College Boy

1. I think it has gone too far, because it's violent and hard to watch.

2. I think people find it particularly offensive because it mocks Jesus Christ. 

3. I think it sensationalizes bullying because it makes it look very exaggerated. The lad was a martyr cause he died for something.

BC NDP April Fools Attack Ad Questions

1. Yes, I think the Ad was effective. The Conservative attack ads are very hard to take seriously to begin with, so this parody ad just pushes the message over the edge, making it lose all worth.

2. The ad is particularly effective because it replicates the Conservative ad quite well, but the content is unbelievable so that even simple-minded voters can understand the parody.

Simpsons 138th Episode

1.
a) Intertextuality
b) Self Awareness
c) Parody and Satire

2. The simpsons 138th episode references a number of things through intertextuality, mainly talk shows. The episode itself is spoofed as a talk show hosted by Troy McClure. The cash register that shows the price of Maggie is displayed as "NRA4EVER", which is a reference to the National Rifle Association.

3. This episode is extremely self aware, because it's being hosted by one of the characters in the show, who remains in character (because his character is a celebrity host), but puts the show out of character (by displaying the Simpson family house as a backdrop). Certain episodes are showed and discussed within the episode, by the characters.

4. Some cartoons that are obviously influenced by The Simpsons are Family Guy and American Dad.

Family Guy Blue Harvest

1. 3 Cultural References:

a) One of the Empire's Star Destroyers has a Bush - Cheney campaign bumper sticker on it, which is a reference to former president George W. Bush's re-election campaign.

b) Luke asks the London Symphony order to play the theme song of "The People's Court".

c) Rush Limbaugh plays a radio commentator, which he also is in real life. In the show, he criticizes liberal media, which he also does in real life.

2. I think that the cultural references in family guy certainly contribute to the meaning of the show, especially because the humor in family guy is in essence, extremely childish. The use of subtle (although usually blatant) cultural references shows that family guy, and its humor, is one big joke.

Postmodernism in South Park

1. Intertextuality - Many real songs are used (with changed lyrics) in Eric's band, "Faith Plus One". This is an aspect of post modernism because it demonstrates a lack of originality, and use of cliche's.

Oxfam Questions

1. On the Oxfam website, Coca-Cola has a humanitarianism score of 41%.

2. Coca-Cola scored the lowest in the 'land' category, with a whopping 1/10.

3. In the Behind the Brands section of the website, Oxfam encourages the reader to use Twitter or Facebook to message the company, or to contact the CEO personally. Oxfam also has a section of their website designated to information about donating, volunteering, fundraising or working with them.

4. I could make an impression on a Large Corporation by boycotting a specific product, or protesting about a specific part of their company. I could also just message a ceo.

5. http://www.oxfam.org

Articles criticizing Worldstarhiphop and Reddit

1. How do we find a balance between free speech and hate speech on the internet? Should all websites have a moderator to censor content that is unfit for viewing?

In my opinion, anybody can post anything anonymously over the internet, therefor therefor there really isn't a need to moderate it or censor it. If anybody has a problem with something on the internet, it's at their discretion to take action or react in any way to the content. If you see something you don't like, simply navigate away from it. I think anybody who takes sites like Reddit and Worldstarhiphop seriously really need to re-evaluate their life.

2. Should there be a law banning people from uploading videos of abuse and illegal acts?

There is no need to create a law for that, because it's at the website's/government's discretion. Sites like youtube have their own policies for keeping videos like that off, and videos that are against laws such as child porn get removed by the government anyways.

3. Does having sites like Worldstarhiphop and Reddit do anything to add to our culture and society or they simply a reflection of the darkest part of our society?

Reddit is a board/imageboard that allows people to congregate and discuss different topics, and anybody can use it. It is no way a reflection of the darkest part of our society, it reflects all parts of our  society, and can lead to things which add to different parts of our culture. Worldstarhiphop on the other hand, is a video sharing site moderated by immature and un-educated clowns. This isn't to say Worldstarhiphop doesn't add to our culture, but it adds in a negative way.

Adbuster Creation

For my own adbuster spoof, I created a McDonalds ad showing the results of eating fries. The original ad was made to show how fast people eat their fries, because they are so delicious. "Right after" they ordered the fries, they consumed them, and I added "days after" they consumed the fries, they gained weight/became fat.

Adbusters Unit Assignment

1. http://www.mcspotlight.org/campaigns/translations/trans_uk.html

2. This article criticizes McDonald's in every aspect, from exploiting workers, damaging the environment and promoting unhealthy food. To sum up the article, the writers believe that McDonald's is aiming for world domination, by suckling in children customers and undermining local communities.

3. I am very surprised by the information of this article. It's no secret that McDonald's is one of the least healthy and most prominent fast food chains. I didn't know that the animals were killed barbarically, because I believe I read or heard somewhere that they were human, although it makes more sense to imagine a bunch of cows on a conveyor belt to death. I also wasn't aware of all the horrible effects that McDonald's had on the environment, specifically with the clearing of habitats to raise cows.

4. I think I could change the original intent of any McDonald's product by showing an obese person eating it, because it points out how unhealthy McDonald's products really are. I really agree with this article, because McDonald's is promoting unhealthy food to a younger audience. This will lead to lifestyle habits, so many future generations will be unhealthy unless they learn to change or this stops.

5.

6.

Adbusters Spoof Ad

1. https://www.adbusters.org/content/joe-chemo-bed

2. The intended message of the company was to portray a cool/hip smoker, named Joe Camel. The spoof ad creates a more realistic portrayal of someone who smokes often, because he has lung cancer.

3. I think the spoof ad does a good job of making the company's original ad look bad, and would certainly make me question it.

4. I agree with the sentiment of the spoof for the most part, although some people with cancer or who know people with cancer may not appreciate it because it uses the disease as a weapon against the company. Cancer is a known side effect of smoking, so I think that the use of it is fair & just.

Remember These Days Seltzer Man Questions

1. There was only one character, the seltzer man, and his values were hard work, family and tradition. He says so in his dialogue.

2. I agree with the seltzer man's values, because he lives his own way. Regardless of money and free time, he lives according to his beliefs.

3. There wasn't anything about the seltzer man's wife, whom he mentioned once in the documentary.

4. The whole documentary was very nostalgic, retro, and very calm. By leaving out all other characters except for the seltzer man, it creates a very solemn feel.

5. The overall message is to do what you believe in, and live to your values. It is also that tradition shouldn't go unappreciated, and sometimes older is better.

In class questions (dec 12)

1. Ikea Monkey meme

I find this particular meme to be funny, because it references The Dark Knight Rises, which is a movie that I watched recently and quite enjoyed. In the meme, the monkey is being compared to the character Bane because in the movie he wore a similar coat, and said "When Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die."

2. Australian DJ dilemma

In this situation, I do believe the Australian DJs are to blame. I think it would have been a funny prank and they did not cross any boundaries during the actual prank, but they broke a law by playing it on radio without the nurse's permission. If only they asked...

Interesting Article pertaining to Canadian Forces Reserves

http://www.cp24.com/news/military-jury-still-deliberating-in-case-of-reservist-1.1063114

In the above article, a Canadian Forces Reservist's court case is being discussed. Apparently, 1 squad members was killed and 4 were injured when a training course went awry. A claymore mine was pointed in the wrong direction when it detonated during a training course. The members of the squad in question were not following proper safety procedure at the time, and Major Darryl Watts is to blame, as he was in charge at the time.

This case is particularly interesting me, because I am considering joining the Canadian Reserves as a part time job, starting in April. Hearing about incidents like this are concerning, but I am only planning on joining for a part time position, so I'm not as worried.

ATTACHED: Picture of a claymore mine.

Sharkwater

1) I think some of the Shark Finner's side of the story was omitted, for an example, it may be the only income that family has.  The message that Rob Stewart is trying to convey is a positive message, so I don't mind that he has biased his documentary in his favor.

2) Rob Stewart and his friends seem to be unaware of the conditions that some of these shark finners.

3) I agree with the message of Rob Stewart  because it's an environmental friendly message, which will help us create a sustainable future.

4) It was clearly biased twords Rob Stewart, like when it played calm music during the shark parts and showed sharks being very calm and 'cute', while only portraying the finners uglier scenarios.

5) I do not agree with the courts overruling of the Shark Fin  Ban. First of all, I do not agree with the fact that sharks are being finned in the first place, because I find it very cruel. Secondly, the fact that they are calling it culturally biased is completely nonsense because the person who proposed the ban in the first place was of Asian heritage.

Spellbound Questions

1. Because the director wants the viewers to feel attached to the competitors, so they can share and relate to their experiences.

2. The children the documentary followed each displayed different attitudes and religious beliefs. Another thing that made them stand out from each other was their different studying methods and routines.

3. I agree with the way that some of the children acted, because I understand that studying is the key to success, and the hard work payed off in the end.

4.I think it left out many aspects of the home and school life of the children, and some of the parents may be putting more pressure on their kids than is shown.

5. Depending on the environments the children were interviewed in, I could make various judgement about each child.

News and Bias questions

1. I think that although Karl Rove as clear ties to the republican party, it is acceptable that he has been hired by Fox News because they are known to be very right wing. People who watch Fox News are not expecting an un-biased opinion.

2. It is in Karl Rove's best interest to delay the call because if Romney wins he will get tax cuts.

3. Because Trump has a reputation to keep, but he is posting clearly biased and immature tweets. It is evident that he is right wing and upset about Obama's victory.

Definition of Meme

1.

A meme ( /ˈmiːm/; meem)^[1] is "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."^[2] A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate and respond to selective pressures.^[3]

The word meme is a shortening (modeled on gene) of mimeme (from Ancient Greek μίμημα Greek pronunciation: [míːmɛːma] mīmēma, "something imitated", from μιμεῖσθαιmimeisthai, "to imitate", from μῖμος mimos "mime")^[4] and it was coined by the British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976)^[1][5] as a concept for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. Examples of memes given in the book included melodies, catch-phrases, fashion and the technology of building arches.^[6]

Proponents theorize that memes may evolve by natural selection in a manner analogous to that of biological evolution. Memes do this through the processes of variation, mutation,competition and inheritance, each of which influence a meme's reproductive success. Memes spread through the behaviors that they generate in their hosts. Memes that propagateless prolifically may become extinct, while others may survive, spread and (for better or for worse) mutate. Memes that replicate most effectively enjoy more success, and some may replicate effectively even when they prove to be detrimental to the welfare of their hosts.^[7]

A field of study called memetics^[8] arose in the 1990s to explore the concepts and transmission of memes in terms of an evolutionary model. Criticism from a variety of fronts has challenged the notion that academic study can examine memes empirically. However, developments in neuroimaging may make empirical study possible.^[9] Some commentators^[who?] question the idea that one can meaningfully categorize culture in terms of discrete units. Others, including Dawkins himself, have argued that this usage of the term is the result of a misunderstanding of the original proposal.^[10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme

2.

A meme is a popular reference that can be in the form of an image or text. Memes spread quickly because of how popular they are, and they usually have comedic value. They're like inside jokes that everyone understands.

3.

4.
This meme is called FBF or, Foul Bachelor Frog. Originating from 4chan (as most memes did), Foul Bachelor Frog represents the lifestyle of a Bachelor who is particularly unhygienic,lazy and foul. I can relate to this meme because I'm quite lazy. I'm not unhygienic though, I swear.

Trend Tracking

The trend that my group (Me, Kieran, Sami, Elijah) has chosen is Apple products. We will present our assignment in a PowerPoint presentation. The target audience we will be looking at is teenagers.

2 Questions about Media Trends

WTFU 2012 (Obama campaign).

1. Some of the different techniques used to inform, attract and entertain viewers are using a celebrity, using a juxtaposition and using comedy. The celebrity used is Samuel L. Jackson, who is quite popular with many different groups of people. The juxtaposition used in this (soon to be) media trend is the fact that Dr. Suess's nursery rhyme style is put side by side with Samuel L. Jackson's profane language. When Samuel L. Jackson pops up in random places inside the household, it's a shock but it's also funny, which entertains viewers.

2. One of the messages communicated is that Obama is the better choice for a middle class nuclear family like the one that is portrayed in the video, which is the whole point of this video/campaign. Another message that the video sends across is that Romney's campaign choices will affect people of every age group in a negative way.

Trend Tracking

1. N/A

2. 5 current trends

i) iPhone

ii) Snapbacks

iii) Jansport backpacks

iv) Twitter

v) Jordans 

3.

i) The iPhone's target audience is teenagers/young adults because the phone allows users to access social media sites, while still maintaining the basic functions of texting and calling.

ii) The target audience for snapback hats are teens, because the hats are stylish because they portray sports team logos and team colors.

iii) Jansport backpacks are targeted at students, because they are stylish backpacks. Most students like being stylish while also practical, which is why Jansport backpacks are a hit.

iv) Twitter's target audience is anybody who has a social life or uses other social media sites. Twitter allows people to talk to their friends or 'tweet' and share updates easily with anybody using twitter. Twitter also helps celebrities speak to their fans en masse.

v) The target audience for Jordans are people who play basketball and teens, usually guys. While the Jordan is a basketball shoe, they have evolved into a culture and a style that many teens and some adults follow.

4. I have purchased Levis slim jeans because they were trendy. I often see people wearing them and I think that they look stylish in them, so I purchased my own pair.