Category Archives: Uncategorized

After reading the numerous entries by Raymond Williams, I better understood the meaning of words, which I believed had one meaning.However, the origin of these words were quite interesting.From my understanding, the excerpt gives historical information on the origin of the word “originality.”As we spoke about originality I made a connection between popular songs and its origin as well as the quality of it.According to dictionary.reference.com, Music “is an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony,etc.So if I dare, it is relevant to Williams definition analysis.

As the article states in C18, “An original”  is “the sense of something singular or rare but also in a sense related to a new theory of act….’no performance can be valuable which is not an Original.” I also feel Young’s definition can relate to this finding.

As we are all familiar with the late Michael Jackson, I used his song Human Nature.This song was written by Josh Bettis &Steve Porcaro and released in July 1992. As we may all know this is the “original” version to this song and may have more meaning to later recordings of the same melody.Later recorded in 1993, Sisters with Voices recorded Right Here (Human Nature Remix feat Michael Jackson). As the transition was made from Michael’s original you can hear the difference.However, the similarity still exist throughout the song.Young states, an “Original grows but is not made”;this is very true after listening to both songs.

Lastly, TMZ’s favorite celebrity of recent days, Chris Brown recorded She Aint You on his latest album title, F.A.M.E.The message of the song differs from the two records mentioned.This 2011 hit focuses on a bad romance he encountered and how its affecting him.I mention this because the quality of the song has changed, drastically.For example in the first two songs, actual voices were used with echo like sound effects.However, in this day and age auto-tune is very important in pop culture.Brown uses auto-tune throughout the track.This also shows us as technology we adapt to it.In the media we use/say everything that would sell to the desperate eye.

Originality has its representation in each song.However, one feeds off the other.It is all cycle as William explains in the text.Original originates from an origin.

Often times in class discussions the concern of music, media in general is brought up and how it influences individuals.At times when we are bombarded with new tunes, and we find a way to compare it to older songs.We have a keen understanding of these songs but do we consider it original( in the sense of something we never heard before) or do we think its just a remake of the older version of the song?As a society who replicates almost everything have the right to call a new piece of music “original?”

This isn’t intended to be an official post, but I thought it was funny that an artist who has benefitted from the way information spreads over the internet (at least that’s how most of my friends have heard of him) is complaining about how connected people are because of it.

“I can’t stand,
that we’re all connected.
and I miss the days,
when I only knew my friends.
The whole world,
thinks they know all about me.
But they’ll miss the day,
when they only knew without me.

I can’t stand
without seein’ your
pretty faces.

And I miss the days.
when I was excited,
about seein the new things.
it seems so long ago.
Now we’re all,
virtually connected.
and I miss the days,
when I only knew my friends.

I can’t stand
without seein your
pretty faces.
Now we’re all
connected.
Seems so far beyond.”

Twitter has added a new update to their site, a new feature that brings up accounts or profiles of people that match certain criteria of your search. For instance if you were to search female R&B, a profile of Alicia Keys or Keyshia Cole my appear. In addition to being able to find people whom are interested in the same ideas and topics as you, there is also the option of searching for the latest updates or blogs on such topics you search for.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/04/05/twitter.upgrade.mashable/index.html

Although these new features seem like a great addition, I feel like these new options would work out much better on Facebook, where socialites would better utilized this searching option for a multitude of different purposes 😉 . It seems easier to connect to with people on a facebook than on twitter. However when looking at this new twitter upgrade, I feel like third party users whom are out looking for personal information and self profit can now more easily and quickly find their “victims”.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/04/05/twitter.upgrade.mashable/index.html

In “The Political Power of Social Media”, Clay Shirky discusses the way social media can affect political situations in countries. As soon as I saw this article, I thought of our discussion of the power of social media and whether or not this power is a positive or negative force. In this article, Shirky claims that there is no confirmed decision on this issue. In some cases social media can be a positive political force, such as the given example of the impeachment of the Philippine President and the evidence against him being forced to be taken into account.  However, sometimes the consequences are not as favorable, as shown in the given example regarding Iran when “activists…were ultimately brought to heel by a violent crackdown.” Reading this article, I saw that Shirky claimed social media was a positive force however, he explains that there is not guarantee for the success of a political movement with the help of social media.  When he discusses the issue of the U.S. conducting the uses of social media in other countries he states that this is “likely to do more harm than good”.

I agree with Shirky that social media influence does not have an automatically positive effect on political movements. In some cases, the social media can cause more problems than it solves. One example Clay Shirky gives is that social media facilitates the identification of specific individuals behind some movements. In addition, there are other factors that need to be taken account into a politic protest, such as the presence of police forces and whether or not they are sympathetic to the protesters’ cause. Clay Shirky explains that while social media can help a political movement and aid its success, this positive outcome does not happen in every case. I agree with his stance and hope a balance can be found in order to help citizens that are oppressed by their government.