Video gaming progress March 28, 2007

So like most of you I grew up with nintedo as the hi-tech video game unit that there was and it progressed into the super nintedo and the nintendo 64 eventually. I personally think that the original nintendo and super nintendo are my all time favorite machines.  Although the graphics and technology have improved 1000% since then I still play my nintendo and super nintedo today when I have time to play! I  can remember the first time I pasted the entire mario game, I did it at my babysitters house and I did it in ONE life!!  It was all I could talk about for days I told everyone I know an I thought it was the greatest thing, and I still do!  But gaming today has gone from good clean fun to something that I don’t even want to play at times.  I think that some of these games are so graphic and grotesque that I can’t even stand to play them let alone watch them.  I remember when grand theft auto came out I couldn’t beleive my little cousin was playing this game that promoted violence!  Now they are worse there are war games that I see my brother playing and the way he reacts when something goes wrong or he loses he goes crazy I hear him yelling at the computer swearing and slamming the keyboard down.  To me this is behavior that isn’t normal and I feel is a result of the games he is playing.  He would play them all night and not go to bed until like 4 in the morning if not later.  This is something I think I will never understand.  I also feel like parents need to be more aware of what their children are playing and be more involved rather than letting thier children have at er playing video games to make thier day a little smoother. 

This is a video of a real life mario re-enactment, I thought it was pretty funny and well done!

Also a lego grand theft auto it is a little cleaner than the real version!

Joey and Chandlers open emotions March 21, 2007

After reading the article Men’s Friendships – Joey and Chandler from Friends I got to thinking.  The article talks about how awkward the relationship appeared to be and also homophobic tension their was between them in this particular episode.  I am an avid watcher of Friends and have probably seen this episode 15 times at least, I do remember how awkward it seemed to be but at the same time it was nice to see two men expressing that emotion.  Because the only other show on TV where men seemed to show “feminine” emotions was on Will & Grace and that involved two openly gay men.  I don’t remember watching this episode and thinking “wow they MUST be gay”  I remember thinking that it was sad that they wouldn’t be living together anymore because they were so close.  Because it is an emotional thing to say goodbye to someone who you have lived with and gotten quite close to. 

Also I think that Joey was just trying to show Chandler how much he valued his friendship by giving him that bracelet that yes was hideous but it was the thought that counted.  I don’t agree with the article where he talks about one of his students saying the bracelet was an engagement ring, the furniture a wedding gift.  Chandler had been there to support Joey over the years and Joey just wanted to show his appreciation i think.  I think that it is nice to see that men can be open with their emotions on a show where they are not gay, because this is not seen too much on TV.  So I think that is just hunky – dory! There is an episode much later into the show where they do a look back at how much they do actually hug which in actuality wasn’t a whole lot.  There is just the stigma with men that if they hug they are showing to much emotion and may be gay, which if  guy is straight does not want people to think.

March 14, 2007

Last weeks class was fantastic!  It was a different approach than I had ever seen in a class and I was interested for the full 3 hours which is hard for me to do since I tend to get antsy in long classes!  I heard alot of new music that I had never heard before and thought that was great.  Since I don’t really know much about music outside of what I hear on the radio or what I see on TV.  So to be introduced to different styles and types of music in this setting and to hear why people loved that song was amazing.  I was personally freaking out at the thought of having to play a song that I loved and then defend why I love it so much, because it is a personal thing.  To say why you love the song and then have people vote… crazy but great!  I was also impressed at how many people were so willing to put themselves out there and share a part of themselves with a class full of people they probably don’t know that well.  So I never shared my favorite song and I guess I will now, my favorite song is “The Dance” by Garth Brooks.  It is not a real upbeat song but I think it says alot about how life should be lived, you should do what you want and make your life everything that you want it to be.  Paul was talking about how he is keeping a running list of what songs are going to be played at his funeral and this is definately one that I want played. 

Music = Memories March 7, 2007

This weeks topic is music and this is something that I am interested in definately.  I don’t claim to be the knower of all about music and so on or do I know much about music other than what is on the radio or TV.  The reason that I love music is for one its entertainment value while I am driving to and from Calgary every week.  I can listen to my ipod and choose from a wide variety of music.  I also love music for the memories it brings back to me, about a certain time, a friend, family member, or anything really.  I say this because growing up in a small city we did a lot of “driving around” in our cars for fun once we got out lisences and also would make up lip syncs to Jann arden.  There are so many songs that take me back to times in high school or can just make me think of someone. 

There is that new commercail where a guy is travelling around the world or something, but he has one of those new phones that you can download music onto.  He talks about how listening to certain songs can bring someone there with him and he feels like they had been with him the whole time.  This is something I can relate to being in Lethbridge while my friends are back in Calgary, Vancouver and Halifax for various reasons.  By listening to music it brings back memories of them when I can’t be with them.  Or it can bring you closer to someone you may have lost and brings back good memories of them as well.

Music can mean different things to everyone else and the meanings can change as time goes on.  I have found that now not only does the music attract me but the lyrics of the song make the song even better for me.  I have found myself not so much enjoying the music but after listening to the lyrics began to like it alot more.  I wish I could think of an example right now but my mind is drawing a blank.

Movie going alone! February 28, 2007

            Going to he movies has always been a favourite pastime of mine, even as the cost of going to movies increases.  The movie I chose to go see was “Music and Lyrics” with Drew Berrymore and Hugh Grant.  Choosing to see this movie I knew going in it was going to be a majority of females or couples going to see it.  I was going alone because everyone else was busy and to be honest I was running out of time to see a movie.  So I ventured this on my own for the very first time, I was quite nervous but after I got there I quickly realized that no one really cares what I am doing.  As most people are they were more concerned with themselves and getting their popcorn and drinks before the movie began to notice me a lonely movie goer! So I buy my ticket from the automatic machine where you do it all yourself.  Which is something I both love and hate, I love it when smart people are using it and hate it when stupid people are using it. 

 

            I then decide that I wanted to get a drink so I went up to the counter to a theatre worker who was just a little to excited to be working behind a snack counter at a theatre if you ask me.  I order my regular size diet pop and get asked the question that is asked everywhere “would you like to upsize this?”, and then he adds “so you can get a free refill!”  Why would I need a large pop and then find the need to refill it!?  So I decline that and I decline the offer to get candy or popcorn as well.  I get my straw and proceed to dig for my ticket in my pockets and purse because every time I come to a movie I subconsciously put it away knowing full well I am going to need it right away. I find it at the bottom of my junk filled purse and hand it to the ticket ripper.

 

            The next task was to choose a location to sit, both to observe people the best I can and to blend in because I was alone!  I decided to sit near the back so that I can watch people and I thought this was the best location to accomplish both tasks.  So I settle in just as the previews are beginning and the people behind me are talking away and laughing which drives me nuts.  I brush it off and try to not get too angry because it is just the previews, which Russell Smith describes as a waste of time.  The thing about previews is it is one of my favourite things and I don’t feel that they are a waste of time at all.  I saw some great previews and scoped out the theatre at the same time.  There were only about 10 people in the theatre, me, one couple, two families, and another lady there by herself.  The other lady alone made me feel a little more comfortable and not so obvious.

 

            After about 20 minutes the movie begins and the people behind me continue to talk away and laugh.  Part of the annoyance of the talking is that they are just repeating the funny parts of the movie.  As though everyone around him is not able to hear the movie already and we need him to repeat it for us all in case we missed it.  The one thing that I noticed was that the males in the theatre seemed to be into the movie just as much as the females, which surprised me because it was a romantic comedy which males generally don’t want to watch.  About 20 minutes into the actual movie another family, which looked, like a mother a young daughter, and a toddler came in.  I thought oh great just the movie to bring a toddler to this is going to be awesome.  I was pleasantly surprised when the child sat really well and I never heard a sound out of him or her.  I also thought why would you bother coming to a movie which technically started about 30-40 minutes ago counting previews?  It seemed like a waste of money to me.

 

            The movie itself was pretty good, I enjoyed it a lot and I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the romantic comedy genre.  After reading Smith’s article I wanted to try and be cognisant of the “herd determinedly chomping and chewing and slurping” as he described it.  I was disappointed when I heard none of this, I thought after being made aware that this was a problem I would be able to hear nothing else.  Although there were not many people in the theatre there were people sitting behind and in front of me and I was not overwhelmed by their eating and drinking habits.  I think that Smith is just overly sensitive to these things, because in my entire movie going excursions I have never had such an issue with people eating their food.

 

 There are two problems that I have when going to the movies one I already mentioned which involves people talking during the movie, we are all watching the same movie so please don’t ask what is going on if you don’t know I probably don’t either I am not seeing special parts that you aren’t, and also this is not the time for gossip that you may of heard save it for after the movie.  Second is when peoples phones ring, I understand if you forget to turn off the ringer especially when the creepy robot doesn’t remind you too, but turn it off after it rings once or DON’T answer it an proceed to talk on it in the theatre.  Show some respect for others.

 

            For my first movie going adventure on my own I was quite satisfied with it and may have to do it again.  As for the overall experience around me during the movie it was overall fairly uneventful not a lot was going on.  Nothing hindered my experience to the point that I was unsatisfied, I mean the talking was annoying but I still enjoyed the movie. 

February 13, 2007

Television has been a hot topic on many peoples list of ways to place blame the problem of todays youth.  I remember when I was younger the power rangers were the cause of children becoming more violent and was even banned in several places.  I am not so sure I agree with this but I do agree that there is too much violence and influences on TV that youth are not able to filter through because they are not fully able to decipher what is real and what isn’t.  There are ratings on TV shows now but I can’t tell you the last time a show actually put that rating on the TV show itself.  There is the standard warning before a few of those shows but kids don’t listen to that, i feel there needs to be a better rating system and way of enforcing it on families TV’s. In class on wednesday I learned for example that Festivus which I thought was a made up holiday was a result of the writers imagination.  I was not aware that it was actually a phenomenon that people are actually celebrating this holiday.  But after looking on the internet I found that people are actually celebrating this holiday, making songs up for it , and even writing books on it.  I found a little clip on the history of festivus that someone has created.

Reality TV I will admit especially on MTV is something that I am definately into.  I will admit that I love watching “the Hills”, “Laguna Beach”, “my super sweet sixteen”, “The real world denver”, “dance life” and there are probably more that I don’t need to list.  I can’t really explain my love for these shows maybe it is because they have a life that I don’t or will not.  I know a majority of it is scripted but it is still good to me! 

February 7, 2007

So I was reading Chapter 6 and thinking about the internet and how far it has come even since I was introduced to it.  I know I have talked about my dependancy on it, but I never sat back and thought about where the internet is now how it started out as just for text in the military to now allowing you to pretty much do anything.  I remember getting AOL and thinking it was the most amazing thing ever and being able to chat with friends online and not have to use the phone.  At the same time the internet was using the phone line so I might as well be using the phone to talk to friends but I couldn’t talk to more than 1 at the same time!  Now we have wireless internet which allows me to pretty much use my laptop anywhere I am granted there is a wireless signal around.  I have never thought about where it came from and the functioning behind it I have just been using for as long as I can remember.  The only downside to the internet that I find is that children are using it and are almost obsessed with playing games on it.  We computers are taken away from them or they don’t have internet they seem lost with things to do.  I heard of a study that was done where all technology was taken away from a group of children for 1 week to just see what would happen.  As expected the children got bored and were complaining but after a day they started to come up with things to do and started to be creative and in the end didn’t miss it as much as expected.  I think that this is a great idea to have 2 or 3 days of the week alloted where there is no use of technology in the house, the children are to find other things to do go outside and play or even find things to do in the house.

The mid-drift January 31, 2007

The mid-drift is a marketing scheme that I think I could definately do without.  I know a few girls that are in the age range that they are marketing towards and it is shocking what they are concerned about now compared to what I was as a child.  I know it is the same old arguement that you hear all the time, but it is quite the concerning issue I find.  There are 7 or 8 year old girls bragging about how skinny they are and 10 and 11 year olds telling eachother how hot they are in a particular outfit or even a swim suit.  When I was that age I was just excited about what was on my swimsuit if it was pink or had ruffles or whatever, or getting a new sweatshirt, I don’t remember sitting around with my friends talking about how skinny eachother was.  I now looking back know that I was a buyer into the cool hunters, I can remember wanting and even needing a Club Monaco sweatshirt and the day that my mom bought me one I was soooo excited I wore that thing every day!  There many other times I am sure that I felt I needed something because I thought I would only be cool if I had it.  That is always going to be there, the problem I have is with both the “mook” and the “middrift” because I have seen results of these marketing schemes and it is troubling to see boys wrestling and using violence when something isn’t going their way, or girls wearing revealing clothing, make up or concerned about their weight before they even hit puberty.

My dependance on the internet is scarry! January 24, 2007

Today I was working on my computer at work and all of the sudden the internet connection was lost!  Of course I go through the normal procedures of making sure the connection is still plugged in, the lights are on on the D-link box, restart my computer, but still I had nothing!  I had no idea what to do because I am just used to it working and having no problems I haven’t in the past so how was I to know what to do!  So I went to check if others had lost connection and sure enough they had and so we all went to work trying to figure out what the problem was we tried many different things, restarting all the computers, restarting the main system, turning off all the computers at the same time!  So sitting at my desk thinking okay I will just do work that doesn’t require the internet, and it hit me I couldn’t everything that I did was on the internet one way or another, whether it is managing a website, inputing information, or researching games and so on..  So without the internet I had nothing to do!  I never thought about how much I NEED the internet and then I found myself wondering if I had any emails, even though by this point it had only been 15 minutes I was worried I had an important email.  I have never been so aware of my reliance (even I don’t know if I spelt that word right because of spell check!) on technology.   

Little Miss Sunshine January 24, 2007

This weekend I was finally able to watch the movie “Little Miss Sunshine” that I had heard nothing but good things about and from alot of people that it was even their favorite movie.  I must say that I was pleasantly surprise because alot of times alot of people find a movie great but just as many hate it so I was a little pessemistic about it.  Also because it is nominated for alot of awards and alot times I find those movies that “holloywood” finds amazing I find to be rather boring.  I am a comedy/romantic comedy movie person I don’t often like movies outside of this genre which may explain this.  Anyways getting on with it I loved this movie I thought it was great for alot of reasons..  I think my favorite part of the movie was how Olive was the “ugly duckling” of the pagent obviously when comparing her to the other girls entered in the pagent.  Her Father, Brother, and Uncle all thought that she shouldn’t continue on because of this but she doesn’t hesitate to continue on with it.  Her dance was quite questionable to the crowd and even many of the judges.  Her Father, Brother and Uncle all got up on stage and helped her out when everyone wanted her off.  I just love how even though they didn’t think it was the best idea they were willing to get up and embarass themselves to help ease her embarassment.  The movie was good in so many other ways though that you will have to watch to find out!