To my Wifey...

To me, you are my Wonder Woman. You are strong, smart, and a passionate lover. When I first met you, I wasn't brave enough to talk to you. After a few days, I knew that I wanted to talk to you, but I didn't know how. When I sat next to you at the auditorium, I said something so stupid, "Why are you taking notes? She said we didn't have to?" I'm sorry to make you feel embarrass, but I didn't know what else to say. When I made you smile, I wanted to be the one who always makes you smile. You are so beautiful that all I thought about was you and seeing you the next day. The truth is it felt so surreal like I died and went to heaven. I felt a connection with you, but I didn't know if you felt it too. Then we went to Universal Studios and you held my hand as boyfriend and girlfriend do. That's when I knew that you like me too. I never wanted to let go of your hand. My heart sang and everything was clear to me. Then I wondered if this would be so true as in the future. When we rode on the bus and you were falling asleep on my arm, I asked God, "Is she the one for me?" Then I looked out to the window and I saw a bird flying right next to the bus as though my question answer, because my mom told me that birds were a good sign. Without a doubt, I knew right there I would want to spend my whole life with her. I know it's lame, but I'm optimistic and I love a happy ending. And now, we have been together for 4 years and we are still going strong. I would not change it for anything:D And with the image above, I'm her Batman and she is my Wonder Woman and everytime I'm with her she shines like the sun. I LOVE YOU CLARISSA!!!

Pic of the Day

Batman: "Did you have fun at Comic-Con, Robin?"

Robin: "Oh Boy, I sure did! Because we went to Comic-Con, Batman, you got that cool Starro mask and I got this awesome suitcase that kinda reminds me of Plastic Man..."

Plastic Man: "(Hope these too don't mind me hitching a ride on the batmobile...TEE HEE)"

Dynamic Duo at Wal-Mart

Starro spore and Plastic Man suitcase at Comic-Con

Blog #10 What I have learned

Before these past 5 weeks, I thought I knew a lot about the media. I thought that the stuff I already know would be simple. After the first week, I was so surprised that I knew nothing at all about media. From reading the book, Media and Culture, I learned that their are 5 major media companies that own what we watch today. The 5 major media companies are Disney, Time Warner, News Corp., Google, and Viacom. Of these 5 companies, they own movies, music, books/magazines, television/radio, and the internet. I was so surprised that there is only 5, because I thought the people from MTV own it, but they do not. When we first talked about these companies in class, I was so lost and I wanted to learn more about it. I was also excited about all these different aspects of the media, because my major is Film and Visual Culture. With the book, I am able to gain more knowledge of the media. I liked how we talked about the internet on how it is a great media source, because nowadays many people are on the internet and go to sites that companies can put advertisements for their products. One of the chapters that I liked was about Television. I found out that there were scandals and the fin-syn rules. With scandals, the quiz show, Twenty-One, had a successful contestant, who "won $129,000 in 1957 during his fifteen-week run on the program" (Media and Culture, pg. 153). The problem was the contestant, Charles Van Doren, cheated. The reason why he kept on winning was he attracted many viewers, which the network got a lot of ratings. Also, since Doren is good looking, many people wanted to watch instead of an ugly person, which will get no ratings. I feel like the attractive you are in television the more likely people are going to watch you on their television sets. Now, we have quiz shows like Jeopardy and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. With the fin-syn rules, I did not know they existed. Before, the networks "sometimes demanded as much as 50 percent of the profits that producers earned from airing older shows as reruns in local TV markets" (Media and Culture, pg. 167). Because of this, the FCC "banned the networks from reaping such profits from program syndication" (Media and Culture, pg. 167). I feel that it is bad for the networks, but regardless they already make a profit from all the viewers watching the shows. After reading and learning about Media and Culture, I feel well informed then before. WIth this book, I will still use it when I get confused or want to know more about other things such as the radio and video games. Also, I will be using this blog still, because after I started posting blogs, I wanted to post other things besides homework. I am going to blog about San Diego Comic-Con, because I want to tell the whole world how it is when I go this friday.

Media and Culture

Blog #9 "got milk?"

When I read the phrase "got milk?", all I can think of about is celebrities with a milk mustache. This slogan was first used in 1998 and became a successful marketing scheme later on. From magazines to comic books, you would find these ads with a celebrity, who has a milk mustache. This advertisement appeals to demographics of all types, because of the way it gets people's attention. For the most part, the "got milk?" ad is towards children and teenagers. The advertisement is also a famous-person testimonial, because of the fact that many famous people are on it. Even though it has nothing to do with milk, the endorsement by famous people has impacted pop culture. These celebrities are kids idols such as sports players and actors. It also portrays these celebrities as normal people drinking milk, because when we drink milk, we also get the milk mustache. Once you first look at the ads you see the person with the milk mustache either with white (regular milk) or brown (chocolate milk). Yet if you keep on looking, there are words that say something about the ad. In the Batman ad, you see him with a chocolate milk mustache and words right next to him saying "Be a Dark Knight" and "Want to grow? Chocolate milk has all the nutrients of regular milk, so drink up." It ends with the phrase "got milk?" When reading the words, it is just like a comic from reading left to right and top to bottom. It also shows the bat signal, which every comic book fan knows that Batman is needed. It goes to show you that to be a "Dark Knight" you have to drink chocolate milk, which is pretty ridiculous. Also, it portrays for kids, who don't know any better that to be like Batman you have to drink chocolate milk. I think it's weird to say that, because he's is not real. If he was real, I would believe it. Well, there are other "got milk?" ads with real people such as the recent Super Bowl champion, Reggie Bush. The two things that capture my attention with this ad besides the "got milk" are his New Orleans Saints helmet raised in the air and the words "It's mine." I think the raised New Orleans helmet signifies Reggie Bush winning his first Super Bowl champion and pretty much saying victory. I think the words "It's mine" represents the Super Bowl trophy. I also feel that the ad should have added all the players of the New Orleans Saints, because Reggie Bush did not do this all by himself. This ad pretty much says that people should drink milk, because you can win a Super Bowl champion like Reggie Bush. I think these ads are great, because it gets the attention of kids and teenagers. These are the kids, who are growing up and drinking milk. This is the healthiest way to grow strong bones. Without these ads, I think kids and teenagers would not drink milk, because it is so plain.

Media and Culture

Blog #8 Censorhsip

One of the most obscene movies, Borat, has been censored by many countries in the arab world. When I watched it, I thought it was funny, but had too much gross and nasty visuals of Borat doing crazy things. In the movie theater it has a rated R rating, but when it came out on DVD, it was unrated showing more Adult content. In Media and Culture, it says, "the NC-17 rating has not proved commercially viable, and distributors avoid releasing films with the rating, preferring to label such films 'unrated' or to cut the film to earn an R rating..." (Pg. 514). With many controversies, many people wanted to ban the film. With Freedom of Speech, this movie has the right to put content on whatever they want to do, but with the rating system, the movie has to cut down from a lot of antics. I feel that Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) are thinking about the people and do not want to show stupid things that people might want to copy. Sacha Baron Cohen plays Borat and travels to the United States to get people's reaction about him being foreign and not knowing any better. To no degree, Borat makes fun of the United States. Since the film is a mocking of a documentary, there are unscripted interviews by Borat with these Americans making it seem a more realistic view. With Borat's antics, many countries from the world did not like at all. I think it's because he's foreign and loves the United States of America, which implies to other ethnicities to come and live in the USA. Since the character lives in Kazakhstan, people might assume that people who live in Kazakhstan live like how they are portrayed in the movie. The movie talks about religious ideals that would have people questioning themselves. One of the main reasons Arabs do not want to watch the movie is because Borat hates Jews. In one of the scenes, he has to live in a bed and breakfast ran by this old Jew couple. He is so afraid that he throws money so that he won't be killed. I thought it was funny, but I felt that if I were a Jew watching it, I would be mad, because that is racist. He goes through great lengths by trying to purchase a gun, but since he is foreign, he buys a bear to protect from the Jews. In class, we talked about movies that are banned and this being one of them. I felt that it should be banned in other countries, because those countries do not like American's type of humor. Thus some countries would try to watch this movie. For Americans, even though critics gave it poor reviews, many people would still watch it, because people like those types of movies. I feel that people assume it is a stupid movie, but they haven't watched it. Also, I believe in word of mouth contributes to people either watching or not watching it.

Media and Culture

Borat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borat:_Cultural_Learnings_of_America_for_Make_Benefit_Glorious_Nation_of_Kazakhstan

Blog #7 Focusing on the Present

For any basketball fans out there, the one story that everyone watched, but did not want to, was Lebron James' decision on what team he was going to play for on ESPN. After the Cleveland Cavaliers lost in the 2009-2010 playoffs, almost everyone knew that Lebron James was going to be a free agent, which means he can go to any team he wants. There was so much buzz about Lebron James leaving Cleveland to play somewhere else. The people in Cleveland were so scared that they made a video and song just like the song for "We are the World" in hopes that Lebron stays. With this story, I believe many journalists were ready to talk about teams that Lebron James should go to. This was newsworthiness, because Lebron James is a 2-time MVP and one of the most popular players to this day. It was on July 1st that the hype of Lebron James made an impact on people everywhere. What team is he going to go to? Is he going to stay? Which team wants him the most? So many questions that Lebron James would make his decision on a Live one-hour special on ESPN. Many announcers and reporters of different shows talked about Lebron James and his decision. There was no balance on what people thought about Lebron James, because they are all one-sided on what teams he should play for. There were six teams that wanted him the most. New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, and his own team, Cleveland Cavaliers were the top choices that many people assumed that he would play for. When I saw that many people on the news were talking about this, I had to watch what was going on about him and other players, because I'm into basketball. I was thinking why was there so much hype for this one player? So he's good at basketball, but that doesn't mean he should have his own special airtime to make one simple decision. I find out that the people who talked to him about joining their team such as the New Jersey Nets would bring A-List people like Jay-Z in order to lure him into signing with their team. It was all over the media that many news coverage were talking about Lebron James and who he met with. The experts that talked about him were retired players that put their input on what team he should play for. On television, Charles Barkley, who was a popular NBA star, told the viewers his input on what team Lebron should be on. I believe this was a good strategy, but many of the retired players all said the same thing. They all said they have sources that told them that Lebron was going for this team or that. There were no actual facts just their opinions. It seems that the news coverage were talking about Lebron James going to the Miami Heat, because Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, both who are also top free agents, signed with the Miami Heat. With this speculation, many assume he would go there. On the night of his special, which was called "The Decision", the host took 20 minutes to find the answer. His answer was the Miami Heat and many people who were sources sprang out to get the attention that they were the first ones to answer. With just one answer, Lebron James' decision "generated a 7.3 rating" which is really good (tvbythenumbers.com). It seems that problems today are yesterdays news and people want to watch and know about is one person.

The Decision: http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=mpnd-XyAG2g&feature=related

7.3 Rating: http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/07/09/lebron-james’-announcement-generates-7-3-overnight-rating/56618

Let's see: The Exclusives I want to buy at Comic-Con

1. Batman Arkham Asylum: Battle Damaged Batman (Graphitti Designs, $20, Production Run 4,000)

2. White Lantern: Sinestro (Graphitti Designs, $20, Production Run 4,000)

3. Black Lantern: Hal Jordan (Graphitti Designs, $20, Production Run 4,000)

4. DC Universe 75th Anniversary Pack: Starro with Pack of Spores (Mattel, $50, Production Run N/A)

5. Masters of the Universe Classics: Color Changing Orko, with Prince Adam (Mattel, $25, Production Run N/A)

6. DC Universe Classics: Plastic Man with Suitcase (Mattel, $20, Production Run N/A)

7. Toy Story 3: Lotso (Mattel, $20, Production Run N/A)

For #1, I've played the Batman Arkham Asylum game for the PS3 and I loved it, so I have to get the action figure that looks like it. For #2 and #3, I've been reading about The Blackest Night storyline and I am intrigued about it, so having these collectibles would be pretty cool. For #4, since I am into DC Universe, It would be awesome to have this and plus the starro spores can be attached to my DC Universe Classics that I have. For #5, I have been looking at other sites saying that Masters of the Universe Classics are hard to collect, so if I get this, I would have something rare. For #6, this one is the top on my list for getting, because I collect DC Universe Classics and this guy has the coolest attachments such as a spring and a suitcase. The last but not least is Lotso, because I loved the movie and my girlfriend loves him too:D HE SMELLS LIKE STRAWBERRIES!!! I can't wait to go to Comic Con and I am going on friday July 23:D

Comic Con Exclusives List: http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_exclusives.php