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My image is of the tropical cyclone Leon-Eline. The storm started near Java and traveled all the way across the Indian Ocean to reach southern African countries. The primary countries that were hit were Madagascar and Mozambique. However the storm was able to travel and do significant damage in Zimbabwe and South Africa as well.

This particular image shows what was the Mankonkoni Bridge on the Thuli River in Zimbabwe. The storms caused flooding, displaced nearly 100,000 people and left anywhere between 200 and 1,000 people dead. The damage is difficult to estimate exactly because torrential rainfall, flooding, and two other cyclones had recently hit and while much of the damage was new, part of the damage was already done and some of the previous damage was exacerbated by cyclone Leon-Eline. And about a month later the area was devastated by a category 4 tropical cyclone Hudah.

The punctum in this image is the contrasts. The west thinks of Africa as barren and poor with low infrastructure. This image of a bridge broken in the river with a background of green challenges and reaffirms those notions. Even broken we can tell the bridge was mostly wood with probably weak structure. At the same time there is grass and foliage that challenges the notion that Africa is a desert. The realization that I don’t have knowledge I thought I have creates a more personal relation to the image. The message shows how little was had before it was taken away, and how by destroying what little there was the storm can be devastating in a very similar fashion as to that in the US.

The advertisement I chose is from OCB, a company that makes rolling paper for tobacco. In the advertisement a woman is using OCB rolling papers as a top while appearing to not wear any other clothing. She is also using an OCB paper posing in a sexual fashion. At the bottom of the ad there is an implied sexual innuendo and the entire ad is meant to associate the brand of papers with sex. The brand is attempting to create brand recognition and a following because of it. OCB is not the cheapest brand out there, but the products are organic and often made with hemp. Alongside the association with sex, OCB feels it can create business by creating a brand, not just a product. A product with the cool factor tends to sell better than similar products that are within a similar price range.

The product has the benefit of using an addictive product with it. Addiction is a form of obsession not by choice. By adding the sex appeal to the product OCB is trying to attract men to their brand by combining tobacco with one of the few things men who are addicted desire even more than tobacco, sex. One of the angles of the ad is to also indicate by using the product women will take notice in a positive or sexual way. If you were to in fact use the product covering the woman, every time you used a paper the woman would be slightly more revealed. All of these overtones use men’s obsessions, addictions, and desires to make OCB the brand of choice and the brand of associated with these overtones.

The show I chose to use is The Colbert Report. I couldn’t decide between the Colbert Report and the Daily Show so I chose the show with the better images. As a young and college liberal living in Seattle I believe I decode the show in the dominant form. Not only am I the targeted demographic, I am a news junky and general understand any references made in the show. I don’t believe the show is informative on the level of a hard news source like the Newshour (or any show on PBS) but it gives an interesting perspective. Colbert tries to show how crazy some of our political and cultural institutions actually operate.

It is difficult to decide between high and low culture. On the one hand, it denigrates the importance of very important policy discussions. It also aids in the growing political apathy of the younger generations. On the other hand it engages the same young people in politics on some level and facilitates important cultural discussions. I wouldn’t say those who watch the Colbert Report and the Daily Show are well informed about the news or politics; however they are more informed than the average citizen. Due to the topical discussions in the show and the political subject matter I am going to decide that the Colbert Report is high culture.

We have a very thin media culture. I can barely comprehend how reality shows become so prominent and so low culture. Our public is disengaged and lowly educated compared to not only the majority of the modern world but past generations. One of the biggest problems is that the media is controlled by a very wealthy few in control of major profit driven media conglomerates. Given that, the three factors that make up our taste are parents, childhood friends, and location. I believe our parents have the strongest influence, our brain develops very quickly and we spend years with our parents before we have friends. Our parents also essentially choose our first friends who likely have parents with a similar background, education, or income level.

Hunter’s is a popular Hard Apple Cider drink in South Africa. South Africa is one of the more advertising centric countries in sub Saharan Africa. This advertisement is one of several experiential ads used to promote the 25th anniversary of Hunter’s. The advertisement can be viewed on the surface level through the signifier and denotative meaning or with deeper clarity by understanding the signifier and its connotative meaning.

The signifier is considered either a sound or word that is representative of, in this case, the brand or product. For this image the signifier is the word Hunter’s and the slogan ‘Refreshes like nothing else on Earth.’ Along with the logo the product identity is tied to its name and slogan. The signified in this ad is the perception that the drink will either taste good or quench your thirst. There is also an attempt to portray the drink as a product that will make you happy like the man in the ad.

The denotation is the claim that is being made directly by the ad. The denotation is supposed to be taken at its word, and in this case the claim is that the drink refreshes like nothing else on Earth. The product is claiming that their product is better than all their competition. However the connotation of the image is a cultural understanding of the image. It is informed by historical knowledge or by evoking a personal response to the image. The image is trying to connect itself with your personal experiences going out with friends and represents itself as a positive beer alternative.

The photo I chose is the first photo you see of my family when walking in my house. My brother and I have been on the snow since we were three years old and have been going up consistently ever since. In the book Camera Lucida, Roland Barthes creates the concepts of studium and punctum to interpret photographs. Studium is the part of the photo a viewer initially notices, and helps develop the cultural and political interpretation of the photo. Punctum is the more personal details of a photograph that helps establish a relationship between the viewer and the photo.

What you first notice when you look at the photo is the snow, mountains, and ski gear. The viewer has an initial impression of the family and the family unit as they understand it and relate their understanding to our photo. If there are any stereotypes or impressions of skiing in general held by the viewer those feelings are also related to the photo and combined with the viewer’s impression of the family interpretation. These initial impressions are the stadium of the photo. The punctum of the photo are the details. There are several different ways the details can be interpreted. One of the details that often goes unnoticed is the Northstar 1998 logo in the bottom right. People who have been to Northstar may remember their time there and relate the memory to the photo. Others might think back to 1998 if they can remember what they were doing at the time. Family members often think back to memories of my brother and I at that young age and relate to the photo through those memories.

Turns out the Republican frontrunner isn't always so buttoned-down. The candidate's daughter-in-law has maintained a mommy blog for years, and it's a treasure trove of candid Romney sho...

When Mitt Romney was running for president there were a lot of headlines about his religion. Mitt Romney is a Mormon and less than 2% of Americans are Mormon. Mormonism is not considered a mainstream religion in the US and many people had trouble coping with the fact that the Republican nominee was from a religion that is off the beaten path. Throughout the campaign the religion issue came up several times, especially with base Republicans who traditionally tend to be Christian. The Romney campaign generally avoided directly addressing Romney’s religion and only mentioned it officially a few rare occasions. One such time was when Rick Perry was endorsed by a Southern Baptist pastor. Immediately after endorsing Perry he talked to the media and called Mormonism a cult. Romney quickly called on Perry to renounce his pastor’s remarks and the Perry campaign declined. After several other politicians like Chris Christie gave their views, a Romney strategist called on the Perry to repudiate his pastor. This was an instance where the Romney campaign was clearly trying to normalize Mormonism. Romney was often considered to be trying to normalize himself as well as normalize Mormonism. If you followed the campaign closely you remember newspaper article headlines that read “Romney can Mormonize normalism but can’t normalize Mormonism”. This refers also to the fact that Romney put on all kinds of acts to try and make himself seem normal. Throughout the campaign you saw many instances of the politics of communication. Romney would be seen jogging on the campaign trail or shopping at low quality stores. Romney’s wife spoke of her and Romney’s ‘humble’ beginnings together. And Romney’s family was interviewed while Romney was making pancakes. It became so obvious that the meme generator’s created a new trending meme series encompassing Mitt Romney normal. The memes had titles like ‘Looking Normal’ or ‘normal guy Romney’. The strategies that the Romney campaign was using to equate Romney to normalcy showed that they were attempting to normalize him. The audience became increasingly aware that the campaign was trying to normalize Romney and therefore became better at recognizing the attempts. The reality is that Romney is a normal guy. He is in the upper class, but otherwise he is a family man and imperfect at the constant need for impression management. The fact that he is normal, and is not an awe inspiring word smith like so many politicians, is the reason why he was off putting to some. His normal personality is the reason why they felt a need to control his impression in the first place. The expectations that go along with being a politician have a big influence on how politicians act. They feel constant pressure to present themselves in the way that appeals to the majority of people. They also know immediately when they have acted improperly from a combination of a team of strategists and the constant media watch.

Modern Man

My all time favorite comedian is George Carlin. I actually posted his famous rant, “Modern Man”, a few weeks ago as a media post. In this rant George Carlin breaks down his version of what it’s like to live in modern America. The contradictions and paradoxes that encapsulate and critique many aspects of modern life are broken down in a way that is difficult to explain. George Carlin’s particular genius is best understood after watching him perform.

George Carlin has made a career of explaining how absurd socio-political aspects of our everyday life truly are. George Carlin expresses his lack of understanding as to why we live such fast paced lives and don’t take a moment to stop and look at how ridiculous it all is. “I’ve been uplinked and downloaded. I’ve been inputted and outsourced. I know the upside of downsizing. I know the downside of upgrading.” His performance is brilliant and without watching and reading the text you may be a little lost. But what he is attempting to teach us is to realize some of the ways we make life difficult and complicated. In doing so he wants us to reduce all the clutter of living in a fast paced modern society.

“I’m new wave but I’m old school, and my inner child is outward bound. I’m a hot wired heat seeking warm hearted cool customer, voice activated and biodegradable. I interface from a database, and my database is in cyberspace, so I’m interactive, I’m hyperactive, and from time-to-time, I’m radioactive.”

I know George Carlin is the author of these words. I don’t believe there is anyone else in the world capable of writing these words. When considering some of his other jokes you learn how George Carlin deconstructs truths we believe we already understand. When talking about environmentalism, George Carlin demonstrates that environmentalists are arrogant and aren’t concerned with preserving the earth.

“Besides, environmentalists don’t give a s**t about the planet. They don’t care about the planet. Not in the abstract they don’t … You know what they’re interested in?… Their own habitat … Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are f****d. Difference. Difference! The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great … The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles; hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors; worlwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages… And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet… the planet… the planet isn’t going anywhere. WE ARE!”

Another way George Carlin deconstructs our preconceived notions is by deconstructing the words that we use. “Here’s a phrase that apparently the airlines simply made up: near miss. They say that if 2 planes almost collide, it’s a near miss. Bulls**t, my friend. It’s a near hit! A collision is a near miss. [WHAM! CRUNCH!] ‘Look, they nearly missed!’ ‘Yes, but not quite.’” Through his deconstructions of current sociopolitical trends George Carlin attempts to make a statement about how we view reality. And without entirely being able to explain why, you will better understand your own reality after listening George Carlin explain why that reality makes no sense. Here are the lyrics of Modern Man:

I’m a modern man, A man for the millennium, Digital and smoke free. A diversified multicultural postmodern deconstructionist, Politically anatomically and ecologically incorrect. I’ve been uplinked and downloaded. I’ve been inputted and outsourced. I know the upside of downsizing. I know the downside of upgrading. I’m a high tech lowlife. A cutting edge state-of-the-art bicoastal multitasker, And I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond. (The rest after the jump…) I’m new wave but I’m old school, And my inner child is outward bound. I’m a hot wired heat seeking warm hearted cool customer, Voice activated and biodegradable. I interface from a database, And my database is in cyberspace, So I’m interactive, I’m hyperactive, And from time-to-time, I’m radioactive. Behind the eight ball, Ahead of the curve, Riding the wave, Dodging a bullet, Pushing the envelope. I’m on point, On task, On message, And off drugs. I got no need for coke and speed, I got no urge to binge and purge. I’m in the moment, On the edge, Over the top, But under the radar. A high concept, Low profile, Medium range ballistic missionary. A street-wise smart bomb. A top gun bottom feeder. I wear power ties, I tell power lies, I take power naps, I run victory laps. I’m a totally ongoing bigfoot slam dunk rainmaker with a proactive outreach. A raging workaholic. A working ragaholic. Out of rehab, And in denial. I got a personal trainer, A personal shopper, A personal assistant, And a personal agenda. You can’t shut me up, You can’t dumb me down. ‘Cause I’m tireless, And I’m wireless. I’m an alpha male on beta blockers. I’m a non-believer and an over-achiever. Laid back but fashion forward. Up front, Down home, Low rent, High maintenance. Super size, Long lasting, High definition, Fast acting, Oven ready, And built to last. I’m a hands on, Foot loose, Knee jerk, Head case. Prematurely post traumatic, And I have a love child who sends me hate mail. But I’m feeling, I’m caring, I’m healing, I’m sharing. A supportive bonding nurturing primary care giver. My output is down, But my income is up. I take a short position on the long bond, And my revenue stream has its own cash flow. I read junk mail, I eat junk food, I buy junk bonds, I watch trash sports. I’m gender specific, Capital intensive, User friendly, And lactose intolerant. I like rough sex. I like rough sex. I like tough love. I use the f word in my email, And the software on my hard drive is hard core, no soft porn. I bought a microwave at a mini mall. I bought a mini van in a mega store. I eat fast food in the slow lane. I’m toll free, Bite sized, Ready to wear, And I come in all sizes. A fully equipped, Factory authorized, Hospital tested, Clinically proven, Scientifically formulated medical miracle. I’ve been pre-washed, Pre-cooked, Pre-heated, Pre-screened, Pre-approved, Pre-packaged, Post-dated, Freeze-dried, Double-wrapped, Vacuum-packed, And I have an unlimited broadband capacity. I’m a rude dude, But I’m the real deal. Lean and mean. Cocked, locked and ready to rock. Rough tough and hard to bluff. I take it slow. I go with the flow. I ride with the tide. I got glide in my stride. Drivin’ and movin’, Sailin’ and spinnin’, Jivin’ and groovin’, Wailin’ and winnin’. I don’t snooze, So I don’t lose. I keep the pedal to the metal, And the rubber on the road. I party hearty, And lunch time is crunch time. I’m hanging in, There ain’t no doubt. And I’m hanging tough,

Over and Out

Offensive Terminology

The offensive word I probably use most often is the word retard, much like in the article by David Cross. I can think about my use of the word now and step back and realize what I am saying. However, the word is so engrained in my vocabulary that I rarely notice I have said the word until after I have already said it. Usually the word is thrown around when joking amongst friends. Whether someone sits the wrong player in fantasy football, messes up in a video game, or says something stupid; the word is thrown around often between my friends and I. Generally we don’t mean much by it. We are singling each other out, but we give each other all sorts of crap all the time. That’s just how we are all the time. I generally can’t make it through any day without my friends making fun of me for something and vice versa.

Taking a step back we all likely realize that the word is offensive. Many of us have had exposure to autistic children in Seattle through volunteering at Teen Scene Friendship Circle. I don’t believe any of us are bigoted or bad people; however all of us could learn to watch what we say.

It makes me think of another event in the recent history of our fraternity house. My freshmen year a brother came out to the house. He was the first gay brother that our house ever had. In a fraternity, I imagine coming out is a very difficult thing to do. Suddenly, so many of us had to change a staple of our vocabulary. The word gay is used similarly to how the term retard is used in a fraternity. Most people simply tried to be careful not to say gay around him, and others saw the word slowly fade from their vocabulary. Others thought it would be funnier to use the word now, and some just didn’t change their habits. Initially I fell into the category of being careful when I say it. However I slowly started using the word less and the word has faded from my vocabulary. I catch myself saying it still from time to time, but one of the biggest changes between now and four years ago is that I actually do catch myself saying it. I always notice when I use the word gay.

I’m not at that point yet with the word retard. Probably because my level of exposure to mentally handicapped is not at the same level of living in a fraternity with a gay member. So many of my friends use the word retard it seems normal to me. None of them mean that someone is retarded, they mean stupid, which is why the term is so offensive. This portrays the mentally handicapped as people who are defined by their stupidity where in reality many are rather smart, and have many other characteristics that define who they are.

I suppose I should step back and reevaluate some of the terminology I use. Amanda Baggs is a prime example of someone who is autistic and rather smart. It does not do her or any other autie’s and aspie’s any justice by using retard to call our friends stupid.

I have a video and photo from the show but they are pretty low quality so I decided this track would better express the music.

The Broadway production of "Spider-Man Turn off the Dark" suffered another setback on Thursday (August 15) after an actor was injured during a live performan...

Impression Management

At the end of my junior year in high school I decided to transfer to a public school in my area. The decision was because at my private school, I was spending an excessive amount of money and was only planning on taking four classes my senior year. So instead of graduating from the school I had attended since kindergarten I decided to save a year’s worth of tuition money for my parents. To get an understanding of my private school, it was in Pebble Beach, a gated city (not community but an actual entire city with gates around it). The city is best known for two things, golf and cars. The houses, often on the beach, are extremely expensive and tourists pay money just to get in a drive along the coast. My new high school, about fifteen minutes away near downtown, was towards the lower end of public schools in the area. When I got to school my senior year, it was an entirely different experience than what I was in only a few months earlier. One of the first things I noticed was students were never trying to impress their teachers. As a matter of fact, students got social ‘props’ for actively defying their teachers. It didn’t affect me too much because I was finished with class by lunch every day so I didn’t care what anyone thought of me. I had to take health to graduate because my previous school never taught the class, in addition to an art class I had never needed (I was allowed to take auto shop). My English teacher never bothered reading my work and gave me automatic A’s (I had read every book years earlier), my Calculus teacher let me teach myself the coursework at a faster pace than the class, and my health teacher made me a TA instead of a student. The only class I wasn’t ahead in was actually auto shop. One of the worst things that ever happened in one of my classes was in health. The teacher was the physical education teacher and knew nothing about health. When talking about vaccines he said, “legally I have to tell you all to get vaccines, however I’m worried about the autism in the news and stuff. Personally, I don’t get my kid vaccinated and I don’t either and it seems to be fine.” I had to stand up in class and tell the kids that the idea of not getting vaccinated is stupid and that a significant proportion of the medical community agrees. I also had to inform the teacher that giving that statement how he did is just as illegal as telling the kids not to get vaccinated.

Relating the story to Goffman I would consider the entire class up until that point my front region. It was clear from early on that I was more educated than our teacher who was a college dropout. That was why I was made a TA in the first place. I don’t believe there was a significant back region. I get vaccinated, I was well educated for a kid my age, and I did care about what the students were learning. I wasn’t putting on a character. There was more of a back region for the teacher, who was portraying the character of being a teacher where in reality he knew nothing about the subject he was teaching. His lectures were so scripted that the students may not have realized to what extent.

Violating a Space Norm

To violate a space norm I decided to mess with one of my roommates and his girlfriend. This roommate’s girlfriend is at our house often and we all know each other well. On Friday, when they were both here watching tv, they were sitting on the couch together, as they often do, his arm around her. I walked up, and handed my roommate food to get him to move his arm. As he took it, I sat in between the two of them, whom were still very close to each other. At first my roommate just laughed a little and asked what’s up? I responded telling him I was sitting and he awkwardly said okay. His girlfriend said “hi David” in a way obviously trying to bring attention to the fact that I was sitting in between them and I simply responded “hi”. From that point forward I started asking them about what they were watching and refused to acknowledge the semi-awkward situation. It only lasted about 30 seconds and 30 seconds later it was over. After they moved back together I debated trying to move between them again but realized they probably wouldn’t let me again. I explained it was for a class and they both thought it was pretty funny. I asked them how they felt why’ll I was between them and the only responses I got were “I don’t [expletive deleted] know” and “I don’t know, weird but kinda funny”.

While I was between the two of them I was clearly in violation of E.T. Hall’s range for the invisible zones around us we know as personal space. They were sitting very close to one another when I initially sat between them and they space did not increase significantly when I sat between them. They were clearly somewhat uncomfortable. They were shifting in their seating positions and scoot slightly and leaned back further. They were also on the end of the couch and my roommate’s girlfriend did not have much space to move. I did note that as Rosenbloom stated, people don’t want personal space in every situation and that they, as boyfriend and girlfriend did not have the same personal space barriers with each other as they do with me (obviously). However I also noticed that, unlike the Rosebloom article, they were willing to address the breach of personal space directly. This could be because I’m not a stranger and it was obvious that I was breaching their personal space on purpose. Either way I was able to make them feel very uncomfortable , very quickly, simply by sitting between the two of them. It was a little awkward and tense, but it was mostly funny because it was so obvious. It may have not gone as smoothly if I had tried the same space violation with people I don’t know so well.

My Oakland A's Hat

White Elephant

I’m a huge fan of the Oakland Athletics. It was devastating this year being knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by the same team that knocked us off last year. I like to wear my Oakland A’s gear, in particular my A’s hat with a white elephant on front and all 9 World Series rings on the back. When I wear the hat I am purposefully representing my team and showing people that I support the Oakland A’s. The A’s, originally a team from Philly I believe, then moved to Kansas and now to good old Oakland, California (they may have been more cities, I’m not sure) have struggled throughout their history as consistently one of the poorest, lowest paid rosters in baseball. Even so, the A’s have won 9 national titles and somewhere upwards of 10 or 15 AL Pennants and Division Titles each. The A’s also have some of the most disappointing yet inspirational seasons in recent memory, which were the inspiration for the award winning movie Moneyball. I grew up cheering for the A’s during two seasons in which we were strongly favored to win the World Series and fell short each time. I was in attendance at game 17 of the 20 game winning streak, the longest winning streak in over 20 years, holding a sign that said “Bradford you can’t hit that” wearing my backwards rally cap yelling “Miggy magic” as Miguel Tejada hit the game winning home run. I have also witnessed Barry Bonds hit the record tying home run. Last year, the A’s were predicted to lose 80 to 100 games. Some even predicted they would lose 120 games making them by far the worst team in baseball. Instead, behind the genius of manager Billy Beane the Swingin’ A’s went on the win the West Division title two years in a row. When I wear my A’s hat I remember all of this history and all the time I spent growing up at the ballpark. However, especially in Seattle where memories of baseball are not so found, people likely have a different opinion of me when I wear A’s gear. Generally people assume I am from California, a correct assumption. Many people assume that I view the Mariners as a rival, a false assumption because the Mariners are not worth caring about that much. People assume I’m from the Bay area, close but still false. And some people think I’m weird because I am wearing a white elephant on my head and they don’t know anything about sports. In any case their thin slicing is most likely wrong. However, as Gladwell explains it can also create a connection between me and other fans. Someone might simply like me more when talking to me because subconsciously they realize we’re both baseball fans or they’re also from California.

At the same time, as Hebdige explains I could be wearing Oakland Athletics gear as a rebellion or protest. I do not believe I fall into this category. In fact, when I was really young we started going to San Francisco Giants games, my dad’s then favorite team. However my brother and I wanted to go so often that we couldn’t afford to keep buying such expensive tickets. A’s tickets, in the poorer town of Oakland sold for less than half the price of a Giants tickets. We happened to make this transition around 1997 or 1998, only a few years before the A’s became a powerhouse for several years in a row and one of the most exciting times to be an A’s fan. It has been all of our favorite team ever since. I guess you could claim that we all were rebelling against the higher ticket prices in San Francisco, but if as Hebdige claims the punk rock rebellion was generational then I definitely do not fall into that category given my dad is the one who brought me to all my first A’s games.

#a's #oakland #athletics #oakland athletics #hebdige #malcolm gladwell

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