Can't Buy Me a Bigger Impact

The Beatles have had such a huge impact on popular culture that I can’t even begin to fathom it. And not to mention rock music in itself. They redefined the way people release records (they made the album more important in a time of singles), and they brought along the musical innovations of the British invasion in an era of basically just jazz and Broadway musicals. A large number of artists have acknowledged them as an influence, and some have even had chart successes with Beatles cover songs. They marked the beginning of a new era. They were so big that some radio stations (like WABC) banned the playing any “pre-Beatles” music. People went as far as to emulate their clothes and hairstyles. The Shea Stadium date when they opened their 1965 North American tour became what was then the largest audience in concert history and that show is seen as a landmark event in the growth of rock music. To be more specific it was the first entertainment act to ever have a large stadium concert (which sold out in 17 minutes). From what began as the Beatlemania fad, the group grew to be viewed by their fans world as the representatives of certain ideals associated with transforming an entire culture. As icons of the 1960s counterculture, they basically became a catalyst for activism in all these social and political areas. This helped fuel movements like women's liberation, gay liberation and environmentalism. On top of that the amount of references to their music and themselves in modern pop culture in just ridiculous. There’s a Beatles Monopoly game for crying out loud!!!The Beatles have had such a huge impact on popular culture that I can’t even begin to fathom it. And not to mention rock music in itself. They redefined the way people release records (they made the album more important in a time of singles), and they brought along the musical innovations of the British invasion in an era of basically just jazz and Broadway musicals. A large number of artists have acknowledged them as an influence, and some have even had chart successes with Beatles cover songs. They marked the beginning of a new era. They were so big that some radio stations (like WABC) banned the playing any “pre-Beatles” music. People went as far as to emulate their clothes and hairstyles. The Shea Stadium date when they opened their 1965 North American tour became what was then the largest audience in concert history and that show is seen as a landmark event in the growth of rock music. To be more specific it was the first entertainment act to ever have a large stadium concert (which sold out in 17 minutes). From what began as the Beatlemania fad, the group grew to be viewed by their fans world as the representatives of certain ideals associated with transforming an entire culture. As icons of the 1960s counterculture, they basically became a catalyst for activism in all these social and political areas. This helped fuel movements like women's liberation, gay liberation and environmentalism. On top of that the amount of references to their music and themselves in modern pop culture in just ridiculous. There’s a Beatles Monopoly game for crying out loud!!!

Modern Family Blog

 Does the media affect the view of the modern family more or is it the media? Media and the view of the modern family is such a skewed topic. I think that it is probably a common answer but I strongly feel that the view of the modern family is based more on society than the media. I have always felt like society is always evolving and the media is always a step behind. Even it's by a little bit i still think that society is a lot more stretched out. To me the media is so ingrained with what society is doing at the time. It's completely reflected on us as individuals. For example think of any t.v. show you've ever seen. Even if it's something completely vague and ridiculous. To some element they all seem relatable. Advertisements especially above everything else. The slogans that they're captioned with play on emotions and part of the criteria to display these advertisements is based on relatibility to public. That's the whole point of them. They want to make them relatable and make it something that you want. But I also thing that the media has a small effect on society as well. Someone could see something portrayed through the media and be inspired to do that act. Or not so much inspired but they might be more inclined to have it stuck in their head. I know it's pretty cliche' but I think that the media has an effect on society and completely vice versa.

Identity Crisis

To start off my parents are extreeeeeeeeeeeeeemely old fashioned. This had a giant impact on my upbringing and identity. Mostly in a good way... I think... Since day one they've told me that I should be respectful, polite, and courteous. I was taught to respect all people in all ways. No matter what they look like or anything like that. It was just the way I was brought up and it's so ingrained into my system. To some people though it might be kind of quirky. For instance, say a really beautiful girl walks by. Some of my friends would go like " Oh my god dude she was fucking hot!!! I have to fuck her!" To me, hearing that is just so weird. My family influenced my love for music. I can forever remember stuff like the Stones, Nick Drake, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan creeping its way out of the vinyl player in my living room to my brain. My family's taste made me appreciate a wide spectrum of art from a young age. I watched my mom make stained glass for countless hours of the day and we read books about Frida Kahlo. My sister introduced me to Punk rock. My dad inspired me to start learning guitar. My dad is also one of those people who tells the most stupid jokes and they're just so lame that you can't help but chuckle. I definitely got that from him. So he kind of affected my sense of humor. But sometimes what I tend to think is funny is a lot darker... But my identity is something that I think was more constructed by my parents when I was younger than anything else. In that retrospect I was more concerned with it at the time. Here's another example. My mom is Catholic and my dad is Jewish. I personally am an atheist and have never cared for religion and just don't believe in it. I still had the same train of thought when I was younger. However I was raised with both religions. But my dad was almost never around before I turned 12. He was always busy working . Eventually he wanted me to have a Bar Mitzvah. I really didn't care for it or want one but I ended up doing it to try and win his approval. I almost felt like if I did it then it would make him happy and he might stick around more, so I just went along with the program. I sacrificed my own beliefs to try and make him happy.

Anyon Article

B. “These differences man not only contribute to the development of the children in each social class of certain types of economically significant relationships and not others but would thereby help to reproduce this system of relations in society.” This is a definitive quote from the article. I think that it really sums it up nicely and gives you a better understanding of the topic and most importantly puts an alternate meaning behind it. For me that makes it is also to a degree more relatable. It’s not to me but I could see what Anyon is trying to get at which. But that doesn’t mean I necessarily agree with it either. She is trying to say in her own way that our education makes us a constant replica of previous generations. That through our education we become nothing more than a shadow of what they were. I couldn’t completely tell what the tone of the article was, but I could definitely tell how cynical and sarcastic it sounded at certain parts. At least that’s what it sounded like going through my head as I was reading it. But while her research was very descriptive and well thought out, that again doesn’t mean that I fully agree with it. It really does show education’s influence on society but that I still don’t believe that that is everything that makes or breaks our decisions and societies.

Memoir Reflection

I thought the memoir project was pretty cool. But I definitely had more of a blast with the mixed media part of it than anything else. I am almost a complete noob at audio editing and the experience of the whole thing was pretty badass for me. That was basically my first time doing something out of Garageband and it worked out pretty well. It felt amazing to tie a piece of paper in with something that I'm really most comfortable with. It just helped my overall mood and made the whole process a little easier. Especially considering the topic of my memoir. I never talked about it with anyone but it felt good to get it out. But I thought the mixed media was amazing. I wish I could do stuff like that more often with projects.

I Just Wanna Be Average

A. The funny thing to me was how much of a slacker the guy really was at first. He didn't really have any ambition to do anything. He was always extremely observant, careful, and mindful of his surroundings, but for a really long time he never had that buzz to succeed or do anything else. It wasn't until an experience with MacFarland that he really buckled down, and for lack of a better word really gave a shit. But once he started giving himself the actual chance to succeed he was extraordinary. He became completely captivated by all these things he was experiencing and all the stuff he was reading. The guy was naming a zillion different authors as if they were almost like appendages to him. His education influenced him  because it gave him the confidence he needed in order to succeed. He always had it but didn't realize it until he really tried to.

B.As far as the individual cues that he talks about, I think that it is more of a metaphor for noticing what other people are doing around him. He always noticed things but just went idly by until MacFarland. He took a lot of cues from him. And the thing is that they weren't limited to just educational cues either. I thought he learned a couple of social ones too. Cues play a role in identity because I feel that a lot of people when confused about their own identity, try to take a semblance of someone else's. And then they just build on that.

The Social Meanings of Gender

The article was kind of nuts to me but at the same time it had a weird sense of being relatable. I thought it brought up some interesting points but it's not really anything I haven't head before. I took A.P. Psych my senior year of high school and I remember this as on of the chapters that we spent a lot of time on... i.e. how you're influenced by all these different factors when you're young that determine how you're going to act eventually. Basically it has to do with that whole classic nature vs. nurture argument. Which one affects us the most? I personally think that the argument is kind of pointless because to me there's obviously a connection there with points from both sides. But it can really stem from your upbringing as well which goes more with the nurture standpoint... For example think about what your parents may have gotten you for your birthday when you were very small. For girls it could have been a doll or for guys a toy dinosaur. As for today's society I think it's relevant because it could help you understand why certain things are they way they are. But I personally think that the whole gender role thing is a load of crap because it really depends on the person. There's always going to be the "black sheep" of a culture's norm and it really shouldn't matter to anyone but that particular person...

Alex Assignment #9

To me my physicality is really nothing above average. But to be honest it kind of in a weird way feels like each part of my body is a representation of something I was going through at some point or am going through in general, and somehow it reflects a part of me. I occasionally have a hunching issue that my parents always nag at me about. I've always been kind of little shy and introverted yet really confident when it comes to certain things and maybe that has something to do with it. But when I actually do stand up straight I'm about 5'11 or 6 feet when I'm really standing up straight. I have a cool scar on my left arm from a ragged piece of metal on a tire swing and it reminds me of some good times I had with my family. I remember visiting San Francisco with the lot of them when I was little and it was one of my fondest memories. Even including all the blood from the scar which at the time I thought was very cool for some reason... I used to be very blonde when I was a little kid and now it's changed to a sandy brown/almost dirty blonde kind of thing. I thought it was kind of funny because when I was smaller I used to pretend that my hair turning color meant a sort of little loss of innocence. I have long hair but it used to be a lot longer. I like it because I think it's a reflection of my laid back personality. I also want to clarify the difference between that and being lazy. Though I can indeed be a lazy bastard sometimes... Plus as a sidenote I have a humongous dent on the right side of my head from an unfortunate radiator incident from when I was about 6 or 7 years old (which is why I will never shave my head). I'm also the only one in my family with hair that isn't ridiculously dark brown or eyes that aren't brown. My eyes are the thing about me that I like the most even though I really hate to admit it. Especially since they change color depending on the time of day. I like to think it fluctuates with my mood but it obviously doesn't. They're green but at later times of night they have a sort of blue tinge to them that I think is really cool. Something I do regret is breaking my nose several times. It resulted in a lot of kids making fun of me in school and that was not fun. It's amazing what a couple pieces of broken misplaced cartilage can do... As for my actual build I'm actually really bony. A lot of people seem really surprised by that.

Alex Assignment #8

I roughly just turned eight years when I had my first panic attack. I was going to start school in less than a month and the thought of the experience was like a migraine ripping through my skull nonstop. It was all that I was thinking about and it made my gut feel in a way that can only be described as the ultimate experience of Twister. I could never make any friends as hard as I tried. My eager yet quirky and shy demeanor really put some people off I suppose. Truly the only bright side was the thought that I would get to see Claire Mellish again. Gosh she was the prettiest girl in the whole second grade. She had the biggest wandering sparkly eyes covered by the coolest shaped glasses , the dirty honey-brownish hair, and the great smile that always made you feel like you were the only one in the room. Some call it love and it certainly felt like it at the time when alas everyone was still in their cootie phase. But what kind of a blonde, rosy cheeked kid could have a chance with an amazing girl like that. Then all of a sudden in literally the blink of an eye all that left my mind when the piercing sound of an almost bloodcurdling scream from a girl and her mother fell into my ears. I didn't know what it was but all I knew was that I didn't fucking like it. As fast as I could process the whole thing I leaped out of my bed and ran down those long familiar narrow stairs. My heart was pounding already. Something like this happened before but this felt much worse already. I knew that this time things weren't going to be the same. I launched myself into my mother's room and low and behold there were her and my sister of fourteen literally smacking the hell out of each other. The look on their faces showed me something I never wanted to witness in my life. Something like this was way too much for me to handle at such a young age. I ran back up the stairs to my room and almost immediately collapsed to the floor. I felt helpless, exhilarated, and scared for my life. I couldn't open my eyes and all I felt was the feeling as if someone was stomping on my chest repeatedly.  Forget breathing. It wasn't important to me but after a minute or two all of a sudden I looked up and stared at the weird childlike pattern of my wallpaper. I wasn't home anymore.

Alex Extra Credit Assignment

The main things that I generally use to "judge" or more so connect to a piece of music are whether I think it's original, heartfelt, thoughtful, expressive, but more importantly do I feel like I can relate to it or just the way that it makes me feel as a result. I also suppose it depends on the song. I know that it's a really cliche' answer but that really means a lot to me. I love it when artists are true to themselves. That doesn't mean at all that I love every forms of music in the known free world either but it does mean that I can appreciate it for what it is and what it stands for. But there has to be that fine line in between. For example you have Rebecca Black and a majority of all those pretentious Disney Channel teen stars where their music is just processed out of Pro Tools and Auto tune and is completely unthoughtful and basically used as a commercial appeal and no value for anything else. And one of funniest things about music to me it is that the way I view it and base my reflections on can be something radically different to someone else. For example I'm going to go into a song from one of my all time favorite albums. This is sort of an extreme example but bear with me a little. "I'm a street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm. I'm the runaway son of the nuclear A-bomb. I am a world's forgotten boy, the one who searches and destroys." those are the first lines that spewed out of Iggy Pop and meant a revolution to me. It didn't even feel like a song to me. I didn't know what I thought of it. I didn't fully understand it but for some strange reason I knew I wanted it. It brought me the true meaning of punk rock and the symbol of a great beginning that I never want to end. Everyone in the world has some sort of feeling of insecurity and this song stood out when I was feeling at my worst. Whenever I listen to this song I feel like I can do anything. It makes me believe that people can take their limits and basically give them the finger. But the crazy part is that the same song can mean jack-shit to someone else. It could be shot off as idiotic rambling and shouting. As far as my criteria for actual lyrics it really depends once again. But once again I'm going with originality and creativity and just the overall attitude. If I feel that the lyrics fit with what the overall tone of the music is going for then it works. For example "Holy Diver" by Ronnie James Dio (R.I.P.) has some of the cheesiest lyrics I have ever heard in my life but at the same they're awesome because they blend a story behind them that fits with the mood of the lyrics. And as far as just concerning lyrics my aesthetic is based on the overall play between the words and melodies. Musicians I think are more geared towards every part of the song and some others might just pay attention to the lyrics and catchiness of the lyrics. That doesn't mean at all that I'm saying you have to be a musician to appreciate all aspects of a song. It really depends on who is listening and how they react to it. The bottom line is that everyone is different.

Alex Goldsmith VR Project

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexgoldsmith/

I actually did happen to like doing this project. As hard as it was for me. Well I liked the concept of it more than actually doing it. I did my project on Torture Porn which is a term coined by the media and movie reviewers that basically refers to a type of horror film that places EXTREME emphasis on gore, sadism, torture, mutilation, etc. A couple of examples of this type of "genre" would be the Saw Series, Hostel, and the Devil's Rejects  My argument is for people who don't remember the good old days where telling a story was far more important that visuals (i.e. how many reproductive organs can be ground up or ripped off before you want to throw up). It is a topic that I firmly believe in. The hardest part for me personally was choosing pictures that would express my exact belief on this topic without just taking snapshots of really brutal horror movies or finding really f'ed up pictures on the internet. I just wasn't sure how to portray it. But I did like the way I edited some of the pictures. I tried to make my photo stream more of a parody of the concept of torture porn more than anything else. I tried to make the supposedly really gory pictures in the stream really cartoonish. If they look very amateur and silly that is why. I kind of wanted to have a "Kill Bill" sort of vibe to it. Ergo the usage of Photo shop, fake blood, and use of Italian sausages as intestines/brains. If I had to do it again I would try to get more pictures or maybe just more gore to make it all the more ridiculous. For me personally the project gave me a much more visual aspect to work with and I appreciate that I got to be the one actually making a piece of rhetoric instead of the other way around for a change. As far as what it provides viewers, I think that it gives people the chance to look at a piece of art not just as a piece of art, but to have the ability to look at something in a different frame...whether the topic be some thing ridiculously shocking or shockingly ridiculous. It all depends on how the viewer literally views their own angle and I think that is important.

Alex Assignment #5

The topic I plan to do my project on is the devolution of  horror movies. I was inspired to do this after watching "Carrie" and "Hostel" in the same day. Basically I'm going to be arguing how most of today's "horror" films seem preoccupied with making you want to vomit and show the most possible gore than old horror movies with this crazy thing called a PLOT and great acting. My photos will predominantly be in black and white because I want to keep with the old fashioned spooky vibe. I think that pathos will fit best. Captions may or may not be included depending on the quality of the photo. The obstacles I anticipate are creating as many pictures as required.

Alex Assignment #4

 The picture is of an advertisement that I saw during our field trip. It is an ad to basically run a marathon to fight homelessness. The photo would obviously include the usage of pathos as a rhetorical device. It's appealing to the audience and their emotions by assuming that they want to end homelessness. Also it could be used under the impression of materialistic needs and one's own satisfaction and possible even their own vanity because there is a prize for the winner. Depends on what perspective you're looking at it through. But it ties in with your emotions. It also could have an element of logos because statistically homelessness has a high percentage but not completely logos because even though it's a nice thought...you can't really stop something like homelessness by running. The message I believe is pretty self explanatory...fighting to end homelessness. The receiver is the general public and the audience would be more geared to people who like to run for causes. As for the societal elements for interpreting the message, it's using a worldwide topic to appeal to the audience. I actually did kind of enjoy the photos because it allowed me to get a more practical view of the thing we were going over in class. I've noticed I learn a lot better and also faster when things I learn are practical and can connect them to situations. Now when I look at random ads all these questions might be going in my head...what is the rhetorical device and context of this piece...etc.

Alex Assignment #3

                                                                     "Dean Sequence"


I chose this picture because to me it combines elements of black comedy and also the limits of human nature. The criteria I judged it with was to see if after reviewing it and studying the picture for a little while I got any immediate reaction or decisive emotion about it. I enjoy it when art has the ability to let you live in the moment or be more cognitive about it. It really depends on the person.  But the main function of the photo in my eyes is to hypothetically show what happens when what distinguishes our own supposed "humanity" and our basic animal instincts. It's removed and all we have are the basic mechanisms that enabled our caveman ancestors to survive. I think that function also serves as the theme as well. The idea of loss of mind and just how far we can succumb to our basic instincts if prompted to. I think it's really trying to make you think and analyze that concept without just giving you something "nice to look at". Finally I do think that it has a little bit of a dark humor element to it because of the thought of supposedly "civilized" people acting like animals. It's in a way making fun of human expectations of themselves and putting a twist on it.

Alex Assignment #2

The following is a poem from the creative mind of one Edgar Allan Poe. It entitled "A Dream Within A Dream".

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

This is my personal favorite from Edgar Allan Poe. I like it because of the dark mood and the concept of false reality that the narrator seems to experience. In a way his private perpetual torment. This results in feeling of being astray. Dreams are supposed to be an escape from consciousness but the narrator in a way has an escape from an escape. There is definitely pathos because it makes you think about the possibility that if you're dreams are not safe then what is? What exactly is the fine line between illusion and reality? You get a definite sense of false security, and that applies to the ethos because every experiences dreams. The overall message of hopelessness and the potential of it happening to everybody adds a much more grim tone to it. Dreams are the time when our own truths are escaped and anything from Cocoa Puffs to evil mutated hot dogs taking over the universe with hot batter can come to life. Our dreams are uniquely what we call our own and with that lies the fear of what happens when that is taken from us. Like the Chris Nolan film "Inception" without the suspenseful ending.

Alex at a Glance

My name is Alex William Goldsmith. I was born on July 22, 1993 in Evanston Hospital. I am just about completely obsessed with music (listening,playing,writing,performing) and have been since I was first enthralled by a guitar just a week after I turned thirteen. I remember hearing my first rock song when I was about four years old but it wasn't until I saw my dad playing his old acoustic that I knew immediately what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I can safely say I never even thought about anything else. Other interests I have are burning things, reading, playing with my niece, watching movies, juggling, video games, and hanging out with friends. I went to the Chicago Math and Science Academy from sixth grade all the way to the end of high school. It's a very small school with an average of fifty students in my graduating class. 

I have always felt that musicians grow the most by playing music with other people and feeding off of other people’s ideas.  Playing in your room by yourself for hours on end and playing along to your favorite records only goes so far.  Eventually you start to crave that feeling of playing in a live setting with other people.  That is the only thing that I regret about going to a small high school.  The diversity in music only stretches so far and there’s only a select few who are really musically inclined and seem to have that drive.  I always felt a certain level of isolation when it comes to that at my school.

When I first started playing my parents weren’t very enthusiastic.  Before I started to learn guitar I had many things that I grew bored with quickly such as martial arts, soccer, and hockey.  I was never as driven to achieve at something as much until I became inspired to start playing music.  There’s something about begging your parents to spring for that first guitar that really gets you going - even when they buy you an eighty dollar steel string when you want to sound like Metallica!

I would much rather try and push myself to do what makes me happy instead of stapling papers together at an office. Whether it’s my parents or the less musically inclined environment of my high school that became an obstacle in my path of wanting to be a better musician, I refuse to succumb to the negative attitudes of doing what makes them happy.  My passion overshadows my surroundings.  I know what I want to do with my life and nothing or no one will tell me otherwise. That is why I chose Columbia.