Booger1's Weblog

McDonald’s : we love to see you smile :) :

booger1 — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:28:58 +0000

Berger talks about cultural homogenization in Chaper 10. Resturants like McDonalds and other popluar places are dominating areas all over the world. I mean our society is considered McDonaldization. I worried, since all of these places are taking over our society, where will there be room to create certain towns with distinct local places. No one will remember these little shops, but where they can find a McDonald’s instead. Lately, these dominating resturants are getting old, and I would love to see some new places around. Berger addressed another very serious issue, is the problem of adult and childhood obesity. The mass poplulation of places like McDonalds are the reason why people suffer from diseases. The main problem is that fast food resturants are fast and cheap, so we don’t think about the side-effects of eating these types of food. Our health is suffering from these places, but no one seems to notice because it fits into our schedule. Food of this sort causes diabetes and heart disease along with many other sufferings. However, McDonalds took a huge downfall after the movie Super Size Me was released. It had such a negative impact that the images this movie portrayed stuck into peoples minds. After watching that video, I still ate mcDonalds. I believe its what you eat in moderation. I love McDonald’s and I am working out all the time, so I basically eat what I want. I can honestly say I eat McDonald’s twice a week with the soccer girls after studying or after a long night of practice. Were all tired, dont have any food in the room, and are forced to fast food. Recently, I have now accustomed myself to eating something healthy instead of fast food. I can already see the results from not eating fast food, and the late night snack now is an apple. People should force themselves to the ideas of cultural homogenization and it could help out nation immensly.

Blockbuster

booger1 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:12:44 +0000

I was reading over the news on google and Blockbuster is being sued over Facebook. I was curious to find out how these two correlate. According to the article a women from Texas has filed a lawsuit against Blockbuster for participating with Facebook’s Beacon program. At first I thought this article was pointless, and I had no idea what this Beacon program was; but then this article made sense and had a purpose. In this girls lawsuit, she alleged that Blockbuster violated this law when they shared her video tape rental and sales records with Facebook without seeking/getting her permission. This lawsuit is charging Blockbuster with knowingly sharing this info. and then sharing it with a third party. To me I would have to say that this issue is kind of pointless and I dont believe she should be suing Blockbuster. My feelings are she is just out to get as much money as possible. My worry however, is the fact that if Blockbuster is distributing this kind of information with other companies, what else are these large businesses sharing? This is a very scary and could ruin someone’s life. I know people don’t take these things very seriously and people have the motto: “oh it will never happen to me.” What if this happens to you, then what?

Child Pornography

booger1 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:30:24 +0000

Berger’s section of child pornography discusses informative information about what exactly pornography is, and how to go about it. After reading this section, I remember just reading about a child pornography case where task forcer raided homes for child pornographers. In Salt Lake Valley Utah, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force raided a home for suspected child pornography. As this task force callled this sweep was the “Operation Spring Cleaning” served 17 warrants for computers and suspects accused of trading images of child porn. Lt. Jessica Farnsworth, the field commander for the Internet Crimes against Children Task Force, and two other agents escorted David Simpson, who is now charged with sexual exploitation of a minor for trading images of child porn. This operation was in the process for several weeks and investigators spent long hours on this project. To charge these child pornographers, investigators were downloading and trading picture and videos of children being sexually exploited. I think this task force did a great job finding child pornographers that seem to be trading on a regular basis and are very much involved in trafficking illegal images. However, this is another problem where the government also needs to step in. The media needs to be cracked down upon also due to their explicit material being shown across the board including websites, tv shows, and pornographic magazines. If this kind of material is inaccesable then our country, I believe, will benefit from it as a whole.

Saw~

booger1 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:00:01 +0000

In class on Friday we discussed how violence is in the media. Saw became the topic of conversation. The real question that needed to be answered was why people go to the the movie Saw. For me I Saw would not be a movie I would particularly see. Although I have seen the movie Saw because I was forced by my friends to see it. However, in the middle of the movie I had to leave the movie theater because I got so scared and I felt sick to my stomach. I never would recommend recommend Saw I, II, III, or IV to any children or anyone who does not like scary movies. The one thing I don’t like about these movies is that is gives people an incentive to copy cat this kind of movie. I mean people might not copy cat the actually movie, but they could copy the actions of the movie. However, whoever would be sick enough to copy this movie and create that type of horror towards our society can most likely not be prevented. One thing that really bothers me is who could write these scripts to this movie? How could they possible come up with such a script? The simple fact is we cannot stop people from watching these movies, and cannot determine who would be sick enough to to such a thing.

Jenkins Ch.5

booger1 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:59:09 +0000

In Jenkins Ch.5 is talks about how media producers and advertisers speak about the emotional capital to refer to audiences and participation in media content. Storytelling is created for opening comsumers’ participation. The term participation has come as a governing concept, one that is surrounded by conflict. The conflicts discussed in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, conflicts that happen between the potter wars and banning the book for religious rights. In Convergence Culture it talks about how to map out the range of responses of traditional gatekeeprs and the fantasy into several different parts of everyone’s usual everyday lives. I believe Harry Potter does a great job doing this with both children and adults. This book represents how you can develop this type of conversation between the two different age groups. Sometimes looking from a child’s experience could open their eyes to something many adults might miss. I mean come on who doesn’t enjoy Harry Potter’s novels? Each Rowling volumes are sending these adults and children as “wizards-in-training.” These books are basically good vs. evil. It is Harry’s way of beating Voldemort and the pain and suffering that come along with it. In most kids eyes Harry Potter is nothing short of inspirational.

Movie Theaters

booger1 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:56:16 +0000

In class on Monday we talked about how it is illegal to download software and then share this software elsewhere. When we talked about how movies are being “bootlegged” we said this should be okay to share with someone else, but then it becomes a problem when that person starts to sell it to multiple people. However, this is sometimes a great thing for movie theaters because these movies being copied and sold do not contain the extra footage. I know when I want all the footage of a movie, I eventually will have to either rent the movie or buy that particular movie. One thing I have noticed that we also discussed is the number of movies out in theaters. The number of movies have become fewer and fewer each year. IS this is a good thing? I mean people will wait for these movies to come out, and are more willing to go to the theaters because there are fewer movies to choose from. I mean movie theaters are becoming more and more expensive. Just the other day I went to see Never Back Down and to buy water and a box of Reese’s pieces they charged me $7.50. That is up surd, and I don’t know who would regularly pay that kind of money for two items. Next time I know to go to the Kroger that is right next store to the Amstar theaters. Movie theaters definitely make their money from the concession stands and not the tickets.

Front Page

booger1 — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:59:56 +0000

So I was reading up on breaking news on CNN and I came across an article related to the war. It really pissed me off to find that a supposed marriage between Jay-Z and Beyonce was the main caption and picture. Right next to the picture was the breaking news of a rocket that killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded thiry-one others. This happened on Sunday afternoon in Baghdad. This kind of information should be the main page, due to the fact that these brave soldiers are risking their lives for each and everyone in the United States. In fact earlier on Sunday, the Mehdi Army militia fought with U.S. troops. It left at least 20 dead and 52 wounded. This violence was caused because of the political process. With the Sunday’s fatalities, it brings the death toll of U.S. troops in the Iraq war to 4, 022, and nearly 30,000 wounded. It really brings tears to my eyes to know how little people realize the death rate in Iraq, or even have any idea what is going on. I mean people actually cared when nine eleven happened, but it seems as if no one cares now. Does it really take another act similar to nine-eleven for people to get it/sink in?

Lovin’ American Idol

booger1 — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:27:39 +0000

In class lately we have been talking about American Idol. American Idol is one of my favorite shows, and whenever the show comes on it’s quite in my dorm room. The show is down to its top finalists, and is back up in tv’s hot shows for the season. My family and I personally watch the show regularly and participate. For sure on a regular basis, I argue with my teammates, family, and friends about who we believe should win American Idol. But if I miss an episode I got straight to YouTube and watch the episode I missed. I love that about YouTube. They have almost every video from any category nationwide that you can watch, its amazing. My favorite thing about the show are the disputes between the host Ryan Seacrest and Simon, and Paula and Simon. Another reason why I enjoy American Idol is the selection of music. Also, the cast of American Idol makes sure the songs that people are choosing will make it in to the media. Every week when a contestant I really like gets sent home I get pissed. Sometimes I think American Idol doesn’t really cast the votes correctly, or even put them into consideration. I also have wondered if the voting system is really fair. I hope it is!

Mariah Carey passes Elvis Presley for the most number one singles

booger1 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:55:02 +0000

Since I was a little girl I have always been a huge fan of Mariah Carey! It dates all the way back to her first album, one sweet day. Yesterday as I watching watching a special on Mariah Carey on E! Mariah Carey has passed Elvis Presley for the most number one singles. I knew Mariah Carey had the talent and the vocal chords, but damm Elvis Presley. 18th on the chart-topper “Touch My Body,” has passed for the most number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, and second to the beatles. Carey said, “I really can never put myself in the category of people who have not only revolutionized music but also changed the world.” Her new single is the number one single on Billboard’s Hott 100 singles chart, and the number one song on the trade magazines digital download chart. She has tied with Elves with seventeen number one singles, while the Beatles are the all-time leaders with twenty. Carey said this was so gratifying not only because of her personal success, but what this meant to minorities and women. “Touch My Body” is the first single off Carey’s album E=MC2 out on April sixteenth. Her Grammy-winning disc “The Emancipation of Mimi,” which was released in 2005 was the years best-selling album with five million copies sold. It was a huge comback for superstar Mariah Carey. Carey is such an inspiration, gratful artist and I will continue to listen to her and support her music.

New Ways to Advertise

booger1 — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 03:48:20 +0000

In Friday’s class we talked about Jenkin’s book and what is really means for media to converge. I agree with the concept about how much harder advertisers are having to work to get their products to sell. I mean with everything out now a days advertisers have a run for their money. It never really hit me besides when we talked about it on friday. I mean when we were talking about it I was thinking about how I barely pay attention to advertisements anymore. I mean Easter weekend when I was home I Tivo’d through all of the commercials. I have noticed advertisements during shows that we watch. Companies are now promoting their product in many other ways. I mean just last week I was watching the Chelsea Lately show, and almost every time she has a guest she tells the guest to tell what their show is about and what time it runs. I think this is a huge way to promote a tv show, especially if they like that particular guest. Also, I was just watching American Idol and they are always promoting Coca-Cola. Even though advertising is changing, I think many companies have adjusted to the new elements.