NHL Stanley Cup Finals

It's the time of the season where all hockey fans are very excited, and nervous. The last game is tomorrow, Wednesday June 15th between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks. It is being held on couvy ice, and will be one of the biggest games in history. The first 2 games in the series, the Canucks held up very well by winning both on their homeland ice. Games 3&4 were held in Boston and the Bruins showed everyone of how serious they were about bringing the heat, they won both games so the series was tied 2-2. Back on Vancouver land for game 5 Canucks bring back the lead in the series with a win. Game 6 in Boston, Bruins score 5-2 on Canucks, and the Couvy fans were rattled. The Stanley Cup could have been in the Canucks hands but they choked hard, and let Boston win. Series is now tied 3-3 and hopefully Vancouver wins tomorrow night on their own ice, because that would be amazing and it would give Canada what they want. With the last few games of the Stanley Cup play offs media has been really addressing people out there, with TV& Radio commericials, ads, and pictures - everyone in Canada is most likely aware of the big game on Wednesday. My friends and I are all cheering for Vancouver - with only a few of them chanting for Boston, but I think that's what makes following with hockey so fun because there is also going to be competition between my friends and I. It is also fun to place bets and such because it's exciting and you get a thrill from it. Hockey rocks... so does Vancouver <3

Drinking & Driving

Yes , we all know that drinking and driving is very bad. But I'm going to blog about the more emotional damage it can do you rather than the physical damage everyone talks about. Of course physical damage is just as big part in drinking & driving as the emotional and moral damage - but I would like to address the emotional factor. I always remember when I was younger I was told that my father had a big scar on his face from his car breaking down and going out of control, but now that I'm older I found out that it was because of him drinking and driving. This had an impact on me of course because one, I was mad that I was lied to and secondly the fact that it was something so stupid he did made me upset and my respect level of him went down. I think people who drink and drive are either really stupid, or just have huge problems and need help. Emotional factors such as; family problems, relationship problems, friendship problems, work, social life, etc can all play a role into why people drink and drive. I believe if we had more people that are willing to help out others then the count for drunk drivers would decrease a little bit more. Before the event occurs, many things could be running through the drivers head such as " why am I doing this?" , "who am I?", and "what the hell is wrong with me?". After the event happens, I believe the driver is an emotional wreck especially if they got into an accident. They would have that guilty feeling with them for the rest of their lives, think about it everyday, and wish they hadn't of done it. I believe drinking and driving can be stopped. Call a friend, family member or take a cab. Don't ever drive when you have been drinking!

Relationships

Relationships play a big role in our everyday lives these days, and it seems like their getting more popular as the years progress. Were surrounded by many relationships in the media, such as movie couples (example Jack and Rose in Titanic), News tabloids (Prince Charles, and Kate Middleton), Movie Stars (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie), and even in your own home if your parents are still together, or your siblings are in a relationship. At this age I believ the most that we see relationships are in our friends group. This has great effect on people that are single because I think that it makes them feel pressured to be in a relationship. Lately all my friends that are in a relationship (including family members) are having troubles about their significant other, and find it easy to talk to talk to me about their problems. I was okay with it at first but now I am really getting annoyed with them because all they do is complain about each other. I believe that media has portrayed our values about relationships because people expect them to be 'perfect' like in the romantic comedy movies. It promotes unrealistic expectations for your relationship, which in the end weakens your emotional levels. The article from BBC "Rom-coms 'spoil your love life'' says that " They found fans of films such as Runaway Bride and Notting hill often fail to communicate with their partner after watching the movie.'. This is a perfect example of how media is changing our values of relationships. In this picture above, it looks like this couple is so happy and that nothing else in the world matters to them besides each other. This is nice to know that there are still couples out there that know what true love is, and still have it in their lives. Yet again this couple could of been taken for an advertisement and there is no true love involved, and is portraying our values of a perfect relationship.

Beastly

The movie beastly is a remake of Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It is more modern and obviously does not have cartoon characters but has real people as actors. I watched it with my friend and her step mom, and we all really enjoyed it. I like how it was in modern times because I could relater to it. The main character is a senior at High School, who is popular and goodlooking but way to cocky. He think that the world evolves around him, and that everyone should bend down as he walks by. I have a friend that reminds me of him because he's the exact same way, and I get really annoyed by him. In the movie the cocky boy gets turned into a very ugly boy because of a curse that his highschool enemy put on him ( she's a witch). I would like this to happen to my friend so he can realise that it's not all about looks and popularity, but something more deep than that. In the end the ugly boy finds his true love, and learns how to treat his new found love in a proper, gentleman-like manner. I feel as though this story is great for all audiences and should be appropriate for all age groups to watch. There are many lessons to learn from this movie and the few that i got from it are: love should be more than just looks, treat everyone with the same respect, do not judge people, and make room to grow from new experiences. This was a great movie and i give it a 4.5 stars!

College

'Man I love college' lyrics from Asher Roth. In highschool, college life seems unreal. Partying, no guardians, new friends, new experiences, etc. I believe highschool kids believe this because of songs and movies such as I love college by Asher Roth, and Animal House. I, myself have many friends that are in college and university and say it really isn't like the movies and songs describe it to be. They say that much work and studying is to be done, so they cannot party to hard or they will see their moeny go down the drain - which would not make them happy. I applied to college for this fall, and it has been one hard road! I applied to 5 colleges: Canadore, Cambrian, George Brown, Georgian, and Fanshawe. I applied to take a dental hygiene course. I had to travel to Barrie to write an aptitude HOAE exam at the georgian campus for them and Canadore, then I had to travel to Toronto to write a seperate exam just for George Brown. This was a very tiring experience trying to get it off work, and studying extra hard. Also the program is very high demanding so it is really hard to get into, so therefore it was late acceptances. I have gotten 2 letters so far saying I am on the waiting list for Canadore and Georgian, as well as an offer of admissions for Georgian's program Pre-Health. I am waiting to accept that because I may hear something from the other colleges I have applied to! So with all this stress from applying for college, writing extra exams for college, and waiting to be accepted for college- I hope I have just a good of time as Asher Roth and the gang of Animal House did while they were in College.

Facebook or Creepbook?

In todays society, if you don't have facebook your considered to be abnormal. Over 250 million people are connected on facebook over the world! Sure facebooks good to reconnect with old friends&family members, let others know what your up to (status updates), share photos and links, discuss with other people in groups, create events, chat, etc. But who knew there could be a bad side to facebook?! First off it can emotionaly tear you apart if you don't know your limit! Let's say if your ex boyfriend is still one of your friends and you can see his updates it will probably break you down if your still not over him. Secondly privacy is a big issue on facebook. If you do not have your account private settings accustomed this could be a very bad situation for yourself. An example of this would be letting a complete stranger see everything on your profile (status updates, links, AND PICTURES), this could lead to either really creepy situations such as friend requests from creepers you don't know or getting stalked by some creepy 50 year old man. Another point of why I think you should limit yourself to the useage of facebook is because a lot of drama starts on there! Because girls will start something behind a computer screen but not to your face - and they will do it for the whole facebook community to see! Also videos and pictures of fights are posted, as well as what the people look like after fights are displayed, making it easy to comment on and bully the person, creating a whole new 'cyber' fight. Also what really annoys me is that everything now a days has to be 'facebook official', meaning if you didnt see it on facebook then it's more than likely not true. Also I find it really annoying when people update their status more than once a day, it just gets really old and super annoying. In conclusion facebook has it's ups and down, and it can be a useful tool if used in proper moderation.

Our Values

Values are what is important to us: family, education, justice, equality, love, physical fitness, honesty, loyalty, friendship, etc. I feel that my values are very important to me and the fact that media has a big influence on them makes me want to be careful on what I consider a real value in a real life calue situation. I think that "The Simpsons" tv show is a perfect example of what can portray peoples values into believing that the Simpsons have a perfect family. A nucleur family is displayed in this show, because Homer and Marg are still together, have 3 kids (Bart, Lisa, and Maggy), as well as a cat and dog. This can effect the audience in a way that makes them feel that their family is not as good, functional, and as normal of a family as The Simpsons are. This could change their entire values of their own family, making their feelings not so great towards their family. The role of the wife and husband are pretty simple, the wife Marg, does the cooking, cleaning, and laundry where Homer works, they get into some fights, but in the end they love each other. The older brother and sister (Lisa and Bart) don't get along that well, but when they do, everything is perfect like a brohter and sister role "should be". The Family acts well together such as when Bart and Homer fight, they make up right after. Homer treats Lisa like she's a little angel, and Marg trys to treat the kids (including Maggie) with equal respect. I feel like this is not a show I should take seriously about the values shown, because I think my family is perfect the way we are, and don't need to be changed because a different opinion of what I have seen on a TV show.

Blackberry Torch vs. iPhone 4 Controversy

There is a lot of media out there lately about which is better, the iPhone4 or the Blackberry Torch. I personally believe the better one is the Blackberry Torch, and I have many reasons for this opinion. First off The iPhone4 seems like a toy to me because it has so much to do on it, and it keeps people entertained 24/7. Yes the iPhone4 is nice, and could keep good company during a boring car ride - but you should not be hooked to all the apps on your phone all the time. The Blackberry Torch has options to download apps, but I have only downloaded one which is called "Who is it?", this app makes the light at the top of the Torch flash a different color when someone specific texts me, there are 10 diffeent colors. Which leads me to my next point that the iPhone4 does not have a flashing light reminding them that they have a notification. Even though the iPhone4 has facetime, the Blackberry Torch has a sliding keyboard so you have another option for typing which is good for everyone. Even though there are many, many other points as to why the Blackberry Torch is better than the iPhone4 I think some of the main reasons are: it helps me keep my scheduale (with work, school projects, appointments, etc), lets me search the web fast and efficiently,managnes my e-mails right from the handheld device, has an amazing camera and video camera equipped with flash, and of course it has BBM.

Media Constructs Reality (#2)

From magazines, songs, to movies and TV shows, media has constructed reality all over the world. Examples of this from magazines would be in Cosmopolitan, because some of the things that are in that magazine seem crazy and no one I've ever talked to would be down to try the things that they say too. Songs by Eminem, TI, 50 Cent, The Game, Lil Wayne, and etc. construct reality by their lyrics and their meanings. An example of this would be when the rappers are talking about using violence and drugs as a solution to their problems. Movies such as comedies (rude jokes and rascism), action movies (unrealistic stunts), thrillers (bad guys being very intelligent). TV shows that this shows up in is definatley in CSI ( known as the CSI effect) this constructs reality because it makes the audiece believe that it is possible to solve a crime in 40 minutes. All of these examples construct reality because it makes people believe that anything is possible now a days, and that you should do some crazy things to help yourself find answers to your problems. People cannot seem to distinguish between fiction and reality because there is just so much media constructing reality out there! It's everywhere we look (magazines, music, news, movies, TV shows, etc). Some people such as media students know that this is happening, but other people do not get the idea of what's going on. Its come down to the jurors having a different about real life scenarios after they've watched the shows a couple times. The world needs to be aware of what is happening with the media and how its constructing our reality!

Audience Negotiates Meaning (#3)

I believe personally, that if a movie is going through the process of test screening it will be good for the audience, and they will be getting what they want. I believe in this because if a movie is getting test screened at least 3 times, and a maximum of 10 with different audiences each time then the researchers are doing something right and useful each time. Since the researchers are watching how the audience members react to certain parts of the movie, it helps the producers to know what to take out or put in, etc for the movie. Also there are many different types of people in each audience, so some will like certain scenes more than others - therefore giving the producers lots of feedback, good and bad but still making the movie enjoyable for everyone. Test screening for comedies, action flicks, and thrillers are very crucial because it can really help the producers make decisions about the movie. Such as jokes that people don't find funny or may find offensive, confusing parts, unrealistic action scenes, or just plain stupid scenes in their movie.


I love the first Jaws, and Jaws 2 is okay, but Jaws 3 was a joke..



If I could have been part of the test screening for Jaws 3, I would have defiantly made it look like I was really annoyed and hated the movie. I wouldn't laugh at the corny jokes that are in the movie, I would act really confused at the stupid script, and laugh really loud and obnoxiously when the 'mother' shark appears for the first time because it's so stupid that its funny. I would try my hardest to make sure that the observers recognized how dumb I thought the movie was. If I was the producer, I would have not even produced the movie or I would have changed a lot of things such as the corny jokes, crappy acting, and VERY FAKE sharks. Jaws 3 is a very good example of why test screening should be happening in media.

Photo Retouching

This is a video that I found appropriate for this topic ;





Here are some photos that are photo shopped as well ;






In my opinion, photo retouching has gotten way out of hand. Yes it is 2011 and the technology is amazing and lets us do amazing things, but retouching about 99% of advertisements out there is unrealistic. This affects many different people, but especially the young women. The pictures that they see in magazines, billboards, and the internet are not a reliable source of letting them see other women's beauty. It perceives them to think that all women look perfect (whether it be their hair, eyes, lips, cheek bones, neck, breasts, stomach, thighs, etc) and that they should look like that too. This is definitely wrong because there is no way someone can be as 'perfect' as the photo shopped models are. Young women around the world are struggling to be like the photo shopped models and are hurting themselves physically, mentally, morally, and emotionally. The little knowledge I have about Photoshop helps me realize that the women in the magazine are not real! So therefore I do not put the stress on myself about looking "perfect' like they do. Although many people disagree with the photo retouching, it does have a few benefits such as special effects if you’re doing a movie, or just wanting to have one perfect picture of yourself, but i believe strongly that it has gone too far in our society.

Media and its Effects

For me, media plays a huge role in my life. There are bad effects of having media in my life as well as good effects. Some of the bad effects would be me not knowing how to manage my'media diet' properly. I love to listen to music, watch the news, read magazine, listen to the radio, etc. But enough can do damage to my own personal thoughts. The way that it's good for me is hearing and seeing other peoples opinions and reactions to things that are happenening around the world. Media has an effect on just about everyone whether its from watching the news, or reading the paper. I think media plays an important role in our lives and is a good way of bringing us together as one. With this being said one should know how to control their intake of media and know the outer questions such as ' why are the doing that?' , and 'whats going to happen next' . Studying media is a good thing to do so you can be aware of whats around you, because its very popular in the new decade. I think media does not have 100% control over my life, but it certainley does have about 60% of me.