Movie Review

The drama packed movie, Mr. Stache, is about a man who decided to grow a mustache. However, the man's friends and family did not feel about his mustache the way he did. When the man finally decides to shave the 'stache to be accepted, he meet the girl of his dreams. The couple get married and head off to their honeymoon but have trouble on the way. After spending a few days in the desert, the man finds out that his wife has a mustache also. This heartfelt movie is short and sweet and is family fun for all ages.

Warner Brothers tour

I thought the Warner Brother's virtual tour was interesting. The way they showed how the company has grown and changed with the times through the few pictures was an cool way to show the public the history. Although the tour was unique in its own way, I wish it had shown more about the company today then the history of it. I think if the company can up with a tour that was a mix of the history pictures, the modern pictures (like the New York Times tour), and an interactive site about the facilities itself (like the Weather Channel tour) the public would have a better understanding of how the company works and what it is.

What's up, Doc?
      ~Bugs Bunny
                                                                                                                      You're deth-picable!
                                                                                                                           ~Daffy Duck

MAH BISCUITS ARE BURNIN'! FIRE IN THE HAT! GREAT HORNY TOADS, THAT SMARTS!!!
     ~Yosemite Sam
                                                  I tawt I taw a puddy tat!
                                                       ~Tweety
                                                                                                            Th-th-th-th-That's all folks!
                                                                                                                 ~Porky Pig

Weather Channel Tour

Personally I liked the Weather Channel Tour better. It was more interactive and gave a little more insight to how the company was run and how the studio was used to enhance the broadcasts that are given out. I found the New York Times tour to be more about the structure of the building and less about the design of the building inner working's and how it is being used to enhance the company and make the product more efficiently. Where the weather channel tour told more about how they have modernized it to fit more than one purpose for a specific room or object, like the swiveling green screen which can be used in two different rooms.

New York Times Tour

I found the tour of the New York Time new building interesting. The fact that the building was designed to keep the focus of those who are working at the paper inside the building and to connect each of the floors with one another made the it made me think about how the company is trying to keep the success of the paper inward to help encourage its employees continue this success. I though it was interesting that the only level of the building that was visually open to the public was the lobby. This makes since to me, however, I would have thought that the company would what to connect to the public on all levels of work not just at the receptionist desk. Over all the tour was intriguing for me to watch.

Recording Studios

The recording industry is a rather intriguing industry. The fact that the industry is able to be ran in both a public and private setting is very interesting to me. I have always thought the way that people have been able to record and mix music has been interesting. Each of the studios links were entertaining to look at. They all had similar yet different settings. Yet each was a successful business. The one business that I found most interesting and intriguing was the Pachyderm Recording Studio. It was a private yet public recording studio. I've been around friends when they were recording on their computers. It was interesting listening to them work on the recordings.

State of the Media

As I was looking through the stats for the media categories, I was not very surprised by most of the number. However, I was surprised when reading the audio article. The fact that Satellite radio has declined in subscribers since 2009 made me really think. I personally don't have satellite radio partly because my car does not have the stereo setup to have it, but my grandma's car does. Last summer I took a road trip with her and all we listened to was the satellite radio. I liked it because there was a limited number of commercials due to regular radio and it was perfect for road trips because you never lose the signal when driving long distances so no more searching for new music when you change cities for example. The other stats did not surprise me all that much. Most of the media is shifting to Internet based access.

The dependence upon corporate advertising of the mass media - newspaper, magazines, radio, and television - make them editorially subservient, without in any way being prompted, to points of view known or thought to be favored by the big property owners ... The willing subservience shows itself most generally, apart from specific acts of omission or commission, in an easy blandness on the part of the mass media toward serious social problems
                           ~Ferdinand Lundberg

Internet Saftey

I thought the games on internet saftey were very interesting. However, I was not a fond of the NetSmart game. I found the website to be slightly confusing and to busy. If it is busy for me, how is it suppose to help younger choldren learn aobut internet saftey. Although I did like the Bad Guy Patrol game. I thought that it did a excellent job of helping children understand some of the dangers of the internet and what to do to advoid them for their saftey. The third game was very good as well. It was made for older children though. Any proactive approach to keep children safe is a good one.

Censorship... Who's responsibility is it?

I believe that the censorship should be an individual choice. However with the way that the American society is now a days, that responsibility seems to fall upon the shoulders of the companies. I think the companies main goal of using censorship in their products is their way to try and better society. There are many people who do not take responsibility of the choice they make or of the choices their young children make. Because parents do not pay as much attention to what kind of music their children listen to or some of the games they play, parents are not seeing the problem that is taking over most of today's society. This problem unfortunately has become the responsibility of the companies to help better America.

Green Screen

I was very amused by Drew Carey's Green Screen Show. Growing up my family and I would watch Who's Line and this show was similar. The green screen works by shooting a scene in front of the green screen. Then, by using a computer program, the green color is removed and the space is filled in with another picture or video. An example I kept seeing was weather reports. My family and I are big fans of action movies. You know those movies are using a green screen to shoot the different locations. My dad's favorite modern movies are the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The producers use a lot of green screens in those scenes.

The Great Train Robbery

The Great Train Robbery was a very interesting film. During the film, the dreary music left you with a sense that something was going to happen in the end. For this day and age the film had several aspects to be desired. However, for the time the film was made I believe it had great affects. It was a very interesting experience not having any voices and very little affects in a show.

Blockbuster VS Netflix VS Redbox

When I was little, dad use to take my brother and I to Blockbuster all the time to rent movies. Now a days he uses the Blockbuster total access. He likes being able to have them arrive in the mail but also being able to return it to the store if he wants a quick change. Now that I am living on my own, I use to just go to a Redbox or Hastings to rent movies. However, I was spending so much money do that because I either would not return the movies back the next day like I wanted for the Redbox, or I was spending to much money for movies as Hastings. Now I have a Netflix account. It is nice being able to instantly watch movies online if I do not want to leave the house.
I think each option for renting movies has its pros and cons. Blockbuster has the convenience of having it mailed to you and you can return it to a store for a new rental but this service costs extra. Redbox has wonderful prices as far as being only one dollar a night but there is a limited selection at each location. Netflix has cheaper prices and it is mailed to your door, but have to wait on the mail for your new movie. Blockbuster and Netflix also offer online streaming. Personally I am very pleased with Netflix and will continue my service with them.

There's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you'll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?
        ~Quote from the movie Airplane

Old Time Radio

While listening to the shows, it reminded me of Franky in the Christmas Story. Where he's so excited to get the secret code for the Oveltene commercial. Listening to old time radio and sitting still was a difficult task for me. I do not know how people could just sit there and listen to the radio for hours on end. There are time when my mom or grandparents reminisce about sitting in front of the radio with the family to just sit and listen. They compare it to reading a story; which I could see and relate to. Sometimes when I've driving with my mom she'll have a audio book in the car and I find myself focused on the story before I know it. The big difference I find between the audio book and listening to the old time radio is that even while we are driving I am able to multitask in a way. I am able to look at the scenery also. I have never been the type of person to just sit and do nothing. Even when I watch TV, I usually have something that I'm working on. Life was simpler back when old time radio was popular, so maybe if I had lived back then I would be able to sit still with the family long enough to listen to a whole show.

"I like radio better than television because if you make a mistake on radio, they don't know. You can make up anything on the radio."
~ Phil Rizzuto

Napster or iTunes??

I have had an iPod for many year now and constantly use iTunes to not only buy songs but also copy them off of either friend's computer or CDs. Personally I will continue to use iTunes because I have been using it for so long. However, I can also see the benefits of Napster too. Both companies have similar opportunities for their clients, and each is unique from one another. They both have regular updates so new releases and are accessible in many different forms. I think iTunes will still continue to be the leading competitor between the two for a couple reasons. One being iTunes not only offers songs, you are also able to download music videos, TV shows, and movie. Another reason is that for Napster you have to pay a monthly charge for the service, where iTunes you just pay as you go, or want new material. The final reason is that so many people know about iTunes over Napster. I did not know about Napster until this posting.

I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music.
~ Billy Joel

Are the Newspapers going to continue to remake themselves so they can survive the Digital Age, or are the facing a sudden certain death?

I think newspapers will continue to remake themselves. There are many people in the world who are not technologically savy and cannot work a computer without difficulty. Personally if I try to read a long article or paper on the computer, majority of the time I am either unable to focus or receive a headache by the end of it. For long articles and papers I print them out on paper. It is just easier for me to read. The new paper that is being developed will help encourage people to buy the papers. Which allow people of all ages to stay current with the news of today's world.

...one of the worst things about civilization is, that anybody that gits a letter with trouble in it comes and tells you all about it and makes you feel bad, and the newspapers fetches you the troubles of everybody all over the world, and keeps you downhearted and dismal most all the time, and it's such a heavy load for a person.
~Mark Twain in Tom Sawyer Abroad

Banned Books

Clare Booth Luce once said, "Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there." I believe she is right. Although some books are not appropriate for certain ages to read, they should never be banned. The choices of books for children to read should be left up to the digression of the parents of that child. There are books that were on the Huffington Post 11 Most Surprising Banned Books that I thoroughly enjoyed reading as a child. Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? is the most innocent book out there; what's next Goodnight Moon? If schools are banning books that in a way helped shaped American literature, how are the students going to understand the importance of modern literature. If a book is not appropriate for a student it should be left up to the parents to decide that.

"The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame." - Oscar Wilde

Poor Richard Quotes

Benjamin Franklin had many good quotes in Poor Richard. There were two quotes that I equally liked. The first one being: Promises may get thee friends, but non-performance will turn them into enemies. I liked this one because it is true. If you make promises but do not act on them your new friends will not trust you, making them your enemies. The second quote that I liked was: teach your child to hold his tongue, he'll learn fast enough to speak. This one was liked because, not only is it also true, it shows a fundamental teaching. The teaching is that children learn from the world all around them, but should learn right and wrong, or in this case when to speak or not, from their parents. It scratches the surface of respect for others.

Does the internet isolate people from real social interactions? Or does it foster more social interactions?

This is a very interesting question. I believe that the internet does both, isolate people and foster more interactions, to an extent. It isolates people because part of holding conversations is the body language that each person exhibits. When you are on the Internet you do not experience all of the conversation by not seeing the body language. However, it also fosters more interactions. I have friends who have moved across the country and the only way that I am able to stay in contact with them is via the Internet (facebook, e-mail, skype). If these were not available, I probably would have lost all contact with some of my closest friends because being able to interact would be virtually impossible. When my friends are in town we make a point to get together and spend time with each other doing things such as having a meal together or shopping, something that has limited outside contact so we can spend time with just each other. Although only having conversations via the Internet does isolate people from real personal interactions, it does also foster connections that were met in person.

The Internet is just a world passing around notes in a classroom. 
     ~Jon Stewart

Information users should still have a love of story telling, love of clear vivid language, and a respect for history. Does this matter?

The three fundamentals of media, a love for storytelling, a love of clear vivid language, and a respect for history, do matter and are important. This not only brings the past and present together. I t also shows that human nature has not changed as much with time. There are so many different way to connect with the media now a days. Most people, especially the younger generations, are unable to hold a face to face conversation with someone of an older generation, due to the technological advancements that the older generations do not understand. However both generations are able to find some common ground with the same three fundamentals that have been the foundation of media since it started many years ago.

I make it a point not to buy certain magazines, not because I am against tabloids or things like that, but I want to fill my mind with valid issues in the world.

~ Angelina Jolie

How much time do you spend on an adverage day with media?

Charles Darwin once said, “A man who dares waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” I believe he is absolutely correct. Media is one thing can you can waste time on easily. On an average day, I spend about six hours with media. Majority of that time is spent texting and calling people. The two other big components to my media time is listening to music, most the time while I am doing other things (such as homework, dishes, laundry, or cleaning), and doing things on-line for school. I also check Facebook about twice daily. It is usually pulled up while I am working on homework. I do have a TV but I do not have cable. So, I am unable to sit in front of the TV for hours on end. Instead of watching TV all day, I am spending time with friends, playing with my dog, reading a book, or working on one of my several hobbies/projects. Although there are a few times when I get on-line to play a game or two, I try to have the minimum about of time spent randomly browsing around on the Internet.  By keeping the amount of time that is spent on-line and watching TV/movies, I think that I am using my time wisely. There are several tasks that I am able to achieve in a day because I do not let time just pass me by.

Dost thou love life, then do not squander time,

for that's the stuff life is made of.

~Benjamin Franklin