During the last two weeks of class I attended a total of three presentations about New Media for extra credit opportunities. I have to say that all three presentations were impressive. I do have a personal favorite, but I won't talk about that on the internet.
The third presentation I saw was by a professor whose last name I believe was Dorsten. The main focus of the presentation was the manner in which public relations have been changing due to new media. We watched a video in which Charmin set up deluxe bathrooms somewhere around Times Square New York. This was incredibly strange, but also a good way to generate buzz for their products at the same time. I personally would feel highly uncomfortable going to bathrooms filled with tourists, but then again, I am not the average consumer.
Anyway I would be interested in taking a course along these lines. I don't even want to think about the future, but a job in public relations would most certainly not be the worst case scenario for my one and only existence. It was informative. She engaged the students. It was an effective presentation. I will be interested to see what the Speech Department decides upon after seeing all three presentations. Even though it won't affect my future, I have my fingers crossed my candidate gets picked. It's kind of like survivor, except without an internet forum of people who take satellite photos to try and determine what is going to happen.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
HUGE CARS and the reason they are destroying civilized life as we know it.
Today I saw a girl, who I am going to guess was roughly 18, driving a Hummer through the streets of Naperville. Nothing about this scenario is even remotely acceptable.
1,745,289- That is the number of parking spots wasted during one year in Naperville due to two interesting societal phenomena.
1. The majority of people cannot parallel park.
2. People insist on having these massive SUV's
Granted I understand some people have a legitimate reason to have such massive vehicles, but seriously? Tomorrow morning I will likely see a plethora of individuals drinking lattes, while talking on cellphones, while putting in their Top 40 cd's, while loading How to Train Your Dragon into their overhead blu ray players for their kids, while parallel parking. This type of convergence will have an interesting outcome no theorist has yet written about to my knowledge... I will see this and develop an ulcer.
1,745,289- That is the number of parking spots wasted during one year in Naperville due to two interesting societal phenomena.
1. The majority of people cannot parallel park.
2. People insist on having these massive SUV's
Granted I understand some people have a legitimate reason to have such massive vehicles, but seriously? Tomorrow morning I will likely see a plethora of individuals drinking lattes, while talking on cellphones, while putting in their Top 40 cd's, while loading How to Train Your Dragon into their overhead blu ray players for their kids, while parallel parking. This type of convergence will have an interesting outcome no theorist has yet written about to my knowledge... I will see this and develop an ulcer.
Bonus Post: Spike Lee
Am I missing something? What IS in fact the deal with my generation? I mean I'm not even sure the tickets to see Spike Lee were even sold out. They were FREE for students. I mean in California tickets to see Third Eye Blind sold out in minutes and this was circa six years post "Jumper" being a popular song. I just don't get it. You're only going to live once. Are you going to be walking down the street and just happen to run into Spike Lee and have an hour conversation with him at your local Starbucks while you drink your new Trendetta (or whatever pretentious name they've given it) human stomach sized latte? I sit here typing instead of breaking glass bottles thinking of people at home watching Jersey Shore or whatever it is they were doing that was so much more important than a literally once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
OK maybe I'm being a little bit of a curmudgeon, but the point remains. Spike Lee gave a hilarious speech. He also used profanity and racial slurs quite a bit. I think this may have shocked some of the more conservative audience folk, but I don't want to open that can of worms. Also I must say the the theater seemed to have the most racially and culturally diverse group of individuals I've ever seen come together in Naperville. Kudos.
Getting on to his speech. What is life if not the pursuit of a dream? I don't care what anyone thought they would be when they grew up. I want to ask this question: what did you think you would be doing in college? Shotgunning Pabst Blue Ribbon or listening to a speech by an American auteur? (Note: I obviously don't think these were the only two things people were doing tonight out of the semi-infinite possibilities set forth before a human on any given Tuesday.)
This post is a rant and should not offend those who might take it seriously, but what gives? I just thought people in my age group were more open to and interested in cultural experiences. I guess I thought wrong.
OK maybe I'm being a little bit of a curmudgeon, but the point remains. Spike Lee gave a hilarious speech. He also used profanity and racial slurs quite a bit. I think this may have shocked some of the more conservative audience folk, but I don't want to open that can of worms. Also I must say the the theater seemed to have the most racially and culturally diverse group of individuals I've ever seen come together in Naperville. Kudos.
Getting on to his speech. What is life if not the pursuit of a dream? I don't care what anyone thought they would be when they grew up. I want to ask this question: what did you think you would be doing in college? Shotgunning Pabst Blue Ribbon or listening to a speech by an American auteur? (Note: I obviously don't think these were the only two things people were doing tonight out of the semi-infinite possibilities set forth before a human on any given Tuesday.)
This post is a rant and should not offend those who might take it seriously, but what gives? I just thought people in my age group were more open to and interested in cultural experiences. I guess I thought wrong.
Google is Going to Rule the World and We are All Powerless to Stop It
Maybe that was a bit hyperbolic. That being said, there is doubt that Google plays a major role in my life. I use Google more on a daily basis than I care to admit. Yes I am lazy, thus it is often the case that when I have a question about anything I just type it into Google and search (such as "is red wine actually good for your heart.") Then in a glorious instant hundreds of thousands of results give me easy access to the knowledge of the entire known universe... or so it would seem.
I experience this moment of disappointment and sheer panic every time my search yields results giving me conflicting information, which is often. Many of the websites seem to be highly lacking in credibility in the first place. Then I have this dilemma where one page says something to the effect of "red wine will help you lose weight, and live to be 102" and the other page says "red wine will kill you, no doubt." Due to the popularity of Facebook and Wikipedia, there would probably also be a link to a Facebook page supported by red wine enthusiasts with a nice slogan like "RED WINE FTW!!!" and important information about red wine, such as the information that red wine is "epic" and "win." Wikipedia can also help me if I need to know if red wine was used in any anime or video games lately.
Anyhow, I shouldn't be so dramatic and Google actually does make life easier most of the time.Despite these shortcomings, the only time I don't use Google is usually for academic papers, as my professors will come down on my for conduct unbecoming of an North Central College Student or something along those lines. I am addicted to Google I admit it. Will the withdrawal be as difficult as the others I've experienced? That remains to be seen. Basically I think it's like anything else in life: you have to wade through the sea of mediocrity to finally reach the isle of excellence. Search wisely.
I experience this moment of disappointment and sheer panic every time my search yields results giving me conflicting information, which is often. Many of the websites seem to be highly lacking in credibility in the first place. Then I have this dilemma where one page says something to the effect of "red wine will help you lose weight, and live to be 102" and the other page says "red wine will kill you, no doubt." Due to the popularity of Facebook and Wikipedia, there would probably also be a link to a Facebook page supported by red wine enthusiasts with a nice slogan like "RED WINE FTW!!!" and important information about red wine, such as the information that red wine is "epic" and "win." Wikipedia can also help me if I need to know if red wine was used in any anime or video games lately.
Anyhow, I shouldn't be so dramatic and Google actually does make life easier most of the time.Despite these shortcomings, the only time I don't use Google is usually for academic papers, as my professors will come down on my for conduct unbecoming of an North Central College Student or something along those lines. I am addicted to Google I admit it. Will the withdrawal be as difficult as the others I've experienced? That remains to be seen. Basically I think it's like anything else in life: you have to wade through the sea of mediocrity to finally reach the isle of excellence. Search wisely.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
First Official Post for Dr. Macek's Class
I have been instructed to read an interview with a well-known blogger. This has been done in order to invoke the creative muse to write this blog. I have never heard of any of the individuals on the blogger list my professor gave me. I chose to read an interview with Fred First, because his name sounded the most interesting. Fred First sounds like the name of a punk rocker or an author to me. Fred First started blogging because he lives in a small town. He wants to communicate with others and express his opinions in an unrestricted manner. Fred First isn't afraid to speak his mind, which I admire greatly. He doesn't really cater any specific audience as far as I can tell. In his writings, he strives to find his own, distinct tone of voice. These are natural and understandable desires, no?
I'm starting to bore myself a little (sorry Professor Macek if you ever read this and I'm doing it wrong so to speak), thus I am going to describe why I started blogging. I am narcissistic and love talking about myself. If you are repulsed by this, then I will admit this may not be a blog worth spending your undoubtedly precious time on. At least I have the gumption to admit my character flaws. Anyhow, I actually have to blog for class, less my uber-important grade take a beating. As we all know, nothing is static. Now I have another reason for wanting to continue this blog... read on to have your mind effectively blown by my insight.
Where I live, which I will not disclose for a variety of reasons, is what I consider to be a veritable wasteland of hyper-conservatism and primitive thinking. I hope to reach out to at least a few people who think in a similar fashion. Drinking in bars is alienating and a major waste of money. Clubs in the city are pretentious and too many people try are overly self-aware. I don't care what sports team gets which player. It will have literally no effect on my quality of life. Let's stop this prescribed self-indulgence and create something. Let's harness the power of the stars and create a wormhole. I resolve that I will create something soon and blog about it. If I do that, then I ask anyone who reads this to not listen to Lady Gaga or Jutsin Beiber for a month. Also refuse to buy clothing from a name brand store or read a celebrity gossip magazine. If this happens, I'm relatively sure we'll all be one step closer to enlightenment.
I'm starting to bore myself a little (sorry Professor Macek if you ever read this and I'm doing it wrong so to speak), thus I am going to describe why I started blogging. I am narcissistic and love talking about myself. If you are repulsed by this, then I will admit this may not be a blog worth spending your undoubtedly precious time on. At least I have the gumption to admit my character flaws. Anyhow, I actually have to blog for class, less my uber-important grade take a beating. As we all know, nothing is static. Now I have another reason for wanting to continue this blog... read on to have your mind effectively blown by my insight.
Where I live, which I will not disclose for a variety of reasons, is what I consider to be a veritable wasteland of hyper-conservatism and primitive thinking. I hope to reach out to at least a few people who think in a similar fashion. Drinking in bars is alienating and a major waste of money. Clubs in the city are pretentious and too many people try are overly self-aware. I don't care what sports team gets which player. It will have literally no effect on my quality of life. Let's stop this prescribed self-indulgence and create something. Let's harness the power of the stars and create a wormhole. I resolve that I will create something soon and blog about it. If I do that, then I ask anyone who reads this to not listen to Lady Gaga or Jutsin Beiber for a month. Also refuse to buy clothing from a name brand store or read a celebrity gossip magazine. If this happens, I'm relatively sure we'll all be one step closer to enlightenment.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Spun Out
I feel like a junkie going through rehab. I haven't slept in 5 months. Every day feels like a a dream I can't wake up from. Time seems to have stopped. My life completely lacks all forward momentum. None of what I just wrote is true.
The Grasshopper
Good evening. I now start blogging for the first time in my existence. It's getting exciting now. We now enter a world of sensory experiences beyond what you could ever hope to imagine. Adriana Lima is gorgeous. You agree?
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