Is the machine using us?

Although Michael Wesch's video made it seem as though "the machine" is an ambivalent being that is somehow connected to us the machine is not using us. We may be using each other, through data exchange on the internet but there is no machine. For there to be a machine using us it would need to be self aware and able to make decisions to manipulate us. We are not in some pre apocalyptic situation before the machines arise and terminators walk the earth destroying everything.

True Confessions

        For me the most familiar and useful advice is the same thing. Conciseness. I tend to elaborate in my writing creating a fantastical account of something that could have easily been said in three words. I tend to just vomit my thoughts to the paper without stopping and then return a few hours later to decipher the mess. Although editing this way becomes tedious and sometimes confusing my writing normally turns out ok. I have certain phrases I just can’t kill so they stay despite being unnecessarily elaborate. I have gotten the note to trim fat literally since my first writing assignment in elementary school. Each English teacher every year has said, “this is good but this entire chunk is unnecessary despite it being beautiful language so yada yada yada” When assigned more creative assignments I take it as a signal to just let the adjective horses run free. I flip to full throttle and just describe to my hearts content. I am a very visual learner so when I can read exactly how certain events are to be imagined I am in my element. I plan to work on this in my writing but am afraid it will eleminate some of the tone and voice that carries through. I tend to write the way I talk which is very expressive and I feel it necessary to pen it all down on paper despite my constant reminders to be concise.

Kia Hamster Commercial

This whole commercial is about connecting with a certain audience. That audience is definitely the 18 to 26 year old college student. Many current fads are being addressed in this commercial. The first is the whole space age/ videogame war genre. The commercial opens up with a war torn crater, filled with battling robots underneath their ships circling above. Many movies and games are filled with violence and fiction these days. The second connection with the college audience is the music. This is a current popular party song and is reinforced by the hamsters’ outfits. This brings me to a whole new topic.

 The hamsters dance. Actually they dance pretty well. This ridiculous combination is laugh out loud funny. The current web generation loves to laugh. The videos with the most hits on YouTube often tend to be the funniest; in fact there is a whole category devoted to funny videos. Not only is this commercial funny but also it has a happy ending. The hamsters bringing piece across the galaxy reminds the viewer of our troops coming home from over seas. All in all this commercial is catered in every way to the college audience.

Commercial Sharing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zJWA3Vo6TU

Heineken Commercial

One of the central observations I have made of this commercial is the difference in views of men vs. women. This commercial is geared towards men in a major way. Not only was this commercial shown mostly on sports networks but the men are the punch line. The shots of them screaming in enjoyment at having the walk in closet converted into a walk in Heineken refrigerator creates the part of the commercial that grabs the attention of the audience.

A common dream among men is endless alcohol. Previous to the climax, the shot of the women screaming over the shoes and clothes is a biased view of how women react in your average department store. The commercial makes the connection between women screaming and men screaming by comparing clothes and Heineken. This commercial biases and skips the population of men who obsess over clothes and women who worship booze.

12 Q's about Heineken commercial

1. Why do they scream?
2. How old are they?
3. Who is this commercial geared to?
4. How wealthy are they?
5. Why are they speaking a different language?
6. How cold is the fridge?
7. Where are they?
8. Why are the men having the same reaction as the women?
9. Why are the closets filled with different objects?
10. why are only men in the fridge?
11. Why is there a party going on?
12. Is it a new house?

12 Q's about the AT&T Commercial

1. Why are they alone?
2. What type of bread?
3. Where are they from?
4. Extra set of clothes?
5. Why didn't they use the phone in the first place?
6. Why didn't they call a cab?
7. Why aren't they in school?
8. Change of light?
9. Why didn't they ask a cop?
10. Are they really brother and sister?
11. What city are they in?
12. What breed of pigeon?

10 things that baseball players do

1. Chew gum
2. Itch
3. Do an irish jig
4. Celebrate
5. Fight
6. Throw
7. Run
8. Slide
9. Steal
10. Curse

AT&T Commercial

The fact that Hansel and Gretel are in the city is an observation that is necessary to the understanding of this commercial. Right off the bat they do not look like they belong. Lederhosen in the city? Come on! That’s not feasible. A cop would stop them since the way they are dressed and being unsupervised if this was reality. When Gretel drops the bread it is instantly devoured by the environment. The pigeons eat the bread, which would not happen if Hansel and Gretel were in the forest where they belong. There are no sewer grates for the bread to be lost down in the forest either.

 The fairy tale has been totally removed from context by AT&T to prove a point. In the original fairy tale the bread is lost and they arrive at the gingerbread house with the witch who plans on eating Hansel. The AT&T cell phone saves the duo from this doom in the commercial hence changing the entire fairy tale. AT&T shows through this commercial that it can help avoid a cell phone user becoming lost most of all, but also the ability to steer them clear of potential danger.

Pantene Commercial

One of the most striking observations of this commercial is the repaired violin.  In reality a broken violin would hardly make any noise when played. However in this commercial, the viewers are led to believe that it creates the sound of a whole orchestra when played. The fact that the deaf girl repairs the violin in order to carry out her desire to play shows her dedication. The violin symbolizes the beauty of perseverance. 

The deaf girl plays a beautiful piece on an instrument that has been reduced to scrap wood and packing tape.  Although it is up to the beholder whether there is actually music or not, the reaction of the crowd suggests there is. Why would they clap for a deaf girl who plays a piece on an instrument that makes no noise? The broken violin influences the commercial since it shows that the impossible can be reality. A deaf girl receiving a standing ovation for playing on a reincarnated instrument is an improbable situation. Being deaf and winning a huge musical competition with a salvaged violin is a fairy tale story that would not hold the same impression if the broken violin was absent.

John Trimble: writers are like warriors FFW

I agree that writers are like warriors completely. Not only do writers have to defend their arguments but in order to do that it is necessary to break down the arguments of others. Although it is not a physical battle where swords clash or  missiles rip through the sky, it is a battle nonetheless. It is more civilized to write a counter letter to an argument than to have battle royal. More evidence that proves this when the argument is something as simple as Elmo or Barney, Jedi or Sith, and red vs. blue. These arguments are not something worth dying over but worth a rebuke letter.

1st post!

Here I am at Hofstra and I am blogging which was the last thing I thought I would be doing in writing class. writing online makes me feel a little nerdy but for me thats nothing new. In my subconscious I always feel nerdy maybe its that i remember a lot of visual things like what people where or the fact that i am really into movies. my secret addiction is corny action movies. I have lost hours of my life where I could be saving the world to watching hulking muscles and extreme explosions. Part of me laughs at all of this grandeur of destruction of person and property but at the same time I'm cheering in my seat when the bad guy is impaled, blown up, ripped apart, thrown off buildings, stabbed etc. etc. etc. There is something about the rush of making light of a topic that is dark that entertains and thrills. Although there will be no excessive action sequences or over the top blood baths this blog should be entertaining none the less. Maybe those will show up later, who knows!