Sad Face

I've loved cr1tikal for years now. Not often does he post a video relating to his life, but when he does, I always remember what a kind and amazing person he really is. You'd never really realize it if you simply just watched his other videos. I was always amazed by the fact that instead of taking the profit he gained from YouTube for himself, he gave it to charity. I know some other YouTubers donate, but I can't think of one besides cr1tikal who gives every single penny of what he has earned to charity. So hearing about what's happening in his life literally brought tears to my eyes. I completely understand why he'll now be taking 50% of his profits for himself. Some may think he just doesn't want to work hard, but I completely understand where he is coming from. Working a dead end job and being trapped by labor is certainly no way to live, especially when you're lost in life. He's not a sellout, and I won't think of him any differently for doing what he's doing. In all honesty, I think for the time being, he deserves 100% of his profits, but of course he's too good of a guy to do that. That's why I love him.

Not Good Enough

On occasion, whether it be initiated by someone or something, or because it just simply happens, I get this dreadful feeling that my actions and my life, no matter how hard I try, mean nothing. I want to be good at writing considering the fact that it is the one subject I actually enjoy and can accomplish. Yet, I feel like even my writing is inadequate. I can do it, but I can't do it well enough to be anything special. I want writing to fit into my career in some form or another and am even going to college for it, but at the same time, I feel like it will be a waste of money because once again, I'm not good enough. Although I have nothing against it, I don't want to live a life attempting to survive on a minimum wage job that I don't even enjoy, but at the same time, I feel like that's what I'm going to end up doing anyways because I'm not good enough for anything else. Honestly, if that's the case, I don't really find a point in trying. I know this seems like a rather extreme answer, and I get that it seems incredibly stupid, but it's just the way my mind works. Even though I know this, I still can't change my thoughts on the matter. I don't know what to do. I push myself to do better all of the time, yet it never ends up working, or does it? Do I just perceive myself as not being good enough, or is it the truth?

Obligatory Blog POST

This is an obligation, an obligation relating to the numerical statistics of the collection of posts upon this blog. Now that number is better balanced even though it has been neglected in the past and most likely will be in the near future as well. Enjoy the obligation while it lasts blog, enjoy it.

Editing in Lit Genius

To me, the Genius website seems to be extremely similar to a wiki except it is solely focused on poetry, lyrics and other forms of literature. Along with this, it has all of the aspects of a summary website such as schmoop. The only difference being that this, like a wiki, is edited and contributed to by its users. I was tasked with editing a newly added poem in the Lit section of the site. First, of course, you must make an account, and then you can edit whatever you want. I went about starting off the description to Mina Loy's "Brancusi's Golden Bird." Having never used the site before, I had no clue where to begin, and the suggestions were much too brief to be useful. I decided to go to another, well edited piece to find out. I gathered the basics quite quickly before I decided what to add. I figured the poem had to be about something extremely precise considering its title and googled it to find out what. As I suspected, it was indeed about a specific item, a sculpture to be precise. Brancusi's "Golden Bird" just like the title said. I added this to the description, gave a brief summary of who Brancusi was and added a picture of the sculpture being described. I then gave a link to the Art institute where the picture was taken along with a link to a Wikipedia page about Brancusi. All in all, the process of contributing is extremely easy, user friendly, and accessible.

Here's Genius.com if you want to check it out.

The Power of Fandoms in Today's Media

Reading the introduction chapter to Henry Jenkins' Convergence Culture got my mind firing on the brief mention of fandoms and fan made content in today's media, and the effect that is created by it. Jenkins' focus was mainly on the issues that fan-made content creates for a company and the fight with or against it. He mentions how much power the consumer now has on this subject, but he never really explains the effect this can have on the media. It was almost inconceivable a few decades ago to think that obsessed fans of a certain show, book series, etc. could actually have any great effect on how it progressed or changed over time.  Today though, again and again fans do end up changing the canon of a fictional universe, not directly, but indirectly. Most companies realize that to keep fans they have to continue to appeal to them and provide them what they want. Although a company cannot completely take one of their fans opinions, ideas, and work due to copyright issues, they can use the basis of them or at least the idea behind them. For the most part, producers of today's media creations will view this content, at least to a minor degree, sometimes more. If enough fans have the same opinion on what they want from it or how they want the canon of a certain character to be, etc., there will be adaptions made, solely for the reason to keep current fans and gain more. Take an ongoing show for example. Say this show is released this year and the first season becomes so popular that it spawns a fandom of adequate size. These fans discuss it, make content from it, etc. About a half a year to a year later, the second season comes out and already, you can begin to see the show adapting to the fans it has gained. Season after season is released and with every one more and more of the fandom's influence can be seen as it and the show grows. For the most part, this is a good thing. More money is made by the company that produces the show as they gain more fans along with an increase in support and moral, and the fans are serviced by seeing what they want on the show. This influence by and adaption for the fans can and often does go too far though. Companies don't know when to stop adding these services to the fans, and fans often don't know when to stop demanding until it's already too late. Although fans want to see their influence in a show, they also enjoy the show for the same reason they originally did. That can easily be lost when this happens. A show that is literally all a service to its fans is definitely not a good thing. Fans realize this too when the show loses the appeal it once had because of what they have turned it into.

Intro to Literature Project

I recently finished a project for my intro to literature class. When we were discussing the short novella, "The Ugliest Pilgrim," my professor, Scott Richardson, briefly mentioned writing a fanfiction of the story where the main character, Violet, becomes a serial killer due to her strange obsession with wanting others' beauty or specific parts of them to enhance herself. I decided to do exactly that for my project.

My Project

You may have read this story in one of your previous college/high school courses, but if not, I'd recommend reading it before my project, due to the fact that it changes its ending. I would link a pdf of the story, but that seems rather hard to come by. I'm sure if you do some searching you can find it though.

Power in Our Pockets

Today, smartphones seem as though they are a must in our continuously advancing technological world, but not too long ago, they didn't even exist. Smartphones have completely changed the way we live, how we view the world, and even how we run our day to day lives. Smartphones give an individual so much power, along with powering groups as well. With the device that today, seems so simple to us, we can access practically endless information on the web. This information gathering could be spurred by a conversation, seeing or hearing about something we want to learn more about, etc. We can use apps to scan or investigate an item, a song, and so much more, that then tells us what we have scanned or links us to a website. We can use our smartphone as a translator, a flashlight, a radio, a computer, a television, and so much more. It's like an incredibly advanced Swiss Army Knife. Then there is the social aspect. We use smartphones to not only connect to others through telephone calls and texting, but through social media, video chatting, email, and other messaging systems. We can use our phones to tell people where we are, what we are doing, or simply give others our thoughts at that moment. We can use our phones to hold important meetings, private discussions, or simply to joke around with a friend/friends and maybe share a few funny pictures and gifs. An item that we take for granted today, an item that costs anywhere from around $300-$600 more or less, would have been absolutely unimaginable, priceless, and even magical in previous decades. It's amazing to think how much we can do today with a device that we can easily slip into our pockets (not so much if you a girl. Those pockets are tiny). Just think about fitting all those tools and information into your pocket if smartphones didn't exist, if tablets didn't exist, if computers didn't exist. It would take an entire warehouse to store all of that.

The Statistical Stats

Well, there you have it, an entirely American audience and approximately 100 page views. How can I get more page views? Well, I could post links on every social media website ever created... but do I really want to? Nah, not really. Let's just see how it goes, roll with it. 

YouTube and Video Game Commentary

One of the biggest and more recent trends (although it has been around for years) on YouTube is video game commentary. So why exactly is watching a prerecorded video (Or sometimes live on websites such as Twitch) of someone else playing a video game so entertaining? Many of these commentators have risen high enough in the ranks of YouTube fame to become superstars, PewDiePie, Markiplier, the members of the Yogscast, the Game Grumps, JohnTron, Penguinz0(CritiKal), and many many more. Well, from my perspective there are multiple elements that come together to provide such entertainment and even an obsession. First of all, let's put the stars aside. They are certainly one of the most important aspects but not the only one. First of all, many of these commentators play games right as they are released or sometimes more famous commentators are even allowed to play them before they are released as a way for the company to promote them. This is a good way to decide whether or not to buy a game yourself. Seeing someone else giving it a try may either interest you further in a game or completely push you away. Along with that, many of these commentators tend to find and then play very strange independently produced games that you may never hear of without them. It's a great way to find indie games. In the opposite sense, perhaps a sense of nostalgia, they also play games that may be very well known, sometimes games from many years ago. This provides a unique perspective,  a way to see how these commentators react to familiar events in said video game or to see what they do differently than you. They can even help provide strategy for newer and older games that you may have had trouble finishing. Back to the commentators themselves, their hilarious, lovable personalities are what bring everything together. You could certainly watch someone play through a video game without an commentary whatsoever but that would get old very quick. When you get to see and or hear these commentators' quips, jokes, sarcasm, reactions (anger, fright, cracking up), along with their general attitude towards a certain video game, it adds a whole new level of entertainment.

Have the newest video of my favorite commentator, CritiKal (Warning: Extremely foul language)

The Medium is the Message: YouTube

What exactly does Marshall McLuhan mean when he says the medium is the message? Well, I'd say that the medium in which a statement is made or a story is told can actually influence the way an audience perceives what they are seeing/reading/hearing. Along with that, simply the medium itself can create a message on its own. YouTube can be considered one of these many mediums. YouTube, especially when compared to television is a very free form of entertainment and media. I don't just mean free as in not having to pay though. There's much more to it, and that is the message.  YouTubers can post nearly any kind of video they want, anywhere from a video blog to an animation they made themselves. Equally, those who go on YouTube can watch whatever they want as well, at any time. People can say almost whatever they want in their videos or comment whatever they want on a video. Anyone can become a star if they try hard enough. They can get paid from having ads in their videos by simply producing whatever they like to produce. To me, the main message that YouTube gives us is freedom, the freedom to produce and watch almost whatever we please.

The Video

Here it is, royalty free background music, blurriness, and all. Thanks Windows Movie Maker! You've turned what should have taken a hour or less into three hours of a nightmare I thought was never going to end! And it still looks like it was finished in under fifteen minutes...

Edit: And it's even more blurry on here... great. Yep, I'm done.

English for New Media

I'm currently working on a project to show what English for New Media is really all about. This blog post here will be included in it. Basically, it's a video that shows a few of the forms that New Media takes, and this is certainly one of them. I'll be posting the actual video later on when I finish it.

A Journey into the Land of Tweets

Some person's depiction of Twitter obsession found here(most likely not the original source)

Last week, I created a Twitter account for the first time in the history of my life. I have had an account on Facebook since around 2006-2007 and have never really ventured into any other form of social media... until now. At first, my reaction to Twitter was absolutely awful. I had to create an entirely new email address due to the fact that Twitter believed the other two emails that I attempted to input were already taken, even though I have never used the site before. After the initial mess of making an account, my opinion of Twitter changed, although I'm still unsure of if it is for the better. To me it seems as though Twitter is simply a way to check up on pop culture, celebrities, and learn about their mundane everyday lives... or what they are complaining and whining about on a specific day. In a way, this makes it a lot like Facebook, but much less personal. Rather than interacting with your whining friends or discussing their equally mundane everyday lives, you simply just view them, perhaps re-tweet their opinion or fav it and that's it. It's just viewing, not interacting.

If you are for any reason interested in following me here is my account: https://twitter.com/Dreamscape132 

Presentation on Welcome to Night Vale

Soon, I will be presenting a small power point on the wondrous and strange podcast titled Welcome to Night Vale. I feel as though this podcast, in the form of a radio show, is one of the more recent successes in the creative aspect of new media due to its rather dry humor and the strange surreal tales it tells. What do you think? If you have not yet listened, here is a link to Welcome to Night Vale on podbay along with more information on commonplacebooks.com. Give it a try, I'm sure you will like it (and by that, I mean you will be brainwashed into listening to more episodes, but that really isn't a bad thing).

Participation in the Online World

Liking and Sharing on Facebook

• Sharing music from Soundcloud
• Videos from Youtube
• Fan Art
• Having art made for me by an online producer

Comments and Ratings Given:

• Youtube
• Free television/movie companies (hulu, Netflix, etc.)
• Multiple fanart and fanfiction websites
• Product Reviews on multiple sites

My Own Productions:

• Fanfiction... lots and lots of fanfiction
• My own fiction
• I made videos on Youtube when I was younger
• Blogs like this one
• Blogs or discussion boards about shows/games/movies/fandoms and even people
• Facebook posts

And most likely much more...

The List of Storytelling Objects both Physical and Abstract

The items I've used to access new media over the span of my life from oldest to newest:
The Physical:
Television
VCR
Gameboy
Nintendo
Super Nintendo
Arcade Games (retro and modern)
portable radio
Family computer(flash games, interactive stories)
PlayStation
Upgraded computer (computer games)
Xbox
mp3 player (podcasts)
Xbox 360
Slide phone
Not So Smartphone
Video Camera
PlayStation 3
Smartphone
Xbox Kinect
Gaming PC
Laptop
PlayStation 4
Tablet

The Non-Physical:
Facebook
Youtube
Skype
Newgrounds
Xbox Live
Wikipedia
MMOs
RPGs
Blogger
Fimfiction
fanfiction
Other game sites and interactive ficiton sites that I don't remember
Equestria Daily
roleplaying websites

...and most likely much much more...

Frozen Potty

A frozen toilet on a Polish Train

How would you like to sit on this toilet? Why is this toilet so cold in the first place? What are you doing on a cold train in Poland anyways? That is the question.

Bamboo

Bamboo is a rather strange tree. Bamboo is tall, skinny, and straight. Have you ever listened to a bamboo forest in the wind, the way they clack together as the wind whistles through them. It creates music in a way, beats both beautiful and eerie. Strange.

Greetings

Hello............ This is a blog with stuff. It's interesting... maybe.