Reflection

In this blog post, I want you to discuss reflection in terms of the composing process: where does it happen? do you believe it IS part of the composing process? how would you define reflection? how does Yancey define reflection? how does your definition of reflection compare to Yancey? do you believe you will or would use reflection in other classes/for other projects? does reflection only happen when you write it down? does reflection change based on the type of project?

Per normal ground your thinking with the reading. Target 500 words. Engage with your peers.

Due: Monday, August 1, 2011 by classtime.

Reflection over Editing Projects

In about 300-500 words, think through the following:

*the process for the editing project
*think through the process(es) for each project--newsletter, remediation, editing--and examine them side by side
*what connections do you see between these process(es)

Remember reflections should be thought-out and specific--use details, refer back to past assignments and/or readings, etc.

Due: Monday, August 1, 2011 BY 6:00 pm.

"X-Men: The Remediation"

A major trend in recent popular culture has been the remediation of several Marvel Comics Universe comic books and their superhero characters, into full-length, action packed, romantically inclined motion picture films. These films have resulted in big-time budgets and even bigger paychecks for the stars, directors, and production companies involved in their re-creation. In the last decade alone we have seen comics such as Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and more recently, Thor, Captain America and the X-men re-produced in film—many of which have been privileged with the honor of sequels or trilogies. I myself am partial to the X-Men movies and am dying to see the latest of the series, X-Men: First Class.

I don’t recalled being at all interested in action hero comics , as a matter of fact, the only comics I remember really caring to read were Garfield, Archie and the comic panels found in the Sunday paper. And although I cannot offer much commentary on the X-Men comic book series, except what is offered on wikipedia, my heart resonates and fills with joy with every addition to the X-Men film series. So far, there have been five films produced based on the comic book series: X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X3: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and X-Men: First Class and with each re-production there is more drama. One of the main characters is Wolverine, or Logan, played by actor Hugh Jackman; Wolverine is a “mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing factor that allows him to recover from virtually any wound, disease or toxin at an accelerated rate. The healing factor also slows down his aging process, enabling him to live beyond a normal human lifespan. His powerful healing factor enabled the supersoldier program Weapon X to bond the near-indestructible metal alloy adamantium to his skeleton and claws without killing him.” He appears, in the films, to be the central character around which the story lines are crafted and continue to move forward; portrayed as a multi-leveled, complex character, Wolverine, in the first movie suffers from a serious case of identity crisis. As the storyline progresses through the continuation of the films, we learn that he was a soldier in a secret military group that pretty much ends up enhanced his mutant powers but he ends up losing his memory and has to go through the process of slowly tracing his steps to recover it. Other main characters include, Professor Xavier, Magneto, Storm, Rogue, Mystique, Jean/Phoenix, Beast, Cyclops, and Victor Creed/Sabretooth, who are cast by such superstars as Patrick Stewart/James McAvoy, Ian McKellen/Michael Fassbender, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romijn, Famke Janssen, James Marsden and Liev Schreiber. The X-Men film series is said to have grossed nearly a billion dollars in Box Office Revenue in the U.S. and over a billion dollars worldwide. So what is it about this movie that gets me all railed up? The basis of the movie surrounds the idea of discrimination and tolerance (or intolerance) coincidently in the U.S. In the first film, we see politicians and scientists working together to “cure” the mutants so that they can be “normal”, unwilling or unable to accept the fact that the majority of the mutants were happy just as they were.

With that being said, I guess this movie resonates with me from the vantage point of a super-minority (black, woman, upper-lower or lower-middle classed) and people always tend to get that “feel good” feeling when the underdog takes the reins and defeats the super villain(s)!

And by the way, the women in all versions of X-Men are SUPER BAD-ASS!!

Who Runs the World?

Click Here to View the Bravo Commercial

BRAVO! BRAVO! is my favorite network. Simply because of the Real Housewives. Seriously, who is not obsessed with the Real Housewives of anywhere! The franchise has expanded all over the United States. Each region has a major city, in which 4-7 women represent the housewives of that area.  The housewives franchise began in Orange County, California. The series was created to the see the lives of wealthy families in California. As they argue about who is more fabulous, who has more money or a better plastic surgeon, consumers fall in love with the lives of other women. Spins offs like, Real Housewives of New York, Atlanta, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, and Miami had made Bravo network to a must see channel! So what is it exactly about these women that makes us want to watch. The thing is, WE LOVE TO WATCH OTHERS. We love to see other people live their lives, especially if their lives have a bigger budget than the one of the consumer.

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ORANGE COUNTY

The housewives are the founding fathers of the franchise! Each one unique in their own way by style or by wealth. 

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW JERSEY

The perfect combination of Jersey Shore, Guidos, Italians, and MONEY $$! the New Jersey Housewives are very unique because they are all in some fashion related to one another. Their drama not  only affects their friendships, but ultimately the values of their family dynamics. 

HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS

Beverly Hills is one of the newer franchises. These women have REAL money that makes other housewives money look like monopoly money. 

ATLANTA!

Atlanta was the FIRST show to show the elite of the African American community in Atlanta. Business women with hearts of TRUE Southern belles the series has definitely made raving reviews. 

WIVES OF MIAMI 

  

Honestly, It is ABOUT TIME! Who does not love Miami?! Miami women have really brought some SPICE and FLAVOR to BRAVO!

Now that they all have been introduced... why are they so addictive?! The women have taken an opportunity and built a business of their own, of being fabulous and living lavishly. Housewives Kim Zoliak (Atlanta) made a song called "Tardy for the Party". The song had over one million downloads. It is no doubt that the television show was a platform for her music career. The ironic thing is that, all though they are names "Housewives" some of them are not married, but those who are work OUTSIDE of the house. The shows are introducing a new generation of women and what it means to be a housewife. Housewives in the 1950s are not the same women of today. I like the idea of being a housewife is changing, but most importantly, the role of a mother and wife is changing. 

The Twitter Craze

The Twitter Craze

I think it safe to say the world has become obsessed with the social networking site Twitter. Happy? Let me tweet that. Sad? I can tweet that. Pissed off? Let me tell the world. Twitter is an amazing way to express every feeling, emotion, or idea to millions of people in less than 140 characters. Twitter is also a great way to have personal contact with your favorite celebrities and athletes. Twitter has also become a major source of news, updates, and information.





About Twitter

Jack Dorsey, Creator of Twitter

Twitter was produced in March 2006 and later launched in July 2006. Its founder Jack Dorsey wanted to create a small SMS based service to communicate with a small group of people. Jack sent the first Twitter message on March 21, 2006 at 9:50pm that said” just setting up my twitter”. Since then Twitter has had more than 20 million users and generates more than 350 million tweets a day.

Twitter and the President

Twitter has caused such a stir in recent years that President Obama now has a White House Twitter page. With this new Twitter page President Obama recently hosted a Twitter town hall meeting where people could tweet different questions into the president. There was 169,305 tweet sent into the president but of course not all of those were answered. This was not the first time that President Obama has used Twitter and other social networking to  connect with Americans. In the 2008 Presidential campuses use gain, Obama was known for his use of social networking to reach supporters.

The Twitter vs. Facebook Debate

This has been a big debate among many social network goers. Lately I have never been to a social gathering where I haven’t been asked are you on twitter or Facebook? Twitter and Facebook are two big social networking giants so it’s only fair that the two sites are always in comparison. So which is better? I would say Facebook in my opinion but I know some people who would argue that. When it all boils down they all have their advantages and disadvantages.


Just for kicks: Follow me twitter.com/iamdonielle

"Check us In"

On an average day, how many times are you on Facebook? In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg , a college student at the time, founded a ground breaking social network. Since then, Facebook has become one of the most popular forms of communication globally. Zuckerberg built his empire with innovating the way we communicate. Constantly creating new applications helps keep Facebook members hooked: from chatting, video chatting, posting pictures, tagging, checking in and status updates and “like”. When Facebook first started it was initially designed for college students as a new way to socialize but as Facebook started to become a new fad, it’s become open to people of all ages and people all over the world.

What sets Facebook apart from other social networks? Facebooks wide range of use has kept this social network still one of the most used and most popular networks today. Other social networks fail to strive through the years because of its lack of innovation such as, MySpace, Xanga, etc. but Facebook has managed to stay in the loop with other new social networks such as Twitter and Tumblr. With today’s latest technology, Facebook is more readily accessible via Smartphones, Blackberry, iPhones which make it easier for members to use more often. With devices like Smartphones, members can check their Facebook as easily and conveniently as to just looking at their phone. Furthermore, these devices do not only let you check your notifications but also allows you to utilize most of the applications that are available when you’re on the computer like chatting or uploading images.

Facebook is not only for private use but has also become a medium for business owners trying to advertise their product or store. Facebook provides opportunities for small businesses and companies that may not have the financial support to advertise. Not only speaking about small businesses but major corporations also use Facebook to advertise things such as movies, music artists, etc. This application opens the market for Facebook in which the demographic of Facebook users is widened. Members can check themselves into specific locations, indirectly advertising a business.

What makes Facebook such a great asset is not only because it allows social networking and business advertising but the 50 billion dollar social network is giving back the world in giving charity to many different organizations but also making it available for private, non-profit organizations to make Facebook pages and promote their organization. The organizations are able to post charity events to the public and advertise their specific organization for support and/or donations.

Double Trouble

Some actors can si

ng,

some can rap, and

some

shouldn't do either one.

90210's Brian Austin Green was dreadfully unsuccessful in the creation of his rap album, One Stop Carnival. Garth Brooks embarrassingly failed at his attempt to create a Rock-n-Roll identity named Chris Gaines. However, Donald Glover (click on his name to view his Twitter account) exceeds our expectations by not only being a guaranteed superstar in Hollywood, but blowing our minds on stage. As a rapper, 26-year-old Glover goes by the name Childish Gambino. Just recently wrapping up his IAMDONALD national tour, Donald Glover stand up and Childish Gambino performances were nothing short of excellent.

Before starting stand up, Glover wrote for a little show we may know as 30 Rock. In his stand up, he does to-a-tee impressions of 30 Rock cast member Tracy Morgan, along

with Dave Chapelle, Chris Rock, President Obama, and countless others. Being a writer and stand up comedian don't even begin to list the accomplishments and talents of Donald Glover. His hard work and rising fame led him to host the 2011 MTV Woodie Awards this past March. Click here to see his intro t

o the award show including a little stand up bit and a Childish Gambino performance.

He adds the title of screenwriter onto his list of many hats. Mystery Team is a movie for which he is not only a screenwriter, but also the starring role. The movie follows three best friends who have been keeping up with a mystery-solving business since childhood. They're about to leave for college when they get their biggest mystery yet: solving a murder. A little girl hires the nerdy misfits to figure out the death of her parents. Glover is outstanding on film and the movie holds a hilarious plot with the adventure of mingling with murderers, romance, and of course, friendship. The film was featured in Sundance Film Festival, receiving extrao

rdinary reviews.

Glover is most recognized for his jock-head role as Troy on the NBC hit sitcom, Community. He works alongside Joel McHale, Chevy Chase, and a full collection of talented actors that make this show one of the best comedic sitcoms on television.

Now, enough about him, let's talk about him.

Donald Glover is also known as Childish Gambino, a rapper taking the hip hop scene by storm. Making use of his natural talents for writing, Childish Gambino's lyrics never disappoint. His recent tour led him to perform onstage at Bonnaroo. (Donald Glover also performed stand up.) He impressed new fans and enchanted existing ones. These fans all look forward to his soon-to-drop album, "Camp." He's released a trailer for the album, making for an anxious and ready fan base. In addition to the Soundcloud link you've already clicked, his music can be found on Grooveshark, Myspace, YouTube, and other music-sharing social sites.

One fan has created a blog solely devoted to Childish Gambino and his inventive lyrics. The blog is widely known amongst Childish Gambino fans and features multimodal "hipster" photographs with his lyrics as text in the images. As we've seen, his fans are collectively eclectic, and individually very dedicated to and supportive of his music.

KARDASHIAN KRAZE

The Kardashian family has completely taken over reality television. We couldn’t get enough of the original hit show, Keeping up with the Kardashians. This interesting family decided to branched out from there first show with Kourtney and Khloe take Miami, Kourtney and Kim take New York and the newest show, Khloe and Lamar. From the overbearing mother, Kris Jenner to Khloe ‘s marriage to NBA start Lamar Odom after dating for a few weeks or all of their dramatic attitudes, there is no denying we are all hooked.

Kris Jenner, born Kristen Houghton, was married to Robert Kardashian on July 8, 1978 and then later divorced during 1989. Robert Kardashian is best known as being one of the defense lawyers in the controversial O.J. Simpson trial. Kris moved her children to Hidden Hills during the trial with hopes of keeping a low profile and them not get involved in this mess. Robert died September 30, 2003 from cancer. Kris remarried to Olympic gold medal winner, Bruce Jenner in 1991. They have two kids together, Kendall and Kylie.

Kourtney Kardashian, the oldest one, was born on April 18, 1979. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts from the University of Arizona. Kourtney has a son Mason Dash Disick born on January 14, 2009 with Scott Disick. She is busy juggling her work schedule as well as her family. Kourtney made her first debut on a soap opera, “One life to live.” After seeming extremely nervous about memorizing her lines, she nailed it and it became one more thing that she has conquered. Kris and Kourtney opened up children’s boutique “Smooch” in 2004.

Kourtney's offical website: http://officialkourtneyk.celebuzz.com/

Kim Kardashian was born on October 21, 1980. She started off organizing celebrities closets and now is an A list celebrity that is recognized almost anywhere. Kim is now the new face for the Skechers shape up tennis shoes that are meant to tone your legs and buttocks which is something she is known for. She is now engaged to NBA player, Kris Humphries after dating for six months.

Kim's official website: http://kimkardashian.celebuzz.com/

Khloe Kardashian was born on June 27, 1984. On September 27, 2009 she married Lamar Odom. Rumors immediately started saying that she was pregnant or the wedding was staged for television purposes but after watching their show “Khloe and Lamar”, their chemistry is undeniable. On February 12, 2011, they introduced their unisex fragrance, “Unbreakable.” Lamar picked the name to represent the bond that they have.

Khloe's official website: http://khloekardashian.celebuzz.com/

The three sisters opened up the DASH clothing line in Calabasas, California in 2006. Since that store was successful they decided to branch out to Miami, Florida in 2009 and now their most recent store in Manhattan, New York. Together they also launched a bathing suit line, Beach Bunny swimwear. By combining all of their styles, they have put together unique and fashionable designs. These girls have added to the Kardashian empire by endorsing QuickTrim, a ground-breaking weight loss system that is becoming increasingly popular. QuickTrim “not only does it help detoxify your body of things that are unhealthy, but it literally helps boost your metabolism and gives you the ability to literally lose weight while you sleep.” These are just a few of the many projects this family is working on. The Kardashian brand is skyrocketing and the end does not seem in sight.

Is Knowledge the New Black?

With all of the new gadgets on the market today, one has to wonder, is it now cool to be smart? Throughout the past decades, technology has expanded beyond belief. The old saying, "with knowledge comes power" is long overdue for an upgrade. I think the new saying should be "with technology comes power". The development of our knowledge can be seen all across the board.

Throughout time, the older generation of society has often looked down upon the fads of the younger generation. I think that texting is our generation’s version of Elvis Presley. Texting and other forms of digital social interaction have enabled us to be able to relay information so quickly to one other. It allows us to be our own author every single day, even if what we have to say is seemingly unimportant. Our generation has been given a key to opportunity. It is easier than ever to be able to share our creativity. In the 1980’s and ‘90s, the fads were bright noisy colors, floppy hair, and baggyclothes. The television shows thatwere aired were about being popular and fitting in. A lot of the shows were about parties and social interaction. I think that social interaction is such a common thing today that people are striving for more. Normalcy in the 21^st century is about taking the unusual and making it usual. The best example I can think about has been the evolution of reading.

While this may still not be the ideal style, the nerd trend has really started to pick up. The strive to learn and be smart has always been looked down upon in pop culture until recently. Through the evolution of technology came the evolution of the human mind and is bringing an even smarter generation.

The original video games are being looked at as primitive. PacMan was once a revolutionary concept but now it is seen as a simple game ofchasing dots. Today, the“Average Joe” is able to make a ton of money off of video games just by creating an App and posting it in the App store. Money has become an incentive to learn how to create, well more so today because technology has made it so anyone with the right amount of patience can learn.

Reading plays a big role in technology, not just when it comes to learning new software. Style has evolved alongside technology and gadgets are becoming the new purse. Take this commercial for example:

Today, there are so many ways to get your hands on a book and they don’t even involve getting out of bed. It is possible to download something within minutes and starting up on the latest novel. I have heard the saying, “reading is sexy” lately and it sounds like music to my ears. Growing up with a book constantly on me, it was not exactly the coolest thing. The media and popular TV shows gave most kids an image of what cool was. It was thought that skateboards, loud music, and spiky hair were the perfect ingredients to being cool. Movies and TV often portrayed the “bad boy” who was “too cool for school” to be the hero. Now, it is a completely different story and books are the front-runners of cool.

Learning new things and reading more and more usually means that you are the owner of some new gadget and what’s cooler than that? Who would have thought that sitting down and reading a book would be an idea of a good time? I always hear people say that journalism is a dying art form and that just makes me laugh and shake my head because journalism and writing is taking on an entire new meaning. It isn’t dying, itis getting a makeover.

eReaders and the internet are making reading so much more enjoyable. It’s interactive, it’s pretty, and it’s easy. Anyone has the power to create and it’s free. Technology has brought on an entire new idea of pop culture. It involves being smart and sleek and being in the know – the know about the New York Times Best Seller’s List.