Media Meditation Numero 4: Beats By Dr. Dre (Headphones)

Picture by IClassified

One of my favorite gifts I remember getting in the last few years was The Beats by Dr. Dre Studio Headphones. They are some of the best headphones on the market. They are meant to be used in the studio when making music. I appreciate having these every hour of every day.

Dr. Dre is one of my favorite rappers of all time. If not number one, then he is my second favorite producer (next to J.Dilla.) He is famous for revolutionizing West Coast hip hop and instrumentals. The songs of his most known by him are, Nuttin But a G-Thang, Forgot About Dre, and Still Dre. His songs usually revolve around the hood, disrespecting women, and smoking weed. At the same time the quality of the instrumentals, and his flow are highly professional.

The reason these headphones are amazing is quite simple. The headphones were made with powered amplification. They also have amazing powered noise cancellation, allowing you to listen to music in complete serenity. My favorite part is how they are some of the first headphones with bass inside them.

Media Meditation Numero 3: Al Green: Tokyo Live

This medium is one that means a lot to me. This week my dad surprised with my first package in the mail. I'm waiting for a new TV and hdml chord but I was pleased with Al Green: Tokyo Live. Although i usually credit my mother for originating my love for soul, my dad is right there with me. Al Green is a complete monster when it comes to the microphone. He is famous for his songs "Let's Get Married", and "Let's Stay Together."

Image by Amazon. (AKA Kindle King)

The CD started with his version of Nat King Cole's L-O-V-E. That was spectacular. I didn't realize he had a version of this song and he put anything that Cole didn't into it. Next song he played was "I'm So Tired of Being Alone." This happens to be my favorite song. Ever.

1. "L-O-V-E (Love)" (Green, Willie Mitchell, Mabon "Teenie" Hodges)
2. "Tired of Being Alone" (Green)
3. "Let's Stay Together" (Green, Willie Mitchell, Al Jackson, Jr.)
4. "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" (Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb)
5. "All 'n All" (Green, Reuben Fairfax, Jr., Fred Jordan)
6. "Belle" (Green, Reuben Fairfax, Jr., Fred Jordan)
7. "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)" (Green)
8. "Let's Get Married" (Green)
9. "God Blessed our Love" (Green, Willie Mitchell, Earl Randle)
10. "You Ought to be With Me" (Green, Willie Mitchell, Al Jackson, Jr.)
11. "For the Good Times" (Kris Kristofferson)
12. "Dream" {Green, Reuben Fairfax, Jr., Fred Jordan)
13. "I Feel Good" {Green, Reuben Fairfax, Jr., Fred Jordan)
14. "Love and Happiness" (Green, Mabon "Teenie" Hodges)

If you know Al Green like I do, you realize these are his most spectacular songs. He is actually often criticized for not raising his voice enough. It's funny cause when he does so, he has one of the best soprano voices in soul. It is sad that he does not have enough CDs' or DVDs' of live concerts. I believe there is a Al Green: Tokyo live DVD so i will look into getting that.

If anyone likes soul music, or good music in general, I recommend this CD. If you have not discovered Al Green yet, get the hell off Mars and go to the record store.

Magazine.

ADBUSTERS

(My copy was personally handed to me by Rob Williams. "In the end, it will be music that saves us")

Thesis:

They want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age. This is a perfect medium for the class Media and Society. The magazine is all images, busting on Ads. The reason for the magazine is to give people a sensible idea of what ads try and do to you. They spread the idea that companies are bad and try and suck things out of you. Ads are a very easy to mock.

Facts:

1. Adbusters is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
2. Adbusters is a non for profit, reader supported, 120,000 circulated magazine.
3. A one year subscription for Adbusters is only $38.
4. Adbusters have different campaigns. One of which is a National Buy Nothing Day. They encourage on November 26th you don't spend any money on purchasing products.
5. Adbusters is referred to as the Journal of The Mental Environment.

Triune Brain:

This magazine uses all forms of the brain. They have pictures that make feelings arise. It has limbic elements because when you see mockery of an ad or symbol you might consume, it might hurt you. Sadness, regret, and humor can easily come from this medium. It is also very Neo-Cortex. The images are meant to have you think about what you consume and what garbage advertising feeds you. The magazine also has aspects connecting to the reptilian brain. Images in the magazine spur fear towards consumers.

Limbic. (What are your emotions towards yourself?)

Neo-Cortex. (Are you really "kool"?)

Reptilian. (Not so cool after you flight.)

Principles:

The most applied principle of this magazine, I would say is Valued message.

The reason we analyze medium is completely demonstrated by this magazine. They are trying to show the flaws in advertisements. Another principle is emotional transfer. Just as it is a limbic using magazine, plenty of feelings come from reading/viewing it. One ad I specifically found very funny. It was for a happiness pill.

Trends:

One trend used is epistemological. They use images rather than words to make strong points. For example, half the magazine are full page pictures. Also the website has an interactive preview of the current magazine. Economic shift is applied. They use symbols of major corporations to mock them.

Persuasive Techniques:

They use plenty of symbols in this magazine. These symbols are ones you see everyday, like mcdonalds, google, and political parties. They use this to mock them. The magazine also uses straw man and scapegoating. They completely attack specific companies and ideas.

Symbols:

Scapegoating & Straw Man:

All images are brought by Adbusters.

A look at Adbuster's job through video.

Hooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest for Prosperity from Dave Gardner on Vimeo.

Midterm-Mayhem. Mid term Responce

After studying the 21st century media for eight weeks in class, what have you learned? Please be specific.

The things I have learned can be put on paper and only thought out mentally. I learned at this point, a decent chunk if not all the power tools. From media and society class I now have the ability to watch, read, or listen to a medium and analyze it myself. Luckily this class tought me ways media manipulates and takes advantage of people. I can pick out how they do so and why they are.

What is the most important thin you have learned about yourself as critical reader, a writer, and a thinker in this class so far?

The most important thing I have learned has to be viewing media. Before this class I watched every advertisement as a consumer. Now even if I have no interest, I can take a media apart. I learned as a reader how to analyze media, as a writer I can say what exactly a medium is doing, and as a thinker I can decide weather or not a medium is true.

What's one thing you would do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

If I could do one thing over in class, it was honestly have been to look at the power tools more often from the start. I took them in from class and a little study but did not put enough effort into making them stick.

What's one thing you would like me to do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

One thing I would do differently is adding more types of media. Until the magazine assignment the only media we have really part taken in viewing have been videos. Maybe we can see a whole movie critically, or read an article for analyzing.

Please comment on the usefulness of the power tools, our course blog, your personal blog, our in-class quizzes, our films, and our book(s) as learning tools.

The power tools for me are personally the most important and my favorite thing about the class. It helps me get a sense of media, and I feel it to be the point of the class. If I have taken anything important from class, it’s the ability to use the power tools. The blogging is something else I am highly interested in. Now that I type it into Microsoft word I can see they haven’t added the word “blogging” yet. I think it is fun to use our own personal web site to jot down thoughts and analyze media of our choice. It gives us a freedom and allows us to be creative. The daily quizzes might be tough sometimes if I don’t stay up on the power tools but it helps me study and know what I should have learned. The films in class are a perfect way to physically see what I have learned. Setting up the 6 box flash card puts to test the power tools, so it is important. The book is not a bad recourse, I think it does a good job at explaining different mediums and I like the images in it.