Today was a difficult day, I'm not going to lie. It started off okay, with the roommate waking me up at 4 AM to tell me he was leaving for work....yeah, that right. Cute, maybe, but not at 4 am when the sound of a car alarm keeps going off over and over until you finally leave to go to the dreaded Dentist!!
I get there, some okay news, and not so okay news. Small cavity, but I need to get my wisdom teeth out next Tuesday. After the drilling stops and I get out of that cold chair, I find out my mom has worried my co-workers sick about me. When I finally get into work and straighten everything out, my cousin and my co-worker drop major news on me.
My cousin's husband had bad results on his Brain MRI and might need my office. Then my co-worker tells me that 1) Another co-worker's husband passed out and they don't know what's wrong and 2) our doctor who just retired may not make it through the weekend.
At my job, as well as life, I am constantly reminded of my own mortality. My Kimberly reminded me to not let this news affect me. Words to sooth my soul, as well as her own. Is it disturbing that I did not need these soft spoken words? It is almost as if my job has morphed me into a new self. I no longer need the reminder to not let things disturb me because they no longer have an effect on me considering all the horribleness I see on a daily basis. It makes me wonder if I've lost a part of me that can never be recovered. Is it my innocence? I don't know but it is clear that my job has effected my outlook on life and how I respond to certain situations that arise.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Love146
The website couldn't have said it better:
"The trafficking and rape of children for profit is one of the darkest stories on the planet"
A terror, the trauma, the shame, and the ignorance. Children between the ages of 5 and 15, sold for sex every night, over and over again. Where does it end? When comes the time that we put our foot down and cry out?
Take a stand. It could be your sister, your brother, your daughter, your son. Wouldn't you want someone to fight for them?
Hayley Williams from Paramore dedicating their song "We Are Broken" To the cause through the whole Final Riot! tour
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Five Minutes of Mascot Failure.
...more like 2:33...but still
Our society uses others to turn attention away from ourselves as well as place blame on others. The shifting of awareness is the displacement of unwanted attention which many be used in efforts to brush things off as though what has happed is not real. In society where there is a Big Brother constantly watching over our shoulder, observing every movement one makes, we disguise feelings behind acts of comedy and/or violence through the pain and misfortune of others. The clip entitled “Mascot Fail” was created using moments of mascots often taking a misstep in front of large crowds. The audience, that is the ultimate Big Brother creates a notion of Panoptisim in the grand scale of a sports arena. Society likes to focus on the failures of others to create a greater sense of belonging and brotherhood, as well as the ideology of being correct and dominate over those that have faltered in the past, hesitate in the present, and may waver in the future.
Our society uses others to turn attention away from ourselves as well as place blame on others. The shifting of awareness is the displacement of unwanted attention which many be used in efforts to brush things off as though what has happed is not real. In society where there is a Big Brother constantly watching over our shoulder, observing every movement one makes, we disguise feelings behind acts of comedy and/or violence through the pain and misfortune of others. The clip entitled “Mascot Fail” was created using moments of mascots often taking a misstep in front of large crowds. The audience, that is the ultimate Big Brother creates a notion of Panoptisim in the grand scale of a sports arena. Society likes to focus on the failures of others to create a greater sense of belonging and brotherhood, as well as the ideology of being correct and dominate over those that have faltered in the past, hesitate in the present, and may waver in the future.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Representative Ideology
In Sex In the City, season 3, episode 9 the girls go on an emotional relationship road, with the end unseen. Through many devices used in conventional television realism, the audience is able to go on the journey with the characters.
As Fiske points out in his article Television Culture, he maps out the "codes of television". The first level of reality, he argues is what is on display for the audience to see. In this episode, Carrie struggles with maintaining her current relationship with her artistic boyfriend, Adian, and her mixed feelings over her break up with "Big". Miranda is also struggling to maintain a shared living space with her ex boyfriend and letting go of the feelings of guilt and emotional ties in order to move on from the relationship. Charolette's impending engagement makes her use techniques that have been shown to work between Trey and his mother in order to initate the engagement. Lastly, Samantha's struggles with her "bad tasting" boy toy leads her down a rocky road.
All four woman allow the situations to effect them into emotional responses that in turn effect their behavior to the men in their lifes and their interactions with the other women. This leads to Fiske's second level of the representation. All of the woman are presented within their own enviroment throughout the episode, helping to create the character themselves. The characters of Charolette, Samantha, Miranda, and Carrie are based on stereotypes that Carrie often narrates herself. This alone is it's own representation-a lense if you will-that helps the audience observe and then interpret what they are observing through the character of Carrie. Throughout this episode, it is as though there is a specific lense in which the audience is forced to view the situations through. In a definite sense, the lense is Carrie, in a broader, more general sense, the lense that is imposed is the woman's outlook/view of their environment/life.
These all in turn lead to Fiske's third and final level of the codes of television, ideology. Much like the lense put on the episode [or show in general if you will], the ideology being presented is from the female perspective, though different depending on the storyline and the narration. In addition, there is also the representation the the upper white class, whose relation to capitalism and materialism is very much influencing their daily lives. Carrie in particular we learn has thousands of dollars worth of shoes in her closet, yet does not that the money to renovate her apartment. She is a product of capitalism and materialism because it could be argued, her status in society.
All levels of the television medium effect what the audience takes away from the the specific show. The editing, the music, the styling and the casting effect what reality is being represented and the ideology being reinforced by the characters and storylines. Every show on television today is demonstrating a "reality", as well as an ideology, or some may say, an agenda. What is the "reality" and ideology being presented in your favorite television show?
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Cassandra's Dystopia
Ganeku, Samantha
Professor Wexler
English 312
November 6, 2008
Cassie’s Dystopia
One never knows what the future may hold, or even what today will have in store for the human race. In any given society, tragedy, plague, poverty, and oppression is possible and thinking of how these events and circumstances may shape a nation gives one a distinctly different view of what may happen tomorrow if such an event were to occur. In the Cassandra Palmer series by Karen Chance, dystopian elements of government appear throughout the novels.
Cassandra Palmer is a young clairvoyant in a world such as the one known today, expect for the ruling vampires, the Dark Mages, and the White Mages all trying gain control over the new Pythia. The Mages are overseen by a group called the Circle, who seek to continue their control over the Pythia, as to have a powerful ally. The Vampires who are ruled by the Vampire Senate and a vampire named the Council, offer their own version of protection in exchange for favors yet to be determined. Both groups seek control over one woman, in hopes of “guiding” her to fit what their will dictates. When she fails to pick a side and pursues an agenda of her own, all of the groups send minions after her in efforts to capture and persuade her to their side.
Like many dystopias, the “government” or those in power try to use their influence over others and/or the general public to create strong sentiments over what is right and wrong. Similar to 1984’s Hate Week, the governing body of the White Mages, send their head assassin Pritkin to help “persuade” Cassandra to aid their cause. Pritkin has no knowledge of the difference between a clairvoyant and a demon. He has been conditioned through his upbringing that anything related to a vampire is dirty, evil, and needs to be eliminated, as it only means trouble. The heads of the White Mages send him with the hopes that he will see Cassandra as a threat to the balance of power and eliminate her. The governing White Mages uses the propaganda that Pritkin believes in, in hopes of establishing Cassandra as a danger to the small harmony that is enjoyed between the different circles.
Similar to Fahrenheit 451’s ideology that destroying books is actually protecting the society as a whole from the horrors that can be presented in such works. The ideology is to protect the innocence from anything that could be harmful to the psyche, but the hidden ideology is that in order to protect the peace and to prevent the chance of rebellion, government can and will do anything. Similar to the ideology behind the restrictions and laws, it is the hopes of the heads of the White Mages to use Pritkin’s loathing of demons to their advantage to serve their ideology that a clairvoyant not trained for the role of Pythia is a danger. It is their hope that a clairvoyant already under their control would become Pythia and thus could and would be used to further their agenda.
The Vampire Senates, the head White Mages and the head Dark Mages each govern over their own society. With the power granted to these ruling bodies, the idea is that they will watch over and rule over their given “races”. Like Foucault’s ideas of “Panopticism”, these groups consisting of the most powerful of their kind are all knowing and have no qualms about punishing anyone who steps out of line. When Pritkin goes “rogue” trying to protect Cassandra, the White Mages send a horde of War mages on their trail with the order to kill. The idea that he was being watched over should have prevented Pritkin from turning “rogue”; however, while it didn’t, it certainly gave him pause forcing him to weight the consequences of his actions. Once he changed sides to help Cassandra, he became a marked man. While he makes his choice, it is not without giving something up. Like the Librarian in Fahrenheit 451, Pritkin gives up something valuable, while the librarian gives her life, he gives his freedom.
In dystopian societies, freedom is often not a luxury; rather it is an ideal that is spread to give the illusion of choice in a society where there is in fact little choice. The idea of freedom and choice is calming to the masses because it gives the feeling of being able to have control over oneself in a world where many things are controlled by a governing body. Pritkin sacrifices this, as well as possibly sacrificing his life for protecting Cassandra and the ideals that he has developed.
Even within the vampire community there are levels of class. As in Teresa Ebert and Mas’ud Zavarzadeh’s Daily Lessons on Class, can be applied to the structure of the vampire society. The power of a vampire is based on his age, as well as the amount of vampires that serve beneath him. His power and financial success is based on his ability to rule over those beneath them, as well as their success. They are like a capitalist society that “one is what one owns” or controls. They are either the highest level of vampire or they are a servant/worker that serves a master. There is no in between, that is no middle class. No one vampire is able to be his own owner or worker, their status is either one or the other. It is as the Daily Lessons on Class points out, that “production is the cause [of class]”, it is the creation or production of a vampire that creates class within the community that is presented in the Cassandra Palmer series.
In the vampire community, there are also measures set up for the protection of the community as a whole. Like eugenics and the premise for GATTACA, vampires take care in turning people into new vampires. To protect their society, rules are put in place that help assures there will be fewer crazed vampires that will go on a killing rampage. If lower level vampire act out and break the laws established by the Vampire Senate, the master of said vampire must then tract down the rogue vampire, kill him/her, and then tract down those the misbehaving vampire spawned. If things become too out of control, and a vampire steps beyond the boundary lines that protect the community as a whole, he/she is seen as a threat that needs to be eliminated, thus the governing body steps in. The Vampire Senate acts as judge and jury that appoint the necessary executioner with no exceptions and no matter the circumstances.
Stands of dystopia can be found everywhere one looks, in movies, television, and books or book series. The Cassandra Palmer series by Karen Chance has governments that are founded in dystopia in the science fiction world of White Mages, Dark Mages, and Vampires.
Work Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Westminster: Del Rey, 1997.
Chance, Karen. Claimed by Shadow (Cassandra Palmer Series). East Rutherford: Roc, 2007.
Ebert, Teresa L., and Mas'ud Zavarzadeh. "Daily Lessons on Class." The Red Critique 12. 27 Oct. 2008.
Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish : The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage, 1995.
Orwell, George, Thomas Pynchon, and Erich Fromm. 1984. New York: Plume, 2003.
Professor Wexler
English 312
November 6, 2008
Cassie’s Dystopia
One never knows what the future may hold, or even what today will have in store for the human race. In any given society, tragedy, plague, poverty, and oppression is possible and thinking of how these events and circumstances may shape a nation gives one a distinctly different view of what may happen tomorrow if such an event were to occur. In the Cassandra Palmer series by Karen Chance, dystopian elements of government appear throughout the novels.
Cassandra Palmer is a young clairvoyant in a world such as the one known today, expect for the ruling vampires, the Dark Mages, and the White Mages all trying gain control over the new Pythia. The Mages are overseen by a group called the Circle, who seek to continue their control over the Pythia, as to have a powerful ally. The Vampires who are ruled by the Vampire Senate and a vampire named the Council, offer their own version of protection in exchange for favors yet to be determined. Both groups seek control over one woman, in hopes of “guiding” her to fit what their will dictates. When she fails to pick a side and pursues an agenda of her own, all of the groups send minions after her in efforts to capture and persuade her to their side.
Like many dystopias, the “government” or those in power try to use their influence over others and/or the general public to create strong sentiments over what is right and wrong. Similar to 1984’s Hate Week, the governing body of the White Mages, send their head assassin Pritkin to help “persuade” Cassandra to aid their cause. Pritkin has no knowledge of the difference between a clairvoyant and a demon. He has been conditioned through his upbringing that anything related to a vampire is dirty, evil, and needs to be eliminated, as it only means trouble. The heads of the White Mages send him with the hopes that he will see Cassandra as a threat to the balance of power and eliminate her. The governing White Mages uses the propaganda that Pritkin believes in, in hopes of establishing Cassandra as a danger to the small harmony that is enjoyed between the different circles.
Similar to Fahrenheit 451’s ideology that destroying books is actually protecting the society as a whole from the horrors that can be presented in such works. The ideology is to protect the innocence from anything that could be harmful to the psyche, but the hidden ideology is that in order to protect the peace and to prevent the chance of rebellion, government can and will do anything. Similar to the ideology behind the restrictions and laws, it is the hopes of the heads of the White Mages to use Pritkin’s loathing of demons to their advantage to serve their ideology that a clairvoyant not trained for the role of Pythia is a danger. It is their hope that a clairvoyant already under their control would become Pythia and thus could and would be used to further their agenda.
The Vampire Senates, the head White Mages and the head Dark Mages each govern over their own society. With the power granted to these ruling bodies, the idea is that they will watch over and rule over their given “races”. Like Foucault’s ideas of “Panopticism”, these groups consisting of the most powerful of their kind are all knowing and have no qualms about punishing anyone who steps out of line. When Pritkin goes “rogue” trying to protect Cassandra, the White Mages send a horde of War mages on their trail with the order to kill. The idea that he was being watched over should have prevented Pritkin from turning “rogue”; however, while it didn’t, it certainly gave him pause forcing him to weight the consequences of his actions. Once he changed sides to help Cassandra, he became a marked man. While he makes his choice, it is not without giving something up. Like the Librarian in Fahrenheit 451, Pritkin gives up something valuable, while the librarian gives her life, he gives his freedom.
In dystopian societies, freedom is often not a luxury; rather it is an ideal that is spread to give the illusion of choice in a society where there is in fact little choice. The idea of freedom and choice is calming to the masses because it gives the feeling of being able to have control over oneself in a world where many things are controlled by a governing body. Pritkin sacrifices this, as well as possibly sacrificing his life for protecting Cassandra and the ideals that he has developed.
Even within the vampire community there are levels of class. As in Teresa Ebert and Mas’ud Zavarzadeh’s Daily Lessons on Class, can be applied to the structure of the vampire society. The power of a vampire is based on his age, as well as the amount of vampires that serve beneath him. His power and financial success is based on his ability to rule over those beneath them, as well as their success. They are like a capitalist society that “one is what one owns” or controls. They are either the highest level of vampire or they are a servant/worker that serves a master. There is no in between, that is no middle class. No one vampire is able to be his own owner or worker, their status is either one or the other. It is as the Daily Lessons on Class points out, that “production is the cause [of class]”, it is the creation or production of a vampire that creates class within the community that is presented in the Cassandra Palmer series.
In the vampire community, there are also measures set up for the protection of the community as a whole. Like eugenics and the premise for GATTACA, vampires take care in turning people into new vampires. To protect their society, rules are put in place that help assures there will be fewer crazed vampires that will go on a killing rampage. If lower level vampire act out and break the laws established by the Vampire Senate, the master of said vampire must then tract down the rogue vampire, kill him/her, and then tract down those the misbehaving vampire spawned. If things become too out of control, and a vampire steps beyond the boundary lines that protect the community as a whole, he/she is seen as a threat that needs to be eliminated, thus the governing body steps in. The Vampire Senate acts as judge and jury that appoint the necessary executioner with no exceptions and no matter the circumstances.
Stands of dystopia can be found everywhere one looks, in movies, television, and books or book series. The Cassandra Palmer series by Karen Chance has governments that are founded in dystopia in the science fiction world of White Mages, Dark Mages, and Vampires.
Work Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Westminster: Del Rey, 1997.
Chance, Karen. Claimed by Shadow (Cassandra Palmer Series). East Rutherford: Roc, 2007.
Ebert, Teresa L., and Mas'ud Zavarzadeh. "Daily Lessons on Class." The Red Critique 12. 27 Oct. 2008
Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish : The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage, 1995.
Orwell, George, Thomas Pynchon, and Erich Fromm. 1984. New York: Plume, 2003.
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