texture

texture

textures

music

I love when someone has raw, natural talent. Behind the costumes, fake hair, and makeup, Lady Gaga has an incredible voice and sometimes I wish she would just sing instead of putting on this huge performance that becomes more about the spectacle and not the voice (even though I do enjoy her performances)

Adele's sophomore album is selling incredibly and is critically acclaimed because she has a fantastic voice and her album is cohesive. 21 is not just a “singles album” where there are songs specifically made to be number one hits on radio and they certainly do not fit in with the auto-tune dance songs you hear. Katy Perry makes fun pop music and despite having #1 hit songs on multiple formats, her album did not sell fantastically.

I have incredible respect for someone who can just sing without all these gimmicks. I just really love music that I can connect to or where I can hear the emotion in the singer’s voice.

Botox for an 8 year old?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/botox-mom-loses-custody-of-her-daughter

The mom who gave her 8 year old daughter Botox injects just lost custody of her child. The mother gave her daughter injections because she wanted to prevent wrinkles her daughter think she has. When she smiles, both the mother and daughter noticed “wrinkles” on the side of her face, which are more commonly called dimples that mostly everybody has. If the little girl noticed these marks, her mother should have pointed them out to her and explained what they were instead of turning to an injection.

In the video, Lara Spencer asked the little girl why she gets injections and she replied with “I don’t know” until her mother acted shocked and was in disbelief over her daughter’s response. The mother had to tell her daughter what the injections were for; as if this was such a common procedure that everybody gets at age 8. The mother also said, “I’m not the only mom who does it. A lot of moms do it,” referencing the beauty pageants her daughter attends. Just because someone else does something does not make it right and does not mean you have to join in too. The mother should know that giving a child Botox injections is completely absurd.

Stated in the video, there is a loss of innocence here. A little 8 year old girl should be playing with her friends, having fun, not worrying about serious issues in the world, and not her appearance. Everybody grows up; her looks will change. In this interview, I believe the mother was coaching her daughter with what to say and forced her own personal ideologies on her. The glamorization of Botox, plastic surgery, and other procedures highlighted in the Hollywood lifestyle should not be forced upon a child, let alone anyone.

texture

textures

more textures I found that I never posted...

Flashback

Anyone remember this sound?

Logging onto AOL to access the internet was such a hassle. I remember wanting to go on the internet when my mom was on the phone, and I always rushed her off so I could go on to visit Nickelodeon’s website. When I was online and she had to use the phone, she would pick up the phone and hear that annoying, static noise. Whenever someone tried calling the house phone, it would kick you off the internet and you had to wait for the phone conversation to be done to sign on again. It didn't help that this noise was incredibly loud either. You had to be creative and find a way to cover up the speakers and computer to muffle the sound that would blare through your house when you weren't supposed to be on the computer.

Today we have Wi-Fi on our cell phones, smart phones, iPods, you name it. We can travel anywhere and be able to access the internet. The wireless internet connection on desktop or laptop computers literally takes seconds to start up. When a website takes longer than around 5-10 seconds to load, we think the world is ending and this is the slowest internet has ever been.

Textures

I just found a video of a texture I filmed for this class earlier in the semester that I never posted:

Interactive Video

http://www.vevo.com/video-evolved/andy-grammer/keep-your-head

I can’t embed the video here but the video for “Keep Your Head Up” by Andy Grammer is a new form of interactive media. When the video loads, you choose one of many scenes before the timer runs out and Andy Grammer, the singer and actor in this video will go to which scene you choose. For example, 24 seconds into the video, the option of picking “bump into movers” or “dumped by bikers” appears on the screen. I chose “bump into movers” and Andy Grammer bumps into two men who are carrying boxes filled with papers and everything goes flying. That entire scene is played out until the next options appear. As the viewer, you direct the video. You choose how you want the video to turn out and you can test new scenes each time you play the video. Once the video finishes, you even get a free download of one of Andy’s songs! This interactive video is a great way to build a relationship between the viewer and the artist and it is extremely creative. Could more videos become interactive like this in the future?

Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation is one of the best comedies on television right now. When other comedies might have some sort of negative undertone to the storylines, Parks and Recreation is not afraid to be happy and optimistic. Even though the characters might pick on one another, for example, how they make fun of Jerry constantly or the sarcastic Tom Haverford, in the end they all truly care about one another and support each other no matter what.

Leslie Knope, played by Amy Poehler, is one of the strongest female lead characters on television currently. She values her friendships and career and has the ability to balance her personal life with her job equally. She is respected as a colleague, friend, and woman and is looked up to as a role model. She is determined to make a change and truly believes that she can even in the small town of Pawnee, Indiana.

Real life is filled with ups and downs and we all go through rough patches, but Parks and Recreation showcases the positive moments of life and even demonstrates how to work through the bad times. Parks and Recreation reveals how to learn from these experiences that will not drag them down or define them. Life goes on and the characters work through whatever life hands them.

The Tank review

The performances today were really great. Each performer had a great inspiring, moving, and funny story to tell, and I thought it was good that we incorporated different themes to use with the background films and kinect. Hearing the performers speak in multiple languages was a great way to incorporate various cultures. It would have been nice if the videos and kinect lasted the entire time since we put so much time and effort into planning it but it was fun while it lasted and great to see the final product! There wasn't an empty seat in the venue so people had to stand in the back. The turnout for this event was awesome.

This was my second time at the Tank for Professor Baldwin’s finals and I love that he doesn’t have a traditional final of written tests or essays. He allows us to be creative and experience new things especially in the city where anything can happen.

The Tank 4

The Tank 3