Blog #10

I'm really not into reading books or any other kind of literature but I still enjoyed this class. I actually enjoyed some of the books we read. I found most of the things we covered in this class pretty interesting. I really enjoyed reading Feed and The Hunger Games. Those books are books that I feel I would have actually have read for entertainment. I also found the Second Skin documentary to be entertaining. I think this class helped me get better at analyzing literature and critical thinking. Because of this class I feel that now when I read literature I'll have a better understanding of whatever I read.

Blog #8

I believe our society will never be fully entertained. There are always new shows coming out that grab people's interests and some older shows start to die. It also seems that we start to get bored of things after a long period of time. People seem to never enough of what they want so the demand for new entertainment is high. I think one of the reasons Americans crave violence so much is because it's human nature. We find it entertaining and exciting since it is something we usually don't see in everyday real life. Also, when people see violence on TV and video games, they know they are in no danger. I  thought it was interesting that Suzanne Collins said part of her inspiration for the book was the mythology of a minotaur. It was a little surprising to me. I think the reason our society wants to have their fifteen minutes of fame is because of curiosity. We wonder what it would be like to be known by millions of people. Plus, everybody likes money and most famous people usually have a nice amount of it. I think in the Hunger Games, Katniss is playing the Gamemakers. In reality TV I think the characters and the audience are playing each other. The people on the show are getting played by acting a certain way to gain more fans. The audience is getting played by the characters because they're making money off the fans.

Blog #7

I think the role we play as viewers is to just stay tuned in so the show and their network make all the money they can. Although it's "reality" TV, the network can edit the show anyway they want to keep the audience intrigued. We influence what happens by reacting to the content of certain episodes. If an episode of reality TV got a good response, the network is likely to have more episodes feature whatever caused the good reaction. I watched the episode of Jersey Shore where Snooki' embarrasses her boyfriend and causes him to leave the club. I didn't find this episode very enjoyable since it mainly since it featured Snooki's problem with her boyfriend. It wasn't fun watching a drunk girl cry over her boyfriend, not to mention the fact that her cry voice is the most annoying thing I've ever heard. I think people tune in to watch this because it's entertaining that people act this way. Our role as the viewer of this stuff is to continue to watch and stay interested. If people don't do this the series would crash and that would be the end. It works this way for every reality TV series.

I couldn't find a clip of what I watched, but here are one of the many noises this girl makes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za5j43wXXNM

Blog #5

I don't think I would be able to go a year without all of my worldly possessions. It wouldn't be too hard for me to give up Facebook and my cell phone, but I wouldn't be able to go a year without my video games or watching football. I didn't even consider doing the extra credit challenge because I wouldn't be able to go a week without those things. I wouldn't even consider living in the woods because I don't want to end up like the guy from Into the Wild. If for some reason I was forced into the situation, I think I would learn a lot more about myself. I'm sure I'd find something not related with technology that I'd be completely interested with, like drawing or exploring the surroundings. I think that if Thoreau grew up in this day and age he wouldn't be able to do what he did. Technology has become apart of our daily life now. I'm sure there are people that would have no problem living a secluded lifestyle for a year it just really isn't for me. I don't let technology consume me or anything, but I do enjoy watching a movie or playing a video game from time to time. Technology has just become too important for what we do now that it would be hard to walk away from it all. All lot of people think technology doesn't play a big role in their life but it does. I'm sure everybody has something they do everyday involving some sort of technology, that they wouldn't be able to go without.

Blog #4

To be honest, I was almost a little offended by what Bauerlein had to say.  When he said 52% of high school seniors picked Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy as an ally over the Soviet Union my reaction was so what. I'm sure most of that 52% are working as janitors or doing hard labor in a place where their intelligence isn't really necessary. Those kids probably aren't running the country or doing something where they can make any impact one everyone else. I think Bauerlein is a little jealous at what we have today. I also think he didn't have many friends going up so it bothers him all these people are socializing in a bunch of ways. In most senior classes, there are the kids that go straight into the work force and have a minimal impact on everyone else. Than there are the kids that go to prestigious schools who will end up working the important jobs that affect others. What is this guy so worried about? Either way by the time our generation is making all the decisions for the country this guy is going to be in 70s so I don't know why he cares so much. I personally think this guy needs to just sit back and chill. He needs stop trying to make a buck off of his generalization that our generation is dumb. He should worry about his own problems because as of right now, our generation isn't even a problem.

Blog #3

The virtual identities people create have a limited amount of value and meaning. People do spend their real money on virtual things in games so there is some sort of value. I think to some people their virtual identities mean a lot. It depends on the situation the person is in.For people like the handicapped man in Second Skin, the online identity they create helps them open up and feel accepted. People like this are more likely to find a lot of meaning in their virtual self.Other people just play the game for fun and don't get too sucked in. These people are likely to find less meaning. I think cyberspace being the "new frontier" is a possibility. I saw a documentary once about the game "Second Life" and it showed business companies having meetings online in the game. This could make things easier for companies and would save time and money for traveling costs. I don't think all the new technology is going to affect the average person. I don't see anything too drastic happening in our lifetime, but I won't rule out the possibility.

Blog #2

After reading the first few sections of "Culture Jam", I got the feeling that Kalle Lasn isn't a happy camper. While I was reading, I found myself disagreeing with a lot of things he had to say. The first thing I didn't agree with was when he said the typical postmodern family is more like five strangers sharing utilities. I feel that I come from a town with many typical families and I've never even heard a comparison like that. I also found the whole "connecting with nature is really important" thing to be absurd. I think whatever makes people happy they should do it. If it happens to be spending a lot of time with nature then go to the woods. If it happens to be watching a lot of television, then watch TV. It seems to me that this guy Kalle Lasn is too caught up in what everyone else is doing. I personally don't care what anybody wants to do on their own time. As long as it doesn't involve endangering my family, or screwing with any of my stuff then why should I care? I think if Lasn took that approach he would probably be a more likable guy. But until then, he'll just be a guy that knows the answer to the problem he has with our culture.

Introduction

My name is EJ Weiss and I am a business undecided major. I like watching all types of sports and playing all types of video games. The last book I read that wasn't school related was Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. Literature in my opinion is any fiction or non-fiction writing that tells a story.