Van-es-sa's | Media Blog : ]

Journal Entry #6- Ec(h)o

2008-06-01T15:09:00.000-07:00

Ec(h)o was my first Mary Ward art show I've attended, and it was a rather interesting experience. It was rather interesting to see an exhibition of all the art that have been created throughout the school year--it in a way served as a memoir of all the moments that took place during the creation of the piece. So, in a way, the art show was much more of a collection of events at Mary Ward.

I remember the snack stand was a "hot spot" for all, serving delicious soft chocolate chip cookies and various other goodies. It was quite amusing for one day, Reeza E. and I sneaked into the art show just to purchase the cookies. Of course, we did have our stamps printed on our hands, but why wait that incredibly long lineup just to get into the art show and look at art? We had a much bigger secret mission, one that would satisfy our craving for the soft baked cookies. So yes, we did sneak in to buy cookies, but we immediately left, but it let us feel as if we were those ridiculous spies on television--those who sneak into a store and "steal" the item they need, but
leave the cash on the counter. Quite hilarious, really.

Setting up the art show was fun. My friends and I were asked to move the mannequins in the design area. As usual, we were poking fun at each other about how which mannequin resembled who, which was pointless because all mannequins are the same. Ahaha, if only I took design, and took part in jewelery design, which sounds extremely exciting. Personally, design > media (hahaha, no offense media teachers).

The art show preparation called for momentous activity and many volunteers. Luckily, students got a quest unit for helping. I actually have no pictures from the art show, maybe because I'm anti-social. Haha. So, yes, my first attended Mary Ward art show was a great success, even though I'm disappointed that I did not get a chance to purchase the green ec(h)o t-shirt a memoir of this event.

Journal Entry #5- Are You A Right Clicka or iBook Flippa?

2008-05-31T22:15:00.000-07:00

Personally, I am a "Right Clicka" because not only do I own a PC, but I'm enjoying it. So, my opinion is slightly biased, but before I did get my PC, I did prefer a PC over the Mac. Personally, I believe that the Mac just popular because it gets advertised a lot, and due to it's many evolutions, such as the Macbook Air. The PC is more flexible with other various programs, which makes it great for the general consumer. The PC also comes with various different processors, depending on what it's made for, while the Mac is geared towards the arts direction. The PC is also cheaper (depending on the model) than the Mac, which makes it a better choice when it comes to budgeting. To me, the Mac is just a white laptop with an apple engraved onto the lid. The Mac is relatively confusing because most companies print product directions for the PC. This means Mac user will have to play around with the program to understand and get it to work on their notebook. Sure Macs have a faster processor, but its not that user friendly.

I bought my PC because it looked good. I do believe it is important to purchase laptops that reflect your attitudes and lifestyle, and with the PC, I believe one can do that. PCs come in a variety of colours, designs, and brands, while the Mac basically comes in one style and several other colours. Sure, the Mac looks clean with it's clean edges and lines, but the desktop sucks. Many people are just into the Mac because they claim it looks good. Yes, sure it looks good, but why have a notebook that looks like everyone else's? PCs are original--there are so many that it is possible to have the only one at your school--except Hewlett Packards because they're glossy and popular with the majority.

So, PCs FTW!~~

Journal Entry #4- Facebook and Education...a New Partnership?

2008-04-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

Nowadays, it is uncommon for one to not have a Facebook account. Facebook is known for it's social community and user friendly access, which has gained a huge number of popularity globally. It is often common for students to create groups that express their opinion on subjects that have value to them. This action may not be the best course of action depending on the opinion, but it does allow the person to express his or her opinion and gain support from other members.

In response to the Ryerson incident, I personally believe that this situation is absurd, and wonder why the school is making such a big fuss over it. It's pointless to bring this case to court because there is no real evidence to back up the school's theory of why they should not allow these group types. After all, school is about learning, and if students feel that they are unable to reach the professor, they should be able to ask other peers about the problem they are faced with. Teachers/Professors tend to be busy during exam/project/test times, and if that is so, students will need another source for help. Thus, I believe that the student is correct in creating this group because as long as they get help, it is appropriate to create the group.

I do see that Facebook could be used as an educational tool because students can post questions anytime they’d like, and other students can share and give ideas on how to solve the particular problem. However, the popularity of Facebook is diminishing, so there will be chances that not everyone will be interested in this issue.

Journal Entry #3- When Graphic Artists Get Bored...

2008-04-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

This interesting assortment of images kept me amused for quite a while. Personally, I enjoyed the image of the headless person shopping for spare heads. That one was just plain amusing. Some were awkward, like the miniature artist painting the nails on a giant hand. Some were somewhat funny, like the cauliflower sheep. All these images had one thing in common- all were flawless, which made it quite believable. It's merged that well. One can actually see the textures on the images, which made it very, very realistic. It's too bad that it doesn't exist in reality. I also got a laugh from the pandas that had the markings like the guys from the band KISS (HA-HA, A GENE SIMMONS REPLACEMENT).

This technique could be repeated in Adobe Photoshop by merging the two wanted objects. The graphic artists must've used a lot of layers and masks just to get the image right. Photoshop also lets artists modify the image by increasing and decreasing the opacity, or mess around with the gradient. Adobe Photoshop provides a large array of tools perfect for modifying images, and creating them. These images could make anyone laugh, with a specific target audience. Also, since Photoshop is constantly being upgraded, who knows what new images could be created by new artists? The imagination is limitless.

Journal Entry #2- Music Mania Downloads

2008-04-07T10:13:00.001-07:00

Nowadays, it is often common habit to download music or software illegally. This "pirating" has made people's lives more convenient, considering that we can download anything that comes into contact with the internet. (Ha-ha) Personally, I am on both sides of the argument, considering that I myself have taken a liking to download things for free. Who doesn't? With unlimited access to almost anything, people will obviously depend on downloading free music or software to save time and money. Honestly, I believe this downloading is very destructive towards our society due to its relationship with the economy and our state of mind. I believe that once a person starts downloading, it alters their reaction towards these unjust actions. I don't enjoy downloading these things, but sometimes it is just feels mandatory.

However, there should be a limit to our downloading. For example, if we download free music off the internet, it means that the artist didn't get their share of the profit. See, a music artist's has a career, and it is like any career. They work hard to earn their money. So, when we download these songs, we subtract their profits, which is quite unfair just because we want a free download of a particular song. The artist doesn't get much from the paycheck either, due to the fact that the company receives most of the profits. Thus, there should be a set limit to how much downloading we do, no matter how tempted we are by the word “free” in “free downloading”.

So, we should download moderately, and refrain from splurging upon free downloadable goodies.

Journal Entry #1- Your Footprint

2008-04-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

Ecological Footprint: 9.8

"If everyone lived like you, we would need 5.3 planets."

Haha, thankfully, not everyone lives like me, or else we would probably be seriously deprived right now. Honestly, I thought this was an understatement because I personally thought that I was worse. This means that I leave quite a footprint on our earth, and it would probably take great changes to correct my footprint. I don't actually feel that great about my footprint because even though I feel as though I'm doing the right thing about conserving the environment, I'm not. Sure, I’m educated about the issues of our planet, and sure I feel guilty. Feeling guilty and taking action are two different phases of restoring the earth.

If I could change anything about my footprint, it would be the fact that I don’t take the public transit enough. In my daily life, my parent (either my mom of dad) drives me and my brother to school. From my home to the school, it is approximately 20km, which is quite a distance. So everyday, I travel about 40km, which means during the school week, I drive about 200km to and back from school. That’s quite a large amount of pollution created. See, if I take the public transit, a large portion of that pollution would be cut down.

This website is quite an eye opener because it identifies what we are doing wrong. I do believe that this website is raising awareness about our climate’s conditions. This site gives suggestions and options people can take to reduce their ecological footprint.