Response to Vanessa Lee's “Go away, I’m watching TV”

Thus great posting can be found here: http://homertheheretic.blogspot.com/

When reading this blog post, I couldn’t help but think that this is a post that I could have written as she says exactly how I feel about personal programming and my love for On Demand.

I have to completely agree with your first point Vanessa, about how even though Detweiler and Taylor believe that niche programming is dividing America and turning it into a negative thing, it actually is a more convenient and efficient way of incorporating television into a very hectic schedule.

As a student who commutes to school every day with a full course load and a part time job, I can never watch any of my favourite shows at the specific days and times they air, so I have to rely on “On Demand” as well as online outlets to be able to watch them according to my schedule.

What I really liked about your post Vanessa was how relatable it is to almost all North Americans today. As you said, it caters to people’s individual needs. Although television was meant to be a medium to bring people together, I completely agree that instead of it being a physical thing it’s more of a communication tool. My best friend and I share the same obsession over a certain show that I’ll keep anonymous to save us both from the embarrassment. Sometimes we’ll Skype and watch the show online together or try and watch it during the same time so we can both discuss every event that occurred during the episode.

Personally I like watching my shows alone and without distraction, it becomes my escape from everything else going on around me. It distracts me from thinking about the assignment I have due or the test I have coming up for a little while. I should also mention that when watching shows online, they are commercial free which saves 10 min in a 30 min episode or 20 min in an hour long episode- this adds another bonus to my life.

Television has moulded our society entirely, for the better; I don’t know. What I do know is that it does help relieve stress and provide entertainment to the masses.  Too much of anything is never a good thing and I don’t believe children should be exposed to most things that are on television now a day but in moderation, everything works.

Xo,
Y

Labels of Love

I was chatting with a friend the other day when she turned to me and said “you know I almost always see you with a Second Cup coffee in your hand, never Starbucks or Tim Hortons, why is that?” I stopped to think about it and realized I unconsciously had chosen to be loyal to Second Cup and since coffee makes up for a majority of my diet, it seemed as though my relationship with Second Cup was more than just a convenient coffee shop on my way to class. When she proceeded to ask if I would consider changing over to Starbucks as it was her brand of choice, I quickly replied “absolutely not” and retorted the same question to her about trading over to Second Cup and her answer was identical to mine. So what makes us choose which brands or chains we become loyal to?



 A good Advertisement lures its audience into consuming the product or brand as a whole and if a brand manages to make a type of cult following. When a consumer becomes accustomed to a certain brand it becomes hard to stray away from it.

This can also be seen with religion, one becomes consumed in their beliefs that no one can convince them otherwise. What makes being preached too by a priest different from being told to buy the new Apple product? Faith and products are things that make us feel complete as human beings; it makes us feel like we’re part of something. Having comfort in knowing we’re holding a Blackberry in our hands or wearing the new Prada pumps to Church on Sunday, it helps gives us confidence and ultimately makes us happy.

As much as we would like to believe that we aren’t a society that likes to be bought, we really are. We want to be persuaded to buy the new products, to follow a higher power to be part of a community. Blogging about this right now and knowing people will read it demonstrates how big the blogging phenomenon or ‘cult” has gotten. Why did I choose to use Blogger? Why didn’t I find a lesser known, different outlet instead of following the trend?

With keeping in mind Twitchell’s article and our class discussion, I don’t think I’ll be getting any opposing views to this post as it seems that people actually have an unconscious need to be labelled.

Xo,
Y

McQueen Elevates

As a huge fashion lover and follower I thought it would make sense to have my first real class post relate back to it while keeping the themes of the class prevalent.


This is a video tribute made by Nick Knight to the amazingly talented genius British fashion designer, Alexander McQueen, who died February 11^th 2010 by cause of suicide. The music and lyrics provided in the video are by Bjork, one of McQueen’s dear friends, and an artist who like McQueen is known to push boundaries.


Now let’s take a deep look into this video; this piece of art.

This video was shown at the 2010 British Fashion Awards in December to pay homage to one of the most visionary designers of this generation by awarding him the Outstanding Achievement award. This video is dark, deep and will give anyone shivers. Only black models were used, and the video demonstrates some of McQueen’s most memorable and iconic pieces. The opening sequence with the white dress and pitch black background floating almost looks as though the model is being born. Everything in the video is dark in order to showcase the clothes as the only “light” in the video a very symbolic way of depicting the sadness of his passing by the beauty of his clothes. At around the 2:04 mark in the video you will notice one of the pieces break out into a million different ways as the climax to Bjork’s song and lyrics start to kick in. Bjork says:


“We know, we know, we know it was all worth it. We know OH we know it was all, all for a reason. Let’s elevate. Let’s elevate. Let’s ELEVATE ABOUT NOW. NOW. NOW. NOW. NOW.  “   


These lyrics  and the images seen in the video during these strong statements demonstrate Bjork and Knight’s depiction of McQueen being a sort of higher power, a saviour, with the suggestion of him being resurrected are repeated and chanted over and over. 


 The video starts off with a birth with the images of the models in white flowing dresses emerging in the middle and a structured dress that emulates that of an angel with wings then rises in. His life and his work are being showcased in different angles and models, the climax of his death shown by the shattering of clothing and the angry faces shown by the models. At 2:28 the model wearing all black feathers starts moving in vast motions suggesting a change and sequence of events. The imagery of blood starts to follow at this point with images of black feathers and red dresses being flashed to show the darkness of his death and the bloodshed. As this continues the images get darker, faster and scarier as Bjork’s voice elevates as she chants. From 3:07 and on, the two images being shown are a model wearing a wreath on her head with long hair and a strapless bondage ivory coloured dress. The other image is that of a red dress draping so fast over a model that it looks as though blood is being splattered on her. The image of the model with the wreath ends the video and it’s obvious to see that this model is suppose to emulate Jesus Christ, as this whole video was suppose to show the power of McQueen and how he was viewed in the fashion world and his “sacrifice” (ie. the red dress supposing to be blood) is why he’s gone. Bjork chants for McQueen to “elevate” back to life, as if it’s inevitable. The single tear drop from the “Jesus” model brings the whole thing to a close and it will leave you speechless!




Sorry for my long rambling. Please feel free to comment! I’d love to hear what you all thought of the video :)


Xo,
Y