Music: Week 9

Music is a very unique and powerful feature of human kind. Censorship of music has been going on for as long as it has been. The main concern is for young people not to be afflicted by corrupting influences. As kids our parents shield us from explicit music that will infiltrate or minds. As we grow up we start listening to more music because we more mature and can handle it. For instance I remember well listening to Mambo No.5 as a younger kid. I had no idea what the meaning of the song was I just thought it had a good tune to it. I was not allowed to listen to songs with explicit words or references I knew what it meant. As I look back on it now, I'm thankful for the protection because there is so much music out there now and it is so easy to access. I think it is in a kids best interest to not let them listen to all the music they want as they are growing up. I listened to oldies, rock, and some pop. I didn't listen to rap or anything that would have explicit content until about middle school. As I grew up, I started discovering more music and I think that is the way to go. Filter the music as a kid and then as they grow up they will find music on their own.

There has been many times where music has been playing on shuffle around my family and a song has come on and I make my way over to my phone to change it. This is for many reasons. The song has explicit content that isn't proper for that setting, and the song isn't the feel of what we want. It's not a relaxing feeling when you're eating dinner listening to Nora Jones and the next song that pops up is Lil John "Otta Your Mind." Music protection is now based on the moment I am listening to music and if younger kids are around.

It is hard to give my top 5 artist because I like so much music. I joke with people that if you looked at my library, you'd think that at least 3 people are using it because there is such a wide variety of music. So a soft, nonspecific top 5 would have to be: Nat King Cole, Micheal Jackson, Brad Paisley, 38 Special, and because I am only limited to 5 I'll go with Tower of Power. As you can see that is a wide variety, but I love all types of music.

I do like the idea of a LBCC radio station. Even though this is my last term I think I would have enjoyed a radio station. I do think it is feasible to get one at LB. Our community is very inclusive for student involvement and a radio station would a great way to get people involved in broadcasting and involved as a listener.

Two program types that the radio station could provide is almost three. Seems how it is a LB radio station, it should inform and have news about what is going on around campus and what things are happening in the future. It also should give some local news that would pertain to its listeners. Another program type can be music. Now there are many types of people who go to LB so there could be music hours with different hosts that play a certain type of music.

To get started the station would need some money so they could create a go fund me page and do local fundraisers like selling things on campus and doing car washes. After the start up they can offer ad space for people and businesses. This way there would be a steady influx of money coming into the radio station to keep it going. I do think a radio station would be a good addition to LBCC.

Books and Magazines

As I look on the list of banned books I do see a couple that I have read in school. My freshman year of high school we read To Kill and Mocking Bird in my honors English class. There is obviously some language in it but our teacher did a good job of prepping us on it and as freshmen, we knew about it. I also read Sherman Alexie's book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I also had read this my freshman year I believe. To Kill a Mocking bird is just a classic book that so many people reference because most have grown up reading it in school. I thought it was a good book, and after reading it we compared it with the original movie which was pretty neat. Sherman Alexie's book was a very interesting read because it was about his time when he was a kid around the age of when I read it so we connected with the book and understood some of the things that he would talk about.

I do not believe we should be banning books from public schools. Real raw literature from different times should be read and studied. Yes, of course thing are different in today's society, but we all know that and know that it is an older writing. Newer books are normally something for diversifying our minds so that is also not a bad thing. I will agree that some books should be read later on in youths schooling due to language and references, but come on, by high school kids know a lot and the older/parents aren't protecting the kids from anything.

On my shelf I have a range of genres but I mainly like war books, either fiction or non, and I like poetry. I enjoy reading out of  "The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart" a poetry anthology and one of my favorite war books is "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'brien. The first is a combination of poems from different authors and the ladder is a book about the Vietnam war and what this gentleman went through.

For magazines I cannot say I have read three in the past year. I am not too interested in magazines. I have only been subscribed to two: Air and Space, ESPN. I love airplanes and sky technology and sports so both of those fit pretty well. I mainly got Air and Space because my uncle got it for me for my birthday and the other was just and impulse. I liked getting to know about athletes and things behind the scene in sports and that's what ESPN magazine gave me. Getting to see pictures of things was a big plus, like locker rooms and training spaces.

The ads definitely are based on the consumer of the magazine. In Air and Space there are lots of watch advertisements and glasses, while in ESPN there are more everyday things like Gatorade and clothing. Advertisers target who they thing is getting the magazine so people who have more money or planes are most likely getting Air and Space so they market more expensive items and people who get ESPN are probably everyday Joe's so that is why everyday, lower cost items are marketed there,

Topic #4 Media Product Review

Like Father

For this media project review I have chosen the new movie of "Like Father," a drama comedy film that is just over an hour and a half long. It recently has been added to Netflix as an original movie of theirs. Due to it being a brand new release for Netflix it was one of the first things I saw when I got to my home screen. What captured me is that Kelsey Grammer is one of the stars in this movie and I am a fan. I grew up watching a little bit of Fraiser and re-watched it a couple years ago. If you do not know what Fraiser is, it is a sitcom set in Seattle Washington where Grammer is a doctor who has a radio show. If you would like a little taste I will put a link here so you can watch a little trailer. The movie also has Kristen Bell who is a very solid actress. She has been in a wide spectrum of movies from "Zootopia" to "Bad Moms".

"Like Father is about a young woman who is so business minded that even at her own wedding she is on a call before she walks down the isle. It has been a problem before and her fiancé leaves her at the alter after her phone drops out of her bouquet. On top of that, her dad, played by Grammer, shows up at the wedding after leaving her and her mom when she was just a little kid. One thing leads to another and they end up going out for drinks and she invites her long lost dad on her honeymoon cruise. The adventure begins then. A very cool fact is that this movie was actually shot on Royal Caribbean Harmony and was delayed due to Hurricane Irma.

Now as of how the movie actually is, is up for some debate. The typical person probably is going to like this movie. Personally I thought it was ok/good. There are a couple parts where you disconnect from the movie because the acting isn't 100% great or its just cheese on top of cheese. Due to the fact that there isn't a great deep story line and it is somewhat predictable, Rotten Tomatoes hammered it. The ratings are mainly the audience scores but it is sitting at 49% which we all know is not the greatest. If you would like to see the site I will link it here. Even though it can be not the greatest movie all the time, I believe it carries good messages. The first one is mainly targeted at younger generations. Rachel, played by Bell is a workaholic who is addicted to her phone. She is always on it and it gets in the way of relationships. Over the course of the movie she starts to learn to let it go and live in the moment. Living life is better than being on your phone. The second is that you can heal relationships. Even though her dad left her, he had a loving heart and wanted to make things right. You can always make things better.

I do not want to make it sound like this is a bad movie. It is not. There are some touching parts that pull at your heart strings and some funny parts where you cannot help but laugh. There are some stereotypes in this movie as in when they make it to Jamaica and go on a hike to a swimming hole, their guide offers them a joint. Also the one who turns it down in the movie is known to always be smoking in real life and in other shows and movies. If you also think about it afterwards, you start to think if it was an ad for cruises. I found myself thinking, wow that looks fun. I soon realized that the only reason i thought that is because I just watched this film. Just as in the James Bond franchise, when they switched sponsors to BMW instead of Aston Martin, BMW sales went up 102%. I will put the link for the TED talk I heard that fact in here. So it does seem like a little bit of marketing went on. 

Overall I think Netflix did a good job. Yes not every movie is going to be a smashing hit bit this one is good. They will get a lot of views because it is advertised on everyone's home page and it has a wide range of people who would watch it based on the stars in it. I know my parents were talking about watching due to the fact Grammer is in it. If you have some time or you are looking for something to watch at night I would recommend this. Its an easy watch with some comical laughs in it.

Newspapers and Fake News

     It is true and sad that physical news papers are slowly dying along with the older generations. This being said I have grown up my whole life with a newspaper on the breakfast table everyday. As a younger kid I can admit I didn't read it except the cartoons and the ads that came with it. My generation gets most of their news from apps and secondary things on their phone. For me, I get my information in many different ways. If we are talking about local news, most likely The Statesman is what I will see it in, or hear it from my parents after they have read it. In a more local setting I would get it from the Itemizer-Observer. It is our local newspaper that comes on Wednesday's and covers Monmouth-Independence, Dallas, and surrounding small towns that do not have a news source because they are too small. My town is kinda of an everyone knows everyone town so another way you hear news or things that do not pertain to the general population is by word of mouth. Such things as, "Did you hear the coffee shop is closing down". Local news is super important to me and should be to everyone because it is LOCAL! It is happening in your own back yard. Things that can affect you or change the way you do things are in your local news. If you get it from a local newspaper, there is an assumption that it is credible because it is a newspaper company and they are supposed to have credible sources and stories.
       Publications are now having things you have to subscribe to for you to be able to get the full story, or to get their full service. It is a way to keep the business afloat due to the mass influx of news people can get at their fingertips. Personally I do not subscribe and pay money to any publications. They can have more stories and things that I might miss day to day but the amount of free news the public can now get is crazy. As I grow older and have more money to purchase a subscription I might but if news continues the way it is now I probably won't.
      When it comes to being informed about current events I would have to rank myself at a 2.5 or 3. It does seem low and I know what you're thinking, do I live under a rock with all of the tools I am exposed to? Well here is why I say that. When it comes to some mainstream things such as music, sports, new movies, and such things I am on the ball. I know a lot of things happening in that area. Local events and things going on in town I am pretty well informed but sometimes it slips between my eyes. The thing I have to say I, and I feel like a lot of kids my age do not get enough information thrown towards us is legislation, and elections. I cannot say how many times a ballot has shown up at my house and I don't know a single name on the ballot. Part of this is I believe we are not the target audience for politicians. We are still young and don't "know" anything about what should be going on. With new candidates that are younger that should change.

     The "Fake News" storm is in full blown mode right now. Personally i will hear someone say fake news in my daily life. Mainly in a joking way but who used to ever say that? No one did. President Trump has brought a new term and it is almost a weapon too. Now before I say this, I will say there are some stories out there that are not accurate. President Trump uses this coined term as a easy out. If a story comes up that is harsh towards him or policies that he supports it is almost automatic that we will hear "FAKE NEWS" out of him. It is a defense mechanism, and because it has been used so much that stories that come out don't really affect us now. Even if they are somewhat crazy like the lawyer recording how to pay off a girl to stay hush hush about an affair.
     I have to agree that the president is doing a disservice to journalism and free press. To start with, faith in the press is at an all time low right now. With news organizations being called out for fake stories and the extreme amount of polarization going on in the country, people aren't comfortable with the accuracy of the news they are getting. Also, the president has called out organizations that they should be shut down and reports ignored, and removed from places is a large infringement on the first amendment.
     Even though I can say I do not have a similar view as president Trump, there does need to be more accountability for journalism these days. Not all stories are false but with a world where the first to break the story gets the cake, people rush things and maybe some of the story isn't all correct or it was too early and the whole thing is wack. Accountability is a great thing to have, and everything should have it. Heck, our founding fathers made a system with three branches to check on each other because they knew that needed to happen. It seems a little bit pessimistic but as we know it the democracy system in the U.S. is in fact starting to fail. With the amount of polarization going on and the balance of wealth decreases, the pillars are starting to fall.

Week 5 RIP/Wiki

Week 5

         I have to say that watching "RIP A Remix Manifesto" I was a little mind blown. Yes it is true that we live in a different age and things may have change a little but if you step back and look we still are just in a slightly bigger box than when the documentary came out. It is also a little nuts that we have freedom of speech and expression in our constitution that protects us and gives us the right to do it but when we talk, or use, or edit someone else's "property" we have no freedom. Take for instance the Mickey Mouse cartoons, and how the Disney Corporation fought tooth and nail to make sure that it is theirs and no one else's. Yet, you could buy a book on how to draw Mickey. So you can draw Mickey, but you can't draw Mickey? It really makes no sense. On top of all that Walt Disney was a mashup artist himself, taking old stories and making them new and pertinent to the new generation. I do see the other side of the argument about music and film though. If I create something I would like the credit for it and if someone came along and remixed it, the people who see or hear that don't know its me and I made that. However, I do not think that big corporations should have the power over all to say that this is not yours, you cannot use it at all. America has gotten so polarized that money equates to power now and that is why policies favor large business and not the people. I don't know if an artist or author has gone too far because what is too far? The boundaries need to be pressed to know where it can go. Culture everywhere changes all the time so why do we try and make sure we stay in one area when culture is taking us to another?

         As with most everything's intention, Wikileaks was meant to be good and useful to the public. I believe it is a right to know what the people you elected are doing behind closed doors. Whether that is war or policy or anything else. People have a right to know what is going on. Now on the flip side there are things that people don't need to know like I don't know, launch codes and super secret things the government has going on. Knowledge is a checker. If something bad happens like innocent people and kids get shot and killed, people should know about this and not just be swept under the rug. It is accountability. Take for instance Snowden. Everyone knows the name and either knows him as a whistle blower or a terrorist. Now we have as Americans rights set out in words on a paper and he believed that they were not being respected so he leaked information. Some say that part of the information was a threat to national security but.... I think the U.S is still pretty secure if you ask me. The one thing Snowden did do is create a massive discussion about information and how we store and share it. That is the main goal of Wikileaks, it is to hold people and government accountable and to create a conversation that we can continue to find out what is good and what is bad.

       

 

 

         I chose to analyze The Office, the American sitcom but the brainchild of Ricky Gervais, that aired on NBC from March 24, 2005 to May 16, 2013. I remember watching some of the show during the original airing but for me I have consumed the show time and time over on Netflix. The office is known for its "dumb" comedy but is actually ingenues with how it was made. To show the raw beginnings I chose to analyze episode 1 of season 1. The pilot, along with season 1 which only has 6 episodes, comes into a paper products company called Dunder Mifflin that is ran by their regional manager Micheal Scott(Steve Carell). Micheal is a non-traditional manager who has a child like why of life and just wants everyone to like him. The show opens with a meeting between Micheal and Jim Halpert who is played by John Krasinski and they are discussing Jim's sales with the library that he needs "help" with. The pilot goes on to slowly introduce the characters in the office. There is Pam Beasley(Jenna Fischer) who is the attractive young receptionist who wouldn't care if she got laid off due to the downsizing Dunder Mifflin is looking at pursuing while going through the recession. The way you see everyone involved for the first time is during the conference room meeting that Micheal calls to not talk about downsizing, but ends up talking about downsizing. As you go on you learn more little bits about who will be the main characters you will end up following. Jim, Pam, Dwight, Ryan, and Micheal. 

Media Blog Forum Week 1

Topic 1: About Me

My name is Kaj Bansen. Most are confused by my first name, but it is pronounced like Ky. This class is part of the last ones I am taking to get my AAOT in general studies. I will be attending SOU next fall where I am going to be play basketball and studying english. I kind of figured out that I like writing the most and it's what I'm best at so that is why I chose english. I started my venture at LB for  the main reason of basketball because I really loved it but not so much the school portion. Two years later I don't LOVE the school portion but I defiantly have learned a lot here. Overall I would really love it if I could teach and coach basketball for a career and work on the farm in the summer (I live on an Organic Valley dairy farm). 

The main thing I am interested about in media is the whole area of advertising. How companies use certain things to make you want to buy their products, even the underlying affects that we don't spot because they're non-cognitive. The whole area of, for lack of better words, playing with peoples minds is intriguing.

Outside of school I love basketball. It is a passion, a hobby, and something I will continue to do until I cannot. I also like to hit the links and golf even though I am not the greatest at all. Other than athletics and being active as I said earlier I like to write. When I have time I add to my poetry book. I also enjoy breaking out my camera for snapping some photographs. And finally I am the biggest fan of The Office and Hot Rod.

Topic 2: Consumed Information

My three main sources of information are going to be Snapchat with the different tiles. I mainly watch SportsCenter and Stay Tuned. I use these because I use snapchat a lot and so I am already there. It also is pretty quick with only taking around a couple minutes to get through the stories they have for the day. Another source I get information from would be radio, mainly NPR. In all of our work trucks we have the station programed into it and whenever we are going somewhere we have it on. Finally, the last of my three main sources would have to be the Statesman and Itemizer Observer (newspapers). My family gets the newspaper every day and I normally at least take a glance at headlines during breakfast. I would consider my main news sources pretty reliable. They have been around for a while and done a good job and they liable for mistakes made and if one does happen they tend to clear it up.

The fake news epidemic is very concerning. With what has happened in the past couple of years it has brought a whole other level to the fake news realm which involves our president as well. People are not thinking as much these days as to what they pass on and some of the things are opinions or just straight fairy tales made up out of nothing. In todays world you have to be careful where you get your news. It should come from a respectable place that has a history of being reliable and truthful. To make sure I get the real news or know if something is creditable to pass on,  I check a couple different sources to make sure it is all saying the same thing. If different credible sources are saying the same thing, that news is going to be accurate.