One Word - WORK

In class on Wednesday, March 3rd, we were broken up into groups and given one word. Our word was "work". During the class, we were expected to walk around campus and take pictures, record audio, etc. of things that represented our word. My group chose to go to the library and take pictures of different aspects of work.

For a song, I chose "Working On a Dream" by Bruce Springsteen. Appropriate to the theme and catchy.

And finally here's the map from googlemaps!

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Hands on a Hard Body - Benny's Story

Who is Benny?
- Texas resident
- 2 time Hand on a Hard Body winner
- "Everyone else was wearin' shorts, but I had on the tightest pair of blue jeans I could find...I just wanted the extra support."
- admits to feeling bad for those who don't win, but it gives him an adrenaline rush

Theme #1: sleeplessness
- need to understand that the body can go without sleep, but the mind cannot and that's what drives people insane.
- "What happens is you go insane...you have to give the mind a rest or you start going slowly crazy."

Theme #2: competition vs. camaraderie
- "I told Dan, the guy I was with, I said 'You're standing next to the devil and this is the ride to hell. I'll stand here 'til the day you die, so you might as well drop out now."
- it becomes harder when there's only 2 people because you're surrounded by respective family and friends and other bystanders
- once competed against a man who he knew really needed the truck and told him that if it came down to the 2 of them, he would drop his hand
- "All your friends and family are there, all his friends and family are there and there's fans cheering for one of you."

Theme #3: mind games
- need to somehow understand what it feels like to stand next to a truck for 3+ days.
- Benny convinced himself that the truck was a piano bar and that the back of the truck was the back of a piano and everyone around him was also at the bar
- "You just get numb."

ethics, medicine, and the media.

With the recent disaster in Haiti, there have been more discrepancies between whether or not it is ethical to have doctors play the role of both a medical professional and a reporter. While it contributes to the dramatic nature of the story, many believe that there needs to be a clear divide; either you’re a doctor or a reporter.

While there are multiple news stations that have correspondents in Haiti, the most notable story was the recent brain surgery Dr. Sanjay Gupta, also a reporter for CNN, performed on an injured young girl. While conducting an interview for NPR’s On the Media, Bob Garfield said “To watch this cable news star in the moment, not as a reporter but as a healer, is simply irresistible.” While the surgery was heroic, Dr. Gupta requested to be filmed. Was this necessary? Where can we draw the line?

Similar stories exist concerning the ethics in the media meeting the medical world. During an interview with Garfield, Dr. Jonathan LaPook confirms that it’s unethical to act like a reporter when the situation calls for a doctor. “I’m thinking of my patients with Alzheimer’s, and when I go out there to report something I’m thinking that they’re listening. And, God, forbid, I should give somebody false hope…that is one of the cruelest things that somebody can do”, said LaPook.

So where is the line drawn? What types of situations are considered okay to have an individual play the role of a doctor and a reporter?

my media diet, 3 servings of technology

My media diet consists of the three aspects that help sum me up. I read Rolling Stone online every afternoon, listen to music such as Bruce Springsteen, and watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians with my roommates at night after dinner.

My dream job for the future is to be a writer for Rolling Stone magazine. I check and read different categories of the website everyday to familiarize myself with the kind of writing they publish. Music is one of my main loves and not a day goes by when I'm not listening to a broad range of music. As for watching TV, I'm completely guilty to loving trashy reality shows and more often than not go around quoting the shows obnoxiously on a daily basis.

So basically, my media diet it low calorie and very easy to maintain. I completely accept how ridiculous that sounds!

Amtrak anniversary

Amtrak is preparing for the anniversary of September 11th with more security by instating new security measures on that day. These measures will include more federal, state, and local officers patrolling stations and riding trains. The surge is part of Operation ALERTS.

The security efforts are mostly focused on the routes in the Northeast Corridor - from Boston to Washington D.C. "Operation ALERTS will enhance the readiness and communication capabilities of hundreds of police and security officials stationed in some of the heaviest rail passenger areas along the Northeast Corridor," said Amtrak Police Chief John O'Connor. "Our law enforcement partners in this deployment represent first responder agencies that will protect and defend the railways during any type of emergency or potential threat."

Amtrak and the TSA would like to assure passengers that these security measures are NOT in response to any specific identified threat and is calling the security initiative a "multi force security surge".

***Not sure how good this is!

little change of scenery

Goodbye Visual Rhetoric, hellooooo Intro to Journalism! That's what this blog is going to be focusing on from now on. For our first post, we were asked to embed a link and post a video. For my video, I chose John Mayer performing my favorite song of all time, "Why Georgia", live in L.A. in 2007.



And for my link, since I love to watch "The Office", I found a website that has memorable and hysterical quotes hahaha

Enjoy!

finally, the finished product.

I ended up making 3 TED talks because as I was sitting in the library trying to do this, I realized that I had so many different ideas of ways I wanted this to end up that I became severely overwhelmed. For the final product, what I ended up doing was looking through the albums that I have in my iTunes and finding artists that (in my eyes) have a pattern they've followed for the concept of their album covers. I used John Mayer, The Fray, Spice Girls, *NSYNC, and Lady GaGa. Hopefully this makes sense!