So I hear you're writing a novel.

Media Consumption part 2.

2006-12-11T17:37:00.000-08:00

I believe that over the past several months I have developed a much more critical view of media. From that I think my tastes have also evolved. I still enjoy the things I used to but I love at it deeper then I would have before.

In the end I think I will keep this blog going. I have a personal blog that I am really bad about updating regularly but I think that I want to make an effort to keep this one alive.

PSE, DXM, The Alphabet Soup of Cold Medication

2006-12-11T17:14:00.000-08:00

I understand that people are frustrated with the new drug laws. In order to purchase products containing PSE, Pseudoephedrine (Sudafed namely), You have to go to a pharmacy and present your ID. This information is logged. You may not buy more then a certain amount per day or per month hence the reason your information is logged. You have a problem with it? Don't but Sudafed. You can not purchase the product with out an ID. This is the law. The employees are also legally responsible to follow this procedure.

This brings me to DXM, Dextromethorphan, found in cough medicine like Robitussin. Laws are in the works to make these illegal to sell to minors. Many retail giants have already complied and have made it company law not to sell these products to minors (some states have passed laws.) Anngiely wrote about this very situation.

I'd like to point out that before PSE was legally required to be placed behind Pharmacy Counters, retailers did the same thing that is currently being done with DXM.

That being said the cashier selling you Robitussin is not asking for your ID because they want to. They are asking because they have to. If they see you are over 18 they aren't going to card you. When they do check it is because their company has deemed it so and they will face consequences if they do not check, like being fired. This information is not stored like with PSE. At most the register asked for a birth date to be entered to verify the customer is over 18 (just like when cigarettes are sold).

That's life.

James Kim

2006-12-07T02:20:00.000-08:00

San Fransisco man James Kim was found dead today in the Oregan woods. If you have heard the news over the past couple days you probably have heard about the Kim family. He was a Cnet employee. His wife and two kids were found alive Monday but he had gone off to look for help so he was not rescued. Searchers were hopeful but Kim did not make it. It's very sad. My heart goes out to the Kim family.

Meez

2006-12-07T01:49:00.000-08:00

I heard about website a few weeks ago and I decided to go check it out. Meez is a website where you can create a little personal animated...person. You have to register to save your meez but not to check it out. When you register your Meez you can then do all kings of stuff with it including placing in on blogs, downloading it to email, instant messanger, etc. You can dress it up, change it's look, put it in different animations, and recently they added it boyfriends and girlfriend. Your Meez can date Brad Pitt. They also have extra that you can purchase. It's kind of a nifty site. I wanted to see how it worked so I created a simple Meez as shown below.

Removal of Channels can mess up routines

2006-12-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

Desperate Housewives first aired on October 3rd 2004. For the past several years we have recieved a New York feed of prime time channels which gave us the options of catching shows at two different times, or watching 2 shows that we would have had to choose between otherwise. On that particular Sunday my family sat down to check out Desperate Housewives at 6 on the New York feed instead of waiting until 9. We were hooked and a Sunday tradition was born. My family (I know this is silly) gathers to watch Desperate Housewives at 6 pm on Sundays. This Sunday our Tradition was ruffled.

A court order, effective midnight on December 1st, required Dish Network to shut off these feeds. Some might say that it doesn't matter because we still have all those channels 3 hours later. After years of this though, routines have been established. My parents used to get up and get ready to work while watching Regis and Kelly. This is no longer possible and frankly it really sucks.

Though we will continue our ritual as best we can, it has really changed the whole Sunday night dynamic, and It's quite unfortunate.

Iraq is now in a state of Civil War...Just now though

2006-11-28T10:09:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving I was talking to my Grandpa about the War in Iraq. We were watching the news and he ask "Why don't they just call it a civil war?" I didn't really have much of an answer other then the Bush Administration were reluctant to do so for whatever reason. Consequently when I was perusing Google News the morning a USA Today article caught my attention. I read two that were very interesting.

The first said that yesterday (Monday) Matt Lauer announced on the Today show that NBC has decided to use the term "civil war" to describe the ongoings in Iraq. They say it was a decision that took much deliberation and they will use the term despite the White House's objections.

The second article was a follow up that was released this morning. It explained the debate further. Apparently on Sunday the New York Times wrote an article that defined Civil war: " "The first says that the warring groups must be from the same country and fighting for control of the political center, control over a separatist state or to force a major change in policy. The second says that at least 1,000 people must have been killed in total, with at least 100 from each side.""

That sounds like a civil war to me.

Kramer Makes Racist Remarks

2006-11-21T00:34:00.000-08:00

Comedian Michael Richards, best known as Cosmo Kramer, Jerry Seinfeld's wacky neighbor in "Seinfeld" apologized on Monday for a Racist Rant at a Comedy Club Friday night.

Richards was doing a stand up routine at Laugh Factory in Hollywood. After an African American Man began to heckle Richards he had an angry outburst, using racial slurs directed toward the man in the audience.

He appeared, unscheduled, via Satellite, on The Late Show With David Letterman last night to issue an apology. Jerry Seinfeld, who was scheduled, requested the appearance. Seinfeld had previously issued a statement saying he was sick over Richard's comments. He also said that Richards must have been as well.

The Washington Post article said:

Seinfeld, who had previously been booked to promote the DVD release of "Seinfeld's" seventh season, had earlier issued a statement saying he was "sick" over Richard's remarks.
"I'm sure Michael is also sick over this horrible, horrible mistake," Seinfeld said in his statement. "It is so extremely offensive. I feel terrible for all the people who have been hurt."

This all seems reminiscent of Mel Gibson's drunken incident not to long ago. Though Richards doesn't have the same celebrity as Gibson, I imagine it is going to hurt his career just the same. What a jackass. Both of them. I don't care if they apologized, there's no excuse for it in this day and age. It disgusts me.

More about Borat

2006-11-16T00:49:00.000-08:00

Sacha Baron Cohen has done an interview with Rolling Stone...as himself! Cohen has done all of his other public interviews as Borat, the character from his movie "Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan". An article on Reuters.com talks about Cohen defending his character and the movie.

"I think part of the movie shows the absurdity of holding any form of racial prejudice, whether it's hatred of African-Americans or of Jews," said Baron Cohen, a devout Jew who keeps kosher and the Sabbath when he can."

"Cambridge-educated Baron Cohen said his parents "love" the Jewish humor in Borat and his 91-year-old maternal grandmother even went to a midnight screening in Israel then phoned to compliment him."

Cohen did not make a racist movie, he made a movie that makes fun of racism. Part of the controversy may just be arising because it is such a real and uncomfortable subject. Clearly his intentions are not heinous.

I fond it funny that the frat boys in the film are suing now. They waited for the film to be number one for 2 weeks before they filed suit. It made $26.5 Million dollars opening weekend. I doubt they would be suing if the movie flopped.

If you have seen Cohen's "Da Ali G Show" on HBO you probably knew about Borat before the movie. Due to the success of Borat, Cohen was able to sign a deal for a second movie. This movie would be about another character from the show, Bruno. Bruno is a gay Australian fasionista. The movie will probably be less offensive but still hilarious.

An Amazing Film

2006-11-14T00:08:00.000-08:00

I saw Borat opening weekend, and frankly, I laughed my ass off. I appreciate a good, stupid comedy, and Borat was that. It was awesome, offensive, but funny as hell. While I love a good comedy from time to time, my true love, as movies goes, are of a different caliber. Last weekend I went to the theatre again, this time to see a movie that has slipped through the cracks a bit. While Borat has pulled in the #1 box office slot for the past few weeks, another movies has gone unnoticed. That Movie is Stranger Than Fiction.

Stranger Than Fiction is an amazing movie. It is the story of Harold Crick, an IRS auditor, who lives his life by numbers and calculation. One day he begins to hear a voice, a narration that he is the subject of. Harold Crick's life begins to change upon hearing that voice and he transforms from a man who did the same exact thing everyday, alone, to living. Here is the trailer.

It is a beautiful movie. It's comedy and drama all in one. Will Ferrell surprises with an amazing performance. He always seems like such a goofball actor but he takes on the role of Harold Crick and the result is amazing. The lovely Maggie Gyllenhaal, though a secondary character, shines as usual as Crick's love interest, Ana Pascal. Though a surprising pair, they somehow work beautifully together. It is perhaps in being complete opposites that they fit so beautifully together.

Stranger Than Fiction does not disappoint. It, in fact exceeded my expectations. It is a very well written, meaningful film and it is defiantly worth seeing.

2006-11-09T01:04:00.000-08:00

This morning I picked up a paper to see where the election results stood. I knew where a lot were going and I wasn't surprised by a lot at that point. I knew that the Democrats had taken the house and that the Senate was still a toss up. I followed the Senate story through out the day. Finally we know. The Democrats have taken the Senate as well. It is about time. Bush may start using his veto, and we may not get anything done, but that is far better then what has gone on for the past 6 years. That's not even the best part. I caught President Bush's press conference at about 10:15 this morning and i was overjoyed to find out that Donald Rummsfeld has resigned. It's about time.

I loved that I was able to keep up with this all day long. When I wasn't near a T.V. or a computer I could look on my phone to see the latest. Last night I was able to go online to get up to the minute results on any of the ballot issues or elections. I love how accessible everything is. It's amazing.

2006-11-06T23:37:00.000-08:00

Sometimes after I watch some of my favorite T.V. shows, I check out Tvsquad.com just to see what the writers of the website is saying about them. I added a few of the feed to my bloglines subscription so I can get whatever updates about those shows that come up. Two of those shows are How I Met Your Mother and Grey's Anatomy. They do weekly reviews of new episodes after they air. This is done for a large number of shows on many networks. You also learn many interesting tidbits. On the Grey's Anatomy feed they wrote that WebMD has a new blog that tells readers about the accuracy of conditions that aired on medical T.V. shows (for those of you who watch Grey's Anatomy on Thursday, yes, a woman can really have 2 uterus's and give birth to babies 6 weeks apart.)

So it was on TVSquad that I first heard that T.R. Knight is gay (George on Grey's). He said that he hoped it wasn't the most interesting thing about him. More power to him. Maybe more people should take his lead. Maybe they are. Yesterday I read that How I met Your Mother star, Neil Patrick Harris, who portrayed Doogie Houser, has said the he is "a very content gay man." Who knew? And Who cares? He was just as funny as the womanizing Barney on How I Met Your Mother this week as he ever was.

Next Stop, Propagada-land!

2006-11-01T23:27:00.000-08:00

As the Nov. 7th election nears I am being beaten over the head by;
"Vote No..."
"Vote Yes..."
"So-and-so second rate politician is a sleazebag..."

It's everywhere. Tomorrow morning the phone will ring and there will be a recorded voice telling me who, or what i should, or should not vote for.

"Hi, this is Arnold...
...Al Gore...
...Jerry McNerny..."

This will happen through out the day. Then I will turn on the T.V. and I will see ads for all the same stuff. Later I will get in my car and there will be signs at every corner, and then I will get home at the end of the day and it will be 1/4 regular mail (junk or otherwise) and 3/4 political fliers.

It makes me want to pull my hair out, the lameness of it all.

I can't wait till November 8th, because then it will be over and I can answer my phone without worrying if Al Gore will be on the line telling me who to vote for.

I might be done with it, but Ray Haynes, self proclaimed political Junkie is a fan. He talks about the messages in political commercials losing their substance in their messaging. It's all about appeal.

"Take California's No on 90 campaign. They are trying to have it both ways. The “taxpayer trap” words are trying to get Republicans and the “environment” language is trying to get Democrats. They are wrong on both counts, but that is why they are doing it. Messaging."

Digitized Advertising

2006-10-26T00:34:00.000-07:00

If you have walked around the mall lately you may have noticed that posters are being replaced with digital ads. Slowly but surely they are appearing everywhere. I new it was happening, and I thought, "well thats kind of cool" untill I walked into work today. There next time you walk into your local drugstore, you aren't nessacarily going to see one of the digital ads, not yet anyways. Take a look at the employee's vest, right near the name badge. You might see the next step in advertising. They have introduced a little black rectangle that scrolls (in this case) an advertisment for inkjet refills. "We refill your printer ink" I believe it said. It just scrolls those words over and over. It's really a quite ingenious advertising idea.

Blog as a form of promotion for some friends

2006-10-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

As I pondered what to blog about I was wandering around on the Internet, so to speak. I received a phone call from a friend who lived in Hawaii. Amber told me about a show she just played at a little blues club. She told me that she never would have dreamed that she would have been a musician but her true dream is now to be a song writer, not a performer. I have her demo, she's an amazing artist, and even if she doesn't become a performer, she will be an amazing song writer. If anything she may have inspired two of our other musician friends to take a shot. Isa Ballad and Bradley Boggs will be performing original and cover songs this Friday at Sue's Coffee Roasting in Gilroy. It's free!

Retail Madness

2006-10-19T00:54:00.000-07:00

Christmas Starts in August.

This is a fact of life if you work in retail. Christmas takes months of preperation. It's the most important season of the year. I work for Walgreens, I have for a few years, so i am well aware of this fact. People always ask "You have christmas out already?" and all you can do is smile and nod.

So when I read Cheeto Barrera's article "'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,' but it's only October" It occured to me that Cheeto, who I went to high school with, has never worked in retail. This really showed when he asked the question "Is it so necessary to get a month-and-a-half jump on one of the biggest retail seasons?" And the answer is, YES.

I just think it's funny that the same thing happens every year and people are consistently surprised.

2006-10-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

I don't think it is possible to know what the 3 most important T.V. shows of all time are, but we can pick 3 important ones. One person can call a T.V. show the most important, and the next can say, "Hey, what about this one." So here are 3 important T.V. shows.

1. The News- Whether you tune into Fox News or The Daily Show with Jon Stewart you might have some desire to know what's going on in the world. Even though news wasn't a part of people's daily lives in the past, it is now. Families flip on the 5 o'clock news while preparing dinner, or even The Today Show while they get ready for work. News is important to society these days. it is a must to know what's going on in the world.

2. I Love Lucy paved a new road when it came on the air. America now was able to see a mixed marriage T.V. At a time where interracial relationships were basically a taboo subject, a sitcom came along and showed viewers that it was okay. With the lovable Lucy and Ricky with their neighbors Fred and Ethel, America tuned in consistently to a ground breaking show.

3. What about Will and Grace a ground breaking sitcom that aired on what was, at the time, the most watch prime time line up. Ellen may have came out on her sitcom "Ellen" but Will and Grace what out of the closet from the start. It gave us Will, the successful and gay lawyer living with his roommate Grace, an interior designer he dated in college before he came out. We also met Jack, the flamboyant, fun dreamer, and Karen the boozing rich wife of Stan.

Stern

2006-10-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

When Howard Stern was on FM radio, I would turn him on every once in awhile. I like Stern, he can be outrageous, but he's okay. While on FM it was clear how much staying power he had, and how much the FCC hated him. When Stern first announced he was moving to Sirius, it was quite a ways from when Stern's actual move with. As a Christmas gift my boyfriend bought my Sirius that year.

Now Stern has been on a year, and I have had access to him the whole time. I like Sirius, I don't listen to it primarily for Stern, but there are people who do. On October 4th News.com reported the figures. Sirius now has 5.1 Million Subscriptions, more than double from last year.

BloggingStocks.com reported another story about the effect of Stern. They said, "data polled on 9/25/2006 showed 18% chose Sirius for Stern-- down from a high of 31% on 7/29/06. The earliest polled date this quarter Stern was the reason of choice for 19%. Bridge estimates that 15% of Q3's news subs are directly because of Howard Stern."

Are you watching Grey's?

2006-09-28T01:15:00.000-07:00

You Should be.

I Love Grey's Anatomy. LOVE IT. The third season kicked off this week and I am so excited that the show is back. This might be one of the best shows on T.V. right now and I highly recommend it. The episode was great but I experienced some technical difficulties before I could watch it.

The show's premiere aired on Thursday at 9 pm on ABC. I was working so I had to have my dad record it on our DVD-R. The problem is the T.V. was rewired recently, and as it turns out, it didn't work. My dad didn't realize this though and I was pretty dissappointed that I was not going to be able to see the season premiere. I had been waiting all summer for this show to come back on. As I sat and started to sulk, I remembered something. I Tunes is now releasing T.V. shows for $1.99 per episode. It took 5 hours to download, but i finally got to see Grey's Anatomy.

If you get the chance, check out I Tunes. They have everything now, music, movies, T.V. Shows, even IPod games. It's remarkable.

After I watched the episode I was online and I came across a story about CTV in Canada. Apparently on Thursday they accidently aired episode 2 at 8 p.m. which they are attributing to a satilitte feed error. That must have caused alot of confusion.

Is the print newspaper, yesterday's news?

2006-09-25T17:23:00.000-07:00

When I started this weeks assignment about comparing the San Jose Mercury Newspaper and online versions, I began to make note of differences immediately. While reading the print version I made note of the types of advertisements and how they were layed out. When I went online to the Mercury News website I noticed a lot of differences.
Advertising is a different beast on the computer. Not only can there be flashy advertisements that catch the eye, but the reader can click on the advertisement and be linked directly to the products website.
The major difference, however, is content. The front page of the paper today is talking about "How Roadshow got on the Map". Roadshow is a successful Mercury news column about bay area traffic that has helped bring about change. Though it was on the front page of the paper, the Roadshow article is no where to be found on the home page. The thing that is on the home page is breaking news. There is no breaking news section in the paper. There can't be, and the articles in the paper can be found online.
It makes me wonder if we are coming to the end of print news. Is online news the equivalent to MP3's? I know that there are people like my dad who will still get the Sunday paper on a regular basis, and sometimes I know that I will read it when he does. The truth is though I am perfectly happy getting my news online. I can read breaking stories, or search for a subject and see what the latest on that is.

Anna Nicole's $650 thousand Heartache

2006-09-21T01:46:00.000-07:00

Anna Nicole Smith is a grieving woman. This should have been a time of joy for her but it has turned into tragedy. Just 3 days after giving birth to a baby girl, her son Daniel, 20. mysteriously died. While suicide and foul play have been ruled out, the cause of death remains unknown. What is a grieving mother to do? Anna Nicole decided to sell the Last Photos of her son for a whopping $650 thousand. There's one way to profit off of tragedy.
From the moment I heard this story I thought that something was amiss. I listened to radio morning shows discuss various possibilities of this young mans death. He was only 20 . Despite all the theories, the strangest thing I've heard by far is that only 10 days after Daniels death, she sold his final photos. And To think we had to wait months for the unveiling of Suri Cruise.
While it does not surprise me that she sold the photos (let's face it, this is what celebrities do) it does surprise me that she sold them just 10 days after his death. It makes me sad that people in this world came be so materialistic in times of great tragedy.

2006-09-18T17:49:00.001-07:00

Technorati Profile

Books seem to be timeless

2006-09-13T00:02:00.000-07:00

I would like to believe that I will give my books to my grandchildren in the future. Music was always a rapidly changing industry that had new technology to replace the old ones. Books have been steadfast for ages. They have made books on tape (and now books on CD) for years, but people still buy the real thing. E-books are available, but from what it sounded like in class today, people don't really like E-books. I for what, absolutely hate E-books. I find it hard to focus, and very frustrating. I'd much rather curl up in bed with a paperback, or go lay by the pool or on a beach. I genuinely don't believe there will be much of a change. Maybe i don't want to believe it. If it did come down to a change in technology, I would still hold on too my books and pass them down to my kids, and grand kids. I hope to do the same thing with my records and Cd's. I have hope that my record player will work in the future still. My parents have an alarm clock that plays 8-tracks that my mom got as a teenager. I don't know if it still plays 8-tracks because we don't have any, but the things is a great alarm clock.

A New Kind of Record Company

2006-09-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

The record companies have a problem with music downloaders. That is, people who are downloading music for free over the Internet. People are frustrated with the high costs of Cd's, and it doesn't help knowing that the record companies give very little money to the artist from CD sales. With the decline in CD sales we should look at what the consequences of this are. Could it be the end of the record company as we know it if this trend does not decline? How will artists make their money?
If I were in a band a record companies did not exist as they do today I would make my money by performing live and selling Cd's at my shows. As I could I would sell other merchandise at my shows and I would use the Internet as a form of promotion. Myspace has become a great tool for bands to use to promote themselves. It also allows people to hear there music. On my website I would sell my music in CD and MP3 form, but also offering a couple of free songs.
It is also possible that a new kind of record company will form. It would be nothing like we know today. There is already a system that maybe be a step toward the next evolution in the music industry. Magnatune Records is a new kind of "record company" that has non-exclusive agreements with artists and gives them 50% of the profits. The music is all available online for the consumer in MP3 format. Magnatune is a good idea. Whether it survives or really takes off is only for the future to tell.

T.V. Time- CBS Tuesday

2006-09-06T00:26:00.000-07:00

Tonight Katie Couric premiered on... CBS Evening News With Katie Couric. She is the first female anchor to go solo on a major network. Congratulations Katie. I was much looking forward to checking out the broadcast this evening and I missed it. I hopped online to see if there had a broadcast there and they do. CBS News has really figured out how to utilize the Internet. One of the things they have started is Katie's blog, Couric and Co. She isn't the only one who posts, but she does. Its just getting started but it might be something worth checking out. Unfortunately I still have not been able to see her in action, because the video is not co-operating with me, and I have given up for now. Maybe later I will figure it out.

Katie Couric was not the only woman to accomplish something on T.V. tonight. Janelle and Erika from Big Brother are also noteworthy. I don't know if you have been watching Big Brother: All Stars this season, but it has been good. Cast Members from different seasons were brought together to form a super cast. Fast Forward several weeks to tonight where you have the final four. Dr. Will, Mike Boogie, Erika, and Janelle. Will and Mike have played a beautiful game. They lied and manipulated every single person in the house in such a way that one of them probably deserved to win. Will and Mike had everyone believing that they were a secret third member of the boy's "Chilltown" alliance, and no one fell harder into the scheme then Erika and Janelle. When it was just the four Will and Boogie devised the plan "Operation: Double Date." Mike Boogie has carried on a "show-mance" with Erika for awhile now and he turned up the heat. Will in the mean time charmed has Janelle and both boys thought they had the ladies wrapped around their fingers.

The two girls were nominated for eviction until Janelle won the power to save herself and put up Will. She now has the vote to send someone out of the house. The boys had played the game so well that they were convinced that Janelle would vote out Erika. She probably would have and when she did it would have secured the boys place in the final two. I would have yelled at my T.V. again, because the girls didn't take yet another opportunity to knock out "Chilltown" and the boys would have won deservingly because they played so fricken well. What no one counted on was Erika and Janelle figuring out the boys. The sat down and realized what idiots they were to have been so well played. Well they turned the tables on Mike and Will and janelle kicked Will out of the house. Will didn't seem as shocked as Mike Boogie did. One of the girls could very well win now. I just hope they aren't dumb enough to let Boogie manipulate them further.

Crocadile Hunter Dies

2006-09-05T00:49:00.000-07:00

Steve Irwin died yesterday, not at the jaws of a crocadile, but by the barb of a stingray. He leaves behind a wife and two children. The death of the man known as "The Crocadile Hunter" has shocked people all over the world. This can be seen by searching Steve Irwin on Technorati or Google News.

Tributes To Steve at www.Stuff.co.nz

Rest In Peace Steve Irwin

It's the Music

2006-09-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

I don't think I would have found out about a lot of bands with out file sharing.

Back before the record companies started suing people for downloading music, I was downloading music. Now I use itunes to buy my downloads. I have always gone out and bought Cd's that I really wanted though. I like having that hard copy and the booklet it comes with. I still enjoy going to the record store and buying music (YES, I do buy records too, mostly Cd's, but I am building a collection) and today I do buy most of my music. However, if one of my friends is going to send me something, or burn me a CD, I'm not going to refuse. A CD compilation is much like a mix tape. I like to compile compilations of music for myself or my friends as a gift.

The record companies may be losing profit, but the way I see it, they are thieves themselves. They rake in a ton of money and leave minimal money to the bands. It's robbery. I did a search on Google to see what I could find on that point and I was surprised at what popped up. Courtney Love wrote on this subject back in 2000. Her opening statement is "Today I want to talk about piracy and music. What is piracy? Piracy is the act of stealing an artist's work without any intention of paying for it. I'm not talking about Napster-type software. I'm talking about major label recording contracts." Courtney Love maybe have had her "incidents" of drunken displays, but she is an artist and she has a point. I found it to be extremely interesting. Maybe Courtney Love does have something intelligent to say.

Despite the thievery of the record companies, the artists do make some money off of the album sales. File sharing is a useful tool though and we should be able to use it. I like being able to preview new albums or check out new bands before I buy the album. I'm sure I am not the only one who feels this way.

Media Addict

2006-08-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

I was filling out my media use survey and I was not as surprised as I thought I would be. I have a high volume of media usage and I know it. I don't read a lot beyond textbooks during the school year, but it increases during the summer. I flip through the occasional magazine and newspaper, but those are limited as well. I buy people and I will read that but I buy it mostly for the crossword puzzle in the back. The only other time I read magazines is when they are laying in the break room at work. My T.V. usage varies, but I do have a handful of shows that I absolutely have to watch, and if i can't I make my dad tape them for me. I also spend a lot of time going to the movies. I basically go once a week. I do spend a lot of time listening to music. I bounce between my satellite radio, Cd's, and MP3s. I am a commuter so I spend a lot of time in my car listening to music in all forms. I also listen to the radio in the morning when I am getting ready for the day, and again at night when I am getting ready for bed. I also spend plenty of time online. I am on everyday doing a variety of things, from homework, to reading news articles, to My space. Even when I am not at home, I can also check out my email or look something up on my cell phone. My cell phone also plays MP3s and streams videos, so I always have media at my fingertips. I love media though, and I fully embrace my addiction.

Jazz at the Hyatt

2006-08-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

I was unpacking tonight from a trip I just took to San Francisco when a Polaroid fell out of my bag from that trip. One may wonder, in today's world, of digital cameras and camera phones, why would I have a Polaroid from two days ago. Simply, my friend Amber, while having a regular camera, and a digital camera, likes the Polaroid, and looking at the picture now, I know why.
My friend Stephanie, Amber, and I went to San Francisco Friday night and we ended up getting a suite at the Hyatt. We had originally intended on staying in a far smaller room in a far cheaper hotel, but (to make a long and complex story very short) we were persuaded otherwise, and we found ourselves in an amazing room, with an amazing view, that was well beyond our means. This was no ordinary outing though, but rather a very special occasion. We were celebrating not only Amber's birthday but we were having what will probably be our last "girls night." Amber flew to Hawaii a few weeks earlier and married her Marine boyfriend and in 3 weeks she will be moving there herself. So after freaking out (in a estatic sort of way) about our way too expensive, but totally worth it suite we ran off and did some silly tourist things. We returned to the room and we lined up our accumulated polaroids taken thus far. I had also beeen using my camera but there something else about the polaroids that a regular picture seems to lack. I opened the sliding glass door to the city and I could very clearly hear a saxaphone player somewhere out there. We listened and drank and laughed. Eventually he stopped and we ordered a pizza to our room. The next day, before checking out Amber took 3 pictures of the view and gave one to each of us.
While I have other pictures of this trip, there is something about the polaroid she took that invokes a different kind of emotion. It makes me a little sad, but it also gives me hope. My boyfriend thinks that once she moves, she'll be gone, but steph and I know better.
I think I might buy a Polaroid Camera though. I love my digatal Camera, but there truly is something different about a Polaroid.