The Machine

     Michael Wesch's video claims that writing is a technology and I believe this to be true. Technology is created to make our lives easier and writing most certainly does. It allows us to communicate with people across the world; especially when it is combined with other forms of technology like computers. Writing enables our thoughts and ideas to stay with us long after we move on from the subject instead of being forgotten. It is also a form of self-expression that transcends the ties of time. Not only is writing a technology, but it is the best form of technology.

Also:
slap
slow slop sled sling slang sleezy slot slip sleet sleep slat slut slumber slouch slide slope sloth
sl-has a downward slope

"True Confessions"

                John Trimble urges writers to consider diction. His three main points of diction is conciseness, vigorous verbs, and freshness. The one topic that I need to especially take into account is vigorous verbs. As a self-appointed mediocre writer, I acknowledge that my papers are rather boring, despite the time and effort I put into each assignment. I have always written concisely. I feel as if I am a lovely writer in my head but I have so much trouble getting the pre-constructed phrases and meanings out, that the result morphs into a Jekyll while I pictured a Hyde. I am only allowed one point of diction to improve myself by or else I might of also chose freshness. I try very hard to make my papers interesting, inserting my sense of irony and humor into my sentences, but for some reason the overall writing falls flat. This I have finally realized is because of my non-vigorous verbs. This is the part of the assignment that I blame my education, however I do assert that I have never been taught active voice. When one of my C&E teachers unleashes our essays from normal constraints, enabling us to write any way that we would wish, I am paralyzed. I automatically start off the essay in a stiff, formal, and inconsequential tone of voice which has been programmed into me so that I would not offend anyone. This paper forward, I will strive to use verbs that inspire the reader’s confidence in my work and also in me. Using verbs that delight the senses through written words, I will start to create writing assignments that will be active, fun, and intelligent.

FFW 9/16 A Mundane Glimpse into my Writing Process

    A Mundane Glimpse into my Writing Process. My writing process, like Chel White's, happens in a sequence. First I sit down and stare blankly at my monitor screen. Then I check to make sure the lighting won't inadvertently blind me. Then I turn on my laptop. Then I open Microsoft Word and I pay strict attention while it loads. Once it is ready, I let my mind wander and my eyes become unfocused. I adjust my chair and aimlessly wonder if by writing my paper while I sit instead on my bed, I would think better or just fall asleep. Realizing I was stalling, I drum the keys; deleting any letter that actually is pressed. I think over the prompt, sigh, look at the clock. My subconscious gives my conscious the sign that I am ready, that I have something to write and I stare away from my screen and type furiously. I take away all of the red and green lines under a numerous amount of my words, refocus, and review what I wrote. I distract myself with the time- did I miss a meal or event, or was three hours enough time to get ready for going out? I acknowledge my silliness and fix, add, and revise my paper until I am done! Whew. Though my Mundane Glimpse is not even remotely as life-threatening as A Painful Glimpse, it is still a long, strenuous process for me and I am always glad when it is over!

Old Spice Commercial- I Am On a Horse

           “I could be the man your man can smell like.” These are the words of the quirky, laudable Old Spice commercial that lifted the company’s image and revenue dramatically. The commercial is an intricate web of scenes and digital special affects, creating a lovable commercial of a single actor who stays in place while seemingly walks through and interacts in many different settings. The one aspect of the video that is continuous throughout the advertisement is that Isaiah Mustafa stares at the viewer in a hypnotic, non-creepy way.

           “Smell like a man, man” is the logo of the deodorant company and so Mustafa exalts in his manliness by comparing himself to the audience’s man. “Look at your man, now back to me, now back to your man, now back to me.” While this conversation is occurring in a shower room, Mustafa turns his head slightly, back and forth as if acknowledging the directions he is amiably issuing to the audience. And yet he still keeps his eyes fixed on the audience and their eyes fixed on him. Then he walks two spaces to his left and suddenly, Mustafa is on a boat, in a shirtless sailing outfit, in the middle of the sea. Replacing the Old Spice bottle he was grasping, he now holds an oyster full of tickets “to that thing that you love,” next cascading diamonds, and then back to Old Spice bottle. All of the quick changes of product and setting keeps the audience making the unconscious connection between the items, suggesting the rise of value of Old Spice, and also causing the feeling that they will miss something if they dare look away. This makes the audience desperate to catch every second of the commercial. All the while, Mustafa’s eyes never left the audience, retaining their focus, and in the end he smirks, as if now aware of all of the focus on him, and remarks casually that he is on a horse.

12 "Right" Questions and The Right Question (Heineken)

Hansel and Gretel and a GPS

1 Why they chose Hansel and Gretel?
2 Why Breadcrumbs instead of shiny stones?
3 Why isn't the commercial more realistic?
4 Why the annoying music?
5 Why a big city?
6 Why aren't there words until the end?
7 Why are they stepping together?
8 Why are they coming out of the subway?
9 What is the target audience?
10 What is this trying to say about children?
11Why would a commercial take advantage of a fairytale?
12 Is a fairytale happy if a witch died?

Heisen Beer Commercial

1 Why is the commercial in German?
2 Why is it set up as 1/3 product?
3 Why the comparison of clothes and beer?
4 Why are the women surprised about the guys reaction to beer?
5 Why are the women given a tour of the house?
6 Why is there a party going on?
7 Why is the first place they stop at a closet?
8 Why is it a big house?
9 What is the logo of Heisen?
10 Why is there only one type of beer?
11 Why is the host only showing the rooms only bringing three friends?
12 Why are the guy's reaction exactly the same as the women's?

The "Right" Question for the Heineken Beer Commercial

                Heineken is a beer company whose motto is “serving the public.” Hence one of their commercials depicts the men of the party being equally ecstatic about a closet full of beer as the women are over an extensive closet full of clothes. Thus, both parties are equally served.
The right question about this commercial is: why are the guys screaming exactly like the girls? The phrase “you scream like a girl” is a well-known insult to men and so for a group of men to publicly express themselves like is rare. The answer is that Heineken wanted to prove that when a guy finds something he really loves- he wouldn’t care expressing himself similarly to the opposite gender. Naturally it follows that what men love is Heineken beer. It is a popular stereotype that women die over shoes and that men spend tons of money on ever larger TVs to better view the game. In contrast, in this commercial, the male host spent tons and tons of money installing a walk-in refrigeration unit just to hold his massive supply of beer.
Also the best and coolest commercial ever:

They wanted to prove that there were other products that men can fall in love with that can be worth a whole closet full of shoes and clothes. Also, the view of men screaming essentially like a girl produces enough shock from the audience to cause the average viewer to stop and watch the commercial. The men scream, cry, and jump up and down without any shame, giving the male viewers the message this specific beer is worth making a spectacle of themselves and opening themselves up for the teasing and jokes that are sure to follow. Heineken beer is just so good that it turns the average man into publicly looking like screaming girls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

Hansel and Gretel’s Big Adventure

            AT&T created a thirty-second commercial that used frightened and lost children, who innocently tried throwing a food product to get home from a day alone in a city, to display the dangers of not buying their technology. The video advertisement used Hansel and Gretel's story of throwing breadcrumbs to show the futility of using any other system of navigation than AT&T's.

 Hansel and Gretel, contrary to the commercial, actually succeeded in returning home after finding themselves lost. Whereas the children in the video are completely doomed when their means of direction are eaten and they are wandering the streets at night. In the story, the siblings had overheard their parents’ plan to leave them in the forest and so Hansel prepared for the occasion by collecting shiny pebbles that glittered in the moonlight to lead them back. It is only after Hansel is locked inside the house prior to being deserted in the forest the second time, that they got lost through throwing bread crumbs as an alternative. In the commercial though, AT&T completely ignored the part of the fable that included the children’s insight and resourcefulness, so as to make their product seem all the more necessary for the prevention of being lost and alone in dangerous territory. If it instead displayed the kids getting home perfectly fine by using their own method despite it taking all night, then the phone would seem nice and useful to the public but definitely not imperative to survival. Hansel and Gretel, at the end of the thirty seconds, were truly adrift and afraid with nothing to guide them home. Then all of the sudden the old-fashioned looking girl pulls out the brand-new lightning fast AT&T gps devise and the children are joyful again. For the kids now know that they are safe and are going to be okay. So they gleefully go skipping down the streets of downtown, in a foreign city, in the dark, at night, by themselves, as long as they have their gps. AT&T used their own version of a classic tale to exponentially heighten the necessity and impact of their phone.

FFW: John Trimble and the Warriors

John Trimble makes the case that all writers are like warriors, defending claims and fortifying arguments but I do not believe that all writers are like warriors. Warriors, though skilled in defense, are not skilled in other John Trimble writing techniques. Warriors do not try to appease their oppponents with sentences, or in this case, sword movements that are easy to understand. They do not perform action sequences that are easy on the eye to make viewing the warriors' performance more agreeable. Also they do not try to emphathize with their viewer to unerstand how they can make killing them better and more emotionally sound. In conclusion, writers examine their sentence structure, paragraph length, and the readers' emotions to better themselves and warriors do not.

Pantene Commercial

      Pantene is a hair care product company that uses commercial advertising to spread their logo and message to a wider audience. One popular Pantene commercial accomplishes this through the alleged remarkable transformation of a deaf girl learning to play violin, embodying Pantene's butterfly logo and their message to shine.
      The girl's dream of playing violin is impeded by her inability to hear and the bullying she receives for her differences. Her outlook is symbolized by the grey color tone of the commercial and it continues until the girl's life changes dramatically. She finds a friend, imagines violin music in her mind, and even rivals another musician in her school. During this transformation of caterpillar to butterfly, the commercial is increasingly pierced by color and light until at last the girl breaks free from her social inadequacies. With the help of Pantene, the downhearted heroine shines in a competition, whips her beautiful hair, and is applauded by the world. Without Pantene, the whole story plot would have been exposed to be a fake and an implausible fairytale.

Stalking

So here I am at Hofstra and I am blogging.  Writing online makes me feel...stalked. I am sending my personal writings into the world and strangers are gooing to intentionally click on my link and read what I have to say! I would feel famous if there weren't 12 milllion other blogs out there shouting to also be read so I can't claim any glory I guess. You know people warn you of cyber stalking but I haven't met a girl who talked about Facebook that didn't bashfully admit to "following people to see what they were doing-- but not in a stalkerish way!" I'm sorry but i'd have to say that it is stalking if you track down people through a veriaty of technology ways. I mean America in general is a stalker country! There is Twitter, Facebook, cell phones, texting... when was the last time you didn't know exaclty where your friend was? If tthe Statue of Libery could put down that extremely cumbersome torch of hers, wouldn't she immediatley reach into the folds of her gown to the pocket in which she keeps her iPhone? I can picture it! She would text the Statue in Las Vegas and would say wish I were there. But its okay. I admit to having a Facebook account so please don't get offended. I just think its ironic that when I go out to dinner with my family and each member automatically pulls out a cellular device and tries to mentally be somewhere else. Oh well, more Pizooki for me.