I've Run Just as Far as I Can Run - Media Final

        Media can irk me sometimes. I have issues getting really hyped up about something. I have my exceptions (like Harry Potter) but for the most part, you will never find me freaking out about a book release, or a movie or a new song. That is isn’t to say I hate everything that gets hype because I believe that would make me look like a pretentious d-bag but I find I need to wait a little while before I get excited about it. 

Brian Griffin of Family Guy, one of the most pretentious TV characters of the modern age.

Courtesy of Photobucket

While I don’t love everything about modern media, I will take the time to “explore the cultural context in which the media operate…”  

    Media hits me in the face from the minute I get out of bed (even while I'm cursing the hour). If my roommate wakes up before I do, I am sure to wake up to her country music blasting. She tends to like “rock country” like Lee Brice while I go for the “alternative country (think the Eagles)”.When I get through calling her a hick, I put my own headphones in. There, I find show tunes occasionally mixed with rock and a lot of the Eagles.


                                                                               My roomate and I at a Lee Brice concert.








      I, like many of my college student counterparts, bring my laptop to most of my classes. I would like to assure ANY professors reading this meditation that I DO NOT EVER go on Facebook during class (*wink wink* *nudge *nudge*).  Facebook, of course, “has been one of the fastest growing sites on the Internet”. I personally use Facebook to creep on people or just to cure my boredom (when I’m NOT In class). I may or may not spend way too much time on Facebook. Hmmm.


Courtesty of the Screenshot button



In between, before or after classes, I go to work in the library. When I remember, I like to read the online version of my hometown newspaper, The Sun Chronicle.

Picture courtesy of EmilySinger.com

It’s your typical hometown paper, with features on goings-on in Attleboro, Massachusetts and surrounding areas. I’m lucky that the Sun developed an “online version of their paper” and I, a “reader can search the newspaper’s database from home” (or in this case Camp Champ). I particularly enjoy reading the Letters to the Editor. If there is a hot button topic like teachers’ salaries, there are many heated arguments via the Opinion Page.

After the Sun, I peruse other news outlets like CNN. “All news is biased”, and CNN is no exception but I still like it. I like that the website is organized into categories and the Top Stories are relatively interesting. I remember watching the Presidential Inauguration live streaming from CNN. It’s useful in those kinds of instances.   (in place of magazines)





Courtesy of the ScreenShot Button...Again



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From Youtube



At this point in the day - late afternoon or so, and this in theory would be the time that I would read a book or a magazine or something. However, this is my time to watch a movie or part of a movie. I don't have a particular taste in movies; I like what a like and don't like what I don't like. "Most people prefer the convenience of watching movies at home" and I could not agree more. I enjoy laying on my floor and skipping parts that may or may not scare the living hell out of me.

V for Vendetta Courtesy of Movies.IGN.com

At this point in time, I usually hit my second wind. With that comes me runing around like a chicken with my head cut off. I don't normally listen to the radio because commericals irritate me but if I get sick of the music on my IPod I use Pandora Radio on the Internet (Covergance at it's finest!). However, every day that my Dad used to bring me to school he had on NPR which "provides alternatives to commerical broadcasting".

Courtesy of VentureBeat.com

To end my day , I like to read a little. Some people like to think that the books are a dying form of entertainment but I beg to differ. My favorite series, THe Harry Potter series may even surpass the Bible in number of books printed. But Harry Potter isn't without its' haters. Harry Potter is number one on the Ten Most Challeneged books of the Twenty First Century. Every year " the ALA compiles a list" of these types of books that have been requested to be taken of the shelves of public places. Every time I read them I say a little thanks to the First Amendment.

Image Courtesy of HarryPotterWallpaper.org

This completes my media filled day. It is true that my conformation to the pull of media makes me a little ashamed. However, the media doesn't have a complete stranglehold on me yet. I refuse to read or see any of the Twilight saga. I even join all the "dislike" groups on Facebook. This is a time chock full with media "in such times, how do we demand the highest standard from our media?". Well, I just told you that, on my blog.

Taken by Audrey Coulter

 

When I have gotten my fill of depressing news for the day, I sometimes watch a little TV to unwind. Even though it’s ended, my favorite show to watch is The West Wing. As of now, re-runs are “syndicated” to Bravo. This is known as “off network syndication”.  Luckily for me, it’s on two or four times a day and runs in a specific order. When I catch it, it is sure to be an interesting afternoon of political satire/drama.