Media Meditation #8: Giving Back For the Holidays

With the current economic stance, this holiday season you should give back to the community. There are opportunities from gift wrapping, to donating food, old clothes, and toys for tots, to playing music and other forms of entertainment. If you don't know where to look to help out, here's where:
Vermont Cares, the local AIDS non-profit organization that provides free HIV testing, and sponsored AIDS Walk, are in charge of the gift wrapping in the Burlington Town Center Mall. All you need to do is work a minimum of 3 hours wrapping presents for mall patrons. No talent in wrapping is needed!
Vermont Children's Aid is sponsoring the Holiday Spirit Program, which provides families faced with incarceration with a sharing and joyous environment. This organization is asking for donations, but also for volunteers to talk to businesses and to pick up the donated goods.
The Lund Family Center, whose goal is to support a therapeutic residential treatment program for pregnant and parenting young women, adoption and pregnancy programs, and child/family services, is asking clothes, toys, books, and household goods to make this season the best for those families that are unfortunate.
The Cathedral Square Senior Living is hosting musical entertainment for their senior citizens. If you are considering volunteering for this organization, musical talent is a preference.
Another volunteer oppurtunity is through the Flynn Center and Memorial Auditorium. Your job would include passing out buttons and selling tickets. The tickets and buttons are for First Night Burlington, Inc., an substance-free New Years' Eve event centered on the performing arts. All volunteers will get their own button.



This video was a broadcast for Channel 5 WPTZ News, covering the 25th Anniversary of First Night in Burlington. As each year has progressed since 1983, more and more people have attended reaching numbers up to 20,000. If you're looking to achieve 'Flow State,' here's an event to attend. The music played will stimulate your limbic system, yet at the same time might be triggering the flight reaction of your reptilian brain, depending on your preference of music. Also, for those performances not music related, will activate your neocortex. The PR campaign for First Night has covered everything, from posting volunteer opportunies online, and in newspapers, to putting up fliers and posters, and passing out buttons, around town. Even the news story adds to the knowledge of First Night around Burlington. All this advertising helps increase the personal shift of the event, providing the viewer with the information to participate. This video sponsored plain folks, and locally famous musicians, and even uses the persuasive technique of strength by having performances by war veterans. This year's big event is the Jamie Lee Thurston event. He will be performing from 9:00-11:00 at the Flynn Center for the Arts. The event has become a big performance, with a planning group entitled, FOOFN ( Friends of Our First Night). They plan everything from the two fireworks displays, circus event, performances from over 150 local artists, a talent show for ages 12-18, and arts and crafts.

“First Night has made Burlington's annual New Year's Eve celebration a safe, healthy, family-friendly event with activities and entertainment for the whole family.”
- Michael Schirling, Burlington Police Chief

For a fun, New Years Eve downtown Burlington is the place to be. Buy your ticket today from the Flynn Center.

For more volunteer opportunities, please click here.

Now you may be asking why is volunteering important for the holidays? Don't my parents tell me to save my money for my future? Although this is true, there are people out there who need it more than you do. The money raised by these organizations is all donated to helping others. Even if you don't have time to volunteer, any spare change you have will gladly be accepted by the Salvation Army, every penny counts. So please, keep your eyes and ears open. Watch the news, listen to the radio, read the papers, and attend or even better, participate in these events to help your community during this holiday season.

Media Meditation #8

Media Meditation #7: Letter to the Editor

Editor, Vermont Commons,
As a female college student, safety is a big concern. Being in Burlington, I feel safe. The area is open, and the police are friendly and helpful. Also being a big college town, the campuses are all equipped with the blue lights emergency call system. In my public speaking class, I was doing research on sex offenders.
My hometown, Bangor, has about 7,000 less people than Burlington and as of May 2009 there are 150 registered sex offenders. One of the big issues in the city is that many of these offenders live in low income housing. Now, the city is divided into east and west sides, each with their own school branches. Both branches follow under one superintendent and system, but each side has two K-3 public schools, one 4-5 grade school, and one 6-8 school. I attended the east side of Bangor, and the low income housing is by 3 of the east side's schools. That doesn't seem right. Many of my friends lived near sex offenders and their parents were strict about playing outside. I feel safe back home, knowing the location of these sex offenders. But here in Burlington, I don't know where they live, nor am I given information to all of them.

Based on my experiences back home, I was doing research on Vermont's Sex Offender Laws for my public speaking class, and what I found was shocking. Burlington has 88 sex offenders registered, and the government is meticulous on who registers. Being a big college city, an issue would be those attending school who are registered on the list back home. " A non-resident sex offender who moves to Vermont for full or part time employment or to attend school or college on a full or part-time basis must also register,"(Vermont Criminal Justice). I think that is very crucial, along with who is on the list. According to Vermont's Criminal Justice Department, sex offenders don't need to molest or rape others to be listed; they can be convicted for sexual harassment, kidnapping, and exploitation. At the beginning of school, an email was sent to those attending Champlain College and University of Vermont containing information on an attempted kidnapping. In this respect Vermont does very well. The schools were notified immediately and word was sent to protect students and to once again remind them that there are bad people in the world, and to avoid them never travel alone.

But even though, Vermont may get the word out and do some things right, the sex offense laws need to be updated. Upon registering, the information needed is name, date of birth, physical description, date and nature of offenses, whether offender received treatment, and whether there is a warrant for violation of Registry requirement, and then further information is supplied if the law designates the offender with a heightened notification level. But what if you were peeing in public? If caught only a slight number of times, you will be placed on this list. You will no longer be able to have a job, and your life would be ruined. If a person is purposefully desecrating a building in front of people then that's understandable for being put on the list. But you can't control when you go to the bathroom. Everyone has experienced at least once a time when they had to go to the bathroom and couldn't hold it. When I was in Berlin, there was a carnival going on in a few of the streets. A woman walked by me with her little girl who had to go to the bathroom. Instead of bringing her daughter to a porta-potty, she pulled down the girl's pants and made her go on the sidewalk. Although unhygienic and appalled at the laziness of the mother, I don't think this is a charge worth arresting someone. Is this information that everyone needs to know, and worth ruining someone's life? Vermont needs to consider the level of severity, before posting people's misdemeanors.Personally, I don't want to know people who went to the bathroom in public. I care about those who sexual harrass, assualt, rape, and murder. Vermont believes it is, and charges these people the same as those who commit murder, in regards to the registry list. After receiving an offense Vermont is very relaxed at how they handle failure to comply to offense laws. A first failure would receive 2 years maximum in jail and/or a $1,000 fine, and a second offense is only 3 years maximum in jail and/or a $5,000 fine. Now, this may seem like a lot of money, but compared to the act of violated someone, the offender can keep offending and not be fully punished. Especially if they start at a young age.

The main problem with the sex offender laws is, " Conduct which is criminal only because of the age of the victim shall not be considered an offense for purposes of the registry if the perpetrator is under the age of 18 and the victim is at least 12 years old," ( Vermont Criminal Justice Department). In simplist terms, if an offender is a minor and the victim is at least 12 they need not be registered. With this in mind, any underaged sex offender, including any middle and high school students, and freshman and young sophomores in college, will not be put on the list. There could be more than 88 registered offenders where I attend school,and shouldn't the public know?Just in Burlington, the youngest registered is 23 years old. High school and middle school students can commit sexual felonies too, yet because they are minors they won't be labeled for it. This law is not adequate pertaining to today's society. Instead, the law must be stricter to incompass underage sex offenders (depending on the severity of the crime), in order to protect the innocent children that can't protect themselves.
LA City Beat states, " Child-protection advocates argue that it is more important to hold juvenile sex offenders responsible for their actions than to worry about them being stigmatized by the registry or punished too harshly." It seems like Vermont agrees with this, but other states disagree. Texas puts children as young as 10 on the list. An 8 year old girl named Amie Zyla was violently assaulted by 14 year old, Joshua Wade. Amie was staying over at a family friend's for a sleepover when this happened. Wade was tried in juvenile court and sent to juvenile detention center. His record was sealed, allowing him to work at a summer camp later, where he assault more young girls, and is now sentenced to 25 years in prison. This happened in Wisconsin, but could happen anywhere. It could've happened at your middle schools and high schools, and it can happen here. Amie has been pushing for a national law to change this, and why not wait until the national government forces Vermont to add this law, why not adopt it ahead of time?

I understand this video clip is a spoof to an extreme case, but this video highlights something that no one else has, that children can commit sex offenses. Almost all minors cases are sealed. Therefore making it impossible to find video clips, and hard to find news stories. This fake broadcast of To Catch a Predator uses Humor as its main persuasive technique. They are highlighting the over-dramatics of the TV show through the use of humor which stimulates not only an emotional transfer on the viewer but also triggers the limbic brain. But this isn't a humorous topic. The video also triggers the neocortex, allowing the viewer to comprehend the subtle symbolic hints of the typical scientific evidence shown on To Catch a Predator. What's interesting about the video is that it highlights a cultural shift in today's society. What was once knowledge used to protect children, is now a form of entertainment. Other techniques shown in the video are the plain, unfamous people, the name 'Bill Johnson' as a reference to a beautiful person, and the name calling persuasive technique in a literal sense. The kid retaliates to Bill by calling him a 'jerk.' Although their message was to poke fun at a TV broadcast, the message I took from the clip was that children can commit sexual felonies, which proves my point.

Vermont needs to reconsider the wording of the Sexual Offense Laws to include younger children on the registry, for the benefits of the innocent children of our future. If a child conducts sexual harrassment or rape, and their case is sealed, what's to stop it from happening, and what if this person was your neighbor? Would you want your child near them, without your knowledge of their sexual past?

Abigail Clark

Burlington

Media Meditation #7

Media Meditation #6: A Stitch in TIME

TIME magazine was created in 1923 by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden becoming the first weekly magazine distributed in the United States. Since then the magazine has expanded to include LIFE, and was after Luce died TIME had a radio program. In recent years, TIME is now owned by Time Warner and has been selling fewer magazines. Maybe this is due to an subscription costs, or maybe to the fact that today's society is more likely to go to the internet for news, than pay for it. All I know is TIME, and LIFE have been magazine favorites of mine for many years, mainly for the photojournalism, but when I picked up a copy of the special edition of TIME: Great Discoveries- Explorations that Changed History, I paid $12.99 plus tax. Now that's a lot for a magazine, even if it is special edition. But I do have to consider the production techniques that went in to this particular issue. For starters, the coveris made of a thick, durable paper, with a sturdy book binding compared to TIME's usual stapled binding. Also, unlike a normal issue, this does not follow the normal TIME structure, that has become an iconic symbol is journalism. Instead of the red border, this edition has TIME in red, and a blown up photo of Comet Hale-Bopp, along with three photos from each discovery subject the magazine contains. Right off the back, TIME invested more money in having clearer photos, worthy of LIFE's photojournalism standards, and brighter colors. Also, to add to their production techniques, TIME created an alternative cover for the hardcover issue.

But the main point with both productions is that the main image is very captivating; they catch the viewer's limbic system triggering the way the viewer feels whether it's a longing to travel, or urging knowledge. All 122 pages are filled with beautiful photography, involving everything from nostalgic photographs from 1909 at the North Pole, to photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, and no advertisements. The text that accompanies the images stimulates the neocortex, allowing your brain to gain knowledge about the past and hopes for the future.
Then the production crew had to keep their reader's attention further than just pictures, the aesthetics can only last long enough. A reader could look at the issue for it's aesthetically pleasing cover, the familiar title of TIME, and the fact that it's a special issue, but the reader needs to buy the issue in order for the magazine to make a profit. The photography had to trigger emotion in the reader, and the articles a sense of wonder. I love learning about history and to see photos of the Nile, and a skeleton that predates the famous 'Lucy' was enough. TIME's mission was to continue with their series of Great Discoveries and discuss the various 'Discoveries' on Earth, by exploring the past, the current life on Earth and how it evolved, the solar system, and the mysteries of Earth itself, like plate tectonics, Yellowstone, and the Ring of Fire.
They provide just enough information to leave their reader wanting more, but the articles had to be vague enough to let the reader form their own interpretation. The articles aren't political, just purely informational, and although brief they are jammed with the discovering process. It is up to the reader, to do more research on each topic if they so choose depending on what they enjoyed. I took away a meaning from the article on Chichen Itza, that no one else did. This was based on my personal experience in Mexico this past summer.

To see photos from a place I had been, had a huge impact on me. Unintentionally, TIME effectively added an emotional transfer to a viewer. I could relate to the article, could remember what I had seen, and what I was told by the tour guide. I could then relate my knowledge to what was discussed in the article.
Besides my personal experience, I was really intrigued by the article on the peat moss skeletons, and how peat works as a preservative. I had never heard of it before and the photos were so lifelike. You could see the wrinkles on the bodies, and see real human hair dating back to "a period ranging from the 5th Century B.C. to the 5th Century A.D.- although bodies have been found dating from 8,000 B.C. to well into the Middle Ages." These discoveries, the first found 1835, are called bog bodies. Now, more than 1,000 have been found, being essentially pickled by the peat moss, preserving even hair that eventually gains a reddish hue from the chemicals in the moss. Not only was this article filled with scientific evidence as to how the bodies are preserved and why many of the bodies were thrown in bogs, but it leaves on a cliff hanger, making me want to learn more. I proceeded to do my own research on National Geographic.



Although this video was made by National Geographic instead of TIME magazine I was well informed. The voice over and the eerie background music stimulated both my limbic and neocortex systems. The film was a shortened documentary, transforming historical findings into video through the use of an epistemological shift, and the film used a variety of techniques to keep my attention, including snapshots of the mummies with scientific evidence to how they died, and how the peat moss works as a preservative, and brief footage of reenactments of when some bog bodies were killed and buried. Also, to make their movie more credible they brought in Christian Fisher, director of the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark, to explain the properties of peat moss.

Overall, this special issue of TIME magazine was well worth the inflated price. With all the effort put in to producing this magazine, everywhere from color design and paper, to the photojournalism I can see why the magazine needed to sell for $12.99. I highly enjoyed it; my only issue was the length of the articles. The articles were very short blurbs that contained scientific evidence, and expert testimonials, but I wanted to learn more. I understand that TIME is not National Geographic, and its not their job to go into historical detail, and that the message of the magazine was just to inform the reader of all these discoveries, even if it was brief.

Media Meditation #6

Media Meditation #5: Hollywood's Lack of Creativity in the 21st Century

A thought that has been spreading throughout the country has been that Hollywood has lost its touch. Hollywood no longer releases their own ideas; instead it seeks out Best Sellers, converting great works of literature into decent movies. Books converted into movies have been hit or miss, usually leaving the viewer upset when things are left out.










Harry Potter, for example, has for some been considered great movies and great books, but if the movie is critiqued off of the book it's horrible. The producers cut many scenes that fans find crucial to make the movie amazing, leaving the movie hopeless for any possible awards. Pride and Prejudice on the other hand was nominated for four academy awards.
But Hollywood seems to have almost moved on from this concept of transforming books to the big screen. Now the big trend in Hollywood is 3D films.
I've seen 3 3D films, the first being an IMAX film I saw at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL when I was around the age of 9. The movie was about the Galapagos Islands, and for years made me want to become a marine biologist. The last 3D film I saw was on Tuesday, and that was the new release of Disney's A Christmas Carol.




I was disappointed that the movie added details I didn't remember from older versions of the movie, and the play, and the ghosts truly bothered me, particularly the Ghost of Christmas Past. Maybe it's a personal problem, but why is a ghost, a candle? And, the final Ghost, of Christmas Yet to Come, didn't speak. He was just a shadow. The last thing that bothered me, was Carrey's dialogue. Not only did he cry after seeing the images from the past, he was constantly stating what the audience could perceive on their own. I didn't enjoy hearing the obvious, and I thought that Carrey didn't capture the true essence of Scrooge. From the plays I saw when I was younger, it took more than one image to make Scrooge realize the errors of his ways.
But I thought the 3D effects were great. The snowflakes seemed to be right in front of me, compared to on a screen 30 feet away. The movie used many tactics to try to sell seats. They had famous actors to intrigue their audience such as Jim Carrey and Colin Firth. The owners of the film were Disney, guaranteed kid-friendly. The composer, Alan Silvestri, well known for his work with the Back to the Future Trilogy, Forrest Gump, and most recently Polar Express, stimulates the viewers limbic system, fulling immersing them in the spirit of Christmas. When I walked out of the movie, I expected to see snow falling from the sky, and was disappointed when it didn't happen. But isn't that what good effects are suppose to do? They are suppose to trigger your emotions to make you believe things are reality, or in this case make it seem it's closer to Christmas, enhancing your spirit, through the use of emotional transfer and warm fuzzies. Being based off of a book by Charles Dickens, there was little persuasive techniques that the public hadn't seen. The concept of bringing this 1843 text into the 21st century with 3D effects, gave the movie a more modern nostalgic time. Set in a time when poverty thrived, the movie truly seemed like the 19th century London. The 3D effects stimulated my neocortex, making me think images were closer than they appear, and the fact that its 3D has become a cultural, aesthetic shift. More and more films are being released as 3D, and older films are being remade to fit in with this current trend.
The only difference between 2D and 3D is the addition of depth perception provided in the later dimension. 3D films has existed to an extent since the 1900s through the use of dual film strips. Throughout the 20th and 21st Centuries, the techniques involved in creating 3D adapted to the current technique of computerization. A list of all publicly known 3D films has been compiled, and a trend depicts the rise in 3D productions to today's current fad. The 1920s saw 9 3D productions, to 88 made during the 1950's. Today, society is seeing even more 3D films being produced, and reproduced in 3D. in 2006 A Nightmare Before Christmas was re-released in 3D, and in 2010 Beauty and the Beast is suppose to be re-released on February 12th, 2010 in 3D. Is it right to turn an academy award winning movie, into a film to fit a fad?
I personally, don't know where I stand. Some films, like Up I loved in 3D more than in 2D, but I grew up with Beauty and the Beast. I felt like out of the the Disney Princesses, I could relate to her. I keep my head in a book, and love libraries, but can I let Belle become 3D. I will no doubt see it, but I know it will never place the original in my heart.
Beauty and the Beast isn't the only Disney film being tampered with. The remake of Alice in Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton is set to release on March 5th, 2010. The film will have a similar atmosphere as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the newest version by this same duo. I know it's unfair to compare these Disney movies, being that Alice in Wonderland is a completely remade movie, but still what is Hollywood's problem?
Why must they tamper with children's childhood? Why can't they be original take more time on creating a movie that is unseen by anyone, than remaking movies, or transforming books into movies? I thought with this new trend, that there would be more 3D movies like Up, unseen by anyone. Instead the upcoming 3D films are remakes, books transformations, or sequels.

Will you help me convince Hollywood to be creative?

Media Meditation #5

Media Meditation #4 : Is Twilight Your Favorite Time of Day?

Mormon housewife Stephanie Meyer seemed to appear out of nowhere in 2005 when her first novel, Twilight, was published. It took Meyer three months to write the young-adult fiction novel about a teenager named Bella who falls in love with boy who goes to her new school, Edward. Twilight develops into a captivating love story with a twist. Edward has a secret; he’s a vampire who is over 100 years old, and Bella’s blood sings to him. The four books, Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn cover their relationship as it goes from a simple crush to marriage, with struggles along the way, such as evil vampires who want Bella dead to Bella’s best friend being Edward’s enemy: a werewolf.

Twilight has been translated into 20 languages and has been praised by the New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, An American Library Association, U.S.A. Today’s, Wall Street Journal, Amazon, and even TIME Magazine. Twilight is ranked #8 on U.S.A. Today’s Best Sellers and has overall been on the charts for 156 weeks. But that isn’t the only book in the series that has a placement in the Top 15 of U.S.A. Today’s Best Sellers. New Moon currently is #3, most likely due to the new release of the movie, but has been on the list for 166 weeks straight. Eclipse is ranked #10 and been on the charts for 119 weeks, and Breaking Dawn is ranked #13, and has been on the list for 68 weeks. Each of these books held the #1 Best Seller position in some point of their release.

Although The Host is separate from the Twilight Saga, Meyer has proved that it wasn't just her vampire concept that captivated readers, but her writing style. This style has been compared to numerous authors, particularly J.K. Rowling. They both depict the contrasting life of mystical versus mortal and are for all ages. Even though both authors target young adults, others have read them. But is it fair for Rowling to be compared to Meyer?
I was introduced to the series through my friends, saying it was hard not to devour the book in one “bite”. Since then I would walk into my high school classes and see others, older and younger, male and female reading them. At college, almost every girl's dorm has at least one complete set of the books. I even got my grandmother to read them. Now I wouldn't say they aren't great books. I love them, and have read Twilight at least four times, but I disagree with Stephanie being similar to J.K. Rowling. Both quickly became cult classics, having followings. People debated who Bella would choose, just as much as people debated whether Snape was good or evil, both have loyal fans willing to dress up for book and movie releases, creating a personal shift in today's media culture, but Rowling used so much more imagination. For someone to sit down and create names for so many characters, and the types of animals and herbs, the names of spells, and the rules for Quidditch is amazing. Meyer's, though imaginative, doesn't show the same amount of creativity in her novels. Stephanie Meyer's novels are what I like to call beach books that I would pack on any vacation I go on. I don't have to think about what going on, instead my mind gets easily consumed by the simple sentence structures and comprehensive vocabulary. With the Harry Potter series, I tend to think a little more but still enjoy reading them. My point, I guess, would be my neocortex is more stimulated by Rowling's writing than Meyer's, although both are entertaining in their own ways.
The Twilight series not only is a great beach book but it incorporates many clever hooks to draw the readers in.One thing that Stephanie Meyer's did extraordinarily well would be her use of emotional transfer. The novels are filled with emotion-laden language, manipulating the reader into feeling angry when Jacob gets mad at Bella, defensive when she is threatened by vampires, and heartbroken when Edward leaves her. Throughout the series Meyer's uses almost every persuasive technique in the book. Each cover has it's own symbol that is of some significance later on in the novel, along with the Twilight of each installation of the quartet. Bella is a plain folk; she's a typical high school girl that any female can relate to. On the other hand, Edward is this beautiful person, this gorgeous guy that will date no one in the school, and isn't human. And that's what most women think, right? That how could this guy even be from the same planet, let alone go to my school? Everyone has those thoughts, be it a high school crush on the most popular guy in school, or a celebrity. Some of the powers the vampires have act in ways of flattery to make it easier to attract prey, and the big lie of the books is that The Cullens and the Quileute Tribe are normal people. We as a reader no this isn't true, that the Cullens are in fact vampires and the Quileute tribe is made of a bunch of werewolves, but the characters that are human believe that these gorgeous people in fact are one of them. To go more in depth, Jacob is constantly bribing Bella with his love, and that he is still part human to make her stay, and both the vampires and the werewolves blame the other as a scapegoat for all their problems. Also, in this sense they always talk down the other breed, using the persuasive technique of straw man. The final technique Meyer's uses is strength. Bella is a strong protagonist female who has her goal of becoming a vampire and will always be there for her man, but she isn't the only strong character. Although she is the only depicted as emotionally strong, the vampires and werewolves obviously have a physical strength that can't compare to anything, we as readers, can relate to.
Vampire fever has spread from writing on paper to parties and even movies. Borders across the nation held midnight parties for the release of Breaking Dawn beginning at 9:30 August 1st, and ending after midnight. One of the high school English teachers was the organizer for the events at the Bangor Borders, creating activities such as ‘Twilight Trivia’, a debate, getting your picture taken in a coffin, bobbing for doughnuts with vampire fangs, and a costume contest which Ms. LaPlante did not disappoint. Although she could not enter the contest, she could have easily placed with cape and fangs attire.

The movie Twilight was released on December 12th, 2008 with the lead roles played by actors Kristen Stewart, and Robert Pattinson (Cedric Digory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).Although there was much hype, the midnight release was just like the book release. All ages showed up to the showing awaiting to see how this best seller did with the conversion to 'the big screen." Their efforts meant well but often came across cheesy and unrealistic. I wasn't expecting anything real, I mean, it is about vampires, but many scenes were cut, and the word phrasing emphasized many points to make them appeal more to younger generations. I was more impressed last Saturday when I saw New Moon.



Both films had a great soundtrack keeping my limbic system entertained, but the fight scenes were way more intense in New Moon reinforcing the fight or flight method in my brain. I was skeptical going in to the film about how they would present the werewolves. I was shocked at how well they did. When the wolves phased from being human, my reptilian and neocortex were in awe. I thought it was so cool, and knew there was going to be a great fight. The one thing I noticed though was what they left out. Although filled with beautiful actors, many having appeared in other movies or tv shows, I was disappointed by the deletions. My brain wasn't occupied enough on how well the acting was, instead focused on what the movie left out from the books, or what they changed.
What else could come next from Stephanie Meyer? She's already made millions of dollars off of the books and movies, and is currently profiting from merchandise like clothing, jewelry, and posters. Her profit isn't stopping her from disappointing her fans. She plans to continue with the movies, already having the release date of Eclipse to be in June 2010, which I found very shocking. If they left out so much from the second novel and it took them a year between release dates, how much are they leaving out of Eclipse when it's released only seven months after New Moon?



Meyer's was also working on Midnight Sun, a reproduction of Twilight but from the perspective of Edward. Towards the end of 2008, it was announced that the book was completely halted due to an illegal publishing of her drafted manuscript. From a writer's standpoint, I understand where Stephanie is coming from. I would feel violated. Those were her words that she spent so much time, carefully writing, and to have someone print them before I had even drafted the book, without my permission, would be devastated. Many fans were annoyed with her choice. I remember walking down the halls at school hearing girls whisper how could she do this? but honestly, it was the right thing to do. Any writer would do it, and if you have to be a writer to understand this, then so be it. I respect her for her decision, and am excited for whatever is her next project. She did though publish her unfinished version of hopes of pleasing her fans. Although there will never be a hard bound copy, at least her fans can choose to read the unfinished manuscript on line. So far, nothing has been released as to what she is working on but I know she won't disappoint.

Media Meditation #4

Media Meditation #3: Which Will You Choose?

The age old question now has a different connotation. Your grocery baggers aren't just asking you paper or plastic, they are asking you whether or not you want to help the environment by using less plastic.



This film produced by National Geographic is their political message to the world to stop using plastic bags in order to decrease environmental waste for the future. Edward Norton not only attracts viewers by being an actor, starring in films from Fight Club, Kingdom of Heaven, and The Illusionist, and by being a well-known activist he provides the video with a credible testimony.
Edward Norton tells his audience that there are more than 500 billion plastic bags used worldwide per year, and that most of these biodegrade. On top of this information, he states that there are parts of the Pacific Ocean that have more pieces of plastic than food. This scientific evidence is combined with photos of suffering animals to increase the emotional transfer on the viewer to realize the horrors of plastic.











According to Britannica Encyclopedia, plastic bags are a danger to everyone. Resembling krill in size, whales accidentally swallow hundreds of thousands of plastic every year, slowly killing themselves; birds strangle themselves with plastic, and "In November 2008 in Australia, a 10-foot-long crocodile tagged as part of a government wildlife-tracking program turned up dead, having consumed 25 plastic shopping and garbage bags." This needs to stop!
Countries all over the world are currently supporting this campaign by banning bags, including places like China, Australia, South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya, Somalia, Taiwan, and Bhutan. Not only are countries banning plastic bags but cities including San Francisco, Mumbai, Zanzibar, and Boston. Different countries have found ways to ban and reduce the use of plastic bags. Many cities have stopped selling plastic bags but some countries like Ireland, and South Africa have placed a tax added to anyone's bill who uses plastic over alternative choices. China's Hong Kong has estimated to use 27 million plastic bags a day in 2001, and since then has put in efforts of reducing this. Even the US will take off 5 cents if you bring in your own bag.
B.Y.O.B. is a humorous tactic used in the video, saying that people should consider bringing their own bags. Now, everywhere you go cheap, reusable bags are sold from Hannafords, Whole Foods, to Target, Walmart, and T.J.Maxx. By making reusable bags available to the public, this campaign to stop using plastic bags has become a personal shift. The video supplies its audience with the idea of bringing your own bags, and the US government is making this easy.
Although this video does many effective things to persuade and captivates its audience, such as stimulating both my neocortex and limbic systems through background music and the information presented, it uses the technique of Simple Solution. The film tells us to stop using bags and bring our own to the store, but it doesn't tell us how they plan on fixing what is already in distribution among the planet. I tried finding information but all I came across were numbers stating only 12% of of bags were actually recycled, and that we can reuse the plastic bags we currently have. I want to know what happens to those plastic bags.
There are already plastic bags. If we stop using them, what's to happen to the ones in existence? Can we increase our recycling habits? Will they be destroyed in order to not harm the animals, the environment, and the planet?

Media Meditation #3

Media Meditation #2: Have You Taken a Bite?

Some may associate this "vant of blood"with Stephanie Meyer's 2005 release of Twilight but in reality, it started with Heinrich Ossenfelder's The Vampire in 1748.
The word vampire traces back to 1745 when it first appeared in the English dictionary. The word was associated in the same sense that it is today, except it was believed that vampires were created from suicide deaths, witches, or being bitten by a vampire. In 1897, Bram Stoker regenerated the vampire belief with his release of Dracula.

Since then Dracula has appeared in all forms of media, and triggered the sucking blood fad. I in the process of reading this gothic novel depicting Count Dracula as a man who lives in Transylvania, and comes to London, scales walls, sucks blood and stays away from garlic flowers. There are numerous other characters including Dr. Van Helsing, who comes to the realization that his friend, and patient is suffering from a vampire's bite. I'm only half-way through but after reading the current vampire fiction books, I wanted to know where it started, and I would recommend it. If though you are one of those people who would rather watch the movie, there are over 60 movies with the character of Count Dracula. Since Dracula became a big hit in theaters,other vampire movies have been released including Interview with a Vampire, Van Helsing, Lost Boys, Underworld, Blade, and Stephanie Meyer's quartet of the Twilight series.
Besides growing up with these movies, I grew up watching many shows with my parents including Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I watched the episodes but unlike some people I know, I wasn't a fanatic. Many people watched Buffy religiously, crying at each of Buffy's death. As Buffy was on its way out, TV was graced with spin off of Angel.



The show uses every tactic, from Beautiful People with the cast, and cameo stars, to stimulating all three levels of the brain. The music stimulates the limbic system, with the images catching the brains attention. The repetition of show structure captivated audiences nationwide, wondering who with this strong, high school teen have to save next. The show even went as far as having a mentor to teach Buffy knowledge of vampires, incorporating "scientific evidence" in the form of the Professor. The fighting stimulates the reptilian system, showing Buffy's need to stay alive and save her school, instead of letting the vampires take over, and all the interactions between the characters and body language is consumed by the neocortex. Buffy triggered a personal shift within the nation causing blogs to spring up on the internet, and people forming fan clubs to those devoted to the essence of slaying vampires. Is this a good thing? Some would think yes, it's an interaction and a hobby people enjoy, but some people take it to far to wanting to become just like Spike, dying their hair, and sharpening their teeth to look like fangs. Even TV Guide recognized its following rating Buffy the #3 Best Cult Classic TV Show. Unfortunately the owners of Buffy (WB) believed the show wouldn't continue to do well, and thus the show changed networks and only lasted one more season.
Besides the Buffy series, HBO has recently launched the mini series True Bloods, along with many big shows having episodes featuring vampires, including X-Files, Charmed, Smallville, Supernatural, and Wizards of Waverly Place. Even music and games didn't go unscathed with Billy Idol's "White Wedding," and the player can be a vampire in many computer and video games.
One of the last forms of media and the most commonly associated with the vampire trend, is literature. As stated before, Stoker has been attributed with starting the gothic horror fad, creating one of the best villians of all time, Dracula. But that isn't the only vampire novel. Since then vampires have been commonly associated in not only horror novels, but young adult fiction. There are books from Stephen King's Salem's Lot, released in 1975, followed by two miniseries, to my favorite historical fiction novel The Historian by Elizabeth Kostavo, to Melissa de la Cruz's Blue Bloods young adult series and Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series.
Each era has a new type of vampire. The late 1800's was graced with Dracula, followed by the silent and film noir era with the typical vampire being Count Dracula, to now the most recent fad has been middle and high school students attending the midnight releases of the Twilight books and movies. Stephanie Meyer has proved that vampires aren't just for adults, but can be adapted into a multi-million dollar profit, ranging from the original books to clothes, movies, and a interactive site, where the author blogs with her readers.Even I attended the midnight release of the fourth book, participating in games and trivia. I will admit that I had fun. Not only did I attend the midnight book release but the midnight release of Twilight and last Saturday I went and saw New Moon.


If I could recommend a few things about this current fad, 1.) please read where this trend all started with Dracula, 2.) watch The Lost Boys, it's a typical 1980's classic with poor special effects, cheesy lines, smoking, and the typical bad boy image complete with long hair and motorcycles, and 3.) read The Historian. If you ever read The Da Vinci Code, this novel is quite similar to the effect that it's a historical fiction novel of a person roaming around in search of this great treasure. Unlike Dan Brown's novel, Elizabeth Kostavo knows how to write transforming a beach book into an intellectual learning experience that I loved every minute of it.

Media Meditation #2

Media Meditation #1: The World's Current Rescue Mission

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome was transferred from primates to humans during an unknown time. Some believe AIDS originated in humans as far back as the mid 18^th Century, where others believe it was more recent, during the 20th Century. The oldest known possible case appeared in 1959, and became a pandemic in 2006. This same year Bono and Bobby Shriver introduced to the world the (RED) campaign, a private sector of The Global Fund, which not only raises money for HIV/AIDS, but also malaria and tuberculosis.



(RED) has used multiple PR strategies and media techniques to promote it's campaign, ranging from music, clothing, food, video, interviews, and magazine articles. Other than global warming, I haven't experienced a bigger and more successful campaign, mission and marketing strategy wise, than the (RED) campaign. After their one year anniversary, (RED) released a video.



This video begins stimulating the limbic system with it's calming, African music and the neocortex by stating facts. The clip uses a personal shift by showing the different companies that participate in project red in hopes that you will buy their products in order to ship medicine to those who need it in Africa. Also, by showing the different companies that you could buy products from, Converse, Apple, Motorola, American Express,GAP, Emporio Armani and Hallmark, the clip is using ownership. Their facts of over a million lives have been saved with over 50 million dollars raised, adds an emotional transfer to the video, emphasizing their message of thanking the world for what it's done in just one year, and hoping that we can take it in our hands to do even better. If the world campaigned as much as (RED) did on other global problems, so much more would be getting done. An example of one of (RED)'s many campaign strategies, is their PR campaign with Starbucks.




The symbol (RED) is found everywhere. Although there aren't more companies participating in (RED), people know about it. The video neglects certain companies such as Windows, Dell, Bugaboo, (RED)wire, and currently Girl Skateboards has a limited edition (RED) skateboard where over 50% of the profits are donated to (RED). Commercials are on every day, and their products are found in everything people use in today's society, from clothes, to coffee, to phones, to computers, to credit cards. Not only are their products, but other people have joined to help this mission. (RED) has formed (RED)NIGHTS which are concerts from various artists, showing their want to help. (RED) has showed that television advertisements aren't your only source for PR. Every form of media has been used and will keep being used until AIDS is under control.

In 2008, a Team Everest INSPI(RED) announced their trek up Mount Everest, and completed their mission in nine weeks. According to their website, "We believe that our goal to reach the summit of Mount Everest is a fitting analogy to the scope and complexity of the fight against AIDS in Africa. Success in both of these endeavors will take passion, dedication and perseverance against many obstacles. It will require unwavering hope and optimism in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds. However, just as the highest mountain on earth is climbed one step at a time, we believe that the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa will be won through the combined efforts of millions of individuals inspired to take action."

The world is beginning to realize the importance of AIDS Awareness, yet there is so much more we can do. My high school had and AIDS Awareness club, which I participated in. We had a woman come talk to us from SAFER, a local AIDS workshop. We made coloring books for children suffering from AIDS, participated in World AIDS Day by passing out information, ribbons, and t-shirts, and also attended and raised money for the AIDS Walk.
If just one high school could spread that much awareness, while raising money for the cause, couldn't the world? And that's what project (RED)'s mission is: to aware the public of AIDS, and to help save people's lives through supplying medicine to those who need it in Africa. To see how much of an impact you can make on HIV/AIDS, just visit their website.