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A week ago I was at The Electric Factory in Philly and saw one of the best shows of my life: Coheed and Cambria (one of my all time favorite bands). They played a two-hour set! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a band perform that long. The energy was just ridiculous, and I came out exhausted, dehydrated, and drenched in my own sweat…and I loved every minute of it. Here’s a video of “No World For Tomorrow,” the song they opened with off of their new album barring the same name.
(I should be somewhere around where this video was taken actually)
In McCloud’s article, “The Vocabulary of Comics,” I gained an insight into my personal perceptions. Although I hadn’t thought extensively about it before, the fact that we as people can associate a circle, two dots, and a line with a face is remarkable; we really are a “self-centered” race.
I have been an on-again, off-again comic book enthusiast, but I have never though so in-depth about the medium until having read this piece. There are many things to consider: the abstract and concrete, level of detail, and the bond between words and pictures. From Batman to Spiderman, I’m sure there are things I have overlooked in between the lines.
More interestingly enough, this philosophic comic made me realize the degree to which objects surrounding us become a part of ourselves. For example, on page 8 McCloud provides the riveting example of a car crash. “Hey! He hit me!” proclaims one of the comics, and rightly so. In a situation such as this, I (and presumably most people) would say the something to the same effect. This realization has made me consider how objects can easily become extensions of us.
From vehicles to clothing, the objects we surround ourselves with ultimately become a part of who we are. The clothing we are represents our tastes and sense of style just as much as CD’s do. But there is something significant in the example above about the car crash; we wouldn’t say “Hey! He hit me!” if someone struck one of our iPods or laptops. Clothing can be a tricky middle because if someone were to step on my shoes, I would be inclined to say “You’re stepping on me,” when it is clear that they are only offending my ratty pair of Chuck Taylor’s.
All in all, I believe that this article was probably one of the most riveting of the ones we have read. While the concepts were intricate, they were represented in a fun, visual way as to maintain the attention of the reader reader and aid in the process of understanding.
Last year, at time not unlike now, I felt nostalgic and seasonally deprived; it simply never felt like Christmas here at school. All right, there’s a Christmas tree and blowup menorah in Savitz Hall, but I still don’t feel the Christmas spirit.
Like the majority of freshman, I didn’t have a car on campus, and I feel that this attributed to my lack of Christmas spirit last year. Seeing as I couldn’t drive around, and I spent 90% of my time on campus, I saw no blinking lights or lawn ornaments or intricately decorated malls.
This year, sadly, seems to be no different; I still don’t feel nearly as festive as I think I should. I do, however, have a car on campus this year, but it seems that I’m rarely off gallivanting around the neighbor (mostly because I don’t know the neighborhood).
There is a mere two or three weeks left of this semester, so I suppose that’s a plus in and of itself. Where’d the time go guys? I’m always amazed at the passage of time, and even when it seems like the workload will never end, the days seem to slip right through my fingers.
I don’t know what I can do to better prepare myself for the holidays, but I wish everyone the best on their finals and nothing but good times over break.
I’ll see you all next semester.
In the days of yore (or freshman semester last year), I remember having to write about plagiarism in lengthy detail for my college composition class; all our papers were somehow based around education really. But I specifically remember having read an article before Rebecca Moore Howard’s “Understanding ‘Internet Plagiarism’” that had mentioned the website TurnItIn and the significant decline in academic standards.
TurnItIn is a website through which teachers are able to submit the works of their students in order to check and prevent acts of plagiarism. The success rate of this website, however, is questionable due to increased concern that has been placed on plagiarism; the Internet has done a decent job of making teachers worry.
And irony at its best was shown through the pay sites (which I’m also well aware of) that happen to offer papers about the nature of plagiarism for a certain fee – how much more ridiculous can one get? It appears that most students are looking for an easy way out of hard work – anything to do the least and still get that “hard-earned A.” Has the Internet, then, made us a lazy generation that simply wants to “get by.”
Unfortunately, with the ability to copy and paste, as well as the infinite space of the Internet, plagiarism is and will continue to be a concern of teachers everywhere. Will there ever be a full proof of deterring plagiarism? I’m not fully sure, but I can say that hopefully someday, there will be a better academic standard than there is now.
I figured I’d use this medium to the best of its ability, so here goes:
Avant is the literary magazine here at Rowan University. The magazine twice a year, once a semester. The club meets every Thursday at 5:00 PM in the Student Center’s Pub Suite which is located on the third floor in the back right corner. I encourage any and all creative writers to submit their work (there is a submissions folder in the Pub Suite hanging from the Avant office door, or you can email your work to avantzine@hotmail.com). Don’t be discouraged if your piece isn’t accepted right away; the staff wants only the best quality of work. If it isn’t accepted, you will receive an email with constructive criticisms for the piece and are encouraged to submit it again. If you don’t feel like submitting and still want to be involved, you can still come to the meetings and voice your opinion on the works of others. I believe that just about sums it up.
P.S If you want any additional information, feel free to contact me via this blog or my email which is iamjustindavis@yahoo.com
I have some knowledge of MUD’s seeing as a couple of friends and I had participated in them during middle school; they were interesting, easily learned time-wasters. And even though we had significantly more advanced video games at the time, we still found the freedom of the text-based world oddly intriguing.
I’m sure we came across a jerk or two along the way – it’s inevitable really, regardless of the medium – but we never read too deeply into their antics; we figured, “If someone gets out of line, he or she will get taken care of eventually.” After reading Julian Dibbell’s “A Rape in Cyberspace; or How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database into a Society,” however, I came to realize that certain people take offensive actions over the Internet very seriously (to the point that legitimate legal actions were considered).
While I have no qualms about Mr. Bungle’s actions being rude and uncalled for, I believe that a younger generation might have simply shrugged such an occurrence off; legba, on the other hand, was an older resident of the LambdaMOO community. A younger generation, naturally more adept to the intricacies of the Internet and personal computing, would most likely categorize Mr. Bungle as a “newb” and underestimate the severity of the situation because it occurred over such a broad, nonphysical medium.
The decision to “toad” Mr. Bungle was seemingly appropriate, but it inevitably failed when Dr. Jest was able to log onto a different IP and create a new character; in this respect, there was a no way to completely block him from the online community.
It is interesting to note, though, that problems such as these give rise to hierarchies and democratic systems and provide an odd reflection of real-life into what should be a retreat from it. Rules and guidelines are necessary, yes, but is nothing so scared anymore that even text-based games are disconcerting to the well being of others? One would think that those seeking to participate in such communities would have a general understanding and respect for their procedures; MUD’s are relatively obscure in the mainstream world.
Ultimately, is there a lesson to be learned from Mr. Bungle? I believe there is – most people don’t realize that psychological rape can be just as serious and damaging as physical rape. And I at this point still don’t quite grasp that concept nearly as much as I probably should. So, Mr. Bungle or Dr. Jest or any other persona you go by, wherever you are and with whoever you’re harassing, you should revel in the sad victory that from your dishonest deeds there came about a revolution of online ethics in MUD’s.
I was on YouTube the other day and I stumbled across an old video that a friend had once sent to me; I still laugh every time I watch it. But more curiously, I saw that there was a follow-up video to this humorous clip. Although some of the magic is lost in the explanation, it’s amazing to think that a 17 second clip could make some nobody popular enough to make heaps of merchandise.
Since coming to college, I have partaken in the Internet craze known as Facebook. I don’t know how exactly I came across Facebook, but it is nevertheless still an important part of my life today. I remember when I first discovered Facebook, I enjoyed its simplicity in comparison to the original, big online community: Myspace.
I’ve had (and still have) a Myspace since 10th grade; it was just beginning to get its big lead then. It was a fascinating new way to connect to people over the Internet as well as a way to assert your identity. But Myspace suffered from constant streams of spam in users’ inboxes and a significant amount of down time; to this day I’m still receiving requests from spammer profiles.
Facebook, on the other hand, was vastly simpler – instead of gaudy colors and obnoxious wallpapers users were able to insert into their Myspace pages, Facebook has kept a relatively easy-on-the-eye standard that is unalterable. More importantly, however, Facebook revolutionized the previous means in which networking occurred; as Fred Vogelstein’s addresses in his article “How Mark Zuckerberg Turned Facebook Into the Web’s Hottest Platform”, Facebook sought to capitalize on current connections rather than the possibility of meeting strangers.
Although originally protested, the Mini-Feed has allowed users to see the whereabouts of theirs friends: pictures they were in; groups they join; events they attend; people they were friends with. Suddenly, communications between people was strikingly more efficient than ever, which leads me to wonder about the future of Myspace.
There are still millions of dollars spent on Myspace advertising (from television shows to movies to music), but it seems that Facebook’s quick rise to popularity and current membership far outranks that of Myspace. Will Tom create a new, competitive “social graph?” Or will Myspace eventually be rendered obsolete? And while the benefits and applications are innumerable, could this social too still be used against the user?
I have heard of a number of cases where users have been denied employment due to material posted on their Facebook profiles. I agree that a certain caliber of person should be expected when reviewing job applications, but I believe it is pretentious to deny someone a job outright for something that occurs in a user’s private life; a line must be drawn between work and pleasure, and if one doesn’t significantly affect the other, the material in question should be considered erroneous. Which brings me to my final thought: in my future search of employment, will I have to delete or censor my Facebook profile? Do I have to become a stiff and cover any and all footprints of my private life? I’m not sure, but I’ll have my fingers ready on “Delete” button the day I receive my diploma.
Middle school is an awkward and difficult time for most kids, myself included, but there was one band that helped me through such a scary string of social situations: Weezer.
I started listening to Weezer in 7th or 8th grade due to a recommendation from my good friend Phil Chang – almost 10 years after the band’s debut album. Their simplicity, catchy hooks, honest lyrics, and dorkish tendencies captured my heart at an age when I was just learning who I was.
The Blue Album was released in 1994 and is easily one of my favorite albums of all time. Almost anyone can recognize the popular single “Buddy Holly” and can remember that innovative video that incorporated various clips from the show Happy Days. “Say it Ain’t So” and “Only in Dreams” are two songs that inspired me to pick up playing guitar; I told myself, “I want to make people feel like that.”
The following album, Pinkerton, is a cult classic; while it received terrible reviews and low commercial sales, die-hard fans view the work as an unprecedented display of raw energy coupled with some of Rivers Cuomo’s most inner feelings. Songs like “El Scorcho” maintain a simple song structure while quirky lyrics drive to the heart of the piece. Other songs like “Falling for You” or “The Good Life” examine the angst and insecurities that ride shotgun alongside love.
The next three albums produced by Weezer – The Green Album, Maladroit, and Make Believe – had a few songs that caught my interest and a number of notable singles, such as “Hash Pipe,” “Keep Fishin’,” and “Beverly Hills,” but I did not enjoy them as collectively as the first two releases; these albums, however, did not cause me to shy away from the band.
So where’s the band now?
After Cuomo finally tied the knot and a short-lived break-up of the band, Weezer is returning to produce a sixth album for early 2008. In addition to that up and coming album, a collection of rough demos written and recorded by Cuomo from 1992 through 2007 will be released on December 18th, 2007 in a packaged titled Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo.
Due to certain circumstances, I was never able to see Weezer perform live, and it is with my sincerest hope that with the release of their sixth album, I will be able to see the band that gave me the foundations for my now vastly different musical aspirations.
It was a good feeling revisiting The Blue Album and Pinkerton this past weekend; it was like seeing an old friend again and making up for lost time. While Weezer is undeniably different from my current musical tastes, it’s safe to say that the band that boasted, “I’ve got a 12-sided die” will stay close to my heart.
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