Check this video out!

go to this link:
http://i.euniverse.com/funpages/cms_content/12925/greaserbabies.sw
and enjoy

Saludos de Laura Sofia

Aqui estoy en Minnesota. Gozando!

Lord of War intro

This is teh video clip I presented in class. I believe it is a wonderful example of most of the movie techniques we discussed in class (Pan shots, tracking shot, color, sound, music etc).

Michael J. Fox

Great example of media use in Politics and political agendas. The use of famous people to pormote your political campaign.

Book Review

I started reading Skellig, not knowing what to expect. I bought a used book at the bookstore, and there was a big black label in the back of the book that kept me from the back cover tid-bits. I think this was a good thing. I entered Michael’s world as I read the book, with no predisposed mind. To tell you the truth, I thought Michael was older. It wasn’t until after more than half the book that I looked at the back and found out he was 10. Another confession I must make, I thought that the book was going to be more mysterious and scary. What I mean is that I never expected it to be so touching and loving and tender and truth be told, I didn’t expect to cry reading a book named Skellig. After all, what does Skellig mean? I looked it up. Skell is a homeless person who lives on the streets and sleeps in doorways. What a wonderful name for the character!

I must say that I was surprised at the fact that Skellig could have been and angel and had wings. In my last reaction journal I talked about Ikarus and Wings and The people Could Fly. All dealt with people with wings. I even talked about James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series. What a coincidence.

I loved meeting this fantastic creature named Skellig. As seen through the eyes of two children, this creature was wonderful and beautiful and loved. If the adults had found him, he would have died right there in the garage. The mother’s reaction when she “dreamt” about him was a typical adult reaction. I guess children see things in people that adults don’t. Michael and Mina saw the tenderness in his eyes, loved him right away and took care of him until he was strong. They could see him beyond his dirty clothes, tangled hair, dry pale skin and bad smell. They saw what really mattered, who he really was.
Michael was a boy who needed to believe in something. At the time, his life was complicated. They had just moved and his baby sister was very sick. He needed an escape, something to believe in.
Mina, on the other hand, was so special. She was a sensitive caring girl. She was different from other children her age. She read and liked William Blake (By the way one of my favorite English poets). She could have seen Skellig even if he didn’t exist.
Reading Skellig reminded me of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein (my favorite book of all times-and the first one to make me cry). Skellig was not created by any of the characters like the creature in Shelly’s book, yet I believe it’s the creature’s tenderness that’s so alike to Skellig. They were both bizarre, ugly to the eye creatures that no one understood, but they had love in their hearts and just needed love in return.

Troy was another nice surprise for me. To be honest, I’ve never been quite fond of the story of Troy and Paris and Helena. But, it being told through the eyes of the servants, of common people, it was a whole different story. I guess it makes the reader identify more with the characters when they are normal people, than when they are kings and queens and gods. I loved the way that the chapters were divided by the names of the places the action takes place in (the Blood Room, Priam’s Castle, etc.) I could picture these characters so well in my mind, even though I could not help picturing Paris and seeing Orlando Bloom’s face [blame Hollywood for that one].
The fact that the story of Troy was told by servants and common people, made it more appealing to me. It was like their gossip and their daily lives, rather than the [to my opinion] dry and rather complicated versions of mythology.
I laughed at the fact that nobody dared say they saw the gods for fear of being treated as lunatics, like poor Cassandra. Although, if almost everyone saw them, why couldn’t they believe her? I counted the people who saw these gods, and almost all the characters saw a god one time or another. And I loved the way that they would immediately forget the incident, or remember it as a dream. When Poseidon came to the market and kissed the servant girl and later the fish disappeared. I thought it was witty of the god and very funny too.
I believe that the author presents the story of Troy in a feminist way. She mentions several times that the talk is that Helena is to blame for the war, yet she oftentimes says that it’s because of men. She blames greed and power and money and other things rather than it being all about Helena. Even the singer will tell his grand daughter Polyxema, that Helena’s version makes a better story than the truth.
She also mentions how men fear to appear feminine or womanish. They are afraid to show their true feelings as if being girlish was bad. And other times, the book is filled with Xanthe’s vision of herself as only a girl, and she even says that women are worth nothing several times in the book. I believe that this is dome with a purpose. To make girl readers snicker at this and react. Men are presented as powerful beings, yet in a physical rude way. Women are presented as wise, smart and powerful in other ways.
I was surprised at the abortion topic being presented so openly and honestly. Poor Marpessa, I actually felt bad for her, even more than Xanthe.
And I loved the way she would incorporate modern language into the story, like when insulting people sing words as ‘bitch’. I’m sure the people of the time would have used other words, perhaps ‘whore’ but bitch is such a modern way it helps the reader identify more with the characters was well.
Religion was another aspect that I found similar to our. I mean, there are so many things about these people’s relationships with the gods and I could relate them to Christianity and I bet other religions we practice as well.
I believe that this book is a great LOVE story. There is love all around the story if the Trojan War, and maybe that’s what made it more appealing to me this time. I loved the fact that Polyxema and Iason ended up together at the end. I mean, finally the servants get a happy ending. Marpessa and Xanthe were servants, but not quite as Iason and Polyxema, for they lived inside the castles with the lords. So having these two other servants find love and happiness at the end, made alit of sense. After all, the story is told through their eyes. Marpessa suffered for what she deserved. Yet, she would end up with Alastor too. Poor Xanthe could not end up with anyone, for she did not believe in Aphrodite. Very clever!
I know that the professor said this is a great book of transition for when discussing Folklore and then going into Fantasy. I believe it is so. It is a great way of introducing those students who are not very fond of mythology into this wonderful story [as I see it now]. If it worked for me, I believe it can work for anyone else.

The third book I read was Spinners. I enjoyed it very much. And like Troy, it is the retelling of a folklore story, Rumpelstiltskin. There’s another story I could never quite identify with. I found it dry and hard to digest. This version was much more interesting. The characters were more human. The story is still quite the same yet, Saskia having her best friend, Dagmar to talk to, made the character more appealing to my taste. It was an easy read and I enjoyed the relationship that the spinner had with Elke. I found that the Miller was quite a bad father, and that Saske had to work like a slave to survive and support the drunk bastard that was plain wrong. I understand that these folktales were crude and cruel, but I’m just saying how it made me feel. I felt sorry for the spinner, though. He was never happy after spinning the hay into gold. Why? What was his sin? What had he done wrong other than lie to the father of the woman he loved? And she didn’t even love him back! Poor thing. Others were bad in the story, the king for example, and Saskia herself was selfish and mean to the spinner too. And her father the Miller, he was awful, yet these people don’t get to suffer half of what the spinner did. And why? Because he lied? Because he loved?
And the ending, gosh! I was very surprised, for I thought they would end up together and happy at last. Yet, I didn’t quiet understand the end. Did the spinner die? Did Saskia die? Did the baby die? What happened? It was horrifying and confusing and entrancing all at the same time.

Vote for Pedro!!!

I thought I could add a little something else to the blog,
and I really enjoyed Napoleon Dinamite.
Eventhough I saw it along time ago, everytime I get the chance I watch it again.
It's the fight of the Underdog!
So do a little dance with Napoleon,and have some fun.
Vote for Pedro!!!!

Media Ethnography

I belong to a virtual community in the Yahoo groups. I joined this community last year, as soon as I applied to the U of MN. I have met a lot of people through this group. I learned about it because it was recomemnded to me by someonein the Graduate School. It's called Boricuas en Minnesota. For those of you who do not know Spanish= Puerto Ricans in Minnesota. Boricua is the word that we like to use to describe our ethnicity, since before the Spaniards came to the island and named it Puerto Rico, the Taino indians already lived there and called the island Boriquen.

I thought that interviewing some of the group's members could help me understand the ethnography and the responses to the group. I had to interview them- cybernetically-since it's a virtual community. Although, most of us already know each other personallly.

Anyway,media is media and here are the results.
I asked the members 10 questions.
My findings were not a surprise to me, although some of the answers were.

The main point that unifies us all is that we are all Puerto Ricans who live in Minnesota. Most of us in the Twin Cities.
Some of us are either graduate or professional students at the U,
and some are professionals who work outside, such as engineers, lawyers, teachers etc.

*When asked why they joined the group, almost all said that it was because they were far from home and wanted to communicate with people like them-from PR who spoke Spanish and understood them. ne said because of the convenience of the technology.


*When asked how often they read or post messages on the webpage, most said almost every day or once or twice a week.

* When asked What they posted, most said it was announcements of activities, calls for help or informantion. Two said they posted jokes and and one said jokes and pictures of the activities.

* Everyone said they felt good about receivingthe messages, although one said that she felt overwhelmed by the amount fo them, She feels personal messages should be kept personal and not everyone in the group needs to know.

*For the exception of one, all others hace recomended the group to other fellow Boricuas.

* The group has helped all who replied in personal ways. They ahev met people and made good friends, Most said that they found moral and psychological support. It helps them feel like they belong when they are so FAR AWAR from HOME.

* When asked who made the rules and does everyone agree with them. All said that teh Moderator makes the rules and teh rest agree.

*When asked who maintains order in the group, all replied the Moderator and the members who quickly get involved and send messages to each other when someone says something out of line.

* When asked who gets more recognition and who's most popular, Lexa got teh most votes, followed by Thomas and Marien and Erwin were mentioned also. One person refrained from answering.

I noticed that the people who replied to my request, the ones who helped me with this assignment, are the ones who are most active in the group and those are the ones who were metioned as being most popular. The moderator was also recognized as being respected by the cmmunity. Surprisingly enough, someone who said reads the messages on a daily basis, answered my request and said that this was the first time she ever participated in the discussions or posted a message.

I also noticed that the mayority of the more active group members are students at the U.

When it came to order and discipline in the group, everyone acts out and tries to maintain a peaceful atmosphere. I guess it's because they appreciate their community and what they have, and that eventhough they said teh Moderator has the final word, they don't wait for him to be the first to put down his foot. They all act.

I believe that the nostalgia for our caribbean island and families is what binds us together, as well as our social positions. Everyone is either a graduate or professional student or a working professional. So I can say there's a Puerto Rican /Prefessional /Upper/ Upper Middle class discourse being displayed here.

I had not seen this virtual community as I do now, before analyzing it as I did. It was great fun. I'm sure some other members will reply later on, and I will make the changes in the postings as I get more replies.

Analysis of Media Representations

Sports have been represented in many ways throughout history.
Yet, one thing has reained constant.
Sports is for men.
And even then, white men and black men are portrayed differently was well.
Some sports are related to black men, some are related to white.
I see race discoursse as well as gender discourse here.
Look atthe pictures under Sports in my Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13666247@N00/

If you notice carefully, the pictures portraying women are barely sports pictures.
Women are portrayed as passive, calm, healthy beings and that's what they apporach sports for.
Or, women are only interested in the handsome players,not the sports. as we see in the "Calcio" calendar.
We see no sweat in the pictures of the women basketball players. That pictures represents them in a passive pose, unlike nasketball pictures of en where we see then in full action, all sweaty and enjoying the game.

The female volleyball team, might as well be posing for a magazine and they could be models and not players for all the picture suggests.
The water advertisement from Asia, I mean, look at how she's dressed and how calm she is. Sports are not represented as activiies full of action for women.
Or maybe some sort of other actin, if you know what I mean, as suggested in the Italian calendar.

Men on the otehr hand are represented as victorious, sweaty, full of emotion and enjoying either their game or theri victory as seem in the pictures of the racecar driver, basketball, hockey etc.

Now, white men and black men are portrayed differently as well.
The white man is portrayed as victorious, enjoying, and for certain sports only.
just look at Hewey Lewis' album titled sports. Pool tables and darts.
Are those sports? Well yes they are, but they are not our typical sports.
At least not the Black man's sports.

The black man is represented I dare say as a sports beast.
Look at the Football player's picture, There he is, huge among the reporters, he';s an 'animal' a great player.
We have the boxing pictures of black men.
Boxing is a fighting game. I personally believe it' sdemeaning, therefore we have the black boxers. get my grift?
Anyway, Where's the black hockey player? or the black racecar driver?
You get what I mean.
These are all ideas gotten from the images I found under sports in google images.
I'm sure there are a lot ore images to support my ideas and vision.

Critical apporaches to "Rosseane" the TV show

I guess you are all familiar with the TV show from the 80's Rosseane, starring Rosseane Barr, John Goodman, Sarah Gilbert etc.
Well, you must have seen the re-runs...anyway, I believe that this sitcom is great for Critical Analysis.

First of all, look at it from the Critical Discourse Analysis point of view.

It is a wonderful example of the Discourse of class. This family represents what most of middle-class working families are like. It presents problems of teen pregnancy and wha tit leads to, not goingto college and belongingto the hard labor working class, and making ends meet; having three children and trying to provide for them as best they can, dealing with relatives who look at them for comfort and support. Trying to keep a marriage-loving relationship afloat. It is the lives of many Americans and many people around the world.

I must admit that at the beginning, I used to NOT like the show. I found it vulgar and offensive. I believed it was a means of accepting the rude behaviors as okay. I thought it was goingto corrupt society! JA! ...Little did I know.

It was later that I learned that the whole point of the show was to enhance these characteristics, that I found particular, as a way of expression, as a way of CRITICISM and in a way of comforting, perhaps, to those in that situation (societal class).

The show presents the working class being oppressed by the higher class, sometimes staying that way, but most of the times, overcomming the high class, outwitting the oppressors. Winning in the end.

According to Neo Marxists and their definition of "cultural capital", Rosseane and her family have none of it whatsoever. Their ways of speaking, acting, moving, thinking are all marks of them not being refined or cultured. Most of the times they are vulgar and rude and they wnjoy that. When one of their children would complain about their behaviors Rosseane and her husband would laugh and enjoythemselves. They knew who they were and where they came from. They were okay with that.

I believe teh series could also be Analyzed in terms of Narrative Analyis. In Northrop Frye's narrative patterns, it would fall under the category of Irony. It was a very ironic show, presenting the oppressed working class and how they always, in the end, finished happy and achieved whatever their goals were. I believe it was poking the eyes of all of those people-who like me at the beginning- don't like , or understand the working class.

There are also cultural codes that we can draw from the Semiotic Analysis. You must have an understanding of the American working class in order to fully understand the irony, sarcasm, comedy in the series. (Like the Simpson's or South Park)
People identify with the characters and situations in the series, because they can relate.

Finally, I believe that the TV show can also be analyzed from the Psychoanalitcal Theories perpsective- Feminist Analyisis.
How much mor efeminist can Rosseane get. Her household wsa matriarchal. The Mother ruled the house. The father was someties afraid of her. he ws submissive, she had teh final word. The show did not present Dan-the husband- in a way that implied that he was not masculine, nor did it present him as weak. Sometimes he expressed his frustration with havingto deal with Rosseane's authoritarian ways, yet he comlpied.
Rosseane taught her children that women were powerful. She taught her son to respect women..somethin most middle class families do not do. They just accept the "nachismo" of society where the husband is teh MAN of the house. She broke that rule, that stigma. Towards the end, she even had a lesbian friend and she would talk openly about how women had choices and could make them, openly. PLEASE DO NOT confuse lesbianism with feminism. But it is ,in a way. a form of expressing that women can express themselves freely and that they can havie choices other than those imposed upon them by a male dominated world.

Here's a link to the 1st season:
http://www.carseywerner.net/inflight/roseanne/roseanne_season1.htm