"Brainwashed"
In this blog I'm writing about the article "Brainwashed" by Seth Godin. You can find it here:
Within the article “Brainwashed” by Seth Godin, seven "levers" of reinventing yourself are discussed. If I ever needed to jumpstart a change in my life I know these methods would be useful. Yet only two of them stood out to me the most throughout the article. The first lever that Godin mentions is called Acknowledging the Lizard.
In Acknowledging the Lizard, Godin talks about how we are all stuck in a prehistoric mindset that prevents us from reaching our full artistic potential. He explains that this ‘brainstem’ makes us scared of being ostracized, judged, or laughed at if we decide to be different. This fear, according to Godin, disables us from pursuing our creativity. The key is not to let the lizard mindset catch up with you.
I completely understand Godin’s point, and I know that I may have been a victim of this for quite some time now. I think if our world had more people who thought outside of the confines of this box that we could have a whole different, and more creative world. I know that daring people who don’t care about the judgment that they may receive for being creative makes true and original works of art. I’ve often felt that while making this blog that I’m merely only talking to myself, and that others may think this is stupid if I keep it after my class has finished. But I know that it will help in the long run when I’m trying to connect to the professional world around me. Which brings me to my next point….
The next “lever” that Godin mentions is extremely relevant to this class and I. In Connect, He talks about how social networking and the ability to create useful content for free will put anyone in the position to get ahead. I’ve recently learned a lot about this concept, and most importantly how the Internet and the professional world are converging into one. The practicality of the internet is growing in the professional world and it is our duty to use it if we want to be successful and creative.
Covers: Which One Is Better? Blog Assignment Week 3
Original: The Police- "Message In A Bottle"
The original “Message In A Bottle” by The Police was originally recorded in 1979. The song is supposedly about a story of a castaway on an island, who sends out a message in a bottle to seek love. A year later, he has not received any sort of response, and despairs, thinking he is destined to be alone. The next day, he sees "a hundred billion bottles" on the shore, finding out that there are more people like him out there. In this original version, The Police have a fast beat and an eerie feeling to the song. It begins at a fast tempo driven with drums in the background that grow to be louder throughout the song. (I see this choice as a very characteristic choice from the time, which was 3 decades ago.) Also, throughout the song you hear at least three different guitar parts along with the drums and vocals. This musical quality that The Police use is a manipulation of timbre. The hopeless sounding lyrics about loneliness are somewhat supported by the descending guitar melody, but when when the chorus of the song arrives it seems a little bit happier because of the rhythm, pitch, and determination that the lyrics convey. I feel like the musical quality of this song is a little bit contradicted by the lyrics. First the lyrics and singing seem sad, but the accompanying music stays constant throughout the entire song.
Cover: John Mayer- "Message In A Bottle"
John Mayer’s version, recorded live in Birmingham, was first performed in 2006. Much slower and played acoustically, John Mayer makes the story of the song seem much lonelier and jazzier. Although I'm sure John Mayer had the option of having a band accompany him for this song, he chose to do it alone with his guitar and to slow the tempo. I think this decision was beneficial to the plot of the song, giving the emotion time to set in to the listener. In spite of the fact tht he didn't change the overall key of the song, John Mayer changed some of the chords which did make it sound completely different to me. The timbre is at a very low level compared to the original, the tempo is slower, there is only one voice, and the melody seems to flow together more fluently.
Even though I think that all of the credit should be given to The Police, I like John Mayer's version of the song so much better. When I listen to the song I actually get a sense of emotion opposed to what I feel when I listen to The Police version. The Melody seems so much more relaxed than it did in the Police version, and the musical quality blends together and really works for me. Personally, I appreciate live music simply for it's raw musical quality. I'm sure that if I heard the Police perform this song live I would feel differently.
I hope you enjoyed these songs and this week's post!
See you next time,
Maggie!
Soundscape and Soundscape Critiques!
Here is the soundscape assignment for MDIA 203, enjoy!
Here is my comment on Sammantha William's Blog:
My comment on Adava Gerace's Blog:
My comment on Isabella's Blog:
"Finding Your Howl" Is a very inspiring article that could easily apply to everyone's lives. You can find the article I will be talking about right here:
In "Finding Your Howl" by Jonathon Flaum, he retells a story by Robert Frost about how a captive fox renews his own life and his own howl by actually dying. The fox, Mumon, decides to set out on a journey deep into the forest to set off his most primal instincts hoping to retrieve his howl that he had lost from being in captivity. On his journey, Mumon knew what he had to do to recover his internal dignity, and in so doing authentically connect with his external world, there was no turning back. By the end of Mumon's journey, he encounters a farmer who kills him at gunpoint. In this experience, Mumon finds his own unique howl. For Mumon, as Robert Frost admonished, the only way out was through. It is this way for us too. The only way out of our own prison is to go through it completely, and there is only one way towards finding our own unique voice.
There are so many songs with great lyrics floating out there in the world, but this one in particular speaks to me as a creative person. The lyrics by themselves don't do it complete justice, but I can still appreciate them on paper. The song is called "You Are The Moon" and it was written by the band The Hush Sound.
I've recorded myself reading the lyrics and I also gave you the lyrics below.
http://ia700605.us.archive.org/11/items/YouAreTheMoon_65/YouAreTheMoonMediaBlog.m4a
Shadows all around you as you surface from the dark
Emerging from the gentle grip of night's unfolding arms
Darkness, darkness everywhere, do you feel all alone?
The subtle grace of gravity, the heavy weight of stone
You don't see what you possess, a beauty calm and clear
It floods the sky and blurs the darkness like a chandelier
All the light that you possess is skewed by lakes and seas
The shattered surface, so imperfect, is all that you believe
I will bring a mirror, so silver, so exact
So precise and so pristine, a perfect pane of glass
I will set the mirror up to face the blackened sky
So you can see your beauty every morning that you rise
These lyrics speak to me because they tell a story of someone with a skewed self-image in a unique way. The story, if you didn't catch it, depicts the moon as a person who doesn't see their own beauty. The moon only sees itself in the lakes and seas that reflect it's picture, making it believe that it isn't beautiful. I like how someone comes along and tells it that it is, in fact, beautiful. I've looked at these lyrics from a personal standpoint many times in my life, being both the moon and the mirror, and I am inspired by the message that it sends. To me it's not only a song, but it's poetry. This song reminds me of girls that never fulfill their potential because they didn't have the confidence to be themselves, something I hope won't overtake me. So it has a lot of meaning to me. I look for my inspiration for creativity in songs just like this one, because it sets a great standard for the kind of artist I want to be.
Shadows all around you as you surface from the dark
Emerging from the gentle grip of night's unfolding arms
Darkness, darkness everywhere, do you feel all alone?
The subtle grace of gravity, the heavy weight of stone
You don't see what you possess, a beauty calm and clear
It floods the sky and blurs the darkness like a chandelier
All the light that you possess is skewed by lakes and seas
The shattered surface, so imperfect, is all that you believe
I will bring a mirror, so silver, so exact
So precise and so pristine, a perfect pane of glass
I will set the mirror up to face the blackened sky
So you can see your beauty every morning that you rise
These lyrics speak to me because they tell a story of someone with a skewed self-image in a unique way. The story, if you didn't catch it, depicts the moon as a person who doesn't see their own beauty. The moon only sees itself in the lakes and seas that reflect it's picture, making it believe that it isn't beautiful. I like how someone comes along and tells it that it is, in fact, beautiful. I've looked at these lyrics from a personal standpoint many times in my life, being both the moon and the mirror, and I am inspired by the message that it sends. To me it's not only a song, but it's poetry. This song reminds me of girls that never fulfill their potential because they didn't have the confidence to be themselves, something I hope won't overtake me. So it has a lot of meaning to me. I look for my inspiration for creativity in songs just like this one, because it sets a great standard for the kind of artist I want to be.
Blog Assignment 1B- Ways to get ideas
This week in class, we were required to read a really interesting article called "14 ways to get Breakthrough Ideas" by Mitch Ditkoff. You can find the article here: http://changethis.com/
In Mitch Ditkoff's "14 ways to get Breakthrough ideas" he presents new and innovative ways of sparking one's creativity. He asks important questions about how innovation is sparked, what sparks people, and where do inspired ideas come from. He explains many techniques of sparking your creativity from different perspectives that I was surprised to find useful. The only tuition he requires of his readers is that they should come with the willingness to try something new, something I have no problem doing. Here are three of the fourteen suggestions that I found interesting:
In Ditkoff's fourth suggestion he explains that many ideas have been originated by making connections between two completely unrelated things. The way to make these connections? -- Ditkoff says to think outside of your daily confines such as nationality, profession , concepts, or even cubicles. He suggests that a good way to make these connections is to make parallel lists of ten words. The first list? Nouns. The second list? Verbs. The third list? Adjectives. Then look for intriguing new connections between them. My lists:
Nouns Verbs Adjectives
shorts crush walnut
sun think watery
glasses surf arranged
chair sleep living
cardboard catapult brilliant
mail fondle exaggerated
photo booth giggle frank
grapes consume wide
bush sing idiotic
crystal birth yearly
What I came up with-
1) sun powered water purification plant that thinks for itself?
2) cardboard catapult that catapults cows (tongue twister) or maybe a new method of vocal warm up
3) genetically modified walnut bushes?
4) environmentally friendly cardboard glasses?
Although I think his fourth way of getting new ideas is probably a good idea to some, but I don't think that it is the best way to create new ideas for myself. As you can tell, my word combinations are somewhat reaching for possibilities. I have a feeling that this method may be very time consuming, because you have to create so many combinations before you find the right one. From a business standpoint, I wouldn't encourage this method, but for some people i'm sure it is perfectly applicable.
In Ditkoff's sixth way of generating creativity he says that it is important to define the right challenge or problem. He says that instead of rushing to figure out the answers, you should take you time to frame your challenge in a meaningful way. He suggested that a good way to do this is to: State your most inspired challenge or opportunity as a question beginning with the words "How can I?"Then write "How can I?" in five different ways. Then determine which way is correct.
My questions:
How can I be the most successful in school?
How can I become more involved in school? --- I choose this question as my problem.
How can I succeed here at Ohio University?
How can I get ahead of the other students here?
How can I best seize opportunities that come up?
I can easily agree that this method of inspiring ideas is a very effective method and a good idea. In my opinion, I think it is very important to define your goals before you get started and to set a foundation for your thoughts before diving head first into possibilities. This way you will know exactly what your answer is once you find it.
In Ditkoff's fourteenth technique of finding creative ideas he suggests that it is useful to temporarily suspend your logic. In this final suggestion he proposes that sometimes we let data and facts take over our minds, but if we allow a state of suspension to overtake the facts we might be able to let our creativity to percolate to the surface of our thoughts. This only means that instead of analyzing what we know and the things we observe, we let these things pass through our minds at face value or how they seem. Ditkoff asks his readers to consider what kind of action they can take in order to suspend his or her own practicality, logic, and rationality in service to birthing their big idea.
Considering this idea, I thought that maybe I could try watching a movie (that perhaps represents a metaphor) and to try not to find what the metaphor may be.
Another way I thought of doing this was to go to a theater show or concert and let myself indulge in the music or indulge in the suspension of disbelief, taking every line at face-value.
The experience of following the story might put me in a mood to be as imaginative as the creator's themselves. I know this method is effective on my behalf, and I definitely recommend trying it!
Again, here's the link if you want to read some of Ditkoff's other techniques of generating ideas:
http://changethis.com/
In Mitch Ditkoff's "14 ways to get Breakthrough ideas" he presents new and innovative ways of sparking one's creativity. He asks important questions about how innovation is sparked, what sparks people, and where do inspired ideas come from. He explains many techniques of sparking your creativity from different perspectives that I was surprised to find useful. The only tuition he requires of his readers is that they should come with the willingness to try something new, something I have no problem doing. Here are three of the fourteen suggestions that I found interesting:
In Ditkoff's fourth suggestion he explains that many ideas have been originated by making connections between two completely unrelated things. The way to make these connections? -- Ditkoff says to think outside of your daily confines such as nationality, profession , concepts, or even cubicles. He suggests that a good way to make these connections is to make parallel lists of ten words. The first list? Nouns. The second list? Verbs. The third list? Adjectives. Then look for intriguing new connections between them. My lists:
Nouns Verbs Adjectives
shorts crush walnut
sun think watery
glasses surf arranged
chair sleep living
cardboard catapult brilliant
mail fondle exaggerated
photo booth giggle frank
grapes consume wide
bush sing idiotic
crystal birth yearly
What I came up with-
1) sun powered water purification plant that thinks for itself?
2) cardboard catapult that catapults cows (tongue twister) or maybe a new method of vocal warm up
3) genetically modified walnut bushes?
4) environmentally friendly cardboard glasses?
Although I think his fourth way of getting new ideas is probably a good idea to some, but I don't think that it is the best way to create new ideas for myself. As you can tell, my word combinations are somewhat reaching for possibilities. I have a feeling that this method may be very time consuming, because you have to create so many combinations before you find the right one. From a business standpoint, I wouldn't encourage this method, but for some people i'm sure it is perfectly applicable.
In Ditkoff's sixth way of generating creativity he says that it is important to define the right challenge or problem. He says that instead of rushing to figure out the answers, you should take you time to frame your challenge in a meaningful way. He suggested that a good way to do this is to: State your most inspired challenge or opportunity as a question beginning with the words "How can I?"Then write "How can I?" in five different ways. Then determine which way is correct.
My questions:
How can I be the most successful in school?
How can I become more involved in school? --- I choose this question as my problem.
How can I succeed here at Ohio University?
How can I get ahead of the other students here?
How can I best seize opportunities that come up?
I can easily agree that this method of inspiring ideas is a very effective method and a good idea. In my opinion, I think it is very important to define your goals before you get started and to set a foundation for your thoughts before diving head first into possibilities. This way you will know exactly what your answer is once you find it.
In Ditkoff's fourteenth technique of finding creative ideas he suggests that it is useful to temporarily suspend your logic. In this final suggestion he proposes that sometimes we let data and facts take over our minds, but if we allow a state of suspension to overtake the facts we might be able to let our creativity to percolate to the surface of our thoughts. This only means that instead of analyzing what we know and the things we observe, we let these things pass through our minds at face value or how they seem. Ditkoff asks his readers to consider what kind of action they can take in order to suspend his or her own practicality, logic, and rationality in service to birthing their big idea.
Considering this idea, I thought that maybe I could try watching a movie (that perhaps represents a metaphor) and to try not to find what the metaphor may be.
Another way I thought of doing this was to go to a theater show or concert and let myself indulge in the music or indulge in the suspension of disbelief, taking every line at face-value.
The experience of following the story might put me in a mood to be as imaginative as the creator's themselves. I know this method is effective on my behalf, and I definitely recommend trying it!
Again, here's the link if you want to read some of Ditkoff's other techniques of generating ideas:
http://changethis.com/
Blog Assignment One: Who/What influences me as a creative Person?
There are many people, places, and things that inspire me and motivate me to become more creative. Sometimes I have waves of creativity when all I want to do is originate something new. During these times I think my creativity comes from my environment at the time or the things I've recently seen or heard. I'm a fan of plenty of different kinds of media, but I'm not sure what the cause of my creativity is specifically. I'd like to think that my creativity comes from a collage of different artists and mediums. When I view media that I think is fascinating, I want to learn how to create it. I don't like to limit my interests, because my interests are always changing. I like to pay attention to new artists, film, and television. Here are a few examples of why I like certain media content using 3 of the 6 binary terms we learned in Media 203 lecture.
1) The movie American Psycho is a really interesting to movie to me. My eyes were glued to the entire movie the first time I watched it, not because I loved it, but because of how bold and ridiculous it was. I thought the characterization was done very well and the approach was done very differently than most of the movies that I had seen at that time. I saw this movie a few years ago, although it was released in 1991. This movie was probably the first time I dealt with unreliable narration, a way to achieve subtext. Patrick Bateman, the narrator and protagonist of American Psycho, tells us a very elaborate account of his serial killer lifestyle. Of course, towards the end of the movie it becomes clear to the audience that his point of view is not to be trusted. Although Bateman shows some signs of mental instability earlier on, it's hard to tell that he is unreliable. I love that the audience is active in this movie, and they get to analyze Bateman's character themselves, rather than the creators. Sorry if you have never seen this movie- SPOILER ALERT! I'm going to show you one of my favorite scenes. In this closing scene, Bateman approaches his lawyer after confessing all of his murders on an answering machine. It is in this scene where I realized that Bateman was definitely an unreliable narrator :
2) An example of a another kind of media that uses some of the binary terms we used in lecture is the song "Again and Again" By The Bird and The Bee. In the beginning of this song I feel like the music is in a very minor key and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I like listening to this song when I'm drawing or writing, and I think it's great background music. The reason it's so great to me is because this band uses Tension & Release in a really unique fashion. The tension is brought up throughout the song within the verses and creates a constant pull between it and the release. The sound of the notes are mainly what creates the tension, rather than the rhythm or rests. The lyrics also help transition between the tension and the release. Although during the verses the singer says "it's a shame, it's a shame, it's a perfect shame, creep under my door and we do it again." During the chorus she says otherwise, and sounds like she doesn't think it's a shame at all.
3) My third and last example of media that inspires me to be creative is the ENTIRE series of The Chronicles of Narnia. I think this series, both the books and the movies, are extremely entertaining and well done. I like the Metaphors & Symbolism that are scattered throughout the stories and I like how the author, C.S. Lewis, incorporates his religious beliefs and overall theology into a seemingly unrelated narrative. There is Symbolism behind every character, and most importantly, the character Aslan represents Jesus Christ. Not only do all the people, objects and events in the story seem to have symbolic meanings, but the plot seems to portray the history, fall, and unfolding of the world as well. In my opinion, we all start out in an innocent world oblivious to the real picture of what is going on, unless we take a step of faith into "the wardrobe" that is Jesus Christ, revealing the kingdom of God.
Beginning Media 203!
Choosing to be in an 8am class probably wasn't my best idea, but I really don't mind getting up early.
I guess I didn't choose it out of necessity. I actually chose this time because I like getting an early start to my day. :)
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