tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39387485778590117352024-02-19T21:33:49.591+11:00Walpurgis NightThoughts on Media and related topicsSharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-73521389464875680232013-10-29T18:55:00.000+11:002013-10-29T19:18:25.102+11:00I want those shoes betch!Creeber describes the growth in popularity of 'Webisodes', an online form of serialised drama that was made easier to view due to the development of flash technology used by 'Youtube'. He contrasts this phenomenon with the increasing cinematic aspects of big budget Television shows. Creeber argues that the intimacy of earlier Television drama is dissipated in slick, digitally manipulated images of new shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS 2000). Shows like The Sopranos (HBO 1999-2007)have a cinematic visual style due to increased funding from subscriptions. Creeber proposes that the webisode's raw images from webcams and close-up confessional style presentation by actors is appealing to audiences who may be tired of visual spectacle and crave intimacy.<p>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/wCF3ywukQYA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
Liam Kyle Sullivan started creating videos for Youtube in 2006 and has had quite a few of his videos become viral (millions of views in a short amount of time). He created a character named Kelly and his audience followed the videos featuring her. This led to Sullivan playing Kelly in an off Broadway play as well as touring the U.S.A in a comedy show. The crossover from the internet into live performance is one that ties into the audience's craving for intimacy with the star of these comedic webisode's, Kelly. Liam's website has a variety of content and enables viewers to connect with his shows across a range of social media, thereby encouraging fan interaction with the narratives. He also continues to upload his amateur videos regularly, ensuring audience loyalty. <p>
Creeber, Glen, It's not TV, it's online drama: The return of the intimate screen. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 2011, 14: 591. DOI: 10.1177/1367877911402589<p>
http://www.liamshow.com/Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-90135008989731868342013-10-14T17:40:00.001+11:002013-10-19T14:58:12.576+11:00David Halperin the Queen is not dead. - Divine / John Waters<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bpYTkavEt20" width="459"></iframe>
<br />
David Halperin noticed his students were bored/dissatisfied with gay male literature. They were more excited by the edginess of queering straight culture, specifically female centred movies/TV shows. They were drawing cartoons identifying themselves with the female characters. Gays have identified with women in Hollywood and music for a long time. Halperin suspects that there needs to be a study done on this and I agree. He proposes that queering is a way of identifying with a global sense of gayness, thereby avoiding stigma and shame put on the individual person. Its an expression of gay desire that is free to go deeper into fantasy.<br />
<br />
The expression of queer culture in the appropriation of famous female stars was firstly mined from 20th century Hollywood film. Divine channels Elizabeth Taylor in this clip from Female Trouble. There are references to the 1966 film "<a href="http://youtu.be/xWoAOohbr5M">Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?</a> <br />
<br />
David Halperin proposes that gay culture is disappearing due to gentrification, changes in law and the rise of the internet. Gentrification of inner city enclaves that were once thriving gay communities has occurred throughout the 1980's onwards. People used to have to physically go out to meet others. The internet is now a popular way to connect socially. Gay bars and newspapers are declining in numbers. The social app Grindr is widely used by gay men to hook up. The public sphere for homosexuals has changed. Now there are more gay people living in small towns that are isolated except for the internet. <br />
<br />
The goals of gay rights have changed to gay marriage, military service and religion. These are all elements of heteronormativity. While they are about human rights, they are also about assimilation. Queer culture is disappearing under a blanket of heteronormativity. Halperin argues that gay men have queered heterosexual culture as a way of making their own unique space. Diversity is valuable. Reality is bland if its all heteronormative.<br />
<br />
<br />
Halperin, David M., How To Be Gay, Harvard University Press, 2012.<br />
Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-53475141823954385192013-10-14T17:28:00.000+11:002013-10-14T19:50:34.258+11:00Cara Delevingne: Come and Find Me/ Fantasy, play and desire in advertising. <br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/b0pthjDdhOY" width="480"></iframe> <style type="text/css">P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); line-height: 115%; widows: 2; orphans: 2; }P.western { font-family: "Calibri",serif; font-size: 11pt; }P.cjk { font-family: "WenQuanYi Micro Hei"; font-size: 11pt; }P.ctl { font-size: 11pt; }</style> <br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Why didn’t we have the revolution that Karl Marx predicted? Because Marx didn’t predict the effects technological advances have had on society. Modern medicine means we have had unprecedented population growth. Modern communications means businesses can be run globally. Mass media and advertising have had huge effects on societies consumption patterns. </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Rachel Bowlby (1993) examines the psychology behind the process of consumption. She looks at sales and marketing manuals from the 1890s and the development of advertising psychology and the development of Freudian psychology in the 20<sup>th</sup> century. She compares Freud’s approach to psychology as being similar to the gain and loss scenario of ‘making up’ a term used in sales manuals from the 1920s onwards. </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Bowlby describes the four basic stages of a sale as</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"> 1. <span lang="fr-FR">Attraction</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><span lang="fr-FR">2. Interest</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><span lang="fr-FR">3. Desire</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><span lang="fr-FR">4. Sale (Action)</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">She describes the point at which a customer decides to buy a product as “The point at which both control over actions and mental conflict – a tension between ideas – are eliminated. “ Bowlby states that this moment is similar to the moment of recognition that occurs during analysis because it involves intuition and is a turning point.</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Bowlby argues that the psychological practices of consumption make it a sophisticated process and therefore not something to be devalued or not considered. How much psychological influence have television shows and commercials had on human beings consumption habits? What kind of a play/drama are you performing every time you enter a store? Is your decision to purchase experienced as a magical moment?</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br />
<br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Bowlby, Rachel, (1993) Make up your mind: scenes from the psychology of shopping and selling, In, Shopping with Freud (pp.94-119). Routledge. ISBN 0-415060079</div>Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-83827003472672648042013-10-14T16:59:00.001+11:002013-10-14T19:51:11.421+11:00Alexander McQueen : Taste and consumption<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/65x1V_vCmkE" width="459"></iframe> <style type="text/css">P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); widows: 2; orphans: 2; }P.western { font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: "Dingbats"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: "Symbol"; font-size: 12pt; }</style> <br />
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-AU">When discussing the phenomenon of consumption, Jean Baudrillard (1998) argues that popularization of a need or product can only occur after it has been first formed at an elite level of society. It then flows down to the lower and middle classes in their unending quest for improvement of status. Baudrillard refers to this pattern as a structured social field. It is a law that governs the introduction of new distinctive commodities and needs.</span></span></span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-AU">This theory may not always be true. Alexander Mc Queen who is from a working class background was a fashion designer, artist and showman. His innovation with design was unique. It was only after he gained popularity with the public that Givenchy employed him. This example shows how new ideas can form and grow in approval from any level of society.</span></span></span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-AU">McQueen's Autumn/Winter 2007 show was inspired by Elizabeth Howe, an ancestor of his who was murdered in the Salem witch trials of 1692. His shows were like performance art, his clothes were an alchemy of imagination, skill and passion.</span></span></span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-AU">Baudrillard, Jean (1998), The social logic of consumption. In, The consumer society: myths and structures (pp.49-68). SAGE. ISBN 0-761956921.</span></span></span></div>Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-23147005346764991482013-10-11T12:38:00.002+11:002013-10-22T16:41:56.892+11:00The value of videoIn her essay 'Indigenous media: faustian contract or global village?' Faye Ginsburg discusses the use of video as cultural mediation by Indigenous people in Australia and Canada. Ethnographic filmmaking is a practice associated with Anthropology. Some filmmakers began addressing questions of ethics and agency in the 1950s and 60s. Indigenous people in Australia and the U.S. Began making their own film and media in the 1970s. The popularity of VCR's and the launch of communication satellites in the 1980s brought Western mainstream media into remote Indigenous settlements in Central Australia and Alaska. These communities used the technology to insert some of their own cultural content into the programming. (Ginsburg 1991)</p><br /><br /><p>
Small community media groups (Warlpiri) and larger organizations (CAAMA, Imparja) began programming Australian Indigenous content in the 1980s. Works being produced were addressing historical injustices, dreaming stories, dances, music, food hunting techniques and biographies of elders. The vision and audience is local and the culture includes contemporary life. Ginsbergh (1991 105) proposes that in this way culture is preserved and also evolving at the same time.</p><br /><br /><p>
“They [Australian indigenous produced films] are not based on some retrieval of an idealized past, but create and assert a position for the present that attempts to accommodate the inconsistencies and contradictions of contemporary life. For Aboriginal Australians , these encompass the powerful relationships to land, myth and ritual, the fragmented history of contact with Europeans and continued threats to language, health, culture, and social life, and positive efforts in the present to deal with problems stemming from these assaults.”</p><br /><br /><p>
Francis Jupurrula Kelly is one of the key founders of Warlpiri media and he is still producing work there today. <a href="http://www.pawmedia.com.au/library/coniston-behind-the-scenes-setting-up-a-scene-1222">This clip</a> shows him directing actors for a documentary co-produced by PAW media and Rebel films. He speaks two languages on set and has his own vision of how the story will be recreated. The resulting work 'Coniston' is very powerful because many people got to tell their story of the 1928 massacre for the first time. A historical crime is told from an <a href="http://www.nitv.org.au/fx-story.cfm?sid=191734DB-EC86-3EAB-8865D8BD226F11EA">Australian indigenous perspective</a>. This is part of the process of identity construction through culture.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uBPI3YQTOb0/UldTkFQeDQI/AAAAAAAAAkA/IML3KO91AnE/s1600/4135966-3x2-340x227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uBPI3YQTOb0/UldTkFQeDQI/AAAAAAAAAkA/IML3KO91AnE/s320/4135966-3x2-340x227.jpg" /></a></div>
Co-writer/director Francis Kelly interviews one of the descendants of the survivors of the Coniston massacre.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Fnp3yZV4ZfI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Ginsburg, F. (1991). "Indigenous media: faustian contract or global village?" Cultural
Anthropology 6(1), 92-112.
Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-37175545878216227972013-09-24T23:53:00.003+10:002013-09-25T00:38:50.710+10:00Pussy Riot and the politics of fear.Elizabeth Groeneveld (2009) argues that the feminist magazine <a href="http://www.bust.com/magazine/on-newsstands-now-oct/nov-2013.html">BUST </a>takes a neo liberal approach to feminism in a 2006 article titled "Be a feminist or just dress like one." Six important feminists served as the inspiration for a fashion spread that, although playfully ironic, clearly stripped the historical and political meaning of these figures. Groeneveld proposes that this is an example of a neo liberal approach to feminism- Lifestyle feminism. Women can choose what aspects of feminism they want to adopt and which ideas they'd like to discard. While this falls under the movement of 'third wave feminism' it is ultimately ineffective because it doesn't encourage women to examine the role of social institutions and larger organisations in regards to inequality.
<blockquote>"While lifestyle feminism arguably provides a version of feminism that is friendly and accessible, it does not offer an analysis of collective injustice and cannot serve as a basis for activism beyond individual acts of consumption." (Groeneveld 2009)</blockquote>
I read a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/sep/23/pussy-riot-hunger-strike-nadezhda-tolokonnikova">letter </a>from Nadezhda Tolokonnikova printed in 'The Guardian' newspaper today and I was deeply moved by her courage and conviction. She was arrested in February 2012 with members of the feminist group "<a href="http://freepussyriot.org/">Pussy Riot</a>'for performing a song with Lyrics asking the Virgin Mary to get rid of Putin. Her group claims they are sick of the patriarchal rule in Russia making life hard for women. They ask for true democracy and better opportunities for women. I hope that Pussy Riot eventually achieve these aims. There is still a need for feminist actions that challenge institutions and demand change. These aren't always comfortable questions but they must be encouraged. These women are true heroes,standing up to injustice and oppression.
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w_bWHRY-rrY/UkGabE7zi1I/AAAAAAAAAjs/HHqcJaEGLM4/s1600/Pussy-Riots-Nadezhda-Tolo-008.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w_bWHRY-rrY/UkGabE7zi1I/AAAAAAAAAjs/HHqcJaEGLM4/s320/Pussy-Riots-Nadezhda-Tolo-008.jpg" /></a>
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/sep/23/pussy-riot-hunger-strike-nadezhda-tolokonnikova
‘Be a feminist or just dress like one’: BUST, fashion and feminism as lifestyle.
Elizabeth Groeneveld, Journal of Gender Studies Vol. 18, No. 2, June 2009, 179–190
Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-79005715796806308772012-08-29T14:47:00.000+10:002013-09-25T00:16:36.294+10:00The Pastiche of moments.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6G7HSOIrUXU/UD2WyA0kszI/AAAAAAAAAhg/LnPwi1e2wMo/s1600/1472784171_cefd09a6f8_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6G7HSOIrUXU/UD2WyA0kszI/AAAAAAAAAhg/LnPwi1e2wMo/s320/1472784171_cefd09a6f8_z.jpg"
/></a></div>
<b>Vincent Van Gogh, <i>A pair of shoes</i>, 1886.</b>
"I will briefly suggest, in this first interpretative option, that the
willed and violent transformation of a drab peasant object world into
the most glorious materialization of pure colour in oil paint is to be
seen as a Utopian gesture: as an act of compensation which ends up
producing a whole new Utopian realm of the senses, or at least of that
supreme sense—sight, the visual, the eye—which it now reconstitutes
for us as a semi-autonomous space in its own right—part of some new
division of labour in the body of capital, some new fragmentation of
the emergent sensorium which replicates the specializations and divisions
of capitalist life at the same time that it seeks in precisely such
fragmentation a desperate Utopian compensation for them." (Jameson, p.58)
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cgKpeAGvZpI/UD2X1hXi72I/AAAAAAAAAhs/L_lZwUmy4NQ/s1600/Warhol_Diamond_dustshoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="241" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cgKpeAGvZpI/UD2X1hXi72I/AAAAAAAAAhs/L_lZwUmy4NQ/s320/Warhol_Diamond_dustshoes.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>Andy Warhol, <i>diamond Dust Shoes</i>, 1980.
</b>
Here, on the contrary, it is as though the external and coloured surface
of things—debased and contaminated in advance by their assimilation
to glossy advertising images—has been stripped away to reveal the
deathly black-and-white substratum of the photographic negative which
subtends them. Although this kind of death of the world of appearance
becomes thematized in certain of Warhol’s pieces—most notably, the
traffic accidents or the electric chair series—this is not, I think, a matter
of content any longer but of some more fundamental mutation both in
the object world itself—now become a set of texts or simulacra—and in
the disposition of the subject. (Jameson,p.64)
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yIO-ieLEXLQ/UD2Zzrx9FhI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/VfqmSzX4Zcc/s1600/DSC_0046_crb.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="211" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yIO-ieLEXLQ/UD2Zzrx9FhI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/VfqmSzX4Zcc/s320/DSC_0046_crb.JPG" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eGjkFLFLl4k/UD2ZyvGJvlI/AAAAAAAAAh4/6DpzzY0CQEM/s1600/IMG_0548_cr.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="237" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eGjkFLFLl4k/UD2ZyvGJvlI/AAAAAAAAAh4/6DpzzY0CQEM/s320/IMG_0548_cr.JPG" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CmK9lZwmP8Y/UD2ZzMgItAI/AAAAAAAAAiE/haTOsK0wjZk/s1600/IMG_0548_cpr.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="225" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CmK9lZwmP8Y/UD2ZzMgItAI/AAAAAAAAAiE/haTOsK0wjZk/s320/IMG_0548_cpr.JPG" /></a></div>
The waning of affect, however, might also have been characterized, in the narrower context of literary criticism, as the waning of the great high-modernist thematics of time and temporality, the elegiac mysyeries of <i>duree</i> and of memory (something to be understood fully as a category of literary criticism associated as much with high modernism as with the works themselves). We have often been told, however, that we now inhabit the synchronic rather than the diachronic, and I think it is at least empirically arguable that our daily life, our psychic experience, our cultural languages, are today dominated by categories of space rather than by categories of time, as in the preceding period of high modernism proper. (Jameson, p.64)
Jameson,Frederick, <i>Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism</i>, Duke University Press Books, 1990.Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-17079010709300885962010-07-09T15:49:00.022+10:002010-07-13T11:51:08.966+10:00The Global Fishing Crisis<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmKnkBxLGI/AAAAAAAAAeI/PnK6I9yTji4/s1600/Slide1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmKnkBxLGI/AAAAAAAAAeI/PnK6I9yTji4/s400/Slide1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492573632845655138" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmLR1Mrg7I/AAAAAAAAAeY/nBUzF5275xQ/s1600/Slide2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmLR1Mrg7I/AAAAAAAAAeY/nBUzF5275xQ/s400/Slide2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492574359009330098" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDl_jpKX_cI/AAAAAAAAAdI/FiGuMGhLBjk/s1600/Slide2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDl_jpKX_cI/AAAAAAAAAdI/FiGuMGhLBjk/s400/Slide2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492561470876548546" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmDaqpTjVI/AAAAAAAAAeA/KATG6JDkNQQ/s1600/Slide10.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmDaqpTjVI/AAAAAAAAAeA/KATG6JDkNQQ/s400/Slide10.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492565714702404946" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmK7x-FP_I/AAAAAAAAAeQ/Pelj-o_AUMc/s1600/Slide12.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmK7x-FP_I/AAAAAAAAAeQ/Pelj-o_AUMc/s400/Slide12.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492573980185673714" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmNiGV6lSI/AAAAAAAAAfA/zFG9RYgHS5k/s1600/Slide14.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmNiGV6lSI/AAAAAAAAAfA/zFG9RYgHS5k/s400/Slide14.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492576837512631586" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmR7JIPhVI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/rceSzqh-5a8/s1600/The+Global+Fishing+Crisis2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmR7JIPhVI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/rceSzqh-5a8/s400/The+Global+Fishing+Crisis2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492581665803830610" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmSd3BdD0I/AAAAAAAAAfY/59iPbR4lC5Q/s1600/Slide9.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmSd3BdD0I/AAAAAAAAAfY/59iPbR4lC5Q/s400/Slide9.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492582262238940994" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmLwcUVpNI/AAAAAAAAAeg/6GGd1MdX2GE/s1600/Slide3.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmLwcUVpNI/AAAAAAAAAeg/6GGd1MdX2GE/s400/Slide3.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492574884906509522" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmB2ail-qI/AAAAAAAAAdw/tDDJB4Wods8/s1600/Slide8.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmB2ail-qI/AAAAAAAAAdw/tDDJB4Wods8/s400/Slide8.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492563992392366754" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmMPOTcxsI/AAAAAAAAAeo/UvD970JWtEY/s1600/Slide6.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmMPOTcxsI/AAAAAAAAAeo/UvD970JWtEY/s400/Slide6.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492575413720630978" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmMcLacE1I/AAAAAAAAAew/npsQyjUkfDE/s1600/Slide7.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmMcLacE1I/AAAAAAAAAew/npsQyjUkfDE/s400/Slide7.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492575636282938194" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmCuwwUMHI/AAAAAAAAAd4/oz8i8qaUTSc/s1600/Slide9.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmCuwwUMHI/AAAAAAAAAd4/oz8i8qaUTSc/s400/Slide9.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492564960428175474" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmNILSknsI/AAAAAAAAAe4/8JY7EYyshkQ/s1600/Slide11.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmNILSknsI/AAAAAAAAAe4/8JY7EYyshkQ/s400/Slide11.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492576392164187842" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDa7IVtlWxI/AAAAAAAAAbg/ZA_rc54eywg/s1600/Slide14.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDa7IVtlWxI/AAAAAAAAAbg/ZA_rc54eywg/s400/Slide14.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491782547566582546" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDa6x2jdnaI/AAAAAAAAAbY/oHMXM921aFY/s1600/Slide15.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDa6x2jdnaI/AAAAAAAAAbY/oHMXM921aFY/s400/Slide15.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491782161245511074" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDa6nk5yM_I/AAAAAAAAAbQ/TzcFIxVPDCE/s1600/Slide16.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDa6nk5yM_I/AAAAAAAAAbQ/TzcFIxVPDCE/s400/Slide16.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491781984708604914" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmAAXpUHXI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/bbAD-xKbyZ8/s1600/Slide4.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmAAXpUHXI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/bbAD-xKbyZ8/s400/Slide4.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492561964390686066" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmA8vM0lrI/AAAAAAAAAdg/T5iDJvcIPiY/s1600/Slide5.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmA8vM0lrI/AAAAAAAAAdg/T5iDJvcIPiY/s400/Slide5.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492563001505781426" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmAfNYdSXI/AAAAAAAAAdY/f5Q580zHDws/s1600/Slide6.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmAfNYdSXI/AAAAAAAAAdY/f5Q580zHDws/s400/Slide6.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492562494211574130" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmOFGrW9ZI/AAAAAAAAAfI/CnQ9HvbaruU/s1600/Slide15.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/TDmOFGrW9ZI/AAAAAAAAAfI/CnQ9HvbaruU/s400/Slide15.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492577438897993106" /></a>Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-29451317126619588972010-03-26T12:55:00.014+11:002010-07-13T11:49:37.616+10:00How the United Socialist Party of Venezuela is improving the lives of the materially poor.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6waBfSM-rI/AAAAAAAAAa4/ZbPAWQ2I8mY/s1600/Slide1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6waBfSM-rI/AAAAAAAAAa4/ZbPAWQ2I8mY/s400/Slide1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452761861718866610" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZ8rv1dEI/AAAAAAAAAaw/GAej83cozn8/s1600/Slide2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZ8rv1dEI/AAAAAAAAAaw/GAej83cozn8/s400/Slide2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452761779165033538" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZ343Iu-I/AAAAAAAAAao/rC45wPpOLGw/s1600/Slide3.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZ343Iu-I/AAAAAAAAAao/rC45wPpOLGw/s400/Slide3.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452761696785972194" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZyR_h0mI/AAAAAAAAAag/J_0cXrypyEU/s1600/Slide4.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZyR_h0mI/AAAAAAAAAag/J_0cXrypyEU/s400/Slide4.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452761600452842082" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZtQ4-RhI/AAAAAAAAAaY/K87hlPn3YZ8/s1600/Slide5.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZtQ4-RhI/AAAAAAAAAaY/K87hlPn3YZ8/s400/Slide5.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452761514257565202" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZoD6KyOI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/CddJsJtPjUc/s1600/Slide6.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZoD6KyOI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/CddJsJtPjUc/s400/Slide6.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452761424873572578" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZiG_5DBI/AAAAAAAAAaI/PkMdLNzppqw/s1600/Slide7.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZiG_5DBI/AAAAAAAAAaI/PkMdLNzppqw/s400/Slide7.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452761322623667218" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZb5qJ5rI/AAAAAAAAAaA/tOtiPc6hMtY/s1600/Slide8.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZb5qJ5rI/AAAAAAAAAaA/tOtiPc6hMtY/s400/Slide8.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452761215963621042" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZV5-bsSI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/NVakH2jGufs/s1600/Slide9.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZV5-bsSI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/NVakH2jGufs/s400/Slide9.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452761112969457954" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZNQrti4I/AAAAAAAAAZw/2tkSCmLRFyc/s1600/Slide10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S6wZNQrti4I/AAAAAAAAAZw/2tkSCmLRFyc/s400/Slide10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452760964446129026" /></a>Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-57636474886976786782010-03-15T17:12:00.001+11:002010-07-13T11:51:57.357+10:00MacMaster + Leahy play the fiddle | Video on TED.com<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/natalie_macmaster_and_donnell_leahy_play_the_cape_breton_fiddle.html">MacMaster + Leahy play the fiddle | Video on TED.com</a>Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-33204896395184297232010-02-03T10:36:00.023+11:002010-07-13T11:52:38.406+10:00Photomontage and Hannah Hoch.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S2jAFCID80I/AAAAAAAAAYk/OgbaKl_bZSs/s1600-h/Black_White.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 256px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S2jAFCID80I/AAAAAAAAAYk/OgbaKl_bZSs/s400/Black_White.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433804143125066562" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S2i4V7xe22I/AAAAAAAAAYc/TeAQsUcmhnw/s1600-h/Scan10006+-+Copy.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S2i4V7xe22I/AAAAAAAAAYc/TeAQsUcmhnw/s400/Scan10006+-+Copy.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433795637384502114" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S2i4VeQuOxI/AAAAAAAAAYU/F8OCM2TFS4o/s1600-h/Scan10007+-+Copy.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S2i4VeQuOxI/AAAAAAAAAYU/F8OCM2TFS4o/s400/Scan10007+-+Copy.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433795629462469394" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S2i3bOtFPnI/AAAAAAAAAYM/jpZIR4Oa5gQ/s1600-h/Scan10008+-+Copy.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 291px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S2i3bOtFPnI/AAAAAAAAAYM/jpZIR4Oa5gQ/s400/Scan10008+-+Copy.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433794628854038130" border="0" /></a><br />I made a Chanel themed collage last week. I was inspired by the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JBAxkZun3s&feature=related">music</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_Talk_%28musician%29">Girltalk</a> (Gregg Michael Gillis). He is a musician who makes <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxcCfqbazpg"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">music</span> </a>from mash-ups/remixes of popular songs. You can see some really good <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKqkcHvJN9k&feature=related">fan videos</a> set to his songs on Youtube. The animated <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK3O_qZVqXk">video</a> by students at Concordia University is outstanding. I really like the whole concept of creating art from popular culture like Warhol and Dada. I wanted to make something that reflected my interest in contemporary media, fashion and advertising.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S2oe2O5ZKLI/AAAAAAAAAYs/y2zcK4t_mfU/s1600-h/Dada.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 318px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S2oe2O5ZKLI/AAAAAAAAAYs/y2zcK4t_mfU/s400/Dada.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434189817436514482" /></a><br />Hannah Höch, <span style="font-style:italic;">Cut with the Dada Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany</span>, 1919, collage of pasted papers, 90 x 144 cm, Staatliche Museum, Berlin.<br /><p>Hannah Hoch (November 1, 1889 – May 31, 1978) was a German Dada artist. The Dadaists referred to their works as photomontage rather than collage in order to reinforce the mechanical, industrial worker associations with that word. This term also served to distinguish their work from Cubist collages.</p><br /><br /><p> Hoch began making photomontages in 1918 - after the end of World War 1 and the beginning of the Weimar Republic (1919). She arranged images from printed media to comment on social and political issues of this time. She was dissatisfied with the actions of the new, democratic government which still seemed to be strongly influenced by the Imperial, Militaristic forces it claimed to oppose.</p><br /><br /><p> Her work also evolved to contain the main theme of gender relations, in particular women's role in the new Germany. Rather than serious moralizing, Hoch presented her ideas with irony and humour.</p><br /><br /><p> Technically her talent for layering and patterning images in a complex style reflected her skills as a patternmaker/designer in her job at Ullstein Press. She designed and illustrated textile patterns for women's magazines.</p><br /><br /><p> Her work was never taken seriously by the Dadaist artists at the time, most of whom were male. Women's work wasn't valued as highly as men's in those times and indeed women had only been granted the vote in 1919. But this was also a time of universal suffrage. Hoch used her work to express her own personal dissatisfactions while at the same time observing broader social themes of marriage and bourgeois life. Taken as a whole her body of work represents an important comment and observation of women's political role in Germany. </p>Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-81493666854492287392010-01-02T23:08:00.003+11:002010-07-13T11:53:07.997+10:00Smiley face - trailer Video by SMILEY FACE - MySpace Video<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://thecia.com.au/reviews/s/images/smiley-face-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 350px; height: 230px;" src="http://thecia.com.au/reviews/s/images/smiley-face-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=24083565">Smiley face - trailer Video by SMILEY FACE - MySpace Video</a><br /><br />This is the funniest movie I've seen in a long time. Anna Faris is great as the leading character. Her strength comes from the fact that she isn't playing a role in a romantic comedy. She behaves very gender neutral and seems to be very independent. Director Gregg Araki's first film <span style="font-style: italic;">The Living End</span> was banned in the United States because it had a gay sex scene. All of his movies contain edgy counterculture themes and characters. This movie transported me back to my twenties with its comedic portrayal of the confusion and uncertainty of youth.Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-91178409012316925442010-01-02T20:46:00.004+11:002010-07-13T11:53:40.649+10:00Are Women as Horny as Men? from Last Pictures - Video<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S10f5CvetfI/AAAAAAAAAYE/s9VLm__y538/s1600-h/GavinMcInnes.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 226px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/S10f5CvetfI/AAAAAAAAAYE/s9VLm__y538/s400/GavinMcInnes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430531790527706610" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c3370d5275/are-women-as-horny-as-men">Are Women as Horny as Men? from Last Pictures - Video</a><br /><br />This clip is great because it plays with gender roles. The reversal technique is also used in the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeKPWcmdXdg&feature=player_embedded"><span style="font-style: italic;">Madwomen</span></a> clip featured on my <a href="http://users.tpg.com.au/fluoresc/Buonanno.html">website</a>. Its clever because it confronts stereotypes and expectations.Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-45950854973680820672009-11-28T13:05:00.010+11:002009-11-28T13:50:13.383+11:00Mad Men Website<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SxCKTzYse7I/AAAAAAAAAXg/Wla_bEPukIg/s1600/theoriginaldork.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 179px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SxCKTzYse7I/AAAAAAAAAXg/Wla_bEPukIg/s400/theoriginaldork.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408975225287900082" border="0" /></a>I launched my <a href="http://users.tpg.com.au/fluoresc/">new website</a> last night. I made it using free templates from <a href="http://matthewjamestaylor.com/">matthewjamestaylor.com</a>. I chose to create it as part of an assignment for Culture, Media studies. It was a really fun, interesting experience. I found some intriguing information on Madmen too while I was researching. <a href="http://www.ejumpcut.org/currentissue/mad-men/index.html">Jump Cut</a> has published a fantastic essay by Mark Taylor.Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-85352553320132006562009-10-30T16:58:00.007+11:002011-10-19T12:13:31.751+11:00Peeking behind the veil of appropriation.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mgq2g8st-Io/Tp4iusRHkoI/AAAAAAAAAgg/q4G4xe2IUdE/s1600/Nicole2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 202px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mgq2g8st-Io/Tp4iusRHkoI/AAAAAAAAAgg/q4G4xe2IUdE/s320/Nicole2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665003566830948994" /></a><br />'Jai Ho (You are my destiny)' performed by Pussycat Dolls. Music video by A.R. Rahman.<br /><br />A.R. Rahman is one of India's most successful composer/performers. He syncretizes Western classical with Hindustani and Carnatic music to invent new styles for film scores. A.R. Rahman wrote the song '<span style="font-style: italic;">Jai Ho</span>' for the film Slumdog Millionaire (2008). It became a huge hit and won an Academy Award in 2009 for Best original song.<br /><br />"Jai Ho" is a Hindi word that means 'May you be victorious.' The song was given a new interpretation when it was given English lyrics and released by the Pussycat Dolls on February 23, 2009. This version was titled <a href="http://youtu.be/Yc5OyXmHD0w"><span style="font-style: italic;">Jai Ho (You are my destiny)</span></a>. It occupied number one on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart from April 27 - May 10, 2009. The music video was shot at a tramway Museum in Vienna, Austria and is directed by Thomas Kloss. It is inspired by the final scene from Slumdog Millionaire. <br /><br />The fan activity with this music video has been extensive and varied. From <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzbvsTA8P-8">cultural dance performances....</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5cIrAO_PXc&feature=player_embedded">Choreographed dance</a>,<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxNmXQUkjOM&feature=player_embedded">Fitness routines,</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVDBqm8rBd4&feature=player_embedded">Alternative film with superimposed lyrics</a>,<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSZCVabYDVg&feature=player_embedded">to VJ Remixes<br /></a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H29dJOpmAk&feature=player_embedded">and DJ Remixes</a>.<br /><br />Matt Hills argues that the 'use-value' and 'exchange value' of an object can never be fully separated from one another. Even though fans appear to find new uses for a text that appear to depart from commercial value; these new forms can always be converted back to an item of exchange value.(35)<br /><br />Many fans seem to be aware of this possibility. Many of the videos above are an advertisement for the fan's services - as a DJ, VJ, Choreographer, Dancer or Fitness Instructor. Some of them even display the fan's email address. This means that fan activity cannot be classified as a binary of commercial or utopian. It is fluid and can move between the two at any time.<br /><br /><br />It's also interesting to note that <span style="font-style: italic;">Jai Ho (You are my destiny)</span> is an appropriation of the original song by A.R. Rahman. The fan activity further emphasizes the simulacrum effect. The issue of copyright infringement regarding fan activity was discussed in Tuesdays tutorial. The abovementioned videos illustrate one of the questions that arose from this discussion "Where is the boundary of copyright infringement?"<br /><br /><br />Matt Hills, "Fan Cultures Between Consumerism and 'Resistance'," in <span style="font-style: italic;">Fan Cultures</span>. London: Routledge, 2002, pp.27-45.Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-9197062089821155912009-10-25T20:04:00.005+11:002009-10-25T20:12:28.243+11:00Farmville phenomenon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GIRwrPgueGoNTmNM2eIjPnDhs-V7zXsXg5OtP7WG1tDiz7X89fUpe918GtWdZB0zmJH3gOvXBaMuMF7uNKyRhCnf3TAbHhkw-IFfbc5bZUDwqEHtqIs80X0G42lBwFrEkGFj2KHjwzo/s400/6735_110500212090_683847090_2715127_968184_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GIRwrPgueGoNTmNM2eIjPnDhs-V7zXsXg5OtP7WG1tDiz7X89fUpe918GtWdZB0zmJH3gOvXBaMuMF7uNKyRhCnf3TAbHhkw-IFfbc5bZUDwqEHtqIs80X0G42lBwFrEkGFj2KHjwzo/s400/6735_110500212090_683847090_2715127_968184_n.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2009-10-15-games-hit-social-networks_N.htm">Jon Swartz</a> (<span style="font-style: italic;">USA Today</span> online) reports on the rising popularity of game applications on social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace and Bebo. <span style="font-style: italic;">Farmville</span> created by Zynga has 56 million monthly users. Social gaming is a fast growing market and appears to be successful because people like to be social while playing games.<br /><br />Games generate profit by selling virtual goods to upgrade the players experience. They also make money by selling advertising space. Zynga's most recent game <span style="font-style: italic;">Cafeworld</span> attracted 10 million users in a week.<br /><br />Virginia Nightingale argues that the internet is becoming increasingly popular as a place to socialise and form identity (303). People used to get together in their homes or a public place to play games. Now an individual can play a game for 5-10 minutes anytime, anywhere. I find it reassuring that even with the rise of networked individualism people still like to be social.<br /><br />Reference: <span style="font-style: italic;">New Media World</span>s. Ed. Virginia Nightingale and Tim Dwyer. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2007.Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-58710953181825047412009-10-24T18:04:00.010+11:002017-02-26T14:09:10.652+11:00Buddhist Artefacts in Chinese history<o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style> <br />
--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
</div>
The introduction and acceptance of Buddhism into China was a long and complex process. It is difficult to piece together history by the remnants left behind. All the people who lived in those periods are dead. They can’t talk to us today about what their life was like. The artefacts they left behind are a valuable source of knowledge because they carry the voices of these people. This essay intends to investigate firstly to what extent social and religious information can be gleaned from four Chinese artefacts. Secondly it will examine why a diversity of effigies of the Buddha and Guanyin developed over time and distance.<br />
China was in political turmoil from approx 200-600 C.E. consequently many local kings embraced Buddhism hoping it would increase their power. Many of them preferred it because it was a new, foreign religion. The kings built monasteries and paid scholars to translate Buddhist texts from Sanskrit to Chinese. By 400C.E. the amount of Buddhist texts in China had vastly increased (Hansen 153-170).<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:smarttagtype name="City" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style> </div>
--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SuKp1B91YDI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/qAAzgwF9Wd8/s1600-h/New+Picture+%282%29.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396062032069222450" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SuKp1B91YDI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/qAAzgwF9Wd8/s320/New+Picture+(2).png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 224px;" /></a><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SuKp1B91YDI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/qAAzgwF9Wd8/s1600-h/New+Picture+%282%29.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a></div>
Gandharan Buddha in meditation (78 – 200 C.E.) is a small Buddha figure, 39.4cm high, carved from schist (metamorphic rock). The sculpture looks like a monk sitting in meditation pose with a halo behind him (Pang 98). The sculpture could have been used for Buddhist practise by the foreign traders that lived in the capital of China, Luoyang, in the 1st century C.E. They were some of the first Buddhists in China. Alternately they could have intended to sell it to wealthy Chinese Buddhists living in the capital. During the 2nd and 3rd centuries C.E. many Chinese began to pray to Buddha as well as the Daoist deity Laozi (Hansen 155). <br />
Buddhism had been entwined with trade from its commencement. In India Buddha (ca. 500 B.C.E) relied on donations from Merchants to help Buddhism thrive. Monasteries and Buddhist missionaries received funds from rich businessmen who expected protection and merit in return. China’s superior quality of silk led to a lot of trade with India via the silk route. India offered semi-precious gems and glass in return. Trade from the silk road supported Buddhist clergy therefore lay people were encouraged to give silk, gems, glass and semi precious stones to the Buddha. (Hansen 155-175).<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SuKp1B91YDI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/qAAzgwF9Wd8/s1600-h/New+Picture+%282%29.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a></div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SuKrj0ILGEI/AAAAAAAAAVY/Idc1odSIXLo/s1600-h/Clipboard01.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396063935319971906" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SuKrj0ILGEI/AAAAAAAAAVY/Idc1odSIXLo/s320/Clipboard01.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 208px;" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style> </div>
--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: 100%;">Seven treasures was the traditional term for the accessories of a ruler in India. By the third century C.E. this idea had evolved to include semi precious stones and metals (Hansen 173). Tibeto-Chinese Avalokitesvara (17th – 18th century) is a 115cm high gold coloured statue set with multi coloured stones and is described to have held Buddhist symbols, now missing. (Pang 102). These characteristics are reminiscent of the seven treasures myth that developed in China (Hansen 173). This statue looks like a young man sprouting many heads and arms. It illustrates a story from Indian tantric Buddhist scripture that was translated in China during the Tang dynasty (Chun-fang Yu 155). The myth explains claims that the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara grew many heads and hands in an empathetic reaction to people’s misery (Pang 102).</span></div>
Bodhisattvas accompanied living beings to enlightenment and were seen as helpers of the Buddha. They were spiritual beings who could change form as necessary to help living beings. (Paul 247). Avalokitesvara was depicted as a prince in India (Chun-fang Yu 150).<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SuKsZLa3GLI/AAAAAAAAAVg/U0z4IZlDfDA/s1600-h/New+Picture+%283%29.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396064852105435314" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SuKsZLa3GLI/AAAAAAAAAVg/U0z4IZlDfDA/s320/New+Picture+(3).png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 242px;" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:smarttagtype name="PlaceName" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="PlaceType" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="State" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style> </div>
--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
</div>
Chinese Guanyin (1115 – 1234 C.E.) is a sculpture made from wood that represents Avalokitesvara dressed in a prince’s costume. The sculpture would have been decorated in gold and bright colours. His face has Chinese features (Pang 97). The name Guanyin comes from the Chinese translation of Avalokitesvara, Kuan-Yin, which means looking at the sounds [of living beings]. Avalokitesvara was famous for being compassionate to all who needed his help. Many people prayed to him in the face of sickness, natural disaster or crime. (Paul 249). Pang indicates this sculpture was used in a Chinese Buddhist temple as a means of bringing followers closer to the sacred (97). <br />
Sculptures and paintings were an important way of communicating the meaning of Buddhist texts to people who couldn’t read. Lay people were also encouraged to print multiple images and texts of the Buddha or Guanyin in order to have their prayers answered by these deities. In turn this media helped to shape and reinforce new myths. Quite often people would claim to have seen a vision of the bodhisattva Guanyin and the vision they described would be similar to images being produced at that time. Wealthy men or kings would claim to have seen Guanyin in a dream or vision. They would then fund a temple to be built. Lay people would tell tales of miracles that happened at the site. The influence of Guanyin would grow. The temple would become a pilgrimage centre and attract even more pilgrims (Chun-fang Yu 171).<br />
The bodhisattva Avalokitesvara underwent many changes in myth and iconography as part of the process of becoming admitted into Chinese culture. The most striking transformation was change of gender. White-robed Guanyin was a local Chinese adaptation of the bodhisattva who grew in popularity during the Song dynasty (960-1279). She was seen as a fertility goddess and had many indigenous texts written about her power to give children or an heir to childless couples. Guanyin in white robes began to be seen on the island of Putuo, off the coast of Zhejiang from the twelfth century onwards. Tales had grown about her being sighted on the island since 1080. Putuo was perceived to be the Chinese equivalent of the scriptural version of the home of Avalokitesvara, an island south of India named Potalaka. This version of Guanyin became known as ‘Guanyin of the South Sea’. The different versions of Guanyin didn’t create any problems and instead served to reinforce each other (Chun-fang Yu 156-172). <br />
Paintings featuring Guanyin with water and moon were increasingly made by Chan artists after the Song dynasty. The moon and water are Buddhist symbols for the intangibility of the material world. However there is no connection between Guanyin and these symbols in any Buddhist scripture. Chun-fang Yu argues that Chinese artists created this concept and made it popular through widespread copying of paintings in the 8th and 9th centuries. (156-157).<span style="font-family: "; font-size: 12;"></span><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SuKtD0EFPdI/AAAAAAAAAVo/XiauiLyjloo/s1600-h/Clipboard01+%282%29.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396065584570252754" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SuKtD0EFPdI/AAAAAAAAAVo/XiauiLyjloo/s320/Clipboard01+(2).jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 194px;" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:smarttagtype name="PlaceName" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="PlaceType" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="City" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="State" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style> </div>
--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: 100%;">Chinese White-robed Guanyin in a landscape (14th century) is an example of this sinicisation of Guanyin. It’s a painting of a feminine Guanyin seated in meditation pose on a rocky ledge with a pine tree in the landscape above her. The sea swirls below her. She is enveloped by the moon. There is written text praising Guanyin in the top left corner added by the monk Huiming (1316 – 1386). He was abbot (1378 – 1386) of a Chan Buddhist temple in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. This banner could have been part of the art promoting pilgrimage related to Guanyin of the South Sea because the temple that housed it was located in the province of Zhejiang, close to the island of Putuo. The sea in the painting indicates Guanyin could be on the island of Putuo (Pang 98).</span></div>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SuKtyLDTA9I/AAAAAAAAAVw/TvZTZjorw98/s1600-h/New+Picture+%284%29.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396066381014959058" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SuKtyLDTA9I/AAAAAAAAAVw/TvZTZjorw98/s320/New+Picture+(4).png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 247px;" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style> </div>
--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
</div>
Scholars still don’t know all the reasons why Guanyin changed sex in China. A lot of meaning was changed through translation of Buddhist literature from Sanskrit to Chinese (Hansen 161). Buddhism was often adapted to fit in with local deities and traditions (Chun-fang Yu 169). Chun-fang Yu indicates that popular texts were transcribed from Buddhist scriptures. These were then relayed as folk tales by Chinese people (155-175). This could have contributed to constantly changing artwork which served to advertise these myths. <br />
In summary Buddhism has gone through a long and varied process of sinicisation as part of being accepted into China. Buddhist artefacts are able to contribute a great deal of knowledge about the social and religious practices that were part of this process. Representations of the Buddha and Guanyin varied greatly over this time due to adaption and translation of Buddhist texts. Wealthy men or kings helped with the establishment of Buddhism and also influenced the versions of Buddha and Guanyin that were represented. Buddhism adapted to China successfully.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:smarttagtype name="PlaceName" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="PlaceType" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="City" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="State" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style> </div>
--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14;">Works Cited</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Books:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chun-fang Yu. “Guanyin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokiteshvara.” <i>Latter days of the law: images of Chinese Buddhism 850-1850</i>. Ed. Marsha Weidner. <st1:city st="on">Honolulu</st1:city>: <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">Hawaii</st1:placename></st1:place> Press, 1994. 150-183. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hansen, Valerie. <i>The Open Empire: A History of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">China</st1:country-region></st1:place> to 1600.</i> <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">New York</st1:state></st1:place>: W. W. Norton, 2000. 153-177.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mae Anna Pang, <i>Asian art in the international collections of the National Gallery of <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">Victoria</st1:state></st1:place></i>. <st1:city st="on">Melbourne</st1:city>: National Gallery of <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">Victoria</st1:state></st1:place>, 2003.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Paul, Diana Y. <i>Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in the Mahayana Tradition,</i> <st1:city st="on">Berkeley</st1:city>: <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">California</st1:placename></st1:place> Press, 1985. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Illustrations:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Buddha</i>, Kushan period 2nd century BCE-3rd century CE , Gandharan, National Gallery of Victoria.<br /><i>Avalokiteshvara</i>, (17th century-18th century) Tibeto Chinese, National Gallery of Victoria.<br /><i>Guanyin</i>, Jin dynasty 1115-1234, Chinese, National Gallery of Victoria.<br /><i>White robed Guanyin in a landscape</i>, (early 14th century), Chinese, National Gallery of Victoria. </div>
Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-35024185258542585582009-10-17T14:06:00.006+11:002009-10-18T17:53:24.718+11:00New Youth Subcultures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vfFJ8AZsKGE/SsuSGMo_mPI/AAAAAAAAAMA/H6DHB2DmJpk/s400/Boris.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vfFJ8AZsKGE/SsuSGMo_mPI/AAAAAAAAAMA/H6DHB2DmJpk/s400/Boris.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:georgia;">Yeltsin's Dream. Digital photograph by Brandon Muir.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://branmuir.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html">Bran</a> is a blog by Brandon Muir, a young Canadian electrician who makes digital pop-art and music in his spare time. His band is called The Lou Diamond Philharmonic. His digital art is interesting because it combines different stars, political figures and other symbols to make ironic and funny statements. Its a great way of playing with semiotics. Newspaper and magazine collage was made by the Dada artists in 1920s Germany to make political statements.<br /><br />Mark Paterson describes the consumer paradox of innovation and trend setting as more evident in youth subcultures.(57) The Bran blog could be an example of this idea. It is not reliant on the purchase of branded goods and commodities to form an identity. Alternatively it is commenting on mass production and mass consumption of media.<br /><br />Reference: Paterson, Mark. "Consumption and Identity: Manufacturing Choice." Consumption and Everyday Life. New York and London: Routledge, 2006. pp. 36-57Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-53531317451799054352009-10-12T22:34:00.012+11:002009-10-31T13:19:19.187+11:00Island Lifestyle<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/22367308.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 337px;" src="http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/22367308.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Guyana Eco Resort. <a href="https://mymotels.com/propertyimages/336970/gayana_eco_resort_choice2_kota_kinabalu_malaysia.jpg"><br /></a><br /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p {mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0cm; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">While reading <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/boy-mauled-by-family-dog-20091011-gs8t.html"><i style="">The Age</i></a> newspaper online today 11/10/09 I noticed an ad in the lifestyle section for a <a href="https://competitions.fairfax.com.au/theage/borneo/?s_rid=theagearticle:rainbowstrip:content2:09-10:borneo-rainbow5:winanexoticweekinborneo">competition</a> to win a holiday in <st1:place st="on">Borneo</st1:place>. Offered by The Age and Preferred Boutique the details of the prize are a week for two people staying at two resorts, <a href="http://www.gayana-eco-resort.com/gayana_site/index.html">Gayana Eco resort</a> and <a href="http://www.gayana-eco-resort.com/bungaraya_site/location.html">Bunga Raya Island Resort and Spa.</a> The trip is inclusive of return flights and $2000 spending money.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">There was a tiny photo of each resort accompanied by a short description highlighting their best features, overwater villas, views of Mt Kinabalu, marine ecology research centre, virgin jungle, coral reef, hilltop spa etc.</p><p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I clicked onto their respective websites which looked attractive with beautiful photographs of the island and interior shots of the villas that looked like 5 star hotel rooms. I looked at the underwater photos of fish that you could see on the diving activities. It looked like paradise, a fantasy world of luxury and relaxation. I decided to do some research into these resorts and the island they inhabit named ‘Palau Gaya’.</p><p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">After much searching I could not identify which company owns these resorts. The two resorts are both members of ‘<a href="http://www.preferredboutique.com/PreferredHotels/Preferred_Boutique/index.aspx">Preferred Boutique Hotel Group’</a> which is a <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:city> based global partner to 700 independent hotels. “Preferred Hotels’ offers sales and marketing benefits, group purchasing savings of hotel items (from Coca-cola, Sony, American Express etc) and quality assurance. Preferred Hotels run a program called GIFTTS: (Great Initiatives for Today’s (Tomorrow’s) Society. The <a href="http://www.phggiftts.com/main.asp?pg=1">GIFTTS </a>program is supposed to recognize philanthropic deeds that benefit the local community performed by member hotels. Both the Gayana and Bunga Raya resorts were not mentioned here.</p><p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The internet has helped tourism become one of the worlds largest export services and e-tourism is a fast growing niche market. Many tourists want to stay in a resort that<span style=""> </span>isn’t harming the environment. However I would also like to know that these resorts are contributing to the development of<span style=""> </span>the local economy. Are hotel staff<span style=""> </span>being paid decently or low wages? Are most of a hotels profits being siphoned out of the country? </p><p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://books.google.com.au/books?id=vvXoC8F5Oq0C&pg=PA104&lpg=PA104&dq=%22gAYANA+resort%22&source=bl&ots=ah92seNnyI&sig=cM3OWjDZDt4J3LSUIueK7NsEoTQ&hl=en&ei=t4LRSujxM9GPkQW_wvX-Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CBwQ6AEwBjgU#v=onepage&q=%22gAYANA%20resort%22&f=false"><i style="">Lonely Planet <st1:place st="on">Borneo</st1:place></i></a> (online 2008) states that the bays on the east end of the Palau Gaya island are inhabited by villages of legal and illegal immigrants who are ignored by the Government. Poverty, pollution and crime is present.</p><p> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/StMb67fgT-I/AAAAAAAAAVI/Y6pvNOe89nk/s1600-h/800px-Pulau_Gaya_immigrant_dwellings.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/StMb67fgT-I/AAAAAAAAAVI/Y6pvNOe89nk/s320/800px-Pulau_Gaya_immigrant_dwellings.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391683878108811234" border="0" /></a> Palau Gaya Immigrant Dwellings. source:<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulau_Gaya">Wikipedia</a><br /></p><p>They also report that the Gayana resort “feels strangely abandoned…..considering the few guests who visit.” </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">A comment in the <a href="http://mount-kinabalu-borneo.com/blog/kinabalu-forum-where-we-could-do-something-with-ssl.html"><i style="">Kinabalu Blog </i></a>by Murphy (online 2008) complains about the steep hike in fares to access the island.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="margin: 5pt 46.3pt 5pt 54pt;"><span style="font-size:10;">In year 2006, I did a jungle trekking on <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Gaya</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place>. I only needed to pay the ferry ticket, and a RM3 conservation levy ticket for Sabah Parks, nothing else.Later I heard a company (PKM if I am not mistaken), which has many contracts with government, took over the management of the Gayana Resort.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 5pt 46.3pt 5pt 54pt;"><span style="font-size:10;">Ok, last month I wanted to do the same thing again. They forced me to buy a RM50 lunch package otherwise they wouldn’t allow me. If include the RM20 ferry ticket, I have to pay RM70++ just to walk in the jungle! And the <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Gaya</st1:place></st1:city> villagers, who contribute garbage to our sea, can roam freely on the island!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 5pt 46.3pt 5pt 54pt;"><span style="font-size:10;">It is such a rip off, not only to me, but to the locals as well. I was so angry that I even thought of removing my “promotion” blog for Gayana. Well, how many more I should remove? Many good tourism spots are controlled by private companies who only care about making $. Without doubt, if SSL can make <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">Mount</st1:placetype> <st1:placename st="on">Kinabalu</st1:placename></st1:place> their private mountain, like how PKM makes Gayana their private island, they will not hesitate to do so. Sad huh..<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 5pt 46.3pt 5pt 54pt;"><span style="font-size:10;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin-right: 1.3pt;">So the lifestyle being advertised for these resorts is a lifestyle that is only available to a select group – wealthy people. Poor and working class local people and travellers are excluded from using the island. Both Resorts don’t appear to be putting any profits toward local philanthropy that benefit people in need. Gayana Eco Resort claim they do active<span style=""> </span>restoration of coral reef and fish species. This marketing reflects a growing trend away from what Celia Lury calls ‘Greed is good’ selfish consumerism of the 1980s towards ‘green<span style=""> </span>politics’ (1996).</p> <p style="margin-right: 1.3pt;">However I’d like to see a more holistic approach from e-tourism, shifting the focus from nature to include more actions of social responsibility to humanity at the local level.</p> <p style="margin-right: 1.3pt;">Lury, Celia. “Consumer Culture, Identity and Politics.” <i style="">Consumer Culture</i>. <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Cambridge</st1:place></st1:city>: Polity, 1996. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-60212140466007062132009-09-23T16:03:00.023+10:002009-10-24T18:59:02.643+11:00Repulsion<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnKGqj2QdI/AAAAAAAAAS0/OKEmhV-I3dU/s1600-h/vlcsnap-2009-09-08-19h06m37s12.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 169px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnKGqj2QdI/AAAAAAAAAS0/OKEmhV-I3dU/s400/vlcsnap-2009-09-08-19h06m37s12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384557045350810066" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.Style1, li.Style1, div.Style1 {mso-style-name:Style1; mso-style-update:auto; mso-style-link:"Style1 Char"; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:150%; mso-pagination:none; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.Style1Char {mso-style-name:"Style1 Char"; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-link:Style1; mso-ansi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-ansi-language:EN-AU; mso-fareast-language:EN-AU; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="Style1" style="line-height: normal;"></p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The film Repulsion (1965) directed by Roman Polanski contains influences of German expressionism and surrealism. This can be observed in various elements of mise-en-scene. These effects combine to produce a film that provokes a stream of unconscious thoughts in the viewer. To illustrate this I will attempt an analysis of a scene that occurs towards the end of the film, after the main character Carol (Catherine Deneuve) has committed two acts of murder. <p> The scene begins with Carol writing on a glass pane with a nail. The camera films her from the other side of the glass. She smiles and mouths the words she is writing while the nail squeaks. She stands up and it is revealed that she is standing at the French doors of the living room.</p></span></span><p class="Style1" style="line-height: normal;"></p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnFfRrpL_I/AAAAAAAAASs/3pPMU7Ms9Ik/s1600-h/vlcsnap-2009-09-13-00h17m31s51.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 135px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnBkCmVAYI/AAAAAAAAAR8/o7E-8O5OAhE/s320/vlcsnap-2009-09-13-00h11m30s8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384547654415221122" border="0" /></a><br /> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The camera moves behind her as she enters the living room. Music begins. The room appears hugely cavernous. It’s very dark. The only light comes from two windows. It appears to be night time because light shines from the windows in the opposite flats. Thick shafts of light paint horizontal lines along the ceiling and floor.</span></span><br /><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 135px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnDCbkLdlI/AAAAAAAAASE/6y9lCB6tpRw/s320/vlcsnap-2009-09-13-00h12m06s129.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384549276024796754" border="0" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnBkCmVAYI/AAAAAAAAAR8/o7E-8O5OAhE/s1600-h/vlcsnap-2009-09-13-00h11m30s8.jpg"><br /></a><br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.Style1, li.Style1, div.Style1 {mso-style-name:Style1; mso-style-update:auto; mso-style-link:"Style1 Char"; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:150%; mso-pagination:none; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.Style1Char {mso-style-name:"Style1 Char"; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-link:Style1; mso-ansi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-ansi-language:EN-AU; mso-fareast-language:EN-AU; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="Style1" style="line-height: normal;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;">There is debris on the floor and an upturned couch in the centre of the room. Carol walks toward it and back and then turns around on the spot three times. The camera moves down to shoot her from the floor and the light shade and ceiling rose come into view looking like a two dimensional baroque drawing. </span></p><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 135px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnD910oSBI/AAAAAAAAASM/mjm9To76SCw/s320/vlcsnap-2009-09-13-00h12m21s18.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384550296685398034" border="0" /><br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.Style1, li.Style1, div.Style1 {mso-style-name:Style1; mso-style-update:auto; mso-style-link:"Style1 Char"; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:150%; mso-pagination:none; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.Style1Char {mso-style-name:"Style1 Char"; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-link:Style1; mso-ansi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-ansi-language:EN-AU; mso-fareast-language:EN-AU; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="Style1" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Carol stops and stares out at the hallway, walks back out of the living room to the hall and stands facing the wall. Her blonde hair and pale skin are luminescent. Suddenly there is a clash of cymbals as two pairs of hands seem to burst out through the wall towards her. The wall appears to stretch like a balloon.</span></p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnDCbkLdlI/AAAAAAAAASE/6y9lCB6tpRw/s1600-h/vlcsnap-2009-09-13-00h12m06s129.jpg"></a><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 135px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnEXiEISnI/AAAAAAAAASU/hUWKQNHEu04/s320/vlcsnap-2009-09-13-00h14m11s100.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384550738058300018" border="0" /><br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.Style1, li.Style1, div.Style1 {mso-style-name:Style1; mso-style-update:auto; mso-style-link:"Style1 Char"; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:150%; mso-pagination:none; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.Style1Char {mso-style-name:"Style1 Char"; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-link:Style1; mso-ansi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-ansi-language:EN-AU; mso-fareast-language:EN-AU; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="Style1" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Carol jumps in fright and the next shot shows her trying to walk and crawl down the hallway in silhouette while lots of hands reach from both sides grasping at her body, face and hair. The drums and piano play a grim marching tune while the cymbals keep loudly clashing. </span></p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnD910oSBI/AAAAAAAAASM/mjm9To76SCw/s1600-h/vlcsnap-2009-09-13-00h12m21s18.jpg"></a><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 135px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnEy2V1nFI/AAAAAAAAASc/RywbqjRm1Do/s320/vlcsnap-2009-09-13-00h15m22s36.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384551207357750354" border="0" /><br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.Style1, li.Style1, div.Style1 {mso-style-name:Style1; mso-style-update:auto; mso-style-link:"Style1 Char"; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:150%; mso-pagination:none; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.Style1Char {mso-style-name:"Style1 Char"; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-link:Style1; mso-ansi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-ansi-language:EN-AU; mso-fareast-language:EN-AU; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="Style1" style="line-height: normal;"></p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">This sound continues as the film then cuts to a shot of her lying on her sister’s newspaper covered bed staring up into the camera as it zooms down to a close-up of her face.</span><br /></span><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 135px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnFI_AzYzI/AAAAAAAAASk/_EdHq_2vrSI/s320/vlcsnap-2009-09-13-00h17m57s52.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384551587642565426" border="0" /><br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.Style1, li.Style1, div.Style1 {mso-style-name:Style1; mso-style-update:auto; mso-style-link:"Style1 Char"; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:150%; mso-pagination:none; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.Style1Char {mso-style-name:"Style1 Char"; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-link:Style1; mso-ansi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-ansi-language:EN-AU; mso-fareast-language:EN-AU; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="Style1" style="line-height: normal;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;">There is a cut to the directly opposite angle where the camera has her profile in the right hand side of the shot while it is also aligned with her gaze up to the ceiling. The camera appears to dolly up to the ceiling while keeping her profile in the shot. This conveys the effect of her floating up to the light shade and ceiling rose. The patterns made by the light on the ceiling blur and dissolve.</span></p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnEy2V1nFI/AAAAAAAAASc/RywbqjRm1Do/s1600-h/vlcsnap-2009-09-13-00h15m22s36.jpg"></a><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 135px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrnFfRrpL_I/AAAAAAAAASs/3pPMU7Ms9Ik/s320/vlcsnap-2009-09-13-00h17m31s51.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384551970611212274" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.Style1, li.Style1, div.Style1 {mso-style-name:Style1; mso-style-update:auto; mso-style-link:"Style1 Char"; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:150%; mso-pagination:none; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.Style1Char {mso-style-name:"Style1 Char"; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-link:Style1; mso-ansi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-ansi-language:EN-AU; mso-fareast-language:EN-AU; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="Style1" style="line-height: normal;"></p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">This scene is shot in a style that is infused with elements of German expressionism. Expressionism began in the nineteenth century and was influenced in Germany by a Nordic view of the world as a dark, depressing place. It also contained ideas of German anthromorphism – that objects took on human traits. (Titford 22) German expressionist cinema began in Germany in the early twentieth century. ( Titford 17) The main characteristics of it were gothic horror narrative, claustrophobic and geometrically distorted sets; extreme contrast of black and white and the use of shadow. German expressionist directors portrayed the city as a hostile, evil place which gave its residents feelings of gloom and entrapment. (Titford 21)<br /></span><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The directors used mise en scene to add depth to the narratives in their films, particularly before the addition of sound in the 1930s. One element of mise en scene used was juxtaposition within the frame. This was created by a defined contrast of light and dark areas. Polanski has incorporated these elements into Repulsion by most importantly filming it in black and white. In this scene Carol’s white skin, hair and costume is contrasted with the dark, poorly lit spaces of the flat. The lighting (and lack of it) is emphasised. This use of light also appears to give the film a painterly effect. In this scene the whole set appears to be two dimensional as line and shape are emphasised in the ceiling roses and light shades, the walls seem to melt and merge and the furniture takes on a cartoon - like appearance. </span></p><p> <span style="font-family:times new roman;">Another element of mise-en-scene used by German expressionist directors was shadows. German and Scandinavian folktales often included the Dammerung – a world created by twilight in which objects could suddenly spring to life. (Titford 21) The flat with its low lighting and large patches of darkness appears to be a strange reality where the objects inside it and the building itself become eerily alive. Polanski uses a lot of shadow in the rooms and hall as well as the shadows on the ceiling cast by the light shades in the living room and bedroom. This gives a visual effect of shapes merging from the darkness, of the shadows becoming alive.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;">All the scenes inside the flat were shot in a specially made studio set. ( Butler 75) Polanski said “What I like is an extremely realistic setting in which there is something that does not fit with the real. This is what gives it an atmosphere.”(Butler 179) He had the living room and the bathroom reconstructed on a much larger scale for the later scenes. (Butler 76) This gives the audience the effect of seeing the room from Carol’s personal perspective. It is an attempt to show a character’s subjective reality on film. Representation of the subjective experience as art was one of the primary aims of Expressionism. It is interesting to note that the two rooms that were reconstructed at this point in the movie both contained dead bodies. Polanski could also have been trying to represent the audience’s changed view of the room based upon the knowledge it contains a cadaver. Carl Dreyer, the director of Vampyr (1932) stated</span></p></span> <p class="Style1" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 36pt 0.0001pt 27pt;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">“Imagine that we are in a very ordinary room, and that someone suddenly tells us that a dead body is behind the door. Immediately, the room in which we find ourselves becomes totally transformed; everything in it takes on a different appearance. The light and the atmosphere will seem to change, though they remain physically unaltered. All this will come about because we shall have changed, and objects are what we conceive them to be.”</span></span><span style="font-size:10;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""> </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">(qtd. in Titford 20)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Somnambulists, vampires and zombies were frequent characters in German expressionist films. ( Butler Horror in the cinema 19-27) Their purpose served to invert the relationship between human and object. Humans were portrayed as dead (objects) while objects were animated with life through the use of light, shadow and close-up shots. The purpose of these actions was to create a paradox in the mind of the audience that made them see the film (a dead object) as imbued with life. (Titford 20) Carol appears to be almost sleepwalking around the flat. She has very limited expression on her face and doesn’t speak in this scene. She has an extremely attractive doll-like face. She looks like a mannequin.<br /></span><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Conversely the flat (an object) becomes more life-like. Hands are shown reaching out from the walls in the corridor, first as a shocking surprise and then in a shot of Carol walking down the hallway. The hallway appears to become like a person or group of people through the appearance of multiple hands emerging from its walls. This dreamlike image is also reminiscent of surrealism.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> Polanski indicated that he was influenced by surrealism in his film making. (Butler 175) Surrealist cinema used the technique of juxtaposition to achieve a reaction of astonishment in the viewer. (Lyon 45) This technique was aimed at jolting the viewer into their unconscious mind which would then blend with the conscious images in the film. (Butler 175) The hands bursting out of the wall is a juxtaposition of two separate realities – hand (human) and wall (object). It is also introduced suddenly to startle the audience. There is also juxtaposition in the contrast of action, Carol calmly walking around the living room before being brutally confronted with the hands in the corridor. Another juxtaposition is of character, the appearance of an extraordinarily beautiful woman as a murderously insane figure.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The image of Carol writing on glass is also a juxtaposition of two opposing realities. Writing is usually done on a texture with opaque qualities like paper. Both the viewer and Carol can’t see what she is writing. This creates an inversion because Carol’s thoughts are the only repository for her text. Another significance of this image is that surrealists also used automatic writing as a method to gain access to their unconscious thoughts. (Ades 21)<p><br /><br />The surrealists also used juxtaposition of sound to jolt perception. (Lyon 47) A strange, yet also almost seductive piece of music accompanies Carol while she wanders around the living room. The music is then joined by the loud clashing of cymbals at the introduction of the hands and as she walks down the hallway. This sound provides continuity between shots as it then accompanies her simulated rise towards the ceiling while she is in her bed. This rising effect is also a juxtaposition of space and movement.</p></span></p><p></p></span> <p class="Style1" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="Style1" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">In summary the examined scene uses German expressionist and surrealistic elements of mise-en-scene firstly to give depth to the narrative, secondly to make the film come alive and thirdly to produce an effect that jolts the viewer into the unconscious part of their mind. Matters raised that are beyond the scope of this work but would be worth investigation are themes of expressionism and surrealism in Roman Polanski's body of work. Significantly the analysis of this scene highlights its depth of production and meaning. Repulsion is a richly layered work of art and imagination.</span></span><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style=""><span style="font-size:14;">Works Cited<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style=""><u><span style="font-size:14;">Books<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style=""><u><span style="font-size:14;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u></b></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Ades, Dawn. “Surrealism as Art.” <i style="">Surrealism: Revolution by Night .</i>exhibition catalogue.<st1:city st="on">Canberra</st1:city>: National Gallery of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Australia.</st1:place></st1:country-region>1993.</p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Butler, Ivan. <i style="">The cinema of Roman Polanski</i>. <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on"> New York</st1:state></st1:place>: A. S. Barnes & co. 1970.</p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Butler, Ivan. <i style="">Horror in the cinema</i>. <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on"> New York</st1:state></st1:place>: A. S. Barnes & co. 1970.</p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style=""><u><span style="font-size:14;">Journals<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Lyon, <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Elizabeth</st1:place></st1:city>. H. “ Luis Bunuel: The process of dissociation in three films.” <i style="">Cinema Journal</i> Vol 13 No 1 (Autumn 1973): 45-48.</p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Titford, John. S. “Object-Subject relationships in German expressionist cinema.” <i style="">Cinema Journal</i> Vol 13 No 1 (Autumn 1973): 17-24.</p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style=""><u><span style="font-size:14;">Film</span></u></b><span style="font-size:14;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><u>Repulsion</u>. Dir. Roman Polanski. Perf. Catherine Deneuve, Yvonne Furneax, John Fraser and Michael Hendry. Compton-Cameo, 1965.</p>Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-18644561464604031892009-09-22T14:18:00.006+10:002009-09-23T18:20:05.769+10:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrhXvqEHhaI/AAAAAAAAARs/M77R6IhQHZY/s1600-h/Clipboard01.bmp"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 153px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5RFYGli7Ytg/SrhXvqEHhaI/AAAAAAAAARs/M77R6IhQHZY/s200/Clipboard01.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384149830778455458" border="0" /></a><br />Speaking at Cate Kennedy's (pictured left) launch for <a href="http://www.scribepublications.com.au/book/theworldbeneath"><span style="font-style: italic;">The World Beneath</span></a> last Tuesday <a href="http://www.shanehoward.com.au/home.html">Shane Howard</a> mentioned the <a href="http://www.eniar.org/news/Yunupingu7.html">misdirection of funds</a> in the Northern Territory Intervention.<br /><br />Today I received a notice about a free <a href="http://www.mulss.com/social-justice/">public lecture</a> on the 5th of October by the Hon. Ron Merkel QC. He will be speaking about the NT Intervention and his experiences of it. I'm going to attend this event.Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-88428601366944914272009-09-18T21:30:00.013+10:002009-09-23T18:20:26.140+10:00True Blood<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img3.abload.de/img/true_blood_ver17lcb4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 511px; height: 755px;" src="http://img3.abload.de/img/true_blood_ver17lcb4.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Last night I watched episode four in season two of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0844441/">True Blood</a>. 'True Blood' is a contemporary gothic series created by Alan Ball. Its a comedic, murder - mystery genre set in Bon Temps, Louisiana. The two central characters are a waitress named Sookie Stackhouse played by Anna Paquin and a vampire named Bill Compton played by Stephen Moyer.<br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;"><br /></span>John Ellis argues in "Broadcast TV as Cultural Form" (1992) that a TV series consists of connected segments (episodes) that can be viewed with ease at any part of the season. Any newcomer to 'True Blood' would not find it hard to pick up the narrative at any episode. </span><span style="font-size:100%;">The characters make lots of statements about their shared history. </span><span style="font-size:100%;">They also display extremely strong personality traits which helps the viewer to follow plot development. The narrative develops very slowly with not much change between consecutive episodes. Frequent locations are Merlotte's Diner, Sookie's Grandmother's house, Bill's house and Lafayette's house. So each episode is mostly contained within itself.<br /><br />The only nuclear family theme is heterosexual romance (although the central one is between a human and a vampire). There are hardly ever any children except for extras (background actors). Most of the women have jobs while some of the men don't have jobs, especially the vampires.<br /><br />There is a juxtaposition of characters in that some of them are human and others are mythological creatures (Vampires, Demons, Shapeshifters). Good and evil characters come from both groups. Analogies can be made between the Fellowship of the Sun and evangelist Christian groups. The interesting aspect to this show is that it takes basic icons for good and evil - religion and vampires and inverts them. Some vampires and shapeshifters are shown displaying acts of mercy, kindness and love while the leader of Fellowship of the Sun is a power-hungry warmonger.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;"><span style=""><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;">John Ellis, "Broadcast TV as Cultural Form." <i>Visible Fictions: Cinema,</i></span></span> <i><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;">Television, Video.</span></i><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;">Revised ed. London and New York: Routledge, 1992.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;">Website: Trueblood.tv Information archive for the HBO tv series. Available at:</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style=""><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;">http://true-blood.tv/</span></span></span> </p>Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-79387449332052349602009-09-09T15:31:00.006+10:002009-09-23T18:20:49.024+10:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.signetstage03.com/non_secure/images/large/441d389d94.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 692px; height: 450px;" src="http://media.signetstage03.com/non_secure/images/large/441d389d94.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.madonna.com/gallery/index/redirect/id/1870/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 1081px; height: 700px;" src="http://www.madonna.com/gallery/index/redirect/id/1870/" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;">I was hypnotised by this photo on <a href="http://www.madonna.com/media/photos/" mce_href="http://www.madonna.com/media/photos/">Madonna.com</a></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;">! (Click on it to see the whole photo) It's a clever use of two extremely well known icons - 'Madonna' and 'the Louis Vuitton bag'. Madonna is known for her ironic use of cultural icons e.g. Madonna - the name of the virgin mother in christian and catholic religion; Marilyn Monroe's blond hair color and wardrobe<span style="">,</span> and her universally known nickname 'The Material Girl'. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;">The Louis Vuitton bag is also universally recognised as a material symbol of wealth and feminine glamour.This style of photographic lighting and color blend the two seamlessly into an image that connotes "Hey! Its ok to keep spending because aren't we all material beings in a material world first and foremost?" I think this advertisement could also be aimed at older women </span></span> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;">with a large disposable income. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;">She looks absolutely beautiful in this <a href="http://www.madonna.com/media/photos/4" mce_href="http://www.madonna.com/media/photos/4">photo shoot</a> for W magazine.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;"><br /></span></span></p>Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-58018392811383726292009-09-04T10:42:00.012+10:002009-10-10T14:58:23.853+11:00Satine October Dane Concert à Emporter<img style="visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bHQ9MTI1MjAyNDgyNjMzMCZwdD*xMjUyMDI*OTI5NTQ1JnA9NDAwODMxJmQ9Jm49YmxvZ2dlciZnPTEmbz*2MGQxNWQxNjg4NjA*NTUzYjkxODJiNmFkMzA*YmMyNCZvZj*w.gif" border="0" width="0" height="0" /><div><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="480" height="291"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x7evuq_satine-october-dane-concert-a-empor_music&related=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x7evuq_satine-october-dane-concert-a-empor_music&related=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="480" height="291"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7evuq_satine-october-dane-concert-a-empor_music">Satine October Dane Concert à Emporter</a></b><br /><i>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.blogotheque.net/-Concerts-a-emporter-?lang=en">lablogotheque</a>. - <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/channel/music">See the latest featured music videos.</a><br /><br /></i><span style="font-size:100%;">One of my fellow students brought a site named La Blogotheque to my attention. Its made by a frenchman named Vincent Moon and features video of musicians performing in all sorts of unusual locations. The resulting footage has a live energy that is uplifting and charming. I like hearing groups I would not normally be exposed to. This clip is one of my favourites because I like the rooftop view and Satine's voice is mesmerising.<br /><br />I really like this site and I probably wouldn't have found it myself. I like the way blogging can act as a tour group of the internet. Multiple users can share their experience about a topic and maybe help to eliminate time spent researching it. The great advantage of participating in the Cultureblog is that "social and aesthetic domains can overlap". (Haney 39) This can be very helpful particularly in the study of popular culture through an increased sharing of knowledge and ideas.</span><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;"> </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;">Reference: Haney, William. S. II. "Beckett out of his mind: The theatre of the absurd". <i>Studies in the Literary Imagination</i></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;"> Vol 34, Issue 2, 2001. p 39(16)</span></span></p><br /></div>Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3938748577859011735.post-33017727776088505732009-08-27T19:21:00.018+10:002009-09-23T18:21:29.165+10:00The Informers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/article/958/958848/the-informers-20090303022325864_640w.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 464px; height: 299px;" src="http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/article/958/958848/the-informers-20090303022325864_640w.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">'<a href="http://theinformers.com/#/Home">The Informers</a>' based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis is an addictive movie. Its unresolved ending left me wanting more. Themes of nihilism, sexual hedonism and the superficial glitter of youth and wealth run through several different stories set in Los Angeles to a 1980s soundtrack. The bland boredom of the leisure class is contrasted with the sheer desperation and abuse of the working poor. The excess of the Reagan era is dampened by the arrival of the HIV virus and somehow sex will never be the same again.<br /><br />Easton Ellis has an eye for detail and a sensitivity to the human condition. His stories illustrate the frailty and faults that come with being human. Even though most of his bored rich kid characters are loathsome at times they all seem quite sad too.</span> From a formalist perspective the film appears glossy and bright with L.A. sunshine; scratch beneath the surface though and you're confronted with some repulsive, horrific truths.<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:book antiqua,palatino;"></span></span>Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07029560030718433360noreply@blogger.com0