And so ends my first ever blog. I decided for my last post here, I would quickly mention how this class went for me. As I've said before, this was not only my first summer class, but first online class as well. Really different for me, but definitely something I enjoyed. I could definitely see myself doing a class like this again in the future. Being able to space out the workload on my own time within the weeks allotted really was the best part for me.
As for the material itself, I actually found a lot of it challenging. But in a good way. I think there are a few theories I may be able to take with me. Something that will definitely stick out for me was the movie, Age of Stupid. I'm sure I would never have seen it otherwise and even though a lot of it I kind of scoffed at and rolled my eyes, there were some things in there I agreed with and found interesting.
I can't really think of any negatives about my experiences on the other hand. Well, only negative thing for me was having to go away for 2 weeks without internet or a car... That kind of didn't help very much. But as for the class itself, can't think of a negative that stands out.
Overall, I'm glad I took this class. Farewell to y'all and this ends that man's journey. haha, cheesy. :P
Monday, June 27, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
The Death Of Quality In Music
Mp3s.... the most portable, commonly used audio format in the world today. The average computer user sees an mp3 and thinks that it is the standard. An example of modern technology. Well... they would be half right. Mp3's are indeed portable and the most compatible audio format but what most people don't know is that by choosing to use an mp3, you've made the choice to settle for an audio file that has had bits of it's data erased. An easier explanation: imagine taking an old record (vinyl) and poking little needle-sized holes through it. This is in effect what an mp3 does to the original source file. An audio format which has been encoded and has had bits of it's data erased is called lossy. As in, you've lost actual parts of the song.
Now it is true that most people do not notice the difference. But for those of us who have noticed the difference can never un-notice it. Would you buy a new car with a shotty engine? It works.... but it isn't perfect. Again... that's an mp3. But as we move forward in the future, this darned audio format is slowly beginning to replace CD's (Now CD's themselves are not perfect... but that's a whole other story).
But there is luck. The audiophiles around the world seem to be gaining momentum as lossless audio formats (audio formats that retain every last bit of the original source media) are becoming easier and easier to find. Even the accursed Apple seems to be moving towards an availability of lossless files.
But the point is, we as a culture ALWAYS seem to move towards things that are more easy to use, even at the cost of something else. We use mp3s because it is easy, but lose the quality and sound of the original song. We eat McDonalds because it is fast and easy, but get fat, unhealthy, and dead. We get our information about the world from the television because it's much easier than actually going out to experience in that world ourselves. Anybody remember the movie Wally? I really believe we may be headed in that direction.....
Now it is true that most people do not notice the difference. But for those of us who have noticed the difference can never un-notice it. Would you buy a new car with a shotty engine? It works.... but it isn't perfect. Again... that's an mp3. But as we move forward in the future, this darned audio format is slowly beginning to replace CD's (Now CD's themselves are not perfect... but that's a whole other story).
But there is luck. The audiophiles around the world seem to be gaining momentum as lossless audio formats (audio formats that retain every last bit of the original source media) are becoming easier and easier to find. Even the accursed Apple seems to be moving towards an availability of lossless files.
But the point is, we as a culture ALWAYS seem to move towards things that are more easy to use, even at the cost of something else. We use mp3s because it is easy, but lose the quality and sound of the original song. We eat McDonalds because it is fast and easy, but get fat, unhealthy, and dead. We get our information about the world from the television because it's much easier than actually going out to experience in that world ourselves. Anybody remember the movie Wally? I really believe we may be headed in that direction.....
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Videogames - No Longer For Nerds! But.....
This just popped into my head exactly a few seconds ago. Remember back in the day when the stereotype of the guy who plays videogames all day and night was that he was a nerdy, singly, virgin, loser? Those days have perished and been buried long ago. Today, it seems the majority of young men, and a good number of young women, play videogames on a regular basis. It can be said that it is a good thing that the image of the single nerdy guy as the gamer has disappeared. I can even remember some very interesting times with ex's while I was playing games, but that's not for mentioning here. ; ) The point is that our culture has finally said that it is ok and even normal to be a gamer. And indeed it is ok. If you like a videogame, then play it.
Next comes the negative aspect to this however. The key word being moderation. As games offer such an easy escape from realities which can sometime be difficult or not go the way we want, and with a culture more accepting of gaming, it becomes easier and easier to get sucked into the game world and never come out. I feel there are too many people who wait and wait and wait for that new game to come out, thinking about just that thing daily until it does get released. Then comes a period of playing it nonstop and repeating the process with another new game. Again, I did say if you like playing a game, then of course you should be allowed to play without judgement. But... I would like to make this compassion: If you enjoy eating food, will you eat and eat and eat until you pop? Or stop when you are full and it becomes bad for you to continue? It seems obvious that we would stop. But if gaming is the food and playing is the action, it seems much harder to know when to put down that fork. (Speaking from experience... on both!)
How about the positives? There are some of course. Gaming is a good way to pass time when you are bored, want to relax, and do something entertaining and easy. Gaming is even more awesome when you have been drinking all night with a group of friends and decide to play Mario Party with an extra stipulation of shots for the loser of each mini-game. Some people even manage to make groups of online friends and build online communities from gaming as well.
So as with everything in life... balance and moderation is important. :)
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Interpersonal "Open" Communication - DEAD
So, after having a conversation today with one of my Sergeants (still at my Army training) who is in his 50's and from Puerto Rico originally, we came to the discussion on how the modern generation's culture does not include openness to people. Now some of you may disagree with me right off the bat and say, "no! we are friendly and open!". But you would be wrong. Our culture has become more and more secluded in terms of relations to other people. Moreso than ever, I believe we are staying within groups of people who are almost identical to us and find it difficult to be open and dare I say, "vulnerable"?
Example: You walk by someone you met once or twice or maybe someone even that you spot for the first time. You say, "hey, how are you doing?" He or she says, "not bad". There.... that's the end of the conversation. Thing is, that's cold. That's not friendly nor open. I'll use myself as an example (not trying to sound as if I am the role model for the world or anything but I think in this case, I am right). In that situation, I'll try to engage in more of a conversation unless I'm extreme busy. Like an excited, "Hey! What's up?!" Get close, make physical contact and try to get engaged in communication. But it seems like most people don't respond so well to this anymore. They seem taken back by it almost as if they don't know how to respond. Today's culture really makes us treat unknown people as outsiders. It's becoming more and more difficult to actually meet and know new people on a deeper level!
Could technology be responsible for this? Bad parenting? Probably a bit of both actually. I have a lot more to say on this topic but I just returned from a land navigation course all day and got out of a forest and ticks and maps and ughh..... I'm finished. Need to sleep.
Example: You walk by someone you met once or twice or maybe someone even that you spot for the first time. You say, "hey, how are you doing?" He or she says, "not bad". There.... that's the end of the conversation. Thing is, that's cold. That's not friendly nor open. I'll use myself as an example (not trying to sound as if I am the role model for the world or anything but I think in this case, I am right). In that situation, I'll try to engage in more of a conversation unless I'm extreme busy. Like an excited, "Hey! What's up?!" Get close, make physical contact and try to get engaged in communication. But it seems like most people don't respond so well to this anymore. They seem taken back by it almost as if they don't know how to respond. Today's culture really makes us treat unknown people as outsiders. It's becoming more and more difficult to actually meet and know new people on a deeper level!
Could technology be responsible for this? Bad parenting? Probably a bit of both actually. I have a lot more to say on this topic but I just returned from a land navigation course all day and got out of a forest and ticks and maps and ughh..... I'm finished. Need to sleep.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Drowning in Sequels
Of course it has almost always been the case that sequels are often not nearly as well received as their predecessors. Logically following sequels to the sequels and so on within a movie franchise often doesn't go so well either. Recently, however, it seems as if we are being bombarded more and more with sequels much faster and more frequently than I ever remember before. On the other hand, another very common trend over the last few years, the remake of many movies has been picking up momentum. But why are so many of the remakes so terrible?! Is it a sign of my age? Perhaps I'm too familiar with an original to give a remake an open mind?
Take for example, recently, the newest Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We loved the first one and the second was ok I suppose. But the third? It was terrible! And now even a forth?! Ok, while the fourth waaas better than the third by a margin, that's still not saying much. How about the new X-Men movie? Honestly, I thought it was terrible. We've gone through 3 X-Men movies, one Wolverine movie, and now this. I almost feel like they put more effort into thinking of how to include Hugh Jackman than on how to write a good story. Of course, that rule of bad sequels doesn't always hold true. Remember Terminator 2? Incredible!
As for remakes, the list just goes far to high to list them all. Seems like 60 percent of the movies released today are remakes of older movies. Ohhh! Here's one good example: The Karate Kid! Nevermind the face that karate is a Japanese martial art and they are in China clearly learning kung-fu! Or the Nightmare on Elm Street. Here is one that made me so excited when I heard it was coming out. You see, I love Freddy Krueger. The character is a legend for me. When I found otu Robert Englund was not going to be playing him, I was beyond disappointed at first, but decided to give the new guy a chance. During the previews I had a little bit of hope, until I heard Freddy speak that is.... Then the actual movie turned out to be terrible with over and under acting up the wazoo and uninspired scenes....
I miss the creativity that older movies seemed to emit. Though really, is it fair to judge movies so harshly these days? As an old episode of South Park (another South Park reference, go figure) pointed out, everything has been copying or playing off of older titles and ideas for generations in film and television. It's nothing new.
Take for example, recently, the newest Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We loved the first one and the second was ok I suppose. But the third? It was terrible! And now even a forth?! Ok, while the fourth waaas better than the third by a margin, that's still not saying much. How about the new X-Men movie? Honestly, I thought it was terrible. We've gone through 3 X-Men movies, one Wolverine movie, and now this. I almost feel like they put more effort into thinking of how to include Hugh Jackman than on how to write a good story. Of course, that rule of bad sequels doesn't always hold true. Remember Terminator 2? Incredible!
As for remakes, the list just goes far to high to list them all. Seems like 60 percent of the movies released today are remakes of older movies. Ohhh! Here's one good example: The Karate Kid! Nevermind the face that karate is a Japanese martial art and they are in China clearly learning kung-fu! Or the Nightmare on Elm Street. Here is one that made me so excited when I heard it was coming out. You see, I love Freddy Krueger. The character is a legend for me. When I found otu Robert Englund was not going to be playing him, I was beyond disappointed at first, but decided to give the new guy a chance. During the previews I had a little bit of hope, until I heard Freddy speak that is.... Then the actual movie turned out to be terrible with over and under acting up the wazoo and uninspired scenes....
I miss the creativity that older movies seemed to emit. Though really, is it fair to judge movies so harshly these days? As an old episode of South Park (another South Park reference, go figure) pointed out, everything has been copying or playing off of older titles and ideas for generations in film and television. It's nothing new.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Glorifying War in the USA
I'm currently on my Annual Training (14 days) with the Army National Guard at the time of this posting, something which has already begun to make my studying and completing work for my classes exceptionally difficult. Anyhow, I noticed something today as I was zoning out while standing in the line entering the building for dinner (chow hall line). All the soldiers standing with M-16 rifles laughing, joking, and overall acting like the weapons were not even in their hands. I thought to myself, "These are machines created to end life, to murder. But we treat them so casually, like an ordinary thing." Now right away you may think, "But you are soldiers, of course weapons should be familiar to you!" But should they really? Just think about that. How should any group of people in our country feel that it is even ok to act so natural and casual with weapons designed for murder? Shouldn't we feel the weight of our weapon? But we don't.
So why is this? In a time where the USA is invading, yes I said INVADING, other countries and murdering, yes, MURDERING, other countries for something as pathetic as control over those nations, we seem to think that we are justified and doing the right thing. But that's nothing new. We, as Americans, always believe every action we do in the world is just and right. That we are an unbiased force of good that needs to heal an otherwise evil, broken world. Who the **** are we to hold such ideas?! Where do these ideas come from? (I won't go into detail how many horrible crimes, most often related to rape and murder, our soldiers stationed around the world commit. Reality!) Perhaps a strong re-enforcer of our image as the automatic good guys comes from movies and television. In our movies, the Americans, wherever they go and whatever they do, appear as great liberators and heroes. We rescue foreign children from wars and disasters, we save old farmers or beautiful young women (often met with the woman giving herself to the 'big strong' American savior), and annihilate all the enemies that are said are the 'bad guys' Heck, we often don't even need to know details most of the time. Just if we see someone attacking the American military in any way the attacker is automatically viewed as evil and bad. But given the details, and looking objectively, we may very well have been the ones who were 'bad'. We do after all hold one of the highest records of civilian causalities in the many wars we have participated in. The greater good? Bull. What about the news? The way the news talks about the rest of the world makes us seem like the only civilized country on Earth. So we get in our minds that we are the ones who must fix all those "underprivileged, uncivilized" nations. Yet, those of us who hold such ignorant ideals more than likely never lived anyway BUT here, so I guess, while it can't be condoned, can at least be understood.
Anyway, again I seem to have sidetracked quite a bit. But the point is that we as Americans seem to have reached a point where we believe invading other countries and killing is a normal, expected, and necessary thing. Few of us even question it. And finally when we do begin to question it, we give in to the lie and scam of national security when our government and media tries to scare us with terrorism threats. It just doesn't end. I may be a soldier but I will never be able to carry a weapon without feeling its weight, without knowing, understanding, and fearing what it is designed to do. There's no glory in it. There is no hollywood type adventure that comes with it. It's just for killing, plain and simple.
So why is this? In a time where the USA is invading, yes I said INVADING, other countries and murdering, yes, MURDERING, other countries for something as pathetic as control over those nations, we seem to think that we are justified and doing the right thing. But that's nothing new. We, as Americans, always believe every action we do in the world is just and right. That we are an unbiased force of good that needs to heal an otherwise evil, broken world. Who the **** are we to hold such ideas?! Where do these ideas come from? (I won't go into detail how many horrible crimes, most often related to rape and murder, our soldiers stationed around the world commit. Reality!) Perhaps a strong re-enforcer of our image as the automatic good guys comes from movies and television. In our movies, the Americans, wherever they go and whatever they do, appear as great liberators and heroes. We rescue foreign children from wars and disasters, we save old farmers or beautiful young women (often met with the woman giving herself to the 'big strong' American savior), and annihilate all the enemies that are said are the 'bad guys' Heck, we often don't even need to know details most of the time. Just if we see someone attacking the American military in any way the attacker is automatically viewed as evil and bad. But given the details, and looking objectively, we may very well have been the ones who were 'bad'. We do after all hold one of the highest records of civilian causalities in the many wars we have participated in. The greater good? Bull. What about the news? The way the news talks about the rest of the world makes us seem like the only civilized country on Earth. So we get in our minds that we are the ones who must fix all those "underprivileged, uncivilized" nations. Yet, those of us who hold such ignorant ideals more than likely never lived anyway BUT here, so I guess, while it can't be condoned, can at least be understood.
Anyway, again I seem to have sidetracked quite a bit. But the point is that we as Americans seem to have reached a point where we believe invading other countries and killing is a normal, expected, and necessary thing. Few of us even question it. And finally when we do begin to question it, we give in to the lie and scam of national security when our government and media tries to scare us with terrorism threats. It just doesn't end. I may be a soldier but I will never be able to carry a weapon without feeling its weight, without knowing, understanding, and fearing what it is designed to do. There's no glory in it. There is no hollywood type adventure that comes with it. It's just for killing, plain and simple.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
"What happens in Thailand, stays in Thailand." Seriously?
The other day a friend of mine asked me, "Have you seen Hangover 2?" I replied with a flat no and told him I have no interest in seeing it whatsoever. Now you may wonder for what reason I say this. Well, the simple reason is that I'm fed up and disgusted with the gross misrepresentation of other countries that goes on in our Hollywood movies. Specifically in the case of Thailand, I have a fairly long history with the culture and am always getting frustrated with the inaccurate stereotypes of it being one big orgy and sex-fest. Now I won't claim that any such representations are made in this particular movie as I have not seen it, but almost any other movie that takes place in or references Thailand does so I doubt hangover 2 would be any exception.
Now of course it seems silly to get frustrated about a movie's fictitious depiction of any place. However, the problem is that (Western) people really believe that is the way things really are there. As Americans, culturally, we tend to view the world specifically through the television and come to think that everything depicted is how things really are. Example: Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift. There is a line in this movie that says, "If you go over so-and-so speed limit, the police won't pull you over." Excuse me?! You wouldn't believe how many times people have asked me if this is true in Japan! No, no, no, no! Unfortunately, us Americans (especially us, white Americans) create such incredibly and ridiculously false images through the media we are exposed to. Another misrepresentation, Asians are NOT crazy about white guys and do NOT fantasize about us sweeping them off their feet! That is the one that drives me craziest. Get over it, we are not special because we are white. Might even come as a shock but Asian people are most attracted to.... other Asian people! Wow, shock! But that's a whole other topic for another time. Don't wanna get too off-topic.
Thailand. The reality. It is among the most conservative countries in the world (sexually speaking) today. While there is a lot of prostitution and shady activities going on in some areas (specifically some areas of Bangkok), it is the foreigners who keep those businesses running. It's not a reflection of Thai culture, but the crap that us foreigners bring there. Further, those "areas" are few and far between. The one stereotype I can say IS true, however, is that there are many "ladyboys" and gay guys in Thailand. Little random factoid, it's actually the Japanese and Chinese mafias that control most of the prostitution in Thailand. Second random factoid. Modern Thai pop culture is heavily, heavily influence by Korean pop culture. Japanese pop culture used to be popular there before and still has an influence.
To flip the chessboard, however, I want to mention that it is not only the USA that misrepresents other countries and makes foolish assumptions based on movies. For example, I can say from experience, in Japan, some Japanese people actually believe that us Americans carry guns on a regular basis during our daily routines. Some believe that all the men and women walking the streets look like Hollywood stars or models. Even worse, some of them think that Paris Hilton is actually beautiful! Holy ****! Anyway, you get the idea.
The point is, we really, really need to stop shaping our reality and opinions based on what the television shows us. Media, while it can certainly be an entertaining and wonderful thing, can unfortunately control too much of how the world is imagined. Ideas, opinions, perceptions, what's cool, what's lame, almost anything can be controlled by media. So yea.... in closing. Just don't take what is shown in movies as reality. Trust your own experiences and nothing else. :)
Now of course it seems silly to get frustrated about a movie's fictitious depiction of any place. However, the problem is that (Western) people really believe that is the way things really are there. As Americans, culturally, we tend to view the world specifically through the television and come to think that everything depicted is how things really are. Example: Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift. There is a line in this movie that says, "If you go over so-and-so speed limit, the police won't pull you over." Excuse me?! You wouldn't believe how many times people have asked me if this is true in Japan! No, no, no, no! Unfortunately, us Americans (especially us, white Americans) create such incredibly and ridiculously false images through the media we are exposed to. Another misrepresentation, Asians are NOT crazy about white guys and do NOT fantasize about us sweeping them off their feet! That is the one that drives me craziest. Get over it, we are not special because we are white. Might even come as a shock but Asian people are most attracted to.... other Asian people! Wow, shock! But that's a whole other topic for another time. Don't wanna get too off-topic.
Thailand. The reality. It is among the most conservative countries in the world (sexually speaking) today. While there is a lot of prostitution and shady activities going on in some areas (specifically some areas of Bangkok), it is the foreigners who keep those businesses running. It's not a reflection of Thai culture, but the crap that us foreigners bring there. Further, those "areas" are few and far between. The one stereotype I can say IS true, however, is that there are many "ladyboys" and gay guys in Thailand. Little random factoid, it's actually the Japanese and Chinese mafias that control most of the prostitution in Thailand. Second random factoid. Modern Thai pop culture is heavily, heavily influence by Korean pop culture. Japanese pop culture used to be popular there before and still has an influence.
To flip the chessboard, however, I want to mention that it is not only the USA that misrepresents other countries and makes foolish assumptions based on movies. For example, I can say from experience, in Japan, some Japanese people actually believe that us Americans carry guns on a regular basis during our daily routines. Some believe that all the men and women walking the streets look like Hollywood stars or models. Even worse, some of them think that Paris Hilton is actually beautiful! Holy ****! Anyway, you get the idea.
The point is, we really, really need to stop shaping our reality and opinions based on what the television shows us. Media, while it can certainly be an entertaining and wonderful thing, can unfortunately control too much of how the world is imagined. Ideas, opinions, perceptions, what's cool, what's lame, almost anything can be controlled by media. So yea.... in closing. Just don't take what is shown in movies as reality. Trust your own experiences and nothing else. :)
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