While reading “Seduced by ‘Perfect’ Pitch: How Auto-Tune Conquered Pop Music” by lessley Anderson I came to a realization of just how far music and technology have come. Many genres have been left in the dust but none so prominently as Jazz.

Jazz has disappeared from the world of American pop-culture as modern examples of media such as cartoons and music have taken precedence while the classics have been left in the dust.

I grew up with Jazz in the sense that many Golden-Age American cartoons (1920s-1960s) were around when I was a child, that Golden-Age of American culture always captivated my imagination from the cars to the style of dress to the Mid-Atlantic accents and Art-Deco architecture. Jazz however is what slways really captivated my imagination as its sound is what conjures up this era of American prosperity and ingenuity.

https://youtu.be/U87fuZC6OEc

In James Pullizi’s article “In the Near Future, Only Very Wealthy Colleges Will Have English Departments”, James argues that printed text has already been rendered obsolete and that it will only be a matter of time before media studies supplant English studies in colleges nationwide.

I for one completely and vehemently disagree with James Pullizi on the basis of common sense.

First of all media studies and English studies already co-exist in many institutions without instances of one taking precedence over the other although English is obviously the most respected of both of these fields.

I believe that people will pursue whichever form of media they see fit when they have the need to consume media, which is to say that whomever wishes to read a book at a given moment will pursue the reading of that book and whomever wishes to watch a television program will do so accordingly.

There isnt a law stating that you must only consume one form of media exclusive of the other, this is after all a multi-media world where humans have reached a level of self-inquiry where they make decisions according to their own wants and needs, irrespective of external forces.

It is also foolish to say that media studies will supplant English studies due to the simple fact that media is usually (with the exception of ad-libbed programming) based on the written word, which is to say that written texts allow for ideas to be efficiently explored within media such as television and film.

Most media is therefore a derivative of the written word and English studies but not vice-versa.

Therefore I believe that to have excellent media we must first excel at English studies.

This was a topic of huge debate in class. After writing my critical essay about violent games and the effects it has on people, I thought I would share.

They say it all the time, “you are what you eat.” I am pretty sure that we have heard this saying as little kids. Most likely the people saying this cliché phrase were concerned about what we ate. I can hear my dad now telling me that I one day will turn into a chicken nugget. But this saying doesn’t only apply to the things we eat and how they effect out body. It also can be attributed what we read and how that effects our minds. In the NYC vs MFA article, it talks about how there has been a set standard of writing put in place. That many of the books we have read have a specific structure that the authors paid to learn. Although now of days we have seen authors who have not paid for this training writing in similar formats. Why is this? Because we retain this information unknowingly and then reproduce it in our own works.

I have done this time and time again with the stories that I write. They have very similar formats to the types of books I read because that is all I know and what I have unconsciously learned along the way.

I took a music class last term so I was well aware of just how profound repetition in music was. It might just be part of humanity genetic coding to find patterns in things in order to assimilate it faster. One of the most primitive parts of the brain keys into repetition and associates it whatever its connected to. It works for songs and commercials in order to force a culture of involuntary association. Which is why pop music is so popular, repeating a phrase triggers the entire song in one’s head. For example….

Never gonna give you up! Never gonna let you down!

Now what song automatically pops in people’s minds when they hear that? Obviously its rick rolling and that damn melody and the way the words are sung are stuck in your head.

Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up

Yeah I just rick rolled all of you for my last post. Blame your brain for loving repetition. On the other hand that’s why I love Eminem, clever lyricist that doesn’t repeat himself and every line could be dissected for a close reading.

I found Tom Bissell’s idea that story telling in videogames feeling counterfeit is a legitimate gripe  with games as a whole. While most games story telling is indeed secondary and is treated as such, often times merely a guide point for quests or to give some semblance of reason for actually playing the game. Yes in his analyze of Fallout 3 of just how bad the characterization and narrative is compared to the rest of the game, it is totally fine and reasonable for him to believe such. What I have a problem with is his belief that story telling should stay away from videogames in general. I find Fallout 3 and the company that makes games like Fallout to have the same problems with story telling, as in the characters are just plain awful but several games have very unique characters and stories to back them up,

I’m link some games that should satisfy any story hungry gamer.

The Last of Us for the more serious and sad story

And South Park the stick of truth for we the less mature audience

Eat it Tom Bissell.

In Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema”, we talked about how the act of gazing objectifies the subject of the gaze, stripping him/her from his/her humanity and individuality, diminishes the subject into mere body parts, and reinforces stereotypes and labels in society (stereotypes which usually sexualize women, and place femininity as secondary to masculinity). It elevates the gazer’s status into one like God, as the gazer can stare at the subject without being caught.

So, how can we counter this?

If the act of gazing is the culprit to scopophilia, sexualization, and objectification, then what we need to do is to break the gaze. Gazing, as a unidirectional act, only works when the subject of the gaze does not return the gaze. Once, the gazer and the gazee (for the lack of a better term) has eye contact, interaction takes place. Now the gazer is caught, the objectification is broken, and the interaction between human is brought back. It is important to know that eye contact is key here because without it allows both parties to acknowledge each other’s presence, and it doesn’t give either one the false omnipotence that unidirectional staring provides.

I stumbled across this video that experiments on gazing at people intently. It’s funny because when one realizes that he/she is being stared at, the immediate reaction is to find out what’s wrong/how can one help the gazer:

Branding has to do with loyalty. While Naomi Klein is cynical about branding and thinks that branding is manipulative and destroying humans–brands cannot exist if humans don’t believe in them. In our generation, a brand has to go beyond a product. It’s how the consumer connects to the personality of the brand. This generation believes in “doing the right thing,” and “cruelty-free” brands who are involved in endorsements and social responsibilities.

For example, I read a recent article about how Blue Bell had to recall all of their products and shut down the entire organization because of the listeria issue. They screwed up the entire brand because the listeria issue had been going on for five years and they lied about fixing it. When 4 individuals died because of their products, then it was okay to take action. When (and if) Blue Bell returns, I don’t think they would have the brand loyalty anymore. Why would anyone want to buy their product–even if they fixed it–when there’s brands like Unilever and Hagan-Daaz who haven’t lied to their customers about something that can put them in danger?

The same also goes for employees working for a brand. I wouldn’t work for a brand/company or buy a product if I don’t believe in the ideas and values of the brand.

Here’s a video from Entreprenuer that successfully defines why branding is so important and Naomi Klein is absolutely wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHbKgA9mENw

If you’re like me, and didn’t know much about adjuncts in colleges and universities, than the way you look at some of your professors has changed after today’s assigned reading. I came across this video on YouTube. Hopefully it helps to open up our eyes a little more.

Before the end of the semester, you need to make sure you do the following:

-Hand in your 10-page research paper with MLA citations.

-Offer a presentation about your creative project.  Sign up on the schedule if you haven’t already.  Add a slot if necessary.

-Hand in your creative project along with a 2-page reflection essay.  In this essay, discuss your objectives, your process, your results, and how what you were working on related to the themes were were exploring in the class.

-Put up 2 blog posts and respond to 2 posts.  Even if you missed your day you can still post.

-Make sure you’ve given me at least 4 different journal entries:

1. Describe what you want to do in your life, what field you want to enter, and why.

2. Discuss what steps you are taking to enter a particular field or profession.

3. Write a letter or email asking for information about internship possibilities or requesting an informational interview and describe what results you get.

4. Answer the question: why are you qualified to work in the particular field that you want to work in.  What assets or strengths will you bring to that field?

Please bring hard-copies of all written work.  Failure to do any of these will result in a grade penalty.