MEDIA MEDITATION #3: Ok go is a MUST go!

This month's limbically appealing event was the OK GO concert at Higher ground, in Burlington Vermont. It was like music to my ears---literally!

OK GO really pulled out all the stops in their performance, the moment they stepped out on stage the lights turned bright and a confetti cannon shot out over the band and the audience. At first my reptilian brain told me to flight, heart racing and head spinning from all the commotion, but the blaring sound of their hit song "Here it goes again" hit my ears and I began to rock out!

I didn't know many songs from the band when I decided to go to the concert...in fact I only had three of their songs on my ipod! However, I knew their concert was going to be exciting and entertaining...after all they are known for their crazy music videos such as the colorful stop animation "End Love" and the intricate "this too shall pass".

I certainly wasn't disappointed!

They had laser guitars, light blinking jackets and did I mention the confetti cannon?! It was basically raining colors!!!



They even showed their new music video for white knuckles...in 3D! They gave out 3D goggles to all the audience members and everything! Below is the music without 3D effects...still pretty funky right?



Perhaps it was the small venue, but I definitely didn't feel just like a small member in a crowd at their show. It really felt like they were going for a personal shift, interacting with the audience, using humor and joking about how they love Vermont because the audience was filled with hippies and at several times the lead singer came into the audience to dance and sing, and even played an acoustic set in the middle of the crowd!! It was great.

At the end of the concert, the band even took a photo of the crowd and uploaded it to facebook, so they could remember their fans! I immediately went online and tagged myself of course. I wanted to end the blog with that uploaded picture, a circle around where I was standing, but the pesky dorm internet won't let me on facebook for some reason so I can't.

Well...this is awkward.

Instead, I'll distract the anyone reading this blog with another amazing OK GO music video



Wasn't that awesome? I'm sure the flow in that music video made you forget all about a silly picture!! What silly picture you ask? Exactly.

(all photos courtesy of Google Images)

Seventeen magazine!

THESIS: Seventeen magazine: Dressing girls of every shape, size and style with tips on hair, make-up, fashion, love and drama!

FIVE FACTS:

-Ke$ha wants to start a blue lipstick trend
-82 percent of seventeen readers have peeked at porn.
-you can shop on your iphone or itouch with seventeen app (free download on itunes)
-Working at the company Google, you create your own hours
-Angus T Jones from Two and a half men makes 250,000 a year


TRIUNE BRAIN: The limbic brain is a big part of the seventeen magazine. It tunes into the female readers emotions by having articles about "body peace" for those with self esteem issues (which according to this magazine every teen female has them!), intense articles about escaping an attack, and even has stories of being cheated on by guys. Also, the limbic mind processes images and there are a lot of those featured in this magazine!

The reptillian brain is also used effectively, there are recepies for eating, a sex ed portion and pictures of hunky guys for mating, an article about girl fights for fighting, and an article about escaping an attack for flighting!

8 TRENDS: Personal shift-stories are featured about "real girls" and there is also a feedback section

Economic Shift- the "googlezon" is featured, showing how great it is to work there!


Epistomological Shift-word to image, instead of just articles there are bright images dominating the page.

7 PRINCIPLES: Reality constuction-Everyone may have perfect skin, hair and is fashionable however a model in the magazine confesses it to be just fantasy and photoshop and stylist, even the natural look!

Value message-everyone is beautiful...now here are some tips to make you look prettier!

29 PERSUASIVE TECHNIQUES: Hyperbole-"425 fashion tricks!" there is not actually a page with 425 fashion tricks, it is just the number of tricks featured throughout the magazine


Humor-"tramarama" embaressing stories from seventeen readers that are terriblely embaressing but funny!

(all photos courtesy of Google Images)

MIDTERM REFLECTION: Looking back on Media and Society

1. I've learned a lot about all aspects of the media--television, internet, movies, newspapers, etc--both old and new. Not only have I learned fun facts that will help me win trivia (ex. Disney owns 80% of ESPN!) But I've also learned the roles certain media platforms play in our society and other societies and how the media is changing which will help me in the future secure a job because I understand how the media works and affects audiences everywhere.

2.


As a reader I learned to search for important key points more efficiently.


As a writer, I learned that you must keep your audience in mind (such as with personal blogs) because sometimes you just need to have fun instead of being completely formal and professional


As a thinker, I've learned to take prior knowledge into account and use that to fuel an argument rather than just use what I'm given/told.

3. One thing I would have done differently in the first semester: I would have studied the power tools more carefully in the first couple weeks because some of my few first note card quiz grades were pitiful.

4. One thing I would have liked to be done differently is less emphasis on midnight deadlines. I work best late at night and sometimes find it challenging to get things posted before 12am. So I would move the due dates to "posted before class starts."

5. Powertools have been very informative and useful so far. I actually used the 29 persuasive techniques as examples in my rhetoric class to explain how certain opinionated authors were trying to sell the reader on their point of view.

The Course Blog is an easy, eco-friendly way to submit homework, since students don't have to use paper it hurts less tress and eliminates the problem of forgetting work in the dorm.

The Personal Blog is one of my favorite parts of class because i like creative writing. It feels relevant because I am allowed to choose my own media platform to blog about, keeping me interested and able to use the powertools, keeping them fresh in my mind.

The In-class Quizzes are useful because the repetitive use of powertools on random displays of media keep me alert to media aspects and able to point out how the powertools were used effectively

The Films we've watched in class certainly keep me engaged and interested. Reel bad Arabs reflected media's effect on us as a society, particularly how it can contribute to strengthen stereotypes about a culture.

The Book Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication is a useful tool since it goes in depth about different media platforms from the beginning up until current day, incorporating ideas like technological shift and convergence.

Camp Champ Radio Spot: Come to Champlain!!

Check out this radio ad for champlain college! Because I said so!

For those of you who like to read along, here is the script:

Come to Champlain!

Do you want a spectacular education? And a pony?Well, you can find out which one of the two you can get by coming to Champlain!

Come to Champlain!

Champlain has a pretty campus and pretty people come here. Come here to be amongst people almost as pretty as you!

Come to Champlain!

Here are just a few successful stories of people who came to Champlain!“I graduated from Champlain and instantly received a million dollars! You can too!”

Come to Champlain!

“At Champlain I met a celebrity! Celebrities go here!”Come to Champlain! Did you know Champlain grads are 13% more likely to survive a nuclear Holocaust?

Come to Champlain if you want to live!

President Warlord Finney demands you come to Champlain! He fights bears and catamounts!

Come to Champlain!

College doesn’t cost that much! Only ten thousand easy payments of $9.99! Sign up today and we’ll throw in a free Snuggie!

Come to Champlain!

Come to Champlain!

Come to Champlain!

Have we mentioned come to Champlain?!

Audeamus!

Come to Champlain! Or the pony gets it!

The radio doesn't lie, Champlain College (pictured above) IS pretty. Which means everything else said in the ad must be true!

I've never been more convinced that Champlain College is the place for me.

MEDIA MEDITATION #2: This Blog is an "Easy A"

"A is for Awesome." -Olive Penderghast from the movie "Easy A"

"Easy A" earns an A in my book for a hilarious teen comedy! Surprisingly quirky and clever, the movie is a loose 2010 adaption of the famous literary novel "The Scarlet Letter". And when I say loose, I mean loose in every sense (wink wink).

Essentially, the story is about this young girl (Olive) who lets loser boys around school tell people she had sex with them, in exchange for gift cards. She does this a) because she feels sorry for the losers and wants them to stop being picked on and b) because she went from a nobody to a talked-about-somebody after she lied and told her friend she lost her virginity. I suppose she was going for the idea that 'Bad publicity is better than no publicity at all'. At least she was a somebody now.

Now, the Scarlet Letter (which I remember reading in high school) is about a young maiden who committed adultery and was forced to shamefully wear a red A on her chest to symbolize her impureness. Olive, who loves the attention her bad reputation is getting her, ends up sewing a red A on all the scandalous lingerie-like tops she bought to over-emphasis her promiscuity. You can just imagine Joan Jett's Bad Reputation playing in your head, can't you? (rock out your limbic minds by clicking on the link!

"So, what's with your new look? It's very whore couture."

--Olive's friend Brandon from Easy A, commenting on Olive's new taste in clothes.

If that explanation of the movie wasn't enough for y'all, check out the "Easy A" trailer below.

The format of the movie is interesting. As you can see from the trailer, Olive is vlogging about her story via webcam in a movie! Oh convergence, you sneaky tactic you. It certainly was a clever way to narrate the story.

In the movie, cultural shift is certainly represented for privacy to surveillance is a define issue. Within seconds of Olive telling a lie, the rumor spread like wildfire in a sequence of texting teens. I suppose high school wouldn't be the same in my memory without high tech ways to spread rumors and information! There was actually a very funny part in the movie where a teacher complains about facebook status updates, stating:

"I don't know what your generation's fascination is with documenting your every thought... but I can assure you, they're not all diamonds. "Roman is having an OK day, and bought a Coke Zero at the gas station. Raise the roof." Who gives a rat's ass? "

--Mr. Griffith, "Easy A"

haha, hilarious! Now, I don't want to give too much of the movie's plot away in this blog post, so I'll just say this: Some things went down, some lessons were learned and in the end I left the movie satisfied. There was a little romance, a random song and dance sequence (in which the limbic brain appreciates), and a lot of humor. In my mind, that is the makings of a great movie, in terms of brainless entertainment. Time just seemed to fly by when I was fully engaged in the movie from the moment I sat down, popcorn in hand---and I have Flow to thank for that!