Logs

Monday, February 22, 2010

Today we began talking about our Multimodal Project. Mr. McArdle began giving us examples of things that we could use to make our websites more effective like adding pictures, videos, and a number of other elements. Mr. McArdle then turned the class's attention to two different multimodal projects that would also help us become more familiar with our current task at hand. The first video that we saw was an “I Believe” video called “I believe...in Gay Right!” The video very effective and seemed to have a profound affect on the class. Mr. McArdle then turned it over to the class and we talked about how the video utilized pictures and music to grab its audience’s attention. McArdle also pointed out how the author of the video took responsibility for her argument by putting herself in the video itself. Personally I loved how she used satire in her video to really stick it to those who are against gay marriage. Touché! Mr. McArdle also showed us a video that he himself made on Facebook called “25CRM.” It got a lot of snickers and giggles from the class (probably because of one particular photo that McArdle referred to later as the “This is the photo that shows how much I hated taking pictures). He went on to explain to the class how one can utilize images as part of our argument. He also showed us a site that he made back when he was in college. McArdle then let us loose and we began to construct and play with our websites on weebly.com. This project looks like it’s going to be a long and complicated one.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

So today Mr. McArdle started off the class by stating that our multimodal projects were due today at 5:00 on the button. The only two words that were flashing in my head in giant red letters were “Oh [insert curse word]!” He then asked us to make a good argument as to why he should bump the due date back to Friday. Everybody seemed to have an argument as to why it should be due Friday instead of Wednesday. Then Mr. McArdle got an evil grin on his face and said, “That’s exactly what I want you guys to do when you’re making your arguments.” What a cheap but yet clever way to get your point across to your class. So I am dubbing this day “The Day McArdle was Awesome ” day. Celebrate as necessary boys and girls. We then talked more about our multimodal projects and for the people who were having problems coming up with a topic he suggested talk radio or examples like Muncie’s crappy roads. We also talked about how arguments are better if they are not subjective. McArdle then showed us how to use the Windows Movie Maker and showed us his soon to be awarding winning creation “Global Warming” due sometime in summer 2011 I think. He also showed us how to embed videos on our site and create links. End of “The Day McArdle was Awesome.”

Friday, February 26, 2011

Well today was “Due Day” and I still had barely gotten anything together for my project. Mr. McArdle started off the day with a short video called “The Third and the Seventh.” It was a very interesting video with a ton of visual spectacle added into it. Who knew that a multimodal project could be so artistic. Mr. McArdle then gave us the rest of the class to work on our projects and ask him questions. Being so lost at this point I took full advantage of this time in class.

Group Projects: Love'em or Hate'em

Group Projects are a pain in the butt sometimes and leave you with no time to get anything else done. For me personally I like group projects because I have lots of fun but at the same time I hate them. They require so much work and so much time. I mean who wants to work anymore. I’d rather just sit down and become a good old couch potato. What a dream job that would be.

Oh This Crazy Multimodal Project

So I’m currently updating my weebly tonight and it feels likes it’s taking me forever to get out what it is that I really want to say. That always seems to be my problem. But I will say that I’m having fun with this particular project and enjoy the opportunity of being able to be creative. I hope that the people who view my weebly will like it and find it interesting. And also get something out of it.

Elkhart Central High School Presents Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

This weekend I had the pleasure of seeing my high school’s production of “Beauty and the Beast.” It was an amazing show and everybody did a great job. The costumes were gorgeous and the acting talent was phenomenal; especially those of the Beast, Belle, Cogsworth, Lumiere, Gaston, and Lefou. Towards the end I found myself almost in tears as the Beast lay dying (the Beast just so happened to played by a good friend of mine, Zach). Zach was amazing and really drew the audience in to the point where they were almost emotionally attached to him, I know I was. It was also really great to be back on my old theater stomping grounds. It was nice having a chance to see and talk to everyone. But it was also a tad bittersweet because my former theater director has resigned from his position and will no longer be running the theater department at my high school. He made it official with his “Beauty and the Beast” t-shirt that simply read “One Last Time” on the back. As I was leaving I found myself almost in tears again because I realized that most of the people I have worked with over the years are all going in different directions. We won’t be the close knit family that we used to be. I love change but at the same time I despise it. Why can’t we all just stay together and be the family that we always were? Why do things have to change so much? Why does it have to be one last time?

Rhetorical Analysis: Hailey Glassman’s Steppin’ Out Magazine Cover

So it wasn’t too long ago that my eyes beheld this particular magazine cover on E! News. With my rhetorical analysis still fresh in my mind I decided that I could not ignore this cover. I HAD to analyze this. I mean the cover itself states “Judge This Haters.” Well don’t mind if I do. For those of you who are not familiar with Hailey Glassman she is the 23 year old ex-girlfriend of Jon Gosselin, 32, (better known as Jon from Jon and Kate Plus 8). Hailey was the daughter of Kate Gosselin’s plastic surgeon. Cute huh? Well, to make a short story even shorter they lived, they loved I guess, and they broke up much to the delight of TV viewers everywhere. Now Hailey Glassman is breaking her silence and she’s not being at all to shy about what she has to say. Let’s just say that she spends most of the article talking about Jon’s “ahem” shortcomings so to speak (all 3 inches of it). But anyway let’s get back to the task at hand here, analyzing Hailey’s “artistically” done magazine cover. The cover itself eludes sex and sex appeal. Let’s start from head to toe shall we? Her hair as we can clearly see is a little messy and tousled slightly in front of her face. Most people call this tousled mess “sex hair.” She’s giving the illusion that she is a sexual being with both her messy hair and her “come hither” look. Her “I don’t know what to call it” leopard skin scarf that strategically covers her more private body parts screams animal; more specifically an animal in the bedroom. The leopard print itself is more of a focal point of this cover because like most animal prints it is loud. Instead of “Hailey Glassman fights back” it should be “I am Hailey Glassman hear me ROAR!” The gold snake band around her arm signifies that she is poisonous and will most likely leave you in a lot more pain then when you first ran into her. I bet Jon’s starting to feel that pain. The snake band also looks a little tight around her arm, so maybe it signifies that she is like a snake and will wrap herself around you until she strangles you to death. Well, I think the only thing that she killed was his pride and possibly his chances with other women. The leather biker gloves and diamond jewelry say a great deal about who she is. She is a tough girl as well as a princess. Not much of a stretch of the imagination seeing that her father is a well-known plastic surgeon. And last but not least those hot pink panties. Those simply say that I’m girly girl at heart but a dirty one. Also her hands strategically placed within that vicinity doesn’t leave a lot to the imagination of what she wants. So what did we learn about Hailey Glassman from this cover? Simply that she’s well...a little loosy goosy to put it nicely and probably not the best candidate for your next girlfriend fellas. Well I’m a Hailey Glassman Hater and I just judged this.

My Shortest Blog Ever.

So I have a major project that I’m trying to get through tonight with my group and I completely forgot to write my last blog so my blog is going to be really short. And this is the end of it.

So um...where was the snow?

So is anyone else wondering where all the snow went to this week? Ever since the beginning of the week all I heard was “snow storm” here and “big blizzard” there. So what happened? Did it just evaporated into thin air? Did it just go somewhere else? I would really like to know because I was looking forward to it all week. I was really hoping that it would snow hard enough that we would have no classes for the rest of the week, but I guess Old Man Winter decided to send all of that snow Elkhart’s way. I love the way things work out sometimes. I leave Elkhart for college and they get a big snow storm that shuts down the schools for a few days. I don’t remember having those snow days when I was up there. I guess I better add my snow storm story to the FML app on itunes.

I HATE Sundays!

I hate Sunday’s purely because they come before Monday’s, which I hate even more because that’s the day that I have to go back to school. I always feel like my Sundays are rush days because I am frantically trying to finish up any left over homework, trying to pack up so I can go back to school, or just trying to catch up on sleep. It’s also the day that I feel the most lazy. Not really a good thing when you have books to read and tests to study for. I remember the days when all I had to worry about on Sunday’s was what frilly dress I was going to wear for church. So to all of you Sunday haters out there I feel your pain.

Home Sweet Home

Aaaahhh home sweet home. This weekend I had the opportunity of going home, and yes I had to drive in Friday’s snowstorm. I saw eleven accidents (I counted), almost slid off the road, and was flicked off by some [add in your favorite curse word here] because we weren’t going fast enough. Just a little advice for slick here but the next time you flick someone off make sure that you don’t do so once you pass the car, it makes you look like a wuss. Also smoking is bad for you. But wussy white boy with his stick of burning death aside it was quite a 4-hour trip up to good old Elkhart. Once I got home I headed straight for the couch. I know right I had my OWN couch to sit on. Not only did I have a couch to sit on, I had space and privacy. I love it! The best part of being home is being able to walk in a shower that doesn’t require me to wear flip-flops and relax in a bath that I don’t have to go “Hmmm, I might wanna think about this one.” Now don’t get me wrong, I love Ball State and I love my dorm but I love being at home a little bit more. I mean until I remember that I don’t have any freedom there. And that’s why I come back. :-)