BOBOH'S SECOND BLOG
TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2009
Final Paper
Dan Bartolucci
03/31/09
Critical Practice
Internet Forums
The Internet has arguably progressed into one of the most resourceful technologies developed by humans. Throughout the past ten years, there has been an evolving organism that has grown through the interactivity and communication between hundreds of millions of people. There have been message boards for graphic artists, car enthusiasts, body builders, and the never-ending hole of absolutely random narcissists that plague and troll to no extent. These communities have brought people with the same interests together, produced information to the enthusiasts of any hobby, and transformed any and every political, social, and media news into a slate of derogatory humor and provocative slander. The underlying point here is that these Internet Forums, regardless the point of interest: is fueled by these enormous groups of people; having the accumulation of negative, positive, selfish, immature, professional, and vulgar people creates a totally unique experience wherever you go.
Of all the message boards, the most prominent would be that of the automobile forums. I am a member among over twelve boards, ten of them being just for B.M.W. and originating in the U.S. Each forum consists of over five thousand people, some in the hundred thousands, with roughly two thousand active posters on each board. Now, with each board comes a set of moderators and a few administrators. The ‘Mods’ have control over designated sub-forums: if a modification is needed due to an erroneous post like bullying, vulgarity (pending on forum), bullying, or if the thread is miscellaneous to the actual intent of the board. Each car forum will consist of a showroom for users to display their vehicles, a technical area for discussion of a specific question regarding their car or section of their car, a classifieds area for Vendors and Personal Sales, along with the infamous Off-Topic Lounges. The names, quantity and quality of each will vary pending on the population and style of the board.
The online car community has sparked more than just basic communication among fellow enthusiasts. Throughout the various showrooms of each board, the range of amateur to professional photographers is infinite. From salaried photographers to people taking pictures with their phones, the photos produced are there for the entire world to see. Likewise, one of the most amazing aspects of these forums is the sharing of images. Someone will post a series of photos from a shoot they did outside their house, and it’s a huge possibility that one (or more) of those photos will get posted in another thread on another forum, and so on. The photo will be passed on for just a few days, and thousand of people will see it. And the big kicker is that it’s free, for both the user posting and the viewers. If you want good advertising for a company, forums are where to be. Additionally, people with substantial money, or absurdly good taste in modifying or preserving cars will develop large followings of people, and with those followings of people: trends develop.
Furthermore, with the following trends of car styling, the car communities go through massive trend phases; this has become a huge point of interest in companies that sponsor the boards as well as companies that sell products to these viewers/posters. A company may sponsor someone with a big following because when they have certain parts on their car, it will inevitably become a huge trend among the car community. Also, Site Sponsors will have people from their company on that board, as enthusiasts, and as marketing people promoting parts and products their company produces; pending on the stature of that company a simple thread may spark huge sales: and it cost them just a small donation to the board to help with maintenance fees. Now, even among the most prestigious and professionally maintained boards through the world, there is an infamous Off-Topic Lounge. These lounges were intended to literally create an area for people to talk about things irrelevant to the board’s original interests. Unfortunately, there are many boards where these areas have turned into huge sources for porn, aggressive political debate, online hating, derogatory polls, and piracy, among even more things.
More apparent is the huge source for Adult Entertainment. Millions of images shared in thousands of threads, all labeled NWS, which can mean both Not Work Safe, or Not Wife Safe; the majority of these boards are occupied by males, and it is almost 100% positive that every and all female on the boards know how vulgar and sexually immature the males are online. As a matter of fact, it is extremely common for women to be hoarded by overly horny men demanding pictures of their breasts ‘or ban’ which is slang for getting banned (if they do something wrong and kicked from the site, which would never actually happen in that case). Quite frankly, Off-Topic lounges have become The Excuse for anything socially unacceptable to be thoroughly abused and excessively discussed. With the rise of porn throughout these boards, the discussion of news, media, and politics is becoming even more mainstream as the mediums to access this information is made easier and more accessible to share. If a video is leaked on The Internet, there is a 99% chance these boards will be source of everyone finding out about them, since thousands of people occupy them: all of which are usually the people that troll other boards. It becomes an enormous chain-reaction where any and all of what gets posted has the potential to be seen by millions of people, and then transposed to television or other Internet news sites.
Subsequently, these Off-Topic lounges do not remain friendly and easy to participate in (beyond just viewing). Some forum can be very welcoming and embrace new users, others will completely ignore your opinion unless you are a veteran poster, or until you ask or say something stupid (in their minds) and become a target for amusement or degrading. Often this begins with someone posting a story about a race they did with someone else, an accident they got into, a romance-related story, or something political. This will not only spark huge attention, but more often than not: excessive negative connotation on every single post. This will either drive users away, or provoke them to stay and fuel the fire of aggressive online bullying.
Fortunately, some of this bullying has actually benefited people. There have been instances where kids in high school post stories, pictures, and detailed information about races or illegal things they’ve done; and after pages and pages of debate, arguing and hilarity: a very select group of people will actually track down information and notify the parents. I’ve seen instances where users have tracked down their location and mailed their parents the entire Thread conversations, for both the sake of getting immature kids off the boards, and for the pure enjoyment of seeing someone get in huge trouble. Many have developed a term for this, calling Owning. Owning, a form losing, getting beaten, tragically hurt, or thoroughly humiliated by one or many people. This has also translated into terms such as ‘ownage’, ‘pwn, and ‘pwnage. Seen throughout almost any and every forum online, it has built a legacy for which people base the level of humiliation and power of people among the online communities.
The power generated by these forums extends far beyond just car communities. For years now an imaging messaging board has existed among the underground population of Internet enthusiasts. However, this extends beyond just certain regions, but encompasses the entire world. This very special place harbors the most talented, witty, random, offensive, brutally honest, blunt, horrifying, disgusting, immature, excessively derogatory, provocative, sexually addicted, and graphically skilled people. It’s called 4Chan, 4Chan.org to be more precise. One of the most significant points about this place is everyone is labeled as Anonymous followed by a sequence of numbers which changes every post. Additionally, it is a source for images; therefore uploading images is free among the threads (though it will not allow you to hotlink them to other pages/sites etc). This will allow any and all people to not just create a new identity, but as many new identities as they choose; expressing themselves however and whenever they choose.
More predominantly, 4Chan’s sections of interest have by far become the topic of discussion amongst other discussion boards. Varying from anime, cartoons, photography, wallpapers, graphic design, to the most sacred place of them all /b. Each category of 4Chan is issues a number or letter. Random is designated ‘/b’; /b is the major reference and tool used by many among the Internet enthusiasts to get the most disgusting, random, and politically degrading images. It is arguably the number one source for political photoshops and media slandering.
When a news story is fumbled, a politician balks, or someone on a forum is humiliated: the excessive online assault is backed and fueled by 4Chan. Unfortunately, if your story has made it to 4Chan, there is an 80% chance of being ridiculed beyond belief, or idolized beyond your wildest dreams. It takes just one photoshop to begin the series of mockery or chain of empowerment. A more prolific legacy of 4Chan’s /b is that of de-motivational posters, where the point of the image is to not necessarily de-motivate, but to make an ironic joke out of the Guidance-Counselors-Office Posters. For example, there is an image of a young woman holding a sign a protest, and on the sign it reads, “30% of women have been beaten and killed by their boyfriends”; below it in bigger bold text: 30% Of Woman, and below that smaller text: Should have just shut the fuck up. Clearly, this would not be in a guidance counselor’s office to motivate someone, hence the ‘de-motivation’ label. That would be considered a less vulgar image to those of 4Chan and other Off-Topic Lounges. They range from womanizing all the way to the most brutal racism. The point of them is to take a picture that denotes a specific emotion, and totally flip the feeling intended with a bloody stabbing of ironically harsh vocabulary that will poke at an entire range of emotions.
There was an instance when a member of an Acura forum started a thread about his car and his girlfriend, which would most likely entail a picture of his car and his girlfriend (who would presumably be good looking, as it’s for the whole world to see). Unfortunately, to his dismay, the entire board began ruthless commentary, which led to excessive hot linking to hundreds of other boards where hundreds of thousands of people would read and embark on their own journey of criticism and narcissistic opinionating. Within a few hours, the pictures were on 4Chan being photoshopped to no end. With so much arguing from the original poster, he was overwhelmed with response that he was actually banned from the website because he became offensive towards the other members. The thread had become so popular it made the ‘top-20 currently viewed websites’ page for over a day. If you want an example of pure humiliation due to the counter-culture of online forming, there you have it.
These communities have not only developed a reputation for their power in being able to legitimately change people’s lives, they’ve evolved into a living organism fueled by a humor that only the bowels of our mind can access. And where does that take us? Ironically, no true power can control these places, accept for the moderators and the administrators; which, interestingly enough can be arguably a more powerful position than that of many high-salary jobs today. Of course, many of the Administrators that run and own these boards are intelligent and professional people who do this for a living, but there are also many who do it as a hobby. I’ve had the opportunity to moderate various forums, and most recently had started a car forum with a current population of over three thousand people. It’s an interesting type of power, unlike that of managing a business. You have the power to remove people, change or delete threads, and essentially alter opinions and conversations between people. Though, no one actually does that unless something is excessively offensive, the possibilities are there.
However, a very extreme topic arises through the power of moderators and that of high-powered users. By high-powered users I mean people with large followings of other users, and those who can single-handedly start forum-changing trends based on their opinion. This extreme issue is referring to what many online enthusiasts call Raids.
The eventful action titled Raids has become one of the most powerful tools that Forums have. However, the majority of this tools power is derived from that of negative actions. More precisely, online forums can discuss a poll or statistical evaluation coming up and the entire forum can literally raid another website and totally skew the online survey. It is often categorized similarly to elections being pushed by an entire group of people, not just party-people. For example, when an online survey conducting the appropriateness of age for kids to join myspace-type websites (ranging from ages 7-21); over eighty-five thousand people voted for seven-year olds. This was skewed by 4Chan. There is an actual de-motivational poster made about that, and under the picture of the hugely skewed survey was, “Power” and below that “/b has it”. This is an ideal example showing the absolute power, both politically and socially, that online communities have.
Beyond online interaction and the power to skew online surveys, these online undergrounds have established the ability to determine the ability for people to win online contests based on votes. More specifically, when someone is in the running for a sum of money or a title of some sort, and requires votes from online users, it is these communities that could make or break their running. I’ve seen first hand people who have started threads about them wanting votes for some contest they are running for, and the entire community happened to not care or like that person, so they voted ten-fold for their opponents. The forum made it impossible for anyone else to win, let alone the person who started the thread.
Concordantly, slowly but surely the power of these communities has not moved, but sneakily shifted outside of online surveys and transferred their power to things in the physical world. Most recently, a few hackers off of the website Jalopnik (a car enthusiast message blog) had hacked weather hazard signs along side of the highway to change the message from whatever hazard it was warning drivers, to: “Warning! Zombies ahead!” and “Jalopnik Owns!”. This made breaking news, and has left the original town it was in and moved around the U.S. The power has just started too. With the rise of the trend followers, and high-powered users creating enormous armies of online creative intelligence, these communities are nothing short of true political power. Unfortunately, with this very apparent power, the rise of negativity among boards towards honest people without a clue to what is going on is becoming more apparent.
When someone starts a thread somewhere asking for an image on 4Chan, advice in an off-topic lounge, or just creating a random poll talking about how many times people legitimately masturbate per-day, it is becoming more consistent that people will skew the results to something extraordinarily unlikely, or hundreds of images will be posted with opposite content. Online bullying has broken through the barrier of moderators and has become grossly outnumbered by those specific high-power users and their cult of followers.
About six months ago on BodyBuilding.com a kid was asking for advice on a set of supplements he should take for getting stronger. However, after the first few pages people started giving him hugely skewed advice (for one reason or another) and it developed to massive amounts of shit talking. Shortly after, the kid had started a thread saying he was going to eat enough of a certain supplement on his webcam and eventually commit suicide. Much to his dismay, a huge group of people continually egged him on to do it. Inevitably, he killed himself and roughly a hundred people watched and had essentially participated in this kids death. Quite frankly, it’s disgusting. However, this shows how personally these groups of people will get to people.
Regardless of the type of forum, the off-topic lounges have grown and developed on the structure and leisurely attitude of other boards. Subsequently, they turn negative very fast, and the general population turns from positive morale to an almost obligated hate-machine. It’s not uncommon for people to change their attitudes solely on the basis of protecting themselves. People will become The Asshole so they never become the victim of this cult hatred.
Lastly, these online undergrounds have not just evolved, grown, or developed into high-powers, but have transformed into them with the leadership of these select few. High population threads about political opinions, the latest entertainment news, media slander, and personal attacks are growing to an uncontrollable level. What makes them uncontrollable is that the users are demanding them. Daily threads on the latest porn find and political photoshops will continue to grow, and the only way to moderate them is with the help of the high-powered users and moderators. We’ve grown accustomed to believe that our city counselors and state politicians are whom we need to look to for help in what we want. But, times are changing, and it is the online communities that generate the most power and control. Whether you want to find information about the latest cars coming out or what stupid thing is going on in the White House, the most resourceful places have become the Online Forums. Tread lightly, as one broken twig in the forest of online forums could lead you into a never-ending black hole of misery.
POSTED BY DRBOBOH AT 11:04 AM 0 COMMENTS
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2009
Comedy News
The Onion - Sony's New Piece of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work
One of the greatest fake-news segments I've ever seen. It's a great mockery of the company Sony and it's followers that purchase its merchandise JUST for the sake of having the Sony name; this can be seen with many other brands its loyal followers (BMW, Apple, Bose). Sony has a reputation for producing high-quality products, but simultaneously produces equipment and material with an extremely difficult learning curve.
At some point companies will start producing products where you NEED to be familiar with previous designs and/or have a thorough-bred knowledge on that range of products. This show makes an absolutely hilarious mockery on the not only the buyers but the creators and spokesman for the company, Sony. The buyer is nothing more than ECSTATIC to know their entire night and life will be occupied by the use of this product, which is hilarious since most people don't expect it.. but it happens anyways. The spokesman knows what people want, but will proceed to give them the exact opposite. This is hilarious, but depressing at the same time since most companies don't seem to produce products with those 'little' problems that need to be sorted out; as if the products can be developed so much but still avoid any major feedback from their actual customers.
What The Onion does is really hammer in the fact that companies and customers don't communicate very well, and that marketing campaigns are high-budgeted projects that really dumb-down what the customer is going to buy(when really it's just overly-complicated). If Sony is going to produce difficult-to-use products, then advertise it that way, or market them on their website as such: perhaps a separate website for the tech-savvy merchandise?
The Onion does a great job in building a News Show that not only looks believable, but can actually be perceived as totally truthful, aside from the actual product. Their interviews, product & set design, along with the professional acting really create the atmosphere of a believable show.
POSTED BY DRBOBOH AT 12:25 PM 0 COMMENTS
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2009
Looking and Seeing
There are many aspects to this which have been argued and discussed in many different fields of study. From psychology to neurology of the imagination and the more detailed scientific study of the brain. Looking can be identified as simply observing and navigating through space using How pathways of our parietal lobes in which case we only use our brain to recognize spacial relations around us with minimal identifying of objects.
Similarly, the What pathways of our brain located in the temporal lobe can be used for Looking as well, since we use it to identify what an object is specifically; this could potentially be categorized in the Seeing side of the discussion. We differentiate the Looking and Seeing of our mind's eye by way of categorizing Looking by miniscule identifying and Seeing by detailed recognition.
In Lie To Me the means to problem solving is Seeing people lie; catching the little details and faults of human beings that are associated with lying. Looking is used on a constant basis to keep the detectives mind active, while during investigations and interrogations: Seeing is used to direct specific visual attentions on their subjects.
While Looking and Seeing use the same visual architecture throughout the brain, the functions are quiet different. We look and see every second we are conscious and awake, even when we are sleeping. We identify objects, and we recognize them through several means and mediums of our world.
POSTED BY DRBOBOH AT 11:54 AM 0 COMMENTS
TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009
Blow Up - Review
Movies like these are always interesting to watch, not just for the content and message the director wants to get across, but the style it is shot in. When trying to show the viewers the life of a photographer while displaying things photographically... the entire style of the piece must change in his or her decision based on whether they want the film to depict, re-create, or embody the style of photography.
Shots are left more open(rather than cutting the film and moving the camera a lot), and frames are left more open to the actors and there blocking(actions) rather than creating more movements for the camera(replicating the placement of a still camera). I noticed this movie included both extensive static shots as well as some intricate moving shots(steady-cam or on a dolly).
I was intrigued, and found the movie remarkably interesting as it's extremely difficult explaining certain mediums of art by way of another medium. And while Film uses 35mm frames, it uses them in an entirely different way(aside from just exposure).
The wide shots of the field where the body was found, and the framing of the Mime-Tennis scene were both spectacular and unique in that they were only captured THAT way... just like in photography. The camera was setup in certain ways to resemble the framing of a still photograph, but allowed movement to emulate the style of film.
POSTED BY DRBOBOH AT 11:51 AM 0 COMMENTS
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2009
Semiotics Paper
“The Ultimate Attraction” – BMW Advertisement
BMW has been at the top of the luxury-sports car list for decades now. They have rivaled many car companies in Touring Car Racing, consumer sales, safety ratings, and categories such as advertising. BMW has a reputation for building exquisitely tasteful, safe, and fast cars since the beginning of the 20th century. While their concentration for production cars has focused strictly on the actual assembly and performance of the car, advertising has evolved and grown in such a way that without a sarcastic, witty or intelligent personality: you will fall short every time. From elegant shots of their early 2002s to a provocatively sarcastic sexual innuendo amping up their new line of 3-Series’, BMW knows how to grab people’s attention.
This photo doesn’t fall short of what one might call an “attention grabber”, rather than an information brochure. While some will be repulsed or enthusiastic, this picture does what it’s supposed to very well: get your attention. What we have is a young woman sitting on top of a young man in bed. They are in the midst of a sexual act and while the man holds the woman by her sides, she turns her head with her eyes closed towards the ceiling as if on the verge of an orgasm. However, on the man’s face is a magazine opened to a full spread of a new BMW 330Ci, so the girl can see it. The advertisement is captioned in the center with text saying “The Ultimate Attraction”. There are many aspects to this photo pushing all sorts of buttons. One being Sex used as a way to draw attention, for a car, literally! A woman having sex with a man, but using the picture of a BMW to replace his face: one could argue she is having sex with the car instead of the man. The picture is so simple, yet there are so many technical aspects to it which hint at how much this ad was directed towards a specific crowd of people.
This photo is not taken with a Polaroid, a basic 35mm film camera, nor a nice digital; it’s been shot on a remarkably expensive medium format camera and touched up extensively on a computer to ensure the girl and guy are without visual flaws. They’ve been lit perfectly. The girl’s back and lower arch have excellent lighting to make her seem as heavenly as possible, not too mention the small hint of moisture and sweat. Clearly, the BMW is heating things up for her, not the man. The girl’s hair is also lit to make certain all her features are very visible. The white bed sheet covers the extreme lower part of the man and woman. The man under the woman is actually not lit that well. His skin has been touched up to produce a perfect complexion, and his hand is the only visible part taking any sort of control over the situation. There is a small glow spot on his chest, but the magazine covering his entire face is lit to illuminate the 3-Series on the spread. The magazine is placed ideally on his face so both the viewer and girl on top of him can see it without effort. Of course, the girl is in the middle of an orgasm so she clearly has the image in her head.
The room has been decorated to insist on a high-class lifestyle. There is a contemporary wooden headrest, and the sheets are absolutely white and clean. There is no junk on the walls, but a soft beige paint. The hint of blue lighting on the bed-sheets compliments the red of the BMW. Also, the color surrounding the car (in the actual picture) is a vivid blue, forcing the eye to reconcile the contrast of red and blue. The environment of the room suggests the people in the room are financially stable, and most likely doing well for themselves. They aren’t living in a slum, nor are they in the middle of a filthy living room with fast food on the ground; it’s a clean, respectable, and modern environment. The sheets aren’t overly rustled, nor are there stains on them; these are respectable people, thus BMW owners should be viewed accordingly. This image suggest a lot about the lifestyle of people who own BMWs, and those who should own them.
The sexual innuendos artistically, blatantly, and intelligently displayed have made some favorable representations to those who own and enjoy BMWs, and some despicably subjective depictions of those who wish to not be associated with BMW owners. This photo makes the assumption that the vision of a BMW is more appealing than your lovers face, as it’s blocking all that can make sex personal, minus the sex organ. The sex organ, unfortunately, could essentially be replaced by some car part if one was so inclined to think further about the sexual act. Of course, this now associates BMW owners as people who live this lifestyle, and feel their car is the most attractive possession in their life. Some may find it amusing and not care what others think, but a lot of people may also find this ad only to demean them.
The Ultimate Driving Machine has been a pivotal and major tagline among the car industry, as a whole, for a long time. One could argue it is the best, one could argue it is the most arrogant. Subsequently, “Ultimate” has been incorporated throughout BMW’s advertising history for decades, and this is no exception. The caption in this ad “The Ultimate Attraction” does not hint at the BMW being partially sexy, slightly elegant, or even uniquely anything; it’s The Ultimate Attraction: there is no attraction greater than that of a BMW. The size of the text could be debatable as well. The argument of needing to use huge text to emphasize a message, or grab your attention is obliterated; the subtleness of it lets the clean layout of the ad flow more efficiently, as well as hint at humor and possibly sarcasm because it is so small. The text doesn’t need to be huge to tickle your humor or anger you. The slightness in text size could actually anger one even more; one could think it was put there without care just to bug you.
Additionally, the actual BMW logo with accompanied info on the car is in two small white blocks in the top corner of the ad. These have little to no space on the entire ad, yet with such a cunning and provocative picture one must know who is behind it- the subtle and modest placement of the endorsers only adds to the ridiculousness of the image. There is little to no information about the actual car itself either. The car on display is a 330Ci, off of the E-46 chassis. Those are the 3-Series’ produced from 1999 – 2006. I can tell by wheels and front air dam that it is a 330Ci, which would put it at the top of the line in terms of what you can buy as a 3-Series (not including the M Division, which is the highest performance available from BMW). The 330Ci includes the biggest Non-M motor and brakes for a 3-Series. The choice of that could also lead one on to believe that there is an even higher attraction to be met if moved to the M-Cars offered by BMW. The color of the car is fairly unimportant aside from it contrasting the blue tint around the spread of the magazine.
The balance of the image is centered. The woman is on top of the man at the top of the bed, and in the middle of the frame. The text is almost directly in the center, but placed to the left of the BMW logo. This will force the viewer to then see the BMW logo last. Since it’s in English, people will be gazing over it from left to right: seeing the BMW logo last, allowing them to absorb the image in all its greatness first. Furthermore, while the text, logo, and magazine placement have been chosen intricately, the type of people have also. The girl is in what might consider perfect shape, her body is of athletic stature and her hair has been properly groomed; her skin also has a flawless complexion. Her black bra is nothing eccentric, but the left bra strap has begun to collapse on her arm, indicating her involvement. She is also on top of the man, which is considered by some to be an indication of power. Her hands are holding down the man’s arms firmly, as his are placed gently on her waist. The man is seemingly just being used for his body. He doesn’t show any effort in arguing over his face being covered by a magazine! The subjective role reversal of the situation suggests the man is totally contempt with the act, and could also agree that the BMW is more attractive than a human face.
Lastly, the image does not contain a horde of various objects to throw specific indications of what you should be think, but rather a tastefully humorous ensemble of both sexual fantasy and sarcastic humor. With this blend, one could argue the ad to be extremely successful in grabbing anyone’s attention and putting in that two-to-three seconds of “BMW” in their mind. However, the blend could allow a frenzy of disgruntled customers and possible business to ensue a plague of distaste among the industry. More importantly, does this image affect its viewers enough to make them want a BMW? Would reversing the roles of the man and woman appeal to even more people? Well… there is also an ad with a man on top of the woman with the exact same picture on her face, but that’s an entirely different story.
POSTED BY DRBOBOH AT 12:06 PM 0 COMMENTS
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2009
Homework #2 - Idea/Point of Article
02/03/09
I would like to discuss the opening lines "Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak".
Now, there are many approaches to this, both philosophically and scientifically. I've heard many theories regarding the last line about kids. What I find interesting is that how no one can really remember their infancy. My thoughts are that because we didn't have any language we weren't able to identify any of what we were seeing, thus unable to actually absorb any visual elements.
How do you know you got a blue elephant for your first birthday if you didn't even know what a Blue Elephant was? I'd imagine you remembered your parents firstly, most likely because they were of the first words you developed.
There are many arguments against this as well, since it has supposedly been proven that language and memory are worked in totally different parts of the brain; which is actually true. It is my belief, though, that having developed a language earlier in life would allow us to remember things more clearly and at an earlier age.
Additionally, I do agree that seeing comes before words. Words are most definitely a reaction, whether spoken through the mind or out loud, and occur after the action of seeing or visualizing. Whether or not you are seeing a physical object or using your mind's eye, you establish experience and opinions through words in your mind AFTER you've seen them.
I do not remember the man to whom I should quote, but last term in Intro To Modernism, one of my favorite quotes was "we cloak objects with our experience".
This essentially means that with whatever experience we bring to the table is what we identify, judge, and see things in the world. Someone who has been in the ruins of a 3rd world country in the slums of some horribly misfortunate society would look at a fresh bouquet of flowers quite differently than someone in Beverly Hills that works at a Flower Shop. The descriptive adventure taking place in the slum-persons mind would be far more intense than that of the employee in Beverly Hills.
Lastly, it is very possible to recognize objects without having the ability to describe them, but to describe something you've seen with words: you must see or visualize the object before you can establish anything to say about it.
POSTED BY DRBOBOH AT 3:03 AM 0 COMMENTS
Homework #1 - Obama Inauguration 2009
Dan Bartolucci
01/27/09
Critical Practice 1
Inaugural Address
One of the most notable aspects of the inauguration was the positivity displayed amongst the people. I’ve never been a huge follower of politics, for my own reasons that I will refrain from mentioning, but I do remember some of our last president’s inauguration; it seemed a lot more like an event rather than a celebration. The attendee’s really uplifted the ceremony with a positive spirit rather than just being an attendee to an event.
What I find interesting is the thought of how Presidents were inaugurated at the beginning of the 18th and 19th century. The extremities of our current political campaigns are so far beyond what used to take place I find it very unorthodox. We go to such huge lengths to formalize events and make them official, sometimes it seems as though we make these events huge just for the sake of making them enormous. One could very well increase the formalness of the event by making it extremely top-secret and protected. We take a very interesting approach to convince ourselves that an event is important; I think we lose track of what is actually going on. But, in this case, it seemed very clear the importance of this event and the positivity backed by ‘the people’ was outstanding.
The cultural markers and symbols that affected me? Well, I wasn’t really affected at all aside from the enormous media coverage, advertising, and posters displayed by people and students to watch the inauguration. I don’t have cable T.V. so I didn’t actually get to watch it live; aside from being asleep.
Like I said previously, I do not follow politics that much. This year was more of an exception since I could go and watch it at school, along with being around more politically involved people. If anything, the cultural marker that affected me the most was being around those political students and having conversations with them about their positions on certain presidential-elect notes etc.
I found myself paying more attention to the debate(s), which I never watched in the first place. It was interesting hearing the Senators talk around questions and continue with their vague phrasing on their objectives and solutions to civilian questions.
About a year ago I saw Obama speak at Santa Barbara City College when I was attending, it was one of the most shocking, new, and religious experiences I’ve ever experienced. It was my first dip into the pool of vagueness that is a campaign speech. The entire time I couldn’t help but think “he hasn’t said anything other than ways around actually telling us what he going to do”. And the best part was that everyone listening to the speech was just sucking it in like it was the best speech they’ve heard in their entire life. I couldn’t disagree more.
“Walking for change” does not make our country a better place. Now, apart from the negativity that is my opinion on presidential campaigns and the vagueness that ensues, I did find this year to be exceptional in regards to our President. There were noticeable amounts of people, teams, and organizations really rallying for Obama, not just supporting him. Similar to the inauguration, there was a lot of positivity and true hope emerging from the people who supported him. It is in that I find this event to be a cultural marker, and the symbol to which it compliments would be Obama becoming President of The United States.
POSTED BY DRBOBOH AT 3:01 AM 0 COMMENTS
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