There are many rules to blogging and many tips that can help you get better at it and create better blogs. Everything needs rules to make it better and these are some of the general rules for blogging.
-Respond to comments
-Don't blog about blogging
-Don't quote content without citing a URL
-Don’t post to communicate indirectly with another person
-Don’t obfuscate a post with overly abstract language
-Respect the privacy of other people you blog about
-Don’t assume everyone in real life has already read your latest post
-Don’t advertise a new blog–let it be discovered
These are only some general rules and i know that this was supposed to be 500 words or something but this is my last post and its 11:58 so I cant write anymore.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
A Tall Glass of O.J.
The O.J. Simpson case was one of the most popular cases of its time. Did OJ kill his wife? I guess no one will know for sure except for O.J. There are many mixed opinions and facts show that he most likely did kill his wife but he could be telling the truth. Then his book comes out and there's more controversy. The books original title says it all: "O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here's How it Happened" which was later changed to "If I Did It: Confessions of a Killer". Simpson was found "not guilty" by the judge at his trial on October 3rd 1995. So does this make him evil? For all we know he is not guilty...Or is he? Time magazine seems to think Simpson is evil and they show this by featuring a picture of Simpson's mug shot edited to make him look darker, and many will agree; more scary. So is it right to do this? Pictures in magazines are photo shopped all of the time. I think with the consent of the person in the photo, manipulation of the photo should be alright as long as the person in the picture agrees with what is being fixed. O.J. did not give his consent to make the picture darker but Time didn't need his consent. You can be the judge. Is this picture racist against black people, racist against just O.J., or not racist at all.
http://www.timeinc.net
http://www.timeinc.net
Make Fun of Bush = Change Your Whole Image
While performing at Shepherds Bush Empire in London, England, Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks said, "We're ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas." Fans cheered in agreement and seemed to strongly believe what Maines was saying. So why did her whole career turn around after that? The fans cheered but shortly after the concert The Dixie Chicks were taken off of most country radio stations and they lost many fans. It is easy to see why some patriots would boycott the music after this incident but lets look at other artists who have made fun of Bush. P!nk talks all about Bush in her song "Dear Mr. President" but that song is played on the radio all the time. If anything, P!nk gained fans from that song. Kanye West said that George Bush didn't care about black people on national TV after Hurricane Katrina. Kanye's incident was quickly forgotten. So why were The Dixie Chicks criticized for their comment? There are many things that we need to look at to correctly analyze why celebrities like Kanye West and P!nk can get away with making fun of Bush.
Audience and genre have a huge impact on why The Dixie Chicks were virtually boycotted by most radio stations. They were mainly played on country stations and the majority of country listeners are very patriotic. They love their country and they love their president. They are for the war and not against it. Criticizing Bush is like criticizing your audience if your a country band or singer and for that short time, criticizing The Dixie Chicks would get you tons of fans if you were a country band or singer. Toby Keith did this and he got many fans but Natalie Maines fought back by wearing a shirt that said "F.U.T.K" on stage at one of her concerts. Despite her actions, she still wasn't out of the dark and her music still wasn't being played. The difference with P!nk and Kanye is that P!nk sings carefree, rebel music so she was praised for her song. As for Kanye's comment, he is one of the most popular hip-hop artists today and no radio station would take him off the air.
The time that the comments and songs were made also effects how they were interpreted. Maines made her comment when the war was going on so all of the people that supported the war and that believed everything that George Bush was telling them hated her comment. They supported the war so anything that went against the war went against their beliefs. P!nks song was written after the war and after everyone found out that there were no weapons of mass destruction. This is why she didn't get and bad feedback for her song.
The point is that Natalie said the wrong thing at the wrong time. If she had made that comment after the war she might still have the same fans and the same image she had before. Since she made the comment before the war she had to change the music she was playing so that she could attract a new audience and continue to make money doing the thing she loves; playing music.
Here's the Shut Up and Sing trailer.
A little documentary about the war between Tob Keith and Natalie Maines
Kanye's Comment
P!nk singing "Mr. President" live
Audience and genre have a huge impact on why The Dixie Chicks were virtually boycotted by most radio stations. They were mainly played on country stations and the majority of country listeners are very patriotic. They love their country and they love their president. They are for the war and not against it. Criticizing Bush is like criticizing your audience if your a country band or singer and for that short time, criticizing The Dixie Chicks would get you tons of fans if you were a country band or singer. Toby Keith did this and he got many fans but Natalie Maines fought back by wearing a shirt that said "F.U.T.K" on stage at one of her concerts. Despite her actions, she still wasn't out of the dark and her music still wasn't being played. The difference with P!nk and Kanye is that P!nk sings carefree, rebel music so she was praised for her song. As for Kanye's comment, he is one of the most popular hip-hop artists today and no radio station would take him off the air.
The time that the comments and songs were made also effects how they were interpreted. Maines made her comment when the war was going on so all of the people that supported the war and that believed everything that George Bush was telling them hated her comment. They supported the war so anything that went against the war went against their beliefs. P!nks song was written after the war and after everyone found out that there were no weapons of mass destruction. This is why she didn't get and bad feedback for her song.
The point is that Natalie said the wrong thing at the wrong time. If she had made that comment after the war she might still have the same fans and the same image she had before. Since she made the comment before the war she had to change the music she was playing so that she could attract a new audience and continue to make money doing the thing she loves; playing music.
Here's the Shut Up and Sing trailer.
A little documentary about the war between Tob Keith and Natalie Maines
Kanye's Comment
P!nk singing "Mr. President" live
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Where Have All the Good Arabs Gone?
Since 9-11 Arabs and Muslim people have been portrayed as terrorists and leave it up to the media to make things worse. In movies, songs, TV shows and any other media you can think of, Arabs are always the bad guys. There is never an Arab or Muslim hero. You hardly ever see middle eastern people being saved by the hero. I think this is bad sterotyping. Not all Arabs are terrorists but ofcourse of one person attacks us, we attack their whole race. There are many different ideas about how we can raise awarness that Muslim culture isn't bombing national monuments and huge buildings but that they are actually very peacefull people.
If I had to create a media product to correctly portray Arabs I would make a reality TV show. This Show would fallow the lives of a family of Arab people. It would show people at home what a regular Arab family does on a daily basis. It would also show the people what hobbies they have, what kinds of friends they have and show us that they are a lot like causasian people. It would also show the real Arab culture being positivly portrayed rather than just praying and then blowing up a building like you see in the movies. It would target every audience and even though some material may be for more mature audiences it is good for kids to see that Arabs aren't all bad. I would set up a site for the show where you could watch 24 hour footage online and post to many blogs about the show. People could talk about the show on the site which is where I would get my feedback and new ideas for the show. I think this would be the most effective product in showing people how Arabs really act on a day to day basis because there is really no one that can show us how a regular Arab functions better than a regular Arab family. I haven't yet thought of a good name for the show but if you have any ideas give me a shout. Thanks.
If I had to create a media product to correctly portray Arabs I would make a reality TV show. This Show would fallow the lives of a family of Arab people. It would show people at home what a regular Arab family does on a daily basis. It would also show the people what hobbies they have, what kinds of friends they have and show us that they are a lot like causasian people. It would also show the real Arab culture being positivly portrayed rather than just praying and then blowing up a building like you see in the movies. It would target every audience and even though some material may be for more mature audiences it is good for kids to see that Arabs aren't all bad. I would set up a site for the show where you could watch 24 hour footage online and post to many blogs about the show. People could talk about the show on the site which is where I would get my feedback and new ideas for the show. I think this would be the most effective product in showing people how Arabs really act on a day to day basis because there is really no one that can show us how a regular Arab functions better than a regular Arab family. I haven't yet thought of a good name for the show but if you have any ideas give me a shout. Thanks.
Monday, January 14, 2008
It's Britney B****?
It seems that the most popular person in today's music media is Britney Spears. Everyone wants a "piece" of her and at first she loved the publicity. Now you can see her new video which clearly indicates that she just wants to go back to being a regular celebrity, if there is such a thing. She started her career way too young and has never really had a really childhood so as soon as she got out of the spotlight she wanted in and once she got in she couldn't get out. This almost destroyed her career and put her through a lot of stress. People still have websites where users be on when she will commit suicide and people still think she is crazy. She does have some problems but I think I would be a little crazy too if I got a record deal when I was 17. Regardless of what is happening in the life of Britney now, it all started back in January of 2007.
Spears' close aunt died of cancer and Spears was heavily into drugs. She checked herself into a rehabilitation centre on February 16 and left lass than 24 hours after.The next night she went to the local hair cutters and got her head shaved. On February 20 she checked into a treatment centre, left and then returned on the 22nd and was released on March 20th after successfully completing the program. This is where the battle for her two children began. Her ex-husband Kevin Federline wanted custody of the children as he thought Spears was not a well suited mother. Throughout 2007 she received much attention from the media because of her behavior and her constant battle for custody of her children.
Her performance at the 2007 MTV music awards received a lot of attention. I think that this attention was for all of the wrong reasons. Reporters were saying that she looked horrible and there were many jokes made about her weight and her appearance. This, of course shouldn't effect the performance. Although her performance was mediocre as she lip-synced and sometimes stopped singing all together and her dance moves were horribly choreographed most reporters wrote about her appearance. This teaches us that most media is based off of appearance. If you don't look a certain way they will make you look that way to fit the persona that the media gives you. If Spears didn't show up she would be called a coward so she did and everyone still found something to make fun of even though it was completely unnecessary to make fun of her looks. This caused her a lot of stress and she was quickly back into drugs and alcohol.
As the battle for her children continued she was issued to take random drug and alcohol tests as well as attend a parenting class. Not more than a week after the hearing she was found guilty of a hit-and-run and driving without a license. On October 1 she lost custody of her children to Federline. Earlier this month after refusing to give her children up to Federlines "people", she was checked in to a hospital and appeared to under the influence of an unknown substance. Her new song "Piece of Me" is an excellent interpretation of how the media followed her looking for every wrong move. The video for the song portrays this very well and it is a big comeback from her performance at the MTV music awards.
What does this teach us? What does this teach little children who look up to people like Britney Spears. We're old enough that we can understand and break down things like this but children might take this the wrong way thinking it's alright to do drugs and drink if you're a celebrity. The media today not only influences us, it influences the next generation and whether they're supposed to see it or not, they will eventually see it and it's up to our generation to show them that sometimes what they see celebrities do is wrong. Maybe Spears had no one to tell her this and shes been a star for so long that it is natural for her to be acting the way she does. Here's a clip of her new video for "Piece of Me".
Spears' close aunt died of cancer and Spears was heavily into drugs. She checked herself into a rehabilitation centre on February 16 and left lass than 24 hours after.The next night she went to the local hair cutters and got her head shaved. On February 20 she checked into a treatment centre, left and then returned on the 22nd and was released on March 20th after successfully completing the program. This is where the battle for her two children began. Her ex-husband Kevin Federline wanted custody of the children as he thought Spears was not a well suited mother. Throughout 2007 she received much attention from the media because of her behavior and her constant battle for custody of her children.
Her performance at the 2007 MTV music awards received a lot of attention. I think that this attention was for all of the wrong reasons. Reporters were saying that she looked horrible and there were many jokes made about her weight and her appearance. This, of course shouldn't effect the performance. Although her performance was mediocre as she lip-synced and sometimes stopped singing all together and her dance moves were horribly choreographed most reporters wrote about her appearance. This teaches us that most media is based off of appearance. If you don't look a certain way they will make you look that way to fit the persona that the media gives you. If Spears didn't show up she would be called a coward so she did and everyone still found something to make fun of even though it was completely unnecessary to make fun of her looks. This caused her a lot of stress and she was quickly back into drugs and alcohol.
As the battle for her children continued she was issued to take random drug and alcohol tests as well as attend a parenting class. Not more than a week after the hearing she was found guilty of a hit-and-run and driving without a license. On October 1 she lost custody of her children to Federline. Earlier this month after refusing to give her children up to Federlines "people", she was checked in to a hospital and appeared to under the influence of an unknown substance. Her new song "Piece of Me" is an excellent interpretation of how the media followed her looking for every wrong move. The video for the song portrays this very well and it is a big comeback from her performance at the MTV music awards.
What does this teach us? What does this teach little children who look up to people like Britney Spears. We're old enough that we can understand and break down things like this but children might take this the wrong way thinking it's alright to do drugs and drink if you're a celebrity. The media today not only influences us, it influences the next generation and whether they're supposed to see it or not, they will eventually see it and it's up to our generation to show them that sometimes what they see celebrities do is wrong. Maybe Spears had no one to tell her this and shes been a star for so long that it is natural for her to be acting the way she does. Here's a clip of her new video for "Piece of Me".
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Move Over Barbie, Fulla is Here!
With Barbie banned in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the middle east there was development of a new doll for Arab girls. Fulla, a doll which portrays Muslim culture was created by Manar Tarabichi and his toy company, New Boy Design. He created Fulla to teach young girls Muslim values and give them something more modest to play with. People in the middle east could relate to Fulla and stores were quickly stocked with tons and tons of Fulla dolls and merchandise. An advantage of being able to relate to their dolls is that little girls will now listen and learn the values that their doll is teaching them. With Barbie, girls could end up with low self-esteem trying to look and act the way she is portrayed to. New Boy sold over 1.5 million Fulla dolls in the first two years of "Full-Mania." It even outsold North Americas popular Barbie at a 40-to-1 ratio. Unlike some Barbies, all Fulla dolls are fully covered and it is easy to see that she is portrayed as being modest while Barbie portrays the wild, party girl attitude. This lifestyle is not accepted in the middle east so where many other places have Barbie, Bratz and other toys like that, the middle eastern people relate to and enjoy Fulla. This is a doll with good values in the eyes of Arab and Muslim parents and it will most likely be around as long if not longer than Barbie.
Here is a Fulla commercial. It seems a little different than most Barbie commercials but I'll let you be the judge.
Works Cited:
MacKinnon, Mark. "Barbie Meets Her Muslim Match." The Globe and Mail 27 Oct. 2005.
Here is a Fulla commercial. It seems a little different than most Barbie commercials but I'll let you be the judge.
Works Cited:
MacKinnon, Mark. "Barbie Meets Her Muslim Match." The Globe and Mail 27 Oct. 2005.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Weekend Media Madness
In this article I will be listing everything I did on a weekend in September. The purpose of this is to show you how much media you will most likely experience on the weekend, even if you just sit at home. Whether you are driving, wathcing Tv, or going to the grocery store, you experience media. Through this I will show you how much media you are experiencing.
As you can see, in one weekend the media can influence a lot in a person. It can influence the way you think and do things as well as the way you conduct yourself. It affects the way people act, the people they hang out with and even what activities they choose to do. For me, music is the part of media that influences me the most. I listen to it, play it and write it. I don't think I could live without music. It is the one thing that I look to when I'm bored or just feel like sitting around and I don’t want to be subject to video games and television. I listen to all types of music depending on my mood but sometimes I think the kind of music I listen to can shape my mood. This kind of thinking works both ways. In that sense, music opens and expends your mind and can shape the way you see things. Music is my favorite part of media but what is yours? If you only pay attention to certain media, you will only think in certain ways. Everyone is different because of what media they are exposed to. Someone who sits at home all day watching TV and playing video games will see a lot of commercials, internet ads and product placement in TV shows. Subjecting yourself to this reality will make you a more commercialized person. It can help you understand what you are seeing or suck you in to what they want you to believe. "They" meaning the corporations of course.
There is nothing really surprising to me about the roll of media in my life. Media is there to be in our faces with new products and offers. In my opinion media can help inform us of up and coming events, products, music and sales. While this is true you must be sure that you don't expose yourself to too much of it. Exposing yourself to too much media can result in you believing everything the media tells you. My media exposure has been pretty good so far. I fallow media to get information but I know where to draw the line and I try to do my research before believing rumors.
In conclusion, my weekend with media showed me that media is everywhere. Everything is advertised in our "buy and sell" world. Media is everything from clothes, to food, to music and it will always be here because of the money people put into it. Media is a big part of every person's life and my two drives to Toronto and experience at a rock concert has helped me realize that. Media affects the way an average person functions and for everyone it is a different experience. The media is more than just in our lives. For most people, media is our lives.
| Friday, September 7 | |
| Activity | Media Experienced |
| Watched South Park DVD | Movies, racist/political comedy, ads(previews) |
| Drove to friends house | Music, Tim Hortons billboard, store fronts |
| Had band practice | Music, inspiration from other bands, waering band merchandise |
| Went to Swiss Chalet | Drive Thru board, other restaurants-fast food industry, music in car |
| Drove home | Radio ads, "popular" music, concert listings, store fronts |
| Played video games | Grand Theft Auto -- violence, coarse language, adult themes |
| Fell asleep to music | Song gets stuck in my head - usually more "chill" indie music |
| Saturday, September 8 | |
| Activity | Media Experienced |
| Looked for a job | Store fronts, applications, beer billbards |
| Talked to people on MSN | Internet ads, personality profiles, listening to music while on computer |
| Met friends at Mc Donalds | Fast food industry, listening to music while driving |
| Drove to Pearson Airport | Radio news, music, Toronto=BIG ADS -beer, clothing, electronics |
| Went to Mc Donalds...Again | Fast food, menues, worker uniform-Mc Donalds logo |
| Went home | Listened to radio |
| Sunday, September 9 | |
| Activity | Media Experienced |
| Saw my dad watching Tv | commercials- car, cleaning products |
| Went to Wendy's | Music - radio, fast food industry |
| Went to Toronto for Virgin Music Festival | Billboards on highway, Music - radio |
| Watched Virgin Festival | Live music, Sponsors - Pizza Pizza, Futureshop, Virgin Mobile |
| Drove home from Toronto | Billboards, Music - Radio |
As you can see, in one weekend the media can influence a lot in a person. It can influence the way you think and do things as well as the way you conduct yourself. It affects the way people act, the people they hang out with and even what activities they choose to do. For me, music is the part of media that influences me the most. I listen to it, play it and write it. I don't think I could live without music. It is the one thing that I look to when I'm bored or just feel like sitting around and I don’t want to be subject to video games and television. I listen to all types of music depending on my mood but sometimes I think the kind of music I listen to can shape my mood. This kind of thinking works both ways. In that sense, music opens and expends your mind and can shape the way you see things. Music is my favorite part of media but what is yours? If you only pay attention to certain media, you will only think in certain ways. Everyone is different because of what media they are exposed to. Someone who sits at home all day watching TV and playing video games will see a lot of commercials, internet ads and product placement in TV shows. Subjecting yourself to this reality will make you a more commercialized person. It can help you understand what you are seeing or suck you in to what they want you to believe. "They" meaning the corporations of course.
There is nothing really surprising to me about the roll of media in my life. Media is there to be in our faces with new products and offers. In my opinion media can help inform us of up and coming events, products, music and sales. While this is true you must be sure that you don't expose yourself to too much of it. Exposing yourself to too much media can result in you believing everything the media tells you. My media exposure has been pretty good so far. I fallow media to get information but I know where to draw the line and I try to do my research before believing rumors.
In conclusion, my weekend with media showed me that media is everywhere. Everything is advertised in our "buy and sell" world. Media is everything from clothes, to food, to music and it will always be here because of the money people put into it. Media is a big part of every person's life and my two drives to Toronto and experience at a rock concert has helped me realize that. Media affects the way an average person functions and for everyone it is a different experience. The media is more than just in our lives. For most people, media is our lives.
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