Re: Eccentrick Art Show 2009

Yes, I did happen to buy one of those big, crazy, red-headed David t-shirts for this year's art show. But anyways, this year's art show had some pretty amazing stuff, and definitely eccentrick. I've only been around at Mary Ward for two years, and I can say that this year's art show is one of the best I've seen and been a part of.

For the majority of the art show, I can say that I've been sitting in tech design as a tour guide, which was alright, but can be a bit of a dud when there are no people coming in. But communications was a different story. I've managed to drop by in comm at least once, and it never looked empty (it at least had more people than tech). There were all the bright lights and artwork displayed everywhere! I have to be honest, I'm not exactly a huge fan of fashion and jewelry, but on the other side of comm, what really tickled my fancy were the pieces of work we made from Photoshop and Illustrator. People were busy making these pieces throughout the year, but I never actually took the time to look at them closely. It just shows exactly how much artistic talent grade 10s have.

There were so many more things to check out in the art show. Even Mr. Emer had plenty of stuff to show anyone walking in. Overall, I felt that it was a VERY successful art show, if not one of the best by far. I've managed to pick up a couple quest units for helping out, so it all works out well.

Re: Cell Phone Manners Matter

Personally, I used to have a cell phone that my parents made me carry around in case of "emergencies". However, unlike most teenagers that constantly use their phone and overcharge their bills, I never ever used it. I figured that since I don't use it to call anyone and leave it turned off most of the time, why not just deactivate it? I don't really use all the fancy features that they put on anyways like cameras, games, web browsing and some other stuff so I gave the phone back to my parents for them to decide what to do with it. In case of a real emergency, I'm pretty sure I can find a payphone around somewhere. As for those teens that are constantly using it, I think they should give the phone a bit of a rest and use it only when it's necessary. It honestly isn't that hard to lay off, and it will save parents a whole lot of money. It may seem mandatory in today's technological environment because you can always stay "connected" with friends, co-workers, and family, but there is a fine line where you can call it "using" and "overusing". If some people are addicted and must be on it 24/7, they should at least learn some of the rules about times when using the phone is inappropriate.

1. Always turn off the cell phone during public performances such as movies, shows, concerts, etc. It can be really irritating when you cannot hear the performance because the person next to you is talking loudly.

2. Never use the cell phone in class (including text messages) because it will distract your learning capability. =)
And if the teacher finds out, they could take away your phone. Or even worse, they could read your text messages about who you're going out with tomorrow night. =P

3. Never ever ever ever, talk or text while driving. It may not seem like much of a distraction, but taking your eyes off of the road for a split second can be extremely dangerous. They actually made a law on this already, but they still didn't say anything about earpieces which I find to be a big distraction when you're having a conversation with your best friend while going 100mph on the highway.

4. Avoid using cell phones on subways and buses. There are actually signs that tell people this because of many thefts with iPods, mp3s, and cell phones while on the subway. Apparently, it is just not safe.

5. Always turn off cell phones when going to church or other places of worship. It would be disrespectful to have to answer calls and text messages while mass is under progress. And besides, God probably doesn't use phones in His home, so you shouldn't either. =)

Also, having cell phones on vibrate wouldn't be such a bad idea. That way, you can choose whether or not to answer calls without disrupting people from what they're doing. The problem is that everyone either sets their ringtone to Greensleeves, Beethoven's 9th, and other similar things, which can get pretty annoying when you have to hear it at least 10 times a day.

Re: Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy

I found that comedian Louis C.K. was very humourous when describing our world today as it is. It's funny because we can look at it ourselves and know how true it is about how we act towards modern day technology. We have already gotten so far with technological advancements in just a couple years, and people aren't taking enough time to appreciate all of it. All we ever care about is getting faster and better, which isn't a bad thing because that's how we improve. However, every now and then, we have to stop and think, "Technology is amazing".

I can't imagine life without technology. Being born in a technologically advanced era, I think everything relies on technology to solve our problems. I'm sure I can last without technology, but that would make my life really hard like how it was many decades ago. If I were to ask my parents about what they did with the lack of technology back then, they would say they still accomplished many things, just not as easily. It all depends on how you look at it. Messages can be sent almost instantly compared to snail mail which can take several days to get there. To talk to others over the phone, people have to speak through a speaker attached to wires. Nowadays, almost everyone has a portable cell phone. Looking at how much difference a couple years makes, we know that we should not take it for granted. Life without technology would be just plain boring.

In the future, all we know is that technology will definitely keep advancing to almost perfect levels. And when we reach that point, hopefully we can realize what technology is really capable of, without any more complaints.

Re: Colossal U Ad Campaign

I too have witnessed this ad campaign many times when I'm on the TTC on my way to school and back. And every single time I see it, I always stop and think about what it meant. These ads can really mess with someone's brain if they're in the process of choosing a university or college. Still having some time left in high school, I thought Colossal U had some qualities that might want to make me enroll there. If given some closer thought, you'd think that advertisements always tell the public how great something is, or how not great its competitors are. But this was definitely different. The message here can be always be thought of as somewhat a good thing. I mean, "Every Colossal U Student Will Turn Out Exactly the Same. We Guarantee It." can be a great thing if they meant that each student was going to turn out successful there. But in reality, not everybody has the same potential to do so. And the idea of being assigned a number isn't too bad either (at least everyone gets treated evenly). So when I decide to do some more research on this (partially because of this media course as well), I found out that this university was something made up by going to their webpage. Instead, a woman just shows up and talks about how Algoma University does the exact opposite of what Colossal U does. It took me a while to figure this out, but Algoma was the one who came up with these ads. It's actually a brilliant idea, now that I think of it. Advertising a supposedly bad university, to allow more people to Google up Colossal U. Whoever at Algoma came up with this scheme must be a great psychology student/teacher. It might just encourage me to go there, despite the far travel.

Re: Gaming Gone Wild

I used to play a lot of video games. I probably spent all my allowance back in elementary school buying video games, but I had to make sure my homework was done before I started indulging my mind into hours of this stuff. I rather play video games than watch television, go outside and all sorts of other activities. I guess it's addicting. What I love about video games is the fact that they get you thinking, no matter what game it is. Nowadays, people are even trying to create video games for the "older" generation that will sharpen their minds, and keep them "mentally fit". But I have to say that the best part about video games is the fact that in some games, you can do things that you cannot in real life. It's always cool to be able to fly, to have three lives, go on a magical adventure, racing with "tricked-out" cars, shoot people down (depends on the rating of the game), and the graphics look so real! The games they make in modern society have really great graphics that can get people "into" the game. It's simply brilliant!
But now that I'm in high school (especially with the school being a self-directed learning school), I haven't exactly found much time for video games anymore. If I were to play games, I'd probably be so behind, that teachers wouldn't even know what to say. Instead of being involved in games, I think I'm a bit more involved in my social life now, and of course, UNITS!
But hey, what else can I say? Once a gamer, always a gamer. I still play countless hours of games over the weekend when I find time, and especially over long vacations.
Can't wait for Christmas holidays! (Y)
But don't worry, I'll still do my media work. :)

P.S. The "older" generations must have played some video games... What ever happened to Pacman and Tetris? Nothing is more relaxing that playing a couple levels of Tetris.

Re: The Campaign Trail

I think that Barack Obama was very clever using an old advertisement and re-inventing it to fit his campaign issues. Throughout the entire election between Obama and McCain, most of the big issues they talked about such as the war, the economy, health care, environment and jobs were mentioned in this video and it gives an example of what is happpening in the world as of now.

In the first video, the guys seemed to be really happy and relaxed on the couch with beers, but things have changed a lot in 8 years, and it is not necessary Bush's fault. It doesn't really matter who's fault it is anymore because America is already going through a crisis. But what does matter is that it's time for change and Obama could be the man to rely on.

Normally, if I were able to vote, I would vote for McCain, an older candidate with more experience with these issues. However, the majority of America has chosen someone younger and fresh! This is not necessarily a bad choice, but it could change a lot not only in America, but also the world. History was made during the day Obama won the election. He's first black president of America, and we need to have faith in the man!

Obama ftw!