Speak English you lively morons

Campaign ad for Alabama's governor seat have started up. Tim Jennings is among the hopefuls of obtaining the seat. In one of his campaign ads, he mentions about how in Alabama the people speak English; therefore, all driving tests should be done in English and not the 11 other languages they are currently given in. This is a really ballsy thing to say on a television commercial. Now I can understand his point about how it is a waste of money to get these tests in 12 languages, but the fact that this is one of his commercials is a bad choice. Politicians are judged tremendously on these television spots, it is the main way that I get to see them. The ad can be found at this link http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100428/ts_ynews/ynews_ts1831 reading the comments at the bottom just go to show how controversial of a commercial it is. He probably should have saved this idea for a debate or something where people educated on politics could hear it, not a form of mass media.

Hows Avatar doing? eh the usual, just smashing records

So Avatar is back in the spotlight this week. It was just released on DVD and Blu-Ray this Thursday and it picked up right where it left off, smashing records. Avatar became the best selling home video release of all time on the first day. It is estimated that over 4 million units were sold to consumers in just one day. Now I have to say that I did enjoy Avatar very much, but that is a lot of DVDs to sell in just one day. I will probably end up buying the movie and helping contribute to its record breaking cache.

One of the reasons that I am not completely enamored by the film anymore is because I recently saw Hurt Locker. This film gave Avatar a run for its money at the Academy Awards and for good reason. While I think Avatar was amazing, I feel Hurt Locker is the better of the two movies. It is more raw, using real actors and not computerized images with human voices. The only thing that Avatar lacked enough to lose out to Hurt Locker is the fact that the actors could almost hide behind their, well avatar.

The Brees whispered cursed

The new selection for the Madden 11 cover was revealed today. Super Bowl 42 winning quarterback Drew Brees is the new cover man. If you do not know, the cover of the best selling game comes with a heavy price. Sure you got tons of publicity and it is a real honor to grace the cover, but there is this thing called the Madden curse. All but 2 players that have graced the cover since 1999 have had a severe injury or drop in production the season they donned the cover. Some athletes, such as Eddie George, never regained elite status. Now I don't really believe in curses or most superstitions; however, the Madden curse has had a high probability of success. Just last year Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polomalu were on the cover together. Troy missed all but 3 games with a knee injury and Larry put up his worst season since his rookie year. The Madden franchise is a very lucrative one in the video game world and players should feel proud to be on the cover, but some players decline or refuse to have themselves on there for curse reasons. Drew Brees has said he doesn't believe in the curse and I hope that it bypasses him because I think he is a class act. The fans have voted for Brees, lets just hope he can make it another productive season for the Saints

"you suck at this game you mother f#@$ing #$@@&$#*#*@^@%%!$!!!!"

I play a lot of Xbox live, and have heard my fair share of people hating on others. Today I saw an article on Yahoo stating that some 'policing' is going to start to try and stop gamers from using hateful speech. Good luck with that is all that I have to say to Microsoft or whoever is planning on doing this. At any given time there are over 1 million people playing online games. I do not see how any form of monitoring is going to be able to get more than 10% of these players. The only method of cracking down on these players now is by other gamer's complaints. This process is almost useless. I have complained to Microsoft through the Xbox about my friends just as a joke many times, nothing has happened to them.

The truth of the matter is there is no way to stop people from using hateful language in online games. Many young children playing the game are exposed to the upper echelons of the English language; however, the horrible language is coming from these children as well as adults online. If some parents could hear the things that I have heard their children say on Xbox live, I think there would be a lot more xboxs on sale on ebay. The only time I ever talk on Xbox live is when I am in a game with my friends, and even not talking to the other players, you still get shit on if you do not have a good game.

Hey you suck, now go on tv and show the world for the sake of our ratings

So this week we watched the best and worst of American Idol auditions for class. The best ones were well deserving, but the worst ones? give me a break. I want to know how some of these people made it past the first screening in the giant stadiums. Seems to me that they are just getting let through for some sort of comedic value for the show. If there were only good contestants auditioning on television, ratings would probably not be as high during the first round. People love to watch bad performances by others, seems like they get off on it. I have always wondered if they know they are getting let through because they are horrendous, or do they actually think they will be the next American Idol. Just seems a bit malicious to be completely humiliating these people in front of a national audience.

20 grand for 6 minutes of gameplay??

I enjoy a good video game, usually for my Xbox 360. I never had an original Nintendo or Super Nintendo when I was young. My first system was the Nintendo 64. I can remember playing Goldeneye every weekend with my best friend at the time. Games since then have gotten much more intricate, for lack of a better word. They have also gotten more expensive, $60 for a game in my opinion is much too high and on top of that, these companies release downloadable content for their games for even more money!

Today I stumbled upon the list of the highest price video games out there. Most of them make the list because they have become extremely hard to find since their releases back in the early 90s. The most expensive on on the list is Nintendo Campus Challenge for NES. This game is worth an estimated $20,100!! Now this is mainly because there is only one known to exist right now, but the part that makes me laugh is that it only has 6 minutes of gameplay. After your 6 minute time limit is up, you have to stop playing and start over. It has 3 games on the cartridge, Super Mario 3, Dr. Mario and Pinbot. Perhaps someone has another copy of this game laying around in a box up in a dusty attic waiting to be found; furthermore, I guess I can't complain about $60 for almost 100 hours of gameplay in some games when this game has 6 minutes for over $20,000.

Uma, Jerry, UUUMMMAAAA (Seinfeld reference)

Uma Thurman has a new movie out! Haven't heard of it yet? apparently neither has anyone in the UK. Her movie titled Motherhood released this past weekend across the pond to a massive box office debut with $130 total. Not 130 million not 130 thousand just 130 dollars. It is estimated that only 12 people total saw the film, 11 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday. Now I am no movie aficionado by any means, but this must be a terrible movie or it just was not advertised properly.

I feel like lack of advertising is to blame for this movie's terrible debut. Even if this movie is bad, I would have to assume it would garner more attention than that of 12 people. When I read the story it was the first time that I heard anything about this film myself, you think a film starring Uma Thurman would be a bit bigger than this. One blogger thinks that Uma's dyed red hair brought back terrible memories of Batman and Robin when she played Poison Ivy. If you have seen this movie, you know what a bad movie truly is. I hope this movie has more success down the line here in America for Uma's sake.

Yippe Kay Yay Rambo, I'll be back

So I am not sure if this is an April fools joke, but I saw a story on Yahoo.com today about a movie coming out this summer called The Expendables. It features many big name action stars, mainly Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The trailer for the movie looked pretty legitimate to me. The movie also stars Stone Cold Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Jason Stathum and Jet Li. Roles were also offered to Steven Segal, Jean Claude Van Damme and Wesley Snipes. This is one hell of an action movie lineup.

Seems to me that all these stars in the movie could take away from each other, but upon further review Willis and Schwarzenegger only have cameo appearances. This is probably a good thing, since Arnold is still currently the governor of California. I am also left to wonder if this is some last ditch effort to squeeze out some publicity/money for Stallone after his sequel to the Rocky series came out recently. The quality of the movie does not look too high from the trailer; therefore, I do not intend on going to see this film when it hits the theaters this summer.

My television has 3 Ds wtf?

3d Televisions are bursting onto the scene. This is the next big development in television technology after HDTV was introduced. I remember when a tube tv was the best thing that you could have in your home to watch programs on. Big screens were always considered 'amazing' quality compared to these regular tube tvs. Then in the early 2000s HDTV was invented and the concept of quality was revealed. The stores today do not even sell tube tvs anymore really. When I go into a store I see about 4 tube televisions in a sea of about 20 or so flat screens.

3d televisions are just starting to appear in stores, I personally have not seen any to this date. I did a little bit of research and like anything they have their pros and cons. Some of the advantages are that they look fabulous. They also do not need to be used in 3d which is a great feature. Not all programs are going to be in 3d right away so a tv that can play normal high definition broadcasts is a must. The price range is not too bad with the most expensive starting at $2500. The drawbacks are that there are not too many programs being broadcast at this time. You also need to wear special glasses to see the 3d images, but this is nothing new to 3d entertainment. All in all I think that 3d television will just be a novelty fad just passing through. If it does take off, I will probably invest in one someday just for the video game possibilities.

AT&T is on Line 2 for your Apple corp.......... UH-OH

How many minutes on your phone plan do you use while in a wireless hotspot? I read an article today about a new iPhone app that allows you to make calls over the internet using your iPhone. This does not use minutes from AT&T. This app allows you to have a whole other phone line as well. The developer of this app has some balls to take on a corporate giant, and my hope is that many people take advantage of this while it lasts.

I feel like AT&T is not going to let this stand. What phone company would sit by idle while people are making calls, not using their minutes? If someone has this app and works around a wi fi hotspot, they can save a ton of minutes. THis app does cost 15 dollars a month, but that could wind up saving some people a ton of money in the long run.

Ogres have layers, Onions have layers.....

I do not really watch the news at all. I have to say that most of it is very depressing. It is always about murders, deaths, robberies and rapes. Why do I want to turn on the television and hear about all these awful events happening? This is where The Onion comes in. I think that this show is genius. They are basically making fun of all these news outlets. I know the stories are not real, but they are hilarious. I stumbled across a funny episode today which is why I am doing a blog post right now.

http://www.youtube.com/user/theonion?blend=1&ob=4#p/a/FD1BFDFC7134BC71/2/VTbYUd1jUc4

This humor to me is great. Everyone is always up in arms over violence in video games and seeing this was priceless. The Daily Show is also a good time, but The Onion is more my kind of humor.

Mike Tyson grows some wings

Just when you thought you saw the last of Mike Tyson he somehow pops up in the media again. Who saw him coming in 'The Hangover'? As random as you think that is wait till you hear this one. Apparently Tyson is getting his own reality show on Animal Planet about racing his pigeons. Yes you read that right, Mike Tyson is getting a show about racing the 'flying rats' of New York City. Now I had no idea you could race a pigeon, but apparently it is an actual sport. http://www.pigeon.org/

Now why pick Mike Tyson to be in the show? Who really knows the logic behind this one haha. I think it is just another way for Tyson to wedge his way into pop culture today if only for a few weeks. He was on Yahoo's list of biggest fortunes lost a few weeks ago, so maybe he needs the money. Whatever the reason for the show, I know that it is going to be hilarious and I do intend on watching at least one episode.

Brokebuster Video

So I read an article today about Blockbuster Video's plan to reinstate late fees. How this is going to help a dying company I have no idea. There was once a time from the mid 80s to early 2000s when people would go to a video store after work on a Friday and rent a movie and Blockbuster was thriving. Whether it would be alone or with the family and friends, this was social event. Then one day someone decided, "hey why make people go to get their videos, we can ship them to the customers" and so Netflix was born. How convenient is Netflix? You pay one flat rate per month and get all the videos you want as long as you send your current ones back. There are no late fees, so if you didn't get around to watching the movie that weekend you could save it for the next.

Video, DVD, and Blu-Rays are a huge business in today's world. This is media that can be rented/bought and viewed right in your own home. Blockbuster's decision to bring back late fees and shorten rental time from 7 to 5 days seems to not be the best idea. People that still do not have Netflix will probably go that route. People want media at all the time at the cheapest cost to them, and Blockbuster somehow does not understand that.

Remake this

Karate Kid 2 is coming out soon. I recently saw the trailer ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amj-Z8UoFjA ) and have to say it actually looks good. This new trend of remaking older movies is really taking off with the world. I have always wondered how people keep wanting to see movies that they have already seen once, which got me thinking. All these remakes are not really the same movie at all. Each one has the director's twist in there somewhere. Also, these remakes are telling classic stories in a way that hooks today's newer younger audiences. The Longest Yard was a movie made in the 70s starring Burt Reynolds, and while it was a good movie back then, it just is not that interesting to today's audience. The remake immediately connects with the audience of today because of its star, Adam Sandler. He is a very recognizable face in films today and was a great pick to play the role of Paul Crewe, disgraced quarterback. My main point is that we should not be thinking these remakes are a result of no new stories being available, but rather a great story being told for the people of the new generation.

Scotty Lago goes down on the bronze medal

So the snowboarding half-pipe competition was yesterday and Shaun White kicked ass and won gold (what a surprise haha), however, the real story about the event came after when the bronze medalists, Scotty Lago, decided it would be a great idea to party with his medal and a woman. Pictures surfaced all over the internet and news of this girl with his bronze medal in her mouth down towards his crotch. Now I know he is a young guy and partying because you just took 3rd place out of everyone in the entire world is acceptable, but he is representing his country and should know better than to do this.

This relates directly to media class because it shows just how fast the media works. I do not know the exact time it took for these pictures to surface, but I assume it was within hours. I am sure that the Olympic Board is not too happy with the way this turned out. The media is a great tool to get information out to the world at an instant's notice these days, but it can also get people in a lot of trouble fast. Without the internet, this story and these pictures could take days to see the light of day.

integrated advertising is the future

During the 2010 Olympics, NBC has gotten some flack about a recent quote said by Bob Costas. The quote said by Costas was "Still to come, the first day of snowboarding competition at Cypress. Though the sport has only been in the Olympics for about a decade, it has a much longer history. In fact, the people of Dreamworks have imagined what it would have been like in the times of the Vikings of old. So old we're not talking about Brett Favre or even Fran Tarkenton, take a look." To me this sounds like it was scripted into the show. The separation of church and state is a constitutional law, advertising during programing is almost the same. We have all heard of product placement, the Coke machine in the background of a movie scene is a perfect example. Saying this quote in the middle of broadcasting is a little obsessive; however, this quote is not as bad and offense as everyone is making it out to be.

Green Avatars anger producers

Is today not the time of going green and being sustainable? Apparently for some movie producers it is not. When James Cameron made his blockbuster movie, Avatar, he wanted to get across the message that we need to be environmentally responsible. 20th Century Fox told Cameron "We really like the story. It's great. But, well, is there a way to not have so much of this tree-hugging, 'Ferngully' stuff in it?" Now this strikes me as odd. All these companies these days are pushing to make themselves look more green and helpful towards the environment. Why would a production company not want to release a great movie with this undertone?

Regardless of whether the company wanted this movie to change or not, Avatar smashed box office records all over the world. I guess that most people enjoyed the way the Na'vi treated their planet and possibly opened their eyes to how we are treating earth. Had 20th Century Fox known that Avatar was going to be such a massive hit I doubt they would have wanted to shelf the movie for this absurd reason.

Super Viewers HOLY CRAP!

So the Super Bowl was this past Sunday and I myself did watch it with a bunch of friends. Apparently a lot of other people had the same idea because Super Bowl 44 smashed the record for the most watched program EVER. 106 million people watched the Saints upset the Colts this past Sunday. Next on the list you ask, the season finale of M*A*S*H which had 151.8 million viewers. That finale was shot in 1983, 27 years ago!!

Now the number of people watching this years big game may be significantly larger than those who watched M*A*S*H, but think of the difference in the times. Many more people have television sets in their homes these days than they did in 1983. An estimated 77% of America tuned into the finale while 68% tuned into the Super Bowl.

Speaking of Narrative, could the Saints victory be more fairy-tale like? Just like the 2001 Patriots the Saints had an entire nation backing them, minus Indiana of course. People like to see the underdog prevail over the perennial playoff team. This is probably the reason for the record numbers. A few years after Katrina devastated New Orleans, they had a chance to bring happiness to the entire region. People like that feeling, so why not tune into the game and live the experience live.

Pepsi plays hooky

Super Bowl Sunday is only 2 days away, the biggest mass media day of the year. Companies pay upwards of $3 million to get a 30 second advertisement on during the game. For 23 straight years Pepsi has been paying this kind of money to promote its product during the game, this year is different. Instead of pouring millions into television advertising during the game, Pepsi is launching a new social media campaign. It plans on giving upwards of $20 million in grant money to fund projects in health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and education. People can vote on ideas and submit their own. I think that this could pay off for Pepsi in a good way, but also hurt it.

On one hand, Pepsi is going to spend more money on great causes and reach millions of people; on the other hand, with no Super Bowl ad, Pepsi could find itself missing out on a lot of sales. Coke is still doing its commercials and will in fact have two ads running during the game. The record television audiences will be exposed to this company. I myself like the idea that Pepsi has. It shows corporate social responsibility and I believe it will pay off in the long run. I would like to see more companies spend money like this and not just sink millions into a few seconds of airtime.

sex illustrated?

So the new Sports Illustrated Olympic Preview issue is going to hit the shelves soon, and people are already getting worked up over the cover. Lindsey Vonn, an Olympic skier, is featured on the cover of the magazine. She is in a pose as a skier would be going down a hill on her skis with poles in hand. I see no problem in this stance, as it is how skiers stand when they are skiing.

The problem lies in the fact that she is an attractive woman. People are getting sensitive about her stance because of this. It is a somewhat provocative stance for a woman to be in, but not in the context of skiing!! A lot of people are getting so overly sensitive about how women are portrayed in the media. Granted, there are many media outlets that exploit women and men for that matter, but come on, this is an Olympic skier in an Olympic skiing stance. Would be this big of a deal if there were a man on the cover?

daily show

Just watched The Daily Show tonight and he did his State of the Union address review. The interesting thing that the show did was show 3 major stations covering it, fox, cnn and msnbc. It reminded me of the outfoxed video we watched in class. Fox was all over Obama saying how terrible the speech was and how he has gone straight downhill since taking office. The other two stations were sort of bland and were not bias. Kind of funny if you ask me haha.

iPad = dud

The Apple iPad came out today from Apple and I have to say that it is cool. I do however, feel like there is just no place for this today. It is essentially a larger version of an iPod touch. There isn't much that it can do that you can't already get with a laptop. In today's media world this piece of technology will certainly garner a lot of attention just because it is released through Apple, but I don not see it as a practical computer to have. The screen is just out there begging to be scratched and it is kind of awkward to hold and carry around. Another cool piece of technology that is too ahead of its time. Maybe in 5 years O_o

Pope Blog

I read an article today on Yahoo News that was particularly interesting. The pope is encouraging priests to start blogging online. This relates really well to our Media class since we are blogging in it haha. The pope said, "The spread of multimedia communications and its rich 'menu of options' might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web," but priests are "challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources," he said. I am in no way a fan of organized religion, but I feel like this is a great way to get their message out there. Many young people today do not go to church on a regular basis, but perhaps may keep up if the priests are blogging. The internet has finally made its way into the Vatican and if that is not a tell tale sign of how large and important it has become I do not know what is.

What is everyone's obsession with 'Jersey Shore'? I never watched an episode till my friends put it on last night. It was the most boring show I have seen. If this is media at its finest, what does that say about American society today? I have never really been a fan of reality TV before, and now I know why.