Random Thought for 12/28/2007

When the phrase "It Brings Out the Child in All of Us" was first used, was it considered really clever and enticing? At what point did it become a retarded comment that we have to find our way around?

Merry Christmas

Hope you're all having an awesome day, or at least got some sweet stuff. I made out pretty well, my favorite stuff probably being a new jacket (long overdue) and A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector, a Christmas album from 1963 that's been long out of print and I'm pretty impressed that my aunt tracked it down. Also the new iPod Classic is pretty friggin' sweet.


Phil Spector; this frightening image can be found in A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Of course, I also got a healthy stack of DVDs (and more coming tomorrow, apparently), but Christmas was made, as it is every year, by Midnight Mass at the Cathedral downtown Portland. I'm not saying this to be "that guy" - believe me, I love the STUFF, too - but trust me, if you were there at Midnight you'd say the same thing. I don't have real, true religious experiences very often anymore, but a packed Church singing "Silent Night" together at around 1:15 AM is about as good as they come.

And how do you like that, we got a White Christmas! First one of my life, I believe. This...I'll enjoy.

One Way Ticket to Hell and Back

Well, I made it. Between noon on Wednesday and midnight Thursday/Friday, I got somewhere around three hours of sleep. And not good sleep, but plane sleep. This was after my flight from Boston to San Francisco was on the tarmac for an HOUR AND A HALF. So I was late into SF, missed the plane to Portland, but luckily I was able to catch a flight at 4:15. And in Economy Class no less! Which, somehow, had way more leg room than First Class. Like, I could stretch all the way out. It...was...awesome.

But I made it! Always good to be back in the City of Roses, where the weather is less severe (Boston's got a fresh layer of ice on it today...in Portland it's 41 and there's no wind) and my room is just as I left it. Except someone stole all of my pillows. Which is probably for the best because they were almost completely flattened.

And that's about all I got.

Finals!

I thought I was a lot closer to being done, then I got this e-mail from my Communities and Race Relations teacher with our take-home final on it. There are three essay questions, but seriously, I cannot imagine a world in which the first one is even near possible.

QUESTION ONE: The World According to Americans
NEW INFORMATION: “The World According to Americans”

THINK: How is the "McDonaldization" of the world affecting (even Effecting) America’s national identity and the identities of the smaller groups that help to constitute America's rich cultural heritage. How does it impact Americans' ideas of themselves, America's idea of itself (if there is ONE) and how does it impact the international perception of America (if there is ONE)? What happens when CERTAIN values, tastes and practices are "exported to every corner of the globe," creating a "homogenized international culture [--] a 'McWorld'.” Consider, especially, that fast food companies have "targeted their advertising and promotion at a group of consumers with the fewest attachments to tradition: young children" (Schlosser, 231).

THINK MORE: How does the world of images seep into our individual and communal consciousness and to what end? What does it mean for Nike, Shell, Wal-Mart, Microsoft and McDonald's to become, as Naomi Klein says, the "planet’s best and biggest popular education tools?" (441).

YOUR TASK: In 500-750 words synthesize information from Fast Food Nation and from No Logo. Then, through this composite "lens," analyze ”The World According to Americans,” MAKING SURE to reference these texts. You may reference items beyond these two texts, but you MUST use these significantly. Somewhere in the essay, discuss how this view could possibly impact your intended career path or plans to make a living (if you are independently wealthy or financially supported forever by someone else, pretend you have to work).

Just to summarize...that's like seven questions in there to pack into, at most, a 750-word essay. And these are BIG QUESTIONS, man. Never mind the space it'll take to quote or paraphrase. I mean, this is one of those grade-proof tests that so long as you reference the material, you'll pass, but it's not really the grade I'm worried about (I never am, and I don't get why so many people are). Every single one of these questions she asked could reasonably be its own essay. It's not that I think this is excessively hard stuff; I like when teachers ask you to go beyond the text, but Jesus...750 words? Really? And that's just question 1...screw this, man.

Going back over this, I'm guessing these are just suggested topics, not all of which we'll cover, but that's not made very clear.

Also not helping...barely read the second book. I read like two chapters of the ten or so assigned.

Oh well...in like two and a half hours I'm off to Fuddruckers (yeah, they have 'em out here! awesome!) and I Am Legend (in IMAX!), and all of this will be out of my head.

Snow Day!

I am soooo checked out right now. I have a presentation on Monday, a take home final due on Monday, and an article due on Tuesday, but as far as I'm concerned, I am wrapped. Semester done. Have some odds and ends to tie up, but I am too checked out to even consider it. I knew God was smiling down on me when the snow started dumping and Emerson closed up shop at 2 PM today, effectively canceling my in-class final on Monday and moving that presentation to that day (it was supposed to happen today, and to say I was underprepared would be putting it gently). So I immediately went home, walked through the very pleasant snow (no wind, even drift, soft on the ground), hit the couch and pretty much never tore my eyes off the TV. Ended up watching Blowup, 1408, and Punch-Drunk Love (two I hadn't seen before, one of which gets me closer to my goal...but I'm trying to move away from movie stuff here), along with several episodes of The Simpsons.

When I started at Emerson, I was told they never cancel classes for snow. This is two years in a row now they've done just that...and it's not even the thick of winter.

But even without the class cancellation, the snow was awesome. This was one of those days I wish we all still lived in downtown so we could hit (the fews parts that aren't fenced off on) the Boston Common and just walk around. Somerville's a little boring that way.

Portland in a week. I was mad jealous that you guys were hitting Peacock Lane without me, but I can all but guarantee I will not have time to do that between when I get home and Christmas. This will easily be the busiest Christmas break of my life, especially before New Year's, so I'm calling on you (yes, you) to keep me in check. But for reference, I get in on the 20th but probably won't be free 'til the 22nd. But the 22nd is wide open and the 23rd after dinnertime is free, so we best be causing ruckus. Or whatever the kids do.

I'm sleepy. Good night.

Megazine Moved!

We're full-on at megazinemedia.com now.

Still no full launch, sadly, but spread the word...if people start commenting too it'll really give us encouragement.

Back to the 5-Day Workweek

Well, it's probably for the best. I got intensely lazy this semester with how few days I actually had to show up, as my schedule made it extremely easy to just push through the pain and never really get any work done. But the problem with most five-day schedules here at Emerson is you then have class Monday, Wednesday, AND Friday, so on the whole you never really get any distance from that class. I, however, have solved that, with my retarded schedule for next semester...

MONDAY
10-12 Writing the Feature Film

TUESDAY
2-4 The Ideological Eye: Documentary and the State

WEDNESDAY
10-12 Writing the Feature Film
2-4 Intercultural Communication

THURSDAY
2-4 The Ideological Eye: Documentary and the State
6-10 European Cinema: Sight and Sound

FRIDAY
2-4 Intercultural Communication

I'm taking Writing the Feature Film! I've been trying to get in this class for over a year now, and I got the professor I wanted for it. I'm also majorly pumped for European Cinema, even if I only recognize half of the names of directors we'll be studying (having Godard on that list is a plus, but I'm hoping we'll have a chance to discuss Fellini, Bergman, and Antonioni...but I'll spare you). The problem with both of those classes, though, is timing. Sure I only have one class on Mondays, but I gotta wake up at 8 just to make it there. And with Megazine getting into full swing, having a 6-10 class on Thursdays cuts into prime screening time. At least I'll still be able to make the Tuesday and Wednesday screenings, which was impossible this semester.

The plus side of 6-10 classes, and the reason I think every film seminar class should be a four-hour class, is that we'll actually get to watch movies longer than an hour and forty minutes, never mind discuss them on the same day. I just wish they put four-hour classes in the middle of the day instead of the end. Well, for any other class I'd tell it to go shove it, but European cinema...too good to pass up. I'm a geek.

Less than cool is Intercultural Communication, though according the RateMyProfessors, the prof's a raging jackass, which I kind of enjoy in lecture classes (classes of 40 or more where personal participation is largely optional...I really need one of those every semester). I'm just not pumped for the course as a whole, and showing up to class on Fridays becomes extraordinarily painful, though it will make it easier to catch up on movies Friday afternoons (the main theater in Boston is across the street from campus, which ruled when I lived in the dorms, but I curse it now that I'm way off campus).

Meanwhile, I'll be trying for the next month and a half to get into American Film Comedy, which would mean losing Writing the Feature, but would also mean not having to go to class before noon. It would all be so perfect. But on the whole, I like the spread of the schedule, and not being on campus for ten hours twice a week again will be sweet.

It's All Happening

Usually I’m pretty good at remembering my iPod wherever I go. Tonight, less so. The intent was on going to see The Mist and hitting up rehearsal for this directing project I’m in, so I figured, oh well, so I won’t have music on the way back. No big.

But, of course, some bastards at the movie theater pulled the fire alarm, full evacuation, now I’m in the school library. Awesome.

All right, the main reason for this post…to distract me from my complete lack of music…but besides that, this project I’ve hinted to occasionally is ready to launch. Ish. We’re in a sort of “soft launch” period now where the page is open for business, but we’re still getting a handle on how everything will work. Here’s the link…

http://megazinemedia.com/wordpress/

Eventually, it’ll just be MegazineMedia.com, but for now, that’s how it is. That’s where my reviews will be posted from now on (I’ll do a whole “Goodbye to Romance” thing over at the Gravy), I’ll be doing a lot more writing in general, and there’s a whole team of people working in the three departments. It’s a pretty great bunch, and I expect the writing will be to your liking. In the meantime, read and enjoy, and give lots and lots of feedback. Not just on content, but on how it operates as a whole. We’re a little limited, software-wise, but any ideas you have to make it run smoother or things you notice that are just a little bit off, do let me know. But I’m pretty proud of what we’re setting out to do here (I should’ve mentioned in my last post that work is going exceedingly well), and massively excited.