answer the phone during these 2 hours.  They are AWESOME!!!  I mean how much more action packed of an evening can one endure?

My roomie and I sit in her bed, with a shit load of food and just watch T.V.  We talk to each other during commercials, but never while the show is on… it’s a rule in our house.  I really enjoy the 8-9 time we share because I love MTV.  It’s an attempt at reality TV, but i’m not gonna lie it hooks me every time.  On the weekend for example, we flipped to the good ol’ channel 80 and there was a new show on called “engaged and under age” this show was amazing. hahaha it was so hilarious.  I’m gonna have to make time for that one too.  And “Two-a-days”… wow, I’m speechless.

Then when 9:00 roles around I am psyched for “Prison Break”.  But let me tell you, I am exhausted by 10 because I was so stressed out during the previous hour that I need to hit the sheets.  All in all, Monday nights are awesome!

Talk to you guys later!!!

Here is a clip of stuff from Prison Break season 1:

Advertising… March 19, 2007

OK, so I am not too sharp and I bunged up all my readings, so here is my advertising blog!  I read the article “All Of Your Insecurities Wrapped Up In A Thirty Second Spot” by Abby Friedrich, and I thought that it was completely true.  The picture that was inserted into the article that says “Women will look at a picture of a nude woman longer then a man will” is dead on.   If i’m looking at a nude picture of a broad, I am always comparing that picture to myself.

All you hear nowadays from girls is how they want to be skinny or how they want to look a certain way which is ALWAYS different from how they look.  I don’t think there are many girls who are completely satisfied with the body they have.  Girls and guys see media advertisements and models etc. and they want to look like that.  Models may not always be viewed as the sharpest people (stereotypical I know), but more often then not, that is what girls/guys today are looking at and thinking to themselves that if they don’t look like that then there is something wrong with them.  This angers me to my core. 

I think I talked about this in an earlier blog, but I saw a presentation on how people in one of my university classes thought the ideal woman should look like.  By the time this was done, the broad looked like an idiot. I wish everyone could have seen this because it really makes you feel better about yourself in a way. 

When I go to Safeway I see girls who are about 14 years old and 90 pounds checking out fat labels and saying they shouldn’t be eating that because there is a school dance or something like that coming up and they want to look good… considering how the world is starting to become very obese, I think young girls and boys are more concerned with looks today then ever.  This sucks because it makes people think about how they don’t like themselves or how they should change something.

I really enjoyed how Friedrich touched on all of this.  She basically says that people who see models modelling some form of clothing expect that it should look like that on them, and if it doesn’t then they are too fat… this is soooo true.  Seriously though, I can not even begin to explain to you how many times I have seen a piece of clothing I wanted modelled on television, I go to the store to try it on and when I’m looking at myself in the mirror I’m like “holy shit, I look horrendous in this” … like it happens all the time! Not everyone can look like a friggen board…

Another thing that angers me to the core is how men are portrayed… Women more then likely are cast in some way, shape, or form sexually.  Men on the other hand in advertising (in my opinion) are more then likely portrayed as masculine, can’t mess with me, my muscles are bigger then yours type of role.  I think advertising companies really play heavily on this because out of the people I know, girls want a guy with some muscles etc…

So I guess that even though advertising companies are shallow, and really emphasize characteristics that normal people don’t have, they do advertise this way because that is what the normal person wants… I hope this makes sense…

The thing that makes me the most happiest is the new dove soap advertisements on tv.  I think that the ad really shows how people really are.

Society and Video Games… March 16, 2007

To be completely honest with you guys, when I saw that we had to do this weeks blog’s on video games I was chhhokedddd. Haha, as I said before in one of the first blogs I did, I am not a big fan of video games (minus of course Guitar Hero).  So when I started reading the article “The Soprano’s Meets EverQuest Social Networking In Massively Multiplayer Online Games” By Mikael Jakobsson I was more intrigued that I thought I would be!

I came to realize that a video game is not always an individual playing a monster like character that shoots green shit at other monsters; I came to understand that video games and the characters that you create in the game are the main deciding factor for their “status” in the community.  This struck me as very ironic because that seems to be how society is today as well.  For example, you watch all the “mass media” (television, internet, movies etc…) and people come to associate that to attain a certain “status” in our society today, there are certain factors and expectations that one must live up to.

This may seem strange, but this works especially when you go into a different society, or in this case a different virtual community then the one you are from.  If you don’t know the etiquette of that particular society, you are given a certain stigma that may or may not stay with you all the time.  This is very interesting to me because it seems that the “real world” we live in and all the expectations that are here, carry on into the virtual world of video games.  The mass media seems to be getting to EVERYTHING for how people and the things they do SHOULD be done. Haha I hope this makes sense… whose to say! haha.

The article also talked about how you have to be careful when you are going to invite other virtual gamers into your community; their reputation and connections should be examined before hand.  This is actually mind boggling to me because that is sooo much like society today.  Like a work place for example; the employees hired are the representatives of the company.  CEO’s and managers etc… will not hire people who will contribute to giving their company a bad reputation.  No one wants to be associated with someone who has a bad reputation because in our world people may or may not think the same of you! This is crazy how in video games there are so many social factors that you have to watch for to protect your own identity and self-concept.

The mass media seems to be taking over everything; more so then I had originally thought. It least with Guitar Hero all you have to do is play the music notes, but again I guess that if someone looks at the score card and sees that you absolutely blow at the game, it won’t exactly make that person call you to be on their team!   No matter where you go you are judged on invisible characteristics and status’.  Oh my… It seems to be that the more and more things that the media advertises, the more and more repercussions there are on the people within that society.

To end on a sweeter note (haha no pun intended) here is my brother’s guitar that I use to play Guitar Hero (and just to let you all know, I don’t have the worst score! hahaha):

Society is how it is… March 13, 2007

The article “The Portrayal of Women on Television”, in my opinion, has brought up some interesting points.  The article talks about “sex role stereotyping”in reference to women versus men.  Sex role stereotyping is defined in the article as women who are stay at home moms, or women who are the primary care giver to the children, and the role that family plays in their life.  The article states that about 75% of men work, where only 50% of women do.  I do not find this problematic because in most cases I think that this is true.  I am not saying that women don’t have the same rights and all that shit, all i’m saying is that women are possibly still portrayed in this role because that is still dominant in today’s society.  Yes, women are going into the work force in greater numbers and becoming equals to men everywhere, yet they are still viewed as the dominant care giver in the family. I think that is why television portrays many women in the “care giver” way; no matter how many women are going into the work place, there are still more women then men who stay at home to care for the house and the children.

Now this statementmay have slightly pissed some people off.  I’m sorry… I do acknowledge that society has changed in a positive way toward women (yahooo!!!), but the fact still remains the same in the eyes of society (in my opinion): women are put into these roles on television because that is how they are still viewed in society today.  Perhaps if something happened and men started to become the main sex to stay at home and clean the house and care for the children then this view would change.  This is interesting also because is it a known fact that no matter what people do, males still get a higher pay check then females do for the same job… so I purpose this: if your family is struggling and you or your husband (or significant other…) have to work, would it not make more sense for him to go considering how chances are he will make more money then you???

Now I understand I may sound like an anti-feminist, but i’m really just viewing this article as it stands in my opinion.  I don’t think that women should always be the ones to stay at home etc, etc… I’m all for equality.  I do think however, which brings me back to my main point, that women are portrayed this way because that is what is still dominant.

Many television shows portray women as caregivers, yet many shows do cast women as equals.  Friends for example had an even cast: 3 males and 3 females, Everybody Loves Raymond has a pretty equal cast of air time between males and females. Nonetheless in my opinion, in more shows then not, women are cast in roles that have them as the more sensitive, background characters.

Here is a clip from “Everybody Loves Raymond”:

Singers becoming Actors… March 9, 2007

I would like to put this out there… does anyone know of a singer who has decided to act that actually has talent in the last decade?  When I think about singers who have attempted to join the acting world, I think of singers like Mariah Carey and her epic movie “Glitter” or there is Brittney Spears and that must see flick (completely kidding) “Crossroads”. 

Whitney Houston may be the only singer I can think of that was decent in a movie, but then again the “Bodyguard” was filmed a long time ago and had a fantastic cast including Kevin Costner.  Mandy Moore however, is a B rated singer, and her flicks are not much better then that in my opinion (minus “Because I said So”). 

So back to my main question, are there any good singers who can break into the acting world with a decent flick in today’s society?  In my opinion I don’t think that there is.  When I hear of singers making deals to make movies I always say to myself “I won’t be seeing that movie”.  Stereotypical, yes.  But then again, if I am going to be paying $12.00 for 2 hours of entertainment it has to be good (not including the cost of candy and of course that $3.00 bottle of water).

So in conclusion, I just thought I would post my thought and see if anyone has anything to say about it!  Talk to you all later!!!

If you haven’t seen this movie (Glitter), I do not suggest it. Here is the trailor:

Broadcasting Companies… March 6, 2007

After all my posts this week, you all may feel that I am a crazy human being.  I however am just rattled to the core about how the media (in this case television media) feels they can pick and choose when and when not shows should be broadcast. 

For example, every week I anxiously await Thursday evening so I can sit down and watch Greys Anatomy.  For the last two weeks the show has not been on.  I find it frustrating how television shows (and it always seems to be the prime-time ones) are always having “time off”.  I mean they get the summer break much like students… I understand that actors should have lives too.  Seriously though, how much time do they need off?  This week and last week are re-runs of Grey’s, last Sunday Desperate Housewives was not on because of the grammy’s or some shit like that.  Prison Break has had numerous breaks… Like seriously… why can’t they just televise the friggen show?  Why don’t the broadcasting companies cancel a show that nobody ever watches like one of the 90 CSI’s or the Law and Orders? (I probably shouldn’t say that either though because I am a fan of those as well).

It’s funny how in class we learn that the media controls everything and I sit there and thinking how dumb it is that I am controlled by so many outer forces and I try to think of the ways which I can change so I can be an “independent” person, but hahaha what I have come to notice is that I basically live my life by these forces.  I don’t go to the Duke on a Thursday night until after 10 because that is when Grey’s is done.  I am not crazy, I just love entertainment.

Another thing that I love that is actually more or less broadcasted all the time is reality tv.  I could sit in bed and watch MTV all day long and I kid you not, be the happiest girl in the world.

So again, here is my rant, I hope you enjoyed it!

Here is a clip from MTV’s “The Hills” (it’s new on mondays on channel 80 if anyone is wondering):

Time March 5, 2007

Do you ever notice how when you are working or you are in class a minute actually feels like an hour?  I hate how when you are bored or doing things that you don’t like, time takes FOREVER to pass. However, when you are on vacation or visiting people, the time goes by so fast that when the trip is done it feels like you just arrived.  How frustrating. 

For example, when I am looking forward to leaving Lethbridge, I do a countdown.  This countdown normally feels like a week is a month.  Yet when I actually get to my destination (most likely that is Calgary),  I feel like I have no time to get anything done.  Much like final exam week… time goes by so fast that there is no time to sleep.

This may seem a little deep, but isn’t it weird how right now I am writing this post at 7:11 pm (now I feel like 5cent candies) that I will never get this minute back?  It kinda throws me through a loop when I actually sit here and reflect… wow how deep.

Anyways, I just thought that I would enlighten everyone with my thoughts…they are pretty interesting (haha I know, I am kidding too!) 

Seeing how I could not find anything to do with time specifically, I thought I would throw in a random video!:

School… February 28, 2007

I am rather choked that it is only Wednesday and I am already stressed out about school.  It was great having reading week, but when I think back on it, I was stressed most of the time about all the papers and studying that I had to do when I got back to Lethbridge.  It is so frustrating how as soon as September starts there really isn’t a break until the last day of exams in December.  How brutal is that?  Like I know its University and blah blah blah, but seriously, everyone gets burnt out so fast. 

I wish that students were given a break that was actually a break… For example, I wish that it was against the Law for homework to be assigned over reading week. That would be awesome!!!

So this is my rant for this week! haha (I seem to have a lot of these!)

haha, here is alittle video that shows some angry students: