Inflated Importance

Where were you when Balloon Boy (Falcon Heene) was floating around in the sky?

I got home from work by the time it was discovered he was hiding in the attic. But for a good day, the people of this country were captivated by an experimental aircraft that supposedly had a boy inside. Oh, many people ignored the fact that it looked like the aircraft probably could not fly with the child inside. Many of us were too busy being captivated by the sheer absurdity the story.

As a headline for this article/editorial from the Boston Globe explains: Admit it– we make Balloon Boy stories fly. Hey, remember, the Montauk Monster from a year ago? (I’m surprised it hasn’t inspired a movie yet.) Odd things grab our attention. However, difference between the average person and media is how long one get attached to a story. I’m guilty of it as I write this post.

However, there actually is more behind the story this time around. It’s still all about attention.

The (Copy)right to Sound

What Gregg Gillis does is technically illegal.

I don’t mean playing on the nostalgia of my generation by using musical touchstones of our parent’s records, 90’s alt. rock and rap. I used to think he was an evil genius on the level of Urban Outfitters. I stopped thinking he was evil once I heard Salt n’ Pepa’s “Push It” over Nirvana’s “Lithium.” It’s an art and a craft.

No, what’s illegal about Girl Talk is that he is literally creating music out of samples and only samples. Sure he gives credit to all the artists whose songs, and that amounts to 300+ songs, that he appropriates but not all artists might see that way.

However, Girl Talk is not the only artist working with samples or editing entire songs. In fact, he is part of a music movement that has been around since the beginning of the decade, if not since the 90’s. The mash-up / bootleg / bastard pop sound has been around for quite a while.

Beware the Savage Jaw

“BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.”

        “Thoughtcrime is death.”                      

                  “Two minutes hate.”

“We’ve always been at war with Eastasia.”

Ironically, we’ve reduced George Orwell’s magnum opus, Nineteen Eighty-Four into a few simple Newspeak-ian phrases and a jumble of ideas about totalitarianism and privacy issues. Some political discussions can be reduced to each side calling the other Big Brother. An image search for Big Brother pulls up images and posters of Former President George W. Bush and Current President Barack Obama alike.

We invoke Orwell and the novel on few issues. There has been a rapid advancement in surveillance technologies. The United States is currently involved wars in the Middle East, far enough away for many people to keep out of mind. According to some our language has ‘devolved’ into Newspeak (see adding i- or e- to everything or txtspeak amongst other examples.)

The worst amongst the times 1984 is invoked is during partisan attacks between political parties. Comparing your opponent to Big Brother when they do–well, anything you don’t like– cheapens the discourse and the use to the metaphor, making it useless when the allegory is actually applicable.

It’s easy to just look at the surface elements presented in the novel, but we need to remember how insidious the Inner Party is, especially if we don’t want things to turn out doubleplusungood.

Hollywood Hates English Majors, Pt. 2

So, as you know I work at Blockbuster as one of my jobs. So the above movies I’m about to talk about have already came out in theatres, but just come out on DVD now or will be out soon.

Let’s look at the plot of these two movies.

Adventureland (from Wikipedia):

It is the summer of 1987 and James Brennan ( has just graduated with a comparative literature major from Oberlin College. He is looking forward to touring Europe for the summer and going to Columbia University for graduate school in journalism when his parents announce they won’t be able help him financially. James looks for summer jobs, but can only find one, at Adventureland, a local amusement park in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Oh hey, why does that sound familiar? Hmm.

Well, anyway, the real Adventureland is on Long Island. It was changed because the amusement park has changed a lot since the 80’s.

Post Grad (from Fox Searchlight):

Ryden Malby had a plan. Do well in high school, thereby receiving a great college scholarship. Now that she’s finally graduated, it’s time for her to find a gorgeous loft apartment and land her dream job at the city’s best publishing house. But when Jessica Bard, Ryden’s college nemesis steals her perfect job, Ryden is forced to move back to her childhood home. Stuck with her eccentric family – a stubborn do-it-yourself dad, an overly thrifty mom, a politically incorrect grandma, a very odd little brother – and a growing stack of rejected job applications, Ryden starts to feel like she’s going nowhere. The only upside is spending time with her best friend, Adam – and running into her hot next-door neighbor, David. But if Ryden’s going to survive life as a post grad, it may be time to come up with a new plan.

Oh hey, this is my life (along with many others)! Alexis Bledel, anything we had during my time as a viewer of Gilmore Girls is over.

Seriously, filmmakers and Hollywood, don’t you think you’re milking the recession thing a bit much? And why us English majors?

Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to cry myself to sleep before I have wake up early to work my two retail jobs.

Celebauthor

Let’s travel back to a long time ago, say a year ago. It is very early fall, with school starting across campuses. Television shows are starting new seasons. Including one very popular show, Gossip Girl. OMG. I know. I wasn’t much of a fan of the show, but a friend of mine suckered me into watching it. “Summer Kind of Wonderful” kicks of Season 2, exploring what the characters did on their summer vacations.

The thing about this show was that I knew some of these characters. (Not Ed Westwick’s character Chuck ‘I’m Batman Chuck Bass’ Bass, he would not be able to exist in this mortal realm.) While my rich friends and acquaintances tend live far out on Long Island, the attitude, mannerisms and opportunities afforded to them was something I knew about. This isn’t what made me angry about the show. What made me angry was something I should have seen coming since it showed some of the characters having internships.

Enter Dan Humphrey, the lead male character who is supposedly a writer. His mentor / teacher person is chastising him for not having a story ready for submission. For submission for the New Yorker and the Paris Review.

Let me repeat that: For submission for the New Yorker and the Paris Review.

Needless to say, after my eye started to twitch uncontrollably, I started yelling at the screen to the shock of my confused friend.

Back 2 Teh Playground

I understand what GLSEN and the Ad Council are trying to attempt with their “ThinkB4YouSpeak” campaign. GLSEN has successfully organized various anti-bullying campaigns, the Day of Silence (and other ‘Days of Action’ and has resources for students and teachers to start their own Gay-Straight Alliances. From someone who has experienced general bullying and (thankfully) very minor anti-gay bullying growing up, it’s a cause worth fighting for.

That said, I think they might be off the mark with this campaign.

Some people, especially who self identify as (hardcore) gamers, are reacting negatively towards the posters for a few different reasons, all of which deal with how people communicate and how they think they are communicating. Similar to the message of my previous post, knowing the vernacular of the day and the constructions behind them is important. 

Beyond the awful late 90’s flavor of the B4 within the campaign’s name, there are few things that need to be addressed.

O, RLY Taitz?

There’s a reason why the birther movement is existing in a zombie-like state, mercilessly being mocked at first by liberal (and moderate) bloggers, then by the mainstream media and people who watch/read either.

Outside of the dubious arguements and evidence being put forth, that is.

On of the problems is to your left. The name of the lawyer / dentist / real estate agent that has been one of the faces of the movement to prove that President Obama is not a (natural born) citizen of the United States is Orly Taitz.

O RLY?

YA RLY.

NO WAI!

Yes, like the O RLY owl and other owls, on of the first off shoots of LOLcats. I am not explaining LOLcats because people my grandmother’s age know what they are. It is really to easy to make fun of.

And that’s what politicians, political parties and everyone else needs to understand. The Internet is a series of tubes deep ocean open to everyone with slightly different rules than polite society. If they’re a silly joke or picture, there will be multiple variations by the next day. More importantly: if you’re a public figure doing something hypocritical, heinous or just plain dumb, you will get caught.

The speed of Internet meme allows information and ideas to travel around the world in seconds.

“That’s not the way it happened. Shall I start again?”

Look, I like Jake Gyllenhaal. I have never actually seen a full movie with him in it, but that’s besides the point.

But scroll between the face and the title a bit, and you can see where the problem might be. Despite the the copious amount of Photoshop shading, Mr. Gyllenhaal only looks vaguely Iranian, Afghani or part of any modern-day culture born out of the Persian empire– if you squint your eyes.

For many people, including those of the culture being portrayed in the movie, having a Caucasian person portray a person of a different ethnicity is annoying, frustrating but also unsurprising considering that Hollywood has a long history of ”ethnic impersonation” especially through yellow/black-face and the slightly less common brown/red-face. Disney has similar problems with POC characters in their animated features  (Look at the difference between Aladdin and Jafar for example).

It’s all a matter of accurate representation.

“Weizo!” (Having and Giving in Ghana)

Kim sitting on Salome’s porch with the children.

A friend, fellow English Major and blogger, Kim Clune, is someone who has done a lot in her life. This makes for a lengthy resume, a varied life experience and some great stories to tell.  I’ll just start with roughly a year ago. Kim graduated with B.A. in English – summa cum laude, mind you.  Shortly after graduation, she packed for Have, Ghana to volunteer for a month, a trip she had been planning throughout her senior year.

I decided to interview Kim for many reasons:
    1) Interviewing someone is a great way to catch up!
    2) One of the reasons I started to write again in this blog is because of the Who Is the Native? posts inspired by my studies regarding post-colonialist topics. These posts help me to challenge my own, and perhaps others’, preconceptions of native/indigenous peoples around the world.
   3) To acknowledge the work of Kim and volunteers like her. (See here for a similar article written about student volunteers from my college.)
   4) A bit of cross-promotion. Just a little.

In this interview, Kim explains her reasons for volunteering, what she learned during her time in Ghana and her understanding of socio-political relationships between Ghana, the continent of Africa and the Western World.

The Peeps

The Peeps are originally from Newburgh, not Albany, but who cares since it’s close enough to anyone from LI, NYC or oustide of New York.

They’re the boys from Newburgh. The band wears their influences on their sleeve– The Clash being a major one– and why not? It’s the Clash!  They’re a band that after the show, and what a damn good show, is looking for the after party if they aren’t hosting it themselves. By the end of the night, you’ll know Byron, Jonny, Adrian and Teddy.

If you’re still sober.