This week, I have had a few encounters with the band Phish. The first consisted of a live stream of the concert that they held in Utica, NY on October 20. Every concert that Phish holds is streamed live on hoodstream.com for the “phans” who cannot attend, also know as the “Couch Tour.” Although the quality of the video and sound is incomparable to actually seeing the band live, it is a great way to stay posted on the most current concerts.
Photo taken by me at Manchester.
My second encounter involved a trip to the Umass campus in Amherst on October 23. Although I was lucky enough to make it to the lot, I was unable to find a ticket, and spent the evening hanging out with old friends, making new ones, and had a fabulous time regardless of my inability to see the actual show.
This is a video of "Fee" as preformed at UMass Amherst.
Finally, I attended the concert in Manchester, NH on October 26. This was a phenomenal show of lights, music, and dancing, during which I took a number of photos and short video clips while sitting to the right of the stage.
Photo taken by me at Manchester.
Because of the convergence of media, I am able to review videos and pod casts from the shows that I both attended and missed, as well as review the set lists and pictures taken by myself and others.
Media are really a phenomenal way to communicate, publicize, and stay updated with the scene, when it is unreasonable to attend all of the shows I want due to classes and a $60 ticket fee.
While sitting in the Fireside Lounge at Champlain College a week or so ago, I overheard a conversation that literally made me “LOL.” A couple of friends were sitting in a circle, on their laptops, not talking (unless they were instant messaging 2 feet away from eachother), when a girl exclaimed, “OMG! Katy Perry just tweeted my name! This is the BEST DAY EVER!!!” When her friends looked at her with perplexed faces, she explained, “She just landed in Vienna!”
I kind of just sat there staring at them, my jaw on the ground. Was I the only one disgusted by this statement?!?! Do people really, actually get giddy with excitement when their name happens to be the same as a major city, and pop icon KATY PERRY actually refers to it? Really? Come on now.
Teens these days apparently idolize girls that sing about kissing other girls. Who would have thought? It’s hard to imagine where our society is going when the heroes of the next generation make FABULOUS music like this.
Regardless of my opinion concerning this event, it is a remarkable indication of the role the Web 2.0 plays in the lives of the general population. This girl was able to instantaneously know the happenings in the life of someone she had never met just because she was tuned into her tweets. The convergence of media is both astounding and unsettling…. Lets hope I don’t hear too many more conversations like this… otherwise I may just completely pack up and retreat into the woods.
Essential Facts: 1. “Many of the claims made by the World Health Organization (WHO seem to be based on weak and imcomplete date. The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has created and used data to grossly azaggerate the need for an expensive and unnecessary vaccine aimed at creating profits for the pharmaceutical industry.” (Censored 2011, 60)
2. The H1N1 virus was considered a “pandemic” and a serious health risk to the US, with a severity between the Spanish Influenza of 1917 and the Swine Flue outbreak of 1976.
3. The Massachusetts government passes legislation requiring its citizens to get the vaccine with consequences of incompliance ranging from fines to prison.
4. There was NO UNIFORM SYSTEM for collecting data regarding the spread of H1N1, and the number of “confirmed and probable” cases were lumped together as one statistic, resulting in Swine Flu’s label as a “pandemic.”
5. In the span of less than a month and a half, the threat level of H1N1 was raised from Phase 4 to Phase 6, which should have been an indication to the reporting agencies that there was a problem with the data being collected. Instead, the organizations used the figured to increase the hype and hysteria concerning H1N1.
6. “By August 2009, the WHO casually acknowledged that the underlying symptoms were moderate and the ‘most people will recover form swine flu within a week, just as they would from seasonal forms of influenza.’” (Censored 2011, 62)
7. By the end of October 2009, the US government had ordered 195 million doses of the swine flu vaccine, resulting in massive profits for the pharmaceutical companies from Americans “who purchased an unnecessary and potentially dangerous vaccine in large quantities.” (Censored 2011, 63)
There were thousands or articles concerning the spread of H1N1, but the vast majority covered only the staggering (and inaccurate) statistics, scaring people into purchasing and taking the vaccine. Even the news coverage of swine flu seemed to be in favor of scaring people into getting the vaccine. This story, in that sense, was fairly censored, however, the general public seemed to be aware, at lease towards the end of the “pandemic” that swine flu was not really as bad as the news was making it out to be. This is apparent in the numerous political cartoons concerning H1N1, and the spoofs done by people like Stephen Colbert.
image courtesy of http://www.cs4fn.org/fundamentals/networks.php
1. After studying media for eight weeks in this class, what have you learned? Please be specific. After studying in this class for 8 weeks, I have learned way more than I ever could have expected. I have learned a lot about new interactive forms of media, which I previously knew almost nothing about, like Twitter, FourSquare, etc. I don’t think I’ll ever become a part of these networks, but they are interesting concepts to learn about. In addition, now every time I see a commercial, TV show, movie, etc., I start to pick it apart and I start to see how the makers are trying to influence me. Using this information, I am able to digest the information presented to me in a more reflective and active way, instead of just letting it wash over me like that majority of viewers. 2. What is the most important thing you have learned about yourself as a critical reader, a writer, and a thinker in this class so far? As a critical reader, I have learned that in order to really digest information, I need a decent chunk of time, and to be fully invested in the piece. Of our readings, I really got into Media/Society and Feed, as well as the first couple chapters of Censored 2011, and because if that, I was able to really think about the information presented and comment on it and critique what I learned. I have also become a very critical reader of visual texts due to the power tools that we were introduced to. Now I look at everything I see through the eyes of the power tools, and whether I like it or not, I am a much more active viewer. As a critical writer, I feel that the blogs have helped me a lot, especially the media meditations. Because I have to be a critical writer, I have become a more critical reader and viewer and experiencer of life, something that I think is really important to being an intellectual, observant individual. My skills gained in both critical reading and writing has forced me to become a more critical overall thinker. Everything you learn in the span of a lifetime influences how you think and react to every situation in your life, and because of my exposure to the power tools and the other things learned in this class, I have a completely new outlook on the media and the world in general. 3. What’s one thing you would do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again? If I were to take this class again, I would most likely try to space out the reading for the assignments we had. I found all of the information very interesting, but for the majority of the readings, I did not have the time to digest and read them as closely as I should have. I know that I work under pressure more efficiently, and therefore procrastinate with almost all of my work, but with reading, it is not as easy to work under a time crunch. So, if I were to take the class again, I would have started the assignments earlier, in order to get as much as possible out of the class. 4. What’s the one thing you would like me to do differently the first half of the semester if you were to take the class again? If I were to take this class again, I would want you to start the grid quizzes earlier. I found them very helpful and enlightening, and I think that they really express what were should be getting out of the class. More practice with them would be really beneficial.
5. Please comment on the usefulness of the power tools, our quizzes, the course blog, your personal blog, our films, and our books (AMUSING, FEED, MEDIA/SOCIETY) as learning tools. As I previously mentioned, I think that the power tools, the quizzes, and the readings were all essential components of the class, and I learned a lot from each of them. The films that we watched also opened my eyes to the world of persuasion in media, and gave an application to the concepts we were learning through the reading and power tools. A few movies that assisted with this more than the rest were “Reel Bad Arabs,” “The Machine is Us/ing Us,” and “Parisian Love.” The developments being made by the Web and the way that the ideas are expressed are fascinating to me, and by viewing them in a class instead of on my own time really forced me to look at each piece with critical and analytical eyes. The books we read also played a huge role in what I learned. I think that reading Feed first was very important because it served as a dramatic introduction to the class, and because it was a novel instead of a factual book, it grabbed my attention and reeled me in. The other texts provided evidence explaining where we are in the media and where we are going, a thought that both amazes me a scares me. I don’t think that there is one text or video that we have used in class that is expendable; they were all essential for learning what I have. Finally, the blog was an important learning tool, and although it is sometimes a pain to constantly be updating, it is and incredibly important tool to learn about as a student in the world of media.
Devon: So what seems to be your troubles today miss? Emily: I can’t keep track of anything! I’ve had almost every cell phone there is, but I am constantly losing them or breaking them! I just can’t keep all the info I need stored in my phone anymore, I need more space or another device! Devon: You’ve come to the right place. Although the Feed is new, everyone is getting them. I’ve installed so many, it’s going to be setting the standards for how we interact. Emily: I was worried that if I didn’t get one, I would be left out. Or worse, I wouldn’t be able to get a job. Devon: You know, employers are going to be looking for this. You’ve made the right choice. Emily: Its amazing that I can’t have a device that is capable of so much, and not have to hold on to it. Devon: Yeah it truly is amazing. Communication is just as easy as a thought. Instead of hand-held, it’s brain-held. Emily: Wow! That sounds amazing, hands free brain held world! Devon: Just look how happy all of my customers have been! Kelsey: I never get bored anymore. The entertainment and information is almost endless. I think about the recent baseball scores and they’re there right in front of my eyes. Talk about getting smart while just using the power of your own mind. Darin: The feed will be available spring of 2011, the hands free brain held technology will allow you to access anything at the speed of your thoughts. Endless amounts of information that was once at your fingertips is now even closer. Shop, share, shop, share and expand your mind with the Feed. Get it now.
