You know, recently, I have been thinking about the people that I have known throughout my life – specifically those I went to high school and college with – and what they are doing with their lives.
My curiosity has been piqued so much that I have begun to dream about some of these people.

I suppose everyone wonders the same thing from time to time, which is probably one of the reasons that social networking sites have gained as much favor as they have.
In fact, my curiosity started after I signed up for Facebook a couple of months ago.

Personally, I favor Facebook and LinkedIn to handle the majority of my online social networking needs.
That being said, if I went to high school or college with you, and you happen to have somehow found me, I would love to hear from you!

You can find me on Facebook or LinkedIn (if you are on either of them) or post a comment here (I will try to check them often).

I realized that I never added the final paper that I did for my Media Ecology class.
If you want to read it, it is here. In case you are interested, I got an "A" on it.

In case you have been looking for the most authentic Colombian restaurant in Minneapolis that I know of, it is Los Andes on Lake Street. Quite tasty.

I have also taken a hiatus from the 328 project. I plan on revisiting the idea again, but right now, I am needing to focus my time and energy on working on my thesis.
Related to that, I got my letter of approval to walk in my graduation on May 26.

3-09



And the snow starts to melt...

3-08

Your chili too mild? Try this pepper.

Want to be like spiderman? Buy this.

Neighbors TV really loud? Maybe you should check on them.

3-07

Jean Baudrillard, who I referenced in yesterday's post of regarding the hyperreality of Studio 60 died yesterday.

There
goes my thought about going to The European Graduate School in Switzerland to take this class.

3-6




I am currently working for the school district as an interpreter and associate educator (which currently means that I am teaching math to kids that need a little bit extra help). When I am not running around from classroom to classroom this is the desk that I use. Normally, at this time I am home, but today I had totally last minute request that I interpret at a meeting so I was in the office.

Studio 60

Why do I insist that Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is a significant television program?
Well, the root of it lies in a philosopher that I was going to be using in my original thesis. The idea that I wanted to explore was that of hyper reality and what Baudrillard calls the Simulacra. His work is pretty complicated (because he is a French philosopher), but basically what he says is that the real is being succeeded by the signs of its existence.
He proposes 4 "orders of simulacra" that he describes as:

1) The era of the original
2) to the counterfeit
3) to the produced mechanical copy, and through
4) to the simulated where the copy has replaced the original

Let's go back to Studio 60 which is a television show about a television show that takes place in a universe that makes reference to other television shows that are its "competition" (ie. SNL) and other networks they are vying for ratings with. They have brought in actual television personalities to interact with the cast of Studio 60.
I believe that this show is significant in the world of television because it has paved the way for television programs to move from the "counterfeit" that Baudrillard mentions in his 4 orders of simulacra into the place where they are now able to rest somewhere between the 3rd or 4th order of the simulacra.
Studio 60 is definitely not the first show that looks at media, but as far as I can tell or remember, it I the first that has crossed the chasm of the world that television programs portray and the reality in which we live.
I have on clue as to what this will mean for the future of television or society, but I do believe that more and more television programs will seek to mesh real life with its simulation or a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy...

Note: I didn’t mention anything about “Reality TV” shows, because I think those are a different thing entirely.

This posting is actually a brief, non-academic version of my final paper for my Media Ecology class

3-05




What can I say, I was hungry at 3:28 today...

Stay tuned tomorrow for a post about why I think Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is a significant show in today's television environment.

3-04

This is another picture that Micah took. He said to Sarah, "I just want to take a picture of one of your eyes". This is what he did.

3-03


I thought it would be interesting to have Micah take a couple of pictures. This is a picture of Sophia.


3-02


The view of my back yard the day after the snowstorm when I got to enjoy a snowday.

3-01


The view out of my front door during the big snowstorm last Thursday.