HW # 21 ART PROJECT

I think my video is a mirror, because this is really how I am. I love having fun and just doing random things. I enjoy making people laugh, or at least attempting to, though I am successful like 97% of the time. My video makes me think about how hard it is to be a standup comedian, its not easy-AT ALL. I like the way that me and Chris had scenes from all over jumping everywhere.

hw # 27

For my little secretive interview I decided to speak with my little nephew Julian. Though he may not understand all of what I may say, he usually has some really good things to say. Me and him are always talking, he tells me about his school and his girlfriends. I tend to find it really interesting, because he always seems to amaze me. He be saying things that you wouldnt, and shouldnt expect from a three year old. No pun intended, We had this one conversation about ll his little girlfriends, in school, through my friends, and his mother's friends. I tell him, "you're only supposed to have one girlfriend at a time Julian" he tells me "shhh" and smiles. I have nothing else to do from there, so I just laugh, a natural reaction. The funny thing about his whole little situation is that he doesnt let any of them know his little scheme. My little role model.

hw # 26

Do you think that you are cool?
yea nigga, im from Florida. Thats where the bitches is at


What bout you makes you cool ?

I just told you why . Keep asking stupid questions and I'm gon stop this interview in its track.

What do you think defines being cool? Through other people...

being kinky, being chill, knowing how to relate to people and handle certain situations.

Do you surround yourself with only cool people?

yea, and you not one of them!



Do you think that you are cool?

yes but I barely have to try. If you know...what I mean.

What bout you makes you cool ?

The fact that I dont have to try and people begin to befriend me.


What do you think defines being cool? Through other people...

Being fly, knowing maddd people, and having people always wanting to chill wit you.

Do you surround yourself with only cool people?

I try, but you keep following me...





Do you think that you are cool?

Hell yea .

What bout you makes you cool ?

to keep it buck.... (chirp) People stay on my shit.


What do you think defines being cool? Through other people...

Um me, and dont call me cocky boo boo.

Do you surround yourself with only cool people?

Yupppp, a girl as fly as me needs to. aowwww








Do you think that you are cool?

umm, i guess. Do you think i'm cool?


What bout you makes you cool ?

Well for one, I'm a twin! and everyone loves me (smiling)

What do you think defines being cool? Through other people...

staying with the latest fashion trend. people get judge mostly on how they look..


Do you surround yourself with only cool people?

Yea, to me they are cool, but maybe for others they might not be. That just goes to show you that everyones definitions are different.






Do you think that you are cool?

yupppp


What bout you makes you cool ?

i dont know what exactly, but i hear it al the time.

What do you think defines being cool? Through other people...

having a nice personality , having money. Knowing how to balance things out.

Do you surround yourself with only cool people?

I try, if I didnt find someone call I doubt Id chill with them. And everybody has their own unique "cool" thing about them

hw #25

chris -

I have a friend who lives a similar lifestyle. His dad is always busy and he rarely finds time to spend quality time with him. The father in this short story seems to really care about his kids. As for the "cool" motorcycle guy, f%^k him. Good thing this is a made up story, least we cant get personal here. All that cool stuff goes out the window when you got responsibilities and kids. Being cool, in the end, can only take you so far.

Christian -

I found your story funny, but really true. All the time I see these fake kids, acting all hard in class, spazzing on teachers when its unnecessary. It's funny because now , kids find things like that funny, disrespecting teachers and all. They find it cool, portray that if you have the balls to stand up to and disrespect a teacher, your like this big cool guy who isnt scared of anyone. all i have to say is POSERS!

yurelis -

my wifeee, your story kind of felt like the corporate media of a new kid trying to fit in . being rich , giving away gifts to be cool and ending up with no one. I dont think this actually happens much in reality but this just shows that being cool should come naturally, and should never be forced.

michelle -

I liked your story, it reminded me a little of myself. Winking at the ladies and her feeling privileged while the others full of envy and jealousy. Your story was really put well real good. The kid, trying to seem all cool, ignoring people, gaining more and more attention. Then BOOM, the skateboard, what many teens find an entrance into cool, which i do not agree on.

anias -

hilarious!!! I was smirking the entire time while reading. You caught my attention and kept me interested the entire time. This story shows two types of cool's , the first in which everybody wanted to be like Beyonce Minaj and they all admired her and wanted to dress like her and all. The second was Beyonce Minaj having been trained in boxing and able to just easily smack 4 girls across the face and them not able 2 do much about it. This shows that cool people can want, but if you try too hard, you gon get bitch slapped.

hw # 24 - own story

So there's this kid named Edgar. He has some cool qualities, well, he can have the cool qualities. He has the potential, he chills with the "cool" crew, but then he acts a little shady he goes and hangs with the "lames", ditching us in the process. And recently he's been really sort of unsure of what style he wants to pick. First he was on his hispanic style, dressing up like a typical hispanic. Then he was sort of on his skate boarder style. And now the guy has the nerve to grow out his hair, but i don't know if he's doing it to look different and start a new style.

me : yo edgar was gooodd
edgar : nothing mannnn chillin
me: why you been growing your hair?
edgar : cuz i look cool man , you should do it too, ladies love it mann
me : ehhh i dont know, you some kinky nigga...( i walk away shaking my head)

hw # 23 - 1st constructive exploration of cool

To me , being cool is basically knowing the right people. You must know how to act, you need to know how to dress. Most importantly tho, I think you need to hang with the right people, because hanging with the wrong people in this society can ruin your little "cool reputation". A lot of people try to fit in with everyone else to feel cool, actually everybody does, trying to impress people, staying with the latest style. In my eyes, I really hate when people become mad fake just because they want to fit in, like just act like yourself, and if just so happen to be cool while you doing it then you good money. If you still mad whack while tryna be cool, you definately wont. I

hw # 15 triangle comments

To Chris Roldan post #11

I found it funny that you only decided to do your digital fasting when you had no other option. If you were to actually do it when you had your options, and stood away from it on your own, you would have possibly wowed me. The good thing with you "digitally fasting" is that you let your brain rest. You text way more than you may think, it's not just you, it's almost all teenagers. You managed to read your feed book, and catch up on old hw which was good. So maybe its okay to blame all the new digital technology for our failures in school right? Imagine what your grade could have possibly been if you had not had a cell phone, and an ipod too i guess.

hw 14

In the book Everything Bad is Good For You, Steven Johnson claims that the things that we originally thought was bad for us like video games and television may actually good. He argues that the structure of video games is done in such a way that the reward systems are clear and that it is not mindless escapism as gamers would mull over a way to solve a problem or situation presented in the video game. Players are put in situations where they need to evaluate multiple courses to take and find the best one. He further argues people do not really know what video games are like through second hand descriptions and have to play for themselves to see how challenging a game could actually be. Video games stimulate our brains in a way that produces higher dopamine levels and activates the reward center in our brain unlike any other form of entertainment. It exercises a different set of mental skills that are just as the ones we use in reading important. Thus, this reinforces his arguments that we need to re-evaluate the "form" of video games, rather than the content because there is an implication that something more complex is involved. He argues that the beneficial elements of video games arise from their format and the way they make us think rather than what the game is about in terms of story or plot.

The same is true for television and Stevens emphasizes their interactive nature where we are at times required to make sense of plot and character development. He acknowledges that it is less interactive than video games but due to the sleeper curve, stories have become more and more complex, with several plots layering and connecting together alternating different points of view. There are less and less “flashing arrows” directing viewers on the story. It leaves some things out for the view to try to figure out. The lack of handholding in present dramas as compared to past ones is visible down to the dialogue and expressions of the characters. The chapter is best summarized by this sentence in the chapter, “Pop TV More Subtle and Discrete Than Ever Before!"

My reaction to this book was mostly good because I feel like a different point of view on the use of electronics would be a good balance for our class book Feed. Something that may be faulty is that the sleeper curve is based on the assumption that people in the past generation were only ready for hand holding and since then people have grown due to the sleeper curve to be able to handle this level of television. Maybe people been at that level all along but the society and times were at a point were that kind of television was still being developed and people were testing and developing the medium of television story telling and it had to start simple to get where it is today. There has been more complex movies or television shows available in the past but overall I tend to agree that shows today require more from the viewer, there are grey areas, less hand-holding, layered jokes, and less information told and more information required. With video games the way people play requires a fast analysis of the situation and what they need to do to win. This probably requires for the brain to work a bit more than it has previously for the same medium.


At the most fundamental level, Everything Bad is Good For You argues very different things about technology--Everything Bad is Good For You argues it makes us smarter, while Feed is argues that the technology made the people dumber. Feed says that things have become simpler and simpler because the people are getting used to more simple things and its cyclic, while Everything Bad for You is Good argues it does the opposite, things are becoming more complex and evolving because of the technology. They do talk about different aspects of technology. Feed focuses on consumerism and corporation's attempt to advertise and sell to the general populace. This book doesn't contradict that part of feed, it is supporting consumerism culture by saying video games and television (which are propped with advertisements) is good. It also says because of the technology people don't think much anymore which is this book contradicts. It is analyzing the effect of how technology effects the way people think instead of how advertisment and consumerist culture affects it. Feed talks about how bombarded people are by adverstisements and buying things through the medium of technology. Everything Bad for You is Good focuses on the ways technology has since then developed in a way that demands more from the person using it by getting them involved and exercises their brains as a result. This book is focused on the way technology itself is affecting us, not the way media or advertisement is through technology.

hw 13 feed b

“Art is not a Mirror with which to reflect the World. It is a Hammer with which to shape it." -Bert Brecht

This quote reminds me of another one, one about life imitating art or it being the other way around? In Feed, it is a reflection of our society and holds many parallels to it using an allegory. Its our world but different. The mirror is a reflection of something, that thing has to be there first for it to be created inside the mirror's image, much like art imitating life being a reflection or copy of something. I've decided that it was both. After all this book was created as a reflection for our current culture, but in being created, it also shapes it and the people who read it. I think art cannot help being both. All art to some extent is a hammer, even children's books because children often seek to follow the ideals displayed in the story sometimes even to adulthood. But the extent to which it influences the reader or culture depends on how much it touches them. The deeper the impact, the deeper the influence. So in terms of this, Feed is both the mirror and the hammer. It is a reflection of society but it shapes the perception of it as well.

I think Feed is art and the way Anderson chose to write the story was very well thought out. It depicts the lives of teenagers living in the 21st century and their daily trials that any teenager might face today, making it realistic in tone, even though its futuristic. Feed is about the advertising and technology in today's world and shows the harmful effects through its allegory of the "feed", a computer installed inside their heads. The allegory of the feed shows how people can no longer think for themselves and have to have things spelled out for them. They have an infinite array of knowledge available to them, like the Internet search engines, but they aren't really smarter for it. The characters of this book are dependent on their feeds. Anderson is able to use this allegory effectively to talk about what what he thinks about the modern use of technology with symbolism; the way the characters interact with the feeds and with each other through it.

I think though it talks about teenagers, it is a pretty adult book. It's probably meant for teenagers and adults to read but targets teenagers sinice its a Young Adult book. I think it might be more suitable for older teens because I remember reading it when I was in middle school and though I got the plot and everything I didn't really appreciate the story but younger teens can still read it. The way they'll read it will be different though. It's like how when you read the same book at different points in your life you somehow take away different things from it. Feed is one of those books where you'll probably take away more once you're older because you have experienced more to get what the book is trying to say.

hw 12 feed A

Feed is an allegory for the modern teenage life in the US and for the most part it is on target. It may not depict my life or completely depict someone elses but there are parts and pieces where you find you can relate in some way. The relationships are pretty real. The way Titus is trying to get Violet and his friends to get along, and how he has these two relationships with both of them that he's trying to maintain is realistic. Also when he does things that aren't that great and flawed like deleting Violet's memory's because he's trying to maintain his way of life. That's supposed to be an allegory for how American's ignore things that might disrupt their way of life, but I think America's more open to that because of technology and different cultures are constantly seeping in and becoming intermixed with the American culture; different ways of life that we're making part of our own. That's in part because they're more accesable to people now, there are many different cultural foods here and alot of different fashions, some inspired by other countries. Either way I can't say its completely one thing or another, because people aren't like that either and people are what make up this place. I can't say people are completely open of things that may change their way of life and I can't say people are completely closed either, because there will be people who are both. That's kind of why at some moments I find it exagerated because the people in this story are mostly for only one side.

The way everyone lives in their own bubble, they have their own personal sun and clouds and its almost as if they all live in their own world. They're all separate, they don't share the same sky anymore. In the modern world, sometimes people are living in their own worlds too and they kind of just drift. It's probably easier to create your own world with technology. You can go online and discover a digital and chat with people or you can phase out and watch television. Maybe the same way happiness is infectious, being disconnected is as well. You can disconnect from this world and go to another.

The story even, though its not "real" is emotionally real. It has an emotional truth. The way the characters interact with one another in their digital world is alot like how we interact in ours. When Titus is in the car with Violet and they are M-chatting and she tells him her feed is malfunctioning and she seems scaredwhen she tells him to talk to him "in the air" he feels a bit unconfortable because that makes it more real. Even though they're talking in their head, not having to say the words physically makes the topic easier to talk about because its not as direct and by saying it aloud he has to confront it. That's how it is today too. Some things people feel more confortable saying online, but some things should be said outloud and can't be said through another medium. Its like how some people break up over a text message. They don't want to be present, they don't want to deal with the messy emotions that the words would cause. Its easier to not deal with it.

Self Experiment 1

Digital Day

8-12:35 School, boring
3:50 Went to work and chatted, texted, and got on facebook real quick before work began.
7 Got out of work.
Feelings: Tired, sleepy
7:30 got home, doing hw online, working on exhibitions
8 eating my food , ya dig
9:00 playing video games, madden 10 on my xbox 360 to be exact
10:00 went to sleep , set alarm clock

this is for the hw #4 where u didnt grade me for...smh

for Stephanies Post, this is what I wrote

Nice post hermanita! I agree, we are indeed being brain washed, and the funny part is that we all know we are, yet we seem to continue to let it keep happening. As for the train ride, we had so much fun on those, but maybe we put the headphones because we were just too exhausted from the day we had, because when we went to the beach, we had so much fun, and had energy well spent. Maybe isolation is sometimes good, like why must everyone think that isolation is not good and you have to socialize. If you have everything you need and are happy on the inside then why waste your time with some un-important people. Thankfully, I am not one of those addicted to twitter, although I am kind of addicted to facebook. I really don't get a kick out of seeing what everyone is doing. Maybe in your next post you can make counter arguements, see the other side of the story so the reader can understand you on a more deeper level. Bye :D

For Anias' post this is what i wrote

nice post! I liked the ideas you brought up in your post. I often find myself going through the same exact things. Me, for example, when I'm work, tend to get really distracted by my phone. As hard as I may try, I still cannot seem to get away from my phone for enough, I can put it down for maybe 5 -10 minutes at a time. I hate when I don't look at my planner though, and I hate the fact that one can get in that state of addiction with things even as serious as school. In your next post, you should expand on your idea of distractions, especially if you can name numerous ways you may get distracted. I hope to comment on your posts soon again, see ya later buddy !

For jessica's post this is what i wrote

Good first post! I liked how you spoke about ideas which are most common with people our age, you pointed out specific moments where many of us tend to get addicted to and also think about. Now-a-days we do all tend to get really addicted to watching particular t.v shows , being on social networking websites, or just being crazy glued down to your computer. I've gone through this myself, as I realize myself, in addiction mode, with all the new technology, but yet somehow I still can't seem to get myself out of the bad habits. In your next post, you should try elaborating more on your ideas, because I feel you have very bright ones, but your lack in elaboration does not make your post as insightful as it could possibly be. Fare well, take care :]

hw #10

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/23/ep.facebook.addict/index.html

I find this article interesting because some people are more addicted than one may think. This lady, hearing her daughter ask her for help on homework, and deciding to ignore her, because of Facebook, is not such a good excuse. According to the article there are five ways to know if you are addicted to facebook or not. the first is that you begin to lose sleep over facebook. Which is true, I dont care what anybody says. The second way is if you spend more than an hour on facebook, which I can sort of disagree with because an hour isnt that bad, especially if youre really bored and dont have other things to do, like hw and work related things. the third way is if you get obsessed with old loves, which I also disagree with.

http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2009/05/twitter-addiction-signs/

I found it really interesting how in the article, one of the signs which tell you that you are addicted was "if you beg people to follow you on twitter". I found this real interesting because I see it all the time. People even have the nerve to go on facebook and tell people to follow their twitter. Every time I sign onto my aim account, I always see at least one away message that is someone giving their twitter url. I wont lie, I do own a twitter account, but 1) I barely go on it and 2) I don't beg anybody to be my follower!

http://www.video-game-addiction.org/

this article posted good ideas. Many teens are able to balance out school and other areas of their life with video games. But theres always that bit that cannot do this and find themselves moving their thumbs more often than usual. I used to play xbox a lot last year but then I decided to focus more on school and get my grades up. I ended up not playing xbox for about 6 months and just recently started playing again. I barely play though, I play about 2 times a week, but I'm trying to get my grades up again. It's a shame that some people arent able to control themselves like me because that can really fuck somebody's life over.

hw # 9

Hey Chris thanks for your comment, you actually made me catch a couple of laughs to be completely honest. I liked the fact that you were able to relate to me in your comment on my video, about how friends and school, keep you less distracted and shall we say, "addicted" to digital technology. It was also really funny how you actually paid attention to my video, and noticed that I was on your page on facebook. Only the keen eye would see such a thing. You basically understood my concept on my video so there's not much I can say about how we may have thought of the video differently. Now, I got a quick question for you. If you didn't have school or friends do you think you would just stay home all day and just text, watch tv, play games all day? think about it.

hw# 7

As we strolled down through the park, we found a couple who weren't even sure about how many hours a day they use their phone, and to me it seemed as if they were the type that think they use their phones less than what they really use it for. One lady said she uses her phone 1 hour a day and when the other said maybe 6 or 7 hours the other one decided she wanted to change her hours, so she said maybe 2 or 3 hours. Then after the interview, me, chris, stephanie, and granit sat on the bench and we were just talking about how some people tend to lose track of how long they do certain things because they seem not to even take things like that into accountability.

comments hw # 8, i believe

Comment on Chris Roldan's video

You have no idea how pissed I am, I had the best post ever on this, and my stupid phone didn't post it. That's what I hate about this "digital media" nonsense. I liked your video man. I'm going to try my best to state some of the things I stated in the last post. I feel you on the whole thing with your sister, because I know that when my nephews are older, I'm going to want them to be able to contact me whenever, and however. Maybe in your next post, you might want to write about the message you are trying to send with your video so you don't hear the b.s about you doing it wrong. You the best bro see ya 2morrow. P.S my other comment was like 3x as long as this one!! I'm pissed!

Comment on Bryanna Wright's video

I think most of us seem to find ourselves, stuck on multiple things, related to electronics of course, at the same time. And americans say we can't multi-task, smh. And as for the whole running up the bill thing, I think most of us abuse digital things, just because we KNOW its usually like unlimited. So we text and text nd text, but if we had a limit to such things, though if things were more limited we would definately find some kind of way to not ineract too much , and get ourselves "addicted". On your next post, try elaborating more on your ideas, because you may have good ones, but if nobody hears all that you have to say, what's the point?! Lol . I recently been trying to push myself to work out more

Untitled from Elias Nunez on Vimeo.

some thoughts that passed through my mind was how, even though it was just an act that I put on taking the video, this is what I most of my time when there is nothing else to do. And the part when I said "I have no life" deadass seems kinda true even though I hate to admit it. I kind of hate the fact that I'm kind of addicted to so much digital things.

Its kind of good that I have things like work and school and friends to keep me busy from doing things like sitting on my couch all day and watching t.v, and sitting on the chair and going on Facebook, even though friends are what make you go on sites like that in the first place.

My nephew kind of already does d, he's already addicted to his cartoons. He already knows how to change to his channels with the remote and he does it real quick. But I wouldnt want him to get to used to it, in the future I'll probably be the one that ends up giving him a total limit of t.v time per week.

I think ideas like the Wii are very good, because you wont neccesarily be like addicted to it, like you can really work up a sweat, which I kind of like, because now a days there's a lot of obeise kids and something needs to be done about that.

Comments

-Stephanie Adames
- Anias Joseph
- Jessica Cornils

Blog Post #1

I want to start off by saying that I, honestly am really addicted to being on my computer. I can literally stare deep into the eyes of my computer for hours, sometimes not having anything left to do but making it my job to find something, listening to music, reading sports articles, finding some type of game, it's always something new. Once I actually realize that I have nothing left to do is usually when I begin to get off, it's either that, or when my sister needs to use the computer she asks me "are you almost done?" and that usually ends my merry go round. When I am into something, for instance, when I am on facebook, and there's actually things to do, like comment on pics, or converse with a whole group of people, I can literally stay on there for long periods at a time, unless of course I have work to go to or homework to do.

Now a days just about everybody knows how to use technically up-to-date and sound technology. Well I'm not sure about everyone, because my mother still does not know how to use a computer correctly. Sometimes I find this real weird because we all know we got things to do buy yet we still find a way to put 2 + hours into going on myspace or facebook everyday. We waste our time doing unimportant things on the web while we know that we could do real important things like a big homework assignment, or taking care of your son; come on ladies.

I must admit though, there are some positives that come with the new technology, we are able to find long lost friends from elementary and all the way up to college and beyond, from friends who moved to co-workers that never showed up again. You are able to meet up and have fun and catch up on old memories. I just question some people, who literally stay on computers all day, and I wonder how this may affect their vision, the way they see all kinds of things, or maybe if it even helps with some things. I know that before, when I was much younger, I used to have glasses and bad vision, obviously, and since I started using computers, years back, I really got better with vision, don't use glassed any more, and looking sexier than ever feel me?