NYPL

My experience at the NYPL was one of frustration.
I couldn't find the place for about a half an hour and when I finally did find it... I couldn't find the class. The library itself is pretty interesting though. I didn't stay long because I felt like a fool walking around with no purpose. Oh, I almost had another anxiety attack as well. Such a swell morning it was.

103 project

I have finally narrowed down what I want to do and I'm going to tie it into what I'm doing for Louis' Class.
I want to show how advertisements have gotten much more racy since the 60's. I plan on showing images from the past few decades up until now to show the progression. Also, how sex is no longer as taboo a topic as it was in the past.

I'll be using images from American Apparel, Supreme, Dolce & Gabbana, etc.

I will also interview some older people to get their view on how things have changed.

Some images I will use are:

Visions of Students Today...

I think that the video was very interesting and shed a lot of light on how most college students really spend their time. I'm sure that there are plenty of students who study and feel fulfilled in their classes, but the sad truth is that they are not the majority. One part of the video that stoood out to me was when the students showed how many hours they spend eating, working, studying, just being online or whatever, then added it up and it came to 26.5 hours. That hit home because I always feel like there is not enough time in the day to do all that is expected of me from my parents, bosses, teachers, and friends.
Another thing that stood out to me was the part about technology saving us and how most students bring their overly expensive laptops to class and they barely do classwork while on them. Also, the quote from Josiah F. Bumstead about the chalkboard was really interesting because when I first read the qupote I thought it was about computers and laptops.
Overall, I just think the video is trying to show that something needs to change in the education system to get students involved in classes, make it more of a personal and interesting experience.

Simone

i think Simone is just trying to say that the culture we live in now is obsessed with Celebrity and the new "IT" personality. Pop culture has engulfed every day life. Every where we go we see tabloids, I turn to the news channels to check the local weather and Lindsey Lohan's comings & goings are the hot topic of the day. In my opinion Simone is just showing that the obsession with celebrity is getting a little out of hand. If someone comes and has the perfect face, body, some talent, and seems so unattainable the public gets high off of seeing them and feeling like they could be a part of their day.
The first time I saw Simone I just enjoyed the comedy, but after seeing it a second time in class it was really creepy how all these people really were going mad over a computer image. It reminds me of how peeved off people were when Britney Spears first lost her good girl image some years ago. She was America's Sweetheart and was supposed to represent such high morals in the pop world even though she was dancing around scantily clad. The media will build a person up and tear them down without a warning. But certain celebrities are like media God's so nothing they do is wrong...like if someone tries to trash Oprah's name...no one believes it. Not Oprah! She can do no wrong! Celebrity means more than anything in America...people are famous for being famous nowadays... it's sickening but...oh well.

Research Project Possibilities.......

I would possibly like to reasearch:

• Directing
• Casting procedures
• the hot-dog to bun ratio, it's a problem.
• the music industry
• script writing procedures
• copy right laws
• conglomerates
• how the media is controlled by the FCC and how much we really don't get to see as Americans (thanks Jessica.)
• the representation of females in the media
• how female rappers are marketed.
• how female singers are marketed
• the 'white-washing' of Beyonce.
• Actors branching out into the world of music.
• the power of Disney and his stars.
• being big overseas v. being big in the U.S.A
• the effect a President's dog has on his country.
• what qualifies as news.

I'm not exactly sure what I really want to do my research project on. It will probably end up having some relation to music...I'm sure. I'm not the kind of person that brainstorm's ideas 10 days in advance or something. I will find out what I'm researching the day that I sit down and actually begin the research project.

Themes

In The Matrix and in Star Trek, I'm not sure if it constitutes as a theme, but a common subject referred to is mathematics. In The Matrix when Neo explores the ship, he asks about the numbers contiuously streaming on the computers. Cypher tells him that it is just a stream of codes and once you figure out how to decipher them you can just see them as a blonde or redhead. In the Star Trek episode "The Royale", there is a reference to Fermat's Last Theorem. According to Mathworld.com, Fermat's Last Theorem is a claim "to have discovered proof that the Diophantine equation has no integer solutions for n > 2 and x, y, z is not equal to 0". I'm not really interested in mathematics, I just think it's clever how they incorporate the mathematics into television shows and film; someplace other than behind the scenes.

Another recurring theme throughout the Matrix is religion. Neo's journey closely resembles that of Jesus Christ. From being 'the one', resurrection, people having blind faith in his abilities, etc. Also, the character's names in themselves can be a references to religion. Take a look at this site http://www.matrix-explained.com/symbolism_in_the_matrix.htm and also this wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix_character_names. They show a little bit more of how in depth the thought process behind the movie was and how much the Wachowski brothers reference christianity and technology in their work.

The Matrix...

The Matrix is simply a life simulation program and most of the humans have been playing the game so long they forgot how to seperate it from reality. The ideas of Socrate's Cave and the Matrix are very similar to me so I'm not sure if we are living in one or both. Sometimes I think about what it would be to wake up one day and realize that my whole life was just a dream and I've been in a coma or something. What if "God" is just a child and we are all toys? I think it all depends on your belief system and whether you're an optimistic person or not. I'd like to think that when we die all of life's questions are answered for us and then we are reborn. But who knows?