Wrapping it Up

Well friends this road of blogging has come to an end for now but I might be back one day.  I have learned so much about the Montagnard Community.  After doing research about the subject I am so grateful of where I live and where I come from.  Below is a link that gives a few pictures of the Montagnards history along with some other information.  There is also a voice over with me narrating and telling some other info about them.  This is not done by a Macintosh computer so the quality is not the best but still, ENJOY!!! ~ Revisit ~Restore~Recreate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA4iJGz5mUM

Question... is DIGITAL media BAd for US??

Is digital media bad for us?  This is the rising question for this week.  There are tons of different opinions on whether digital media is bad or good for us.  In my opinion I think digital media is very good and beneficial for us.  One of the articles that I read called Wikileaks is a source that leaks information to the public about injustices going in the USA.  I for one think that it's a great idea and a good source.  As citizens of the U.S. we have the right to know about what is right and what is wrong.  Digital media is very positive in this way because it gets information to us faster.  Even media and technology are good things, everything should be used in moderation.  Another article that caught my attention was "Is Google making us STUPID?" This is an article by Nicholas Carr.  The article talks about how Google is in a way dumbing us down.  There was once a time when reading was easy and now sense Google has came around it is harder for our minds to indulge in literature on actual paper instead of words on a computer.  I agree with this in sense that because of how modern and fast our society is people don't really take the time to read books anymore but I don't think that Google and social networking is putting a strain on our relationship with people.  

An article posted by Laura Owens talks about how this idea of internet and social networking behavioral issues is basically unfounded.  People that don't have good social skills get better by talking online with others and the goal is to hopefully use the skills that you're developing in the cyber world to help you with real life situations.  Students in today's society are really big on multitasking as well.  It is not uncommon to see someone texting on their cell phone, Facebooking, and doing homework.  A study was done on some students at the University of Michigan that showed that most people who actually think they are multitasking aren't really doing a great job of it at all..  I found this to be very funny.  I think that multitasking is needed in todays modern world and anyone who feels that they can just do one thing at a time and still be successful is definitely just fooling themselves.  That's all for now.  The end of this experience is coming around realllly soon! ~Revisit~Restore~Recreate~

*VIDEO (REMIX!!!)

    This week in Digital Media we have been studying about how easy it is to take media from the internet and remake it into your own.  The underlying theme behind the videos were traditional vs contemporary.  I chose to create a video remix of Luciano Pavarotti singing La Donna e Mobile by Giuseppe Verdi mixed with the East Village Opera Company doing their own rendition of the aria.  

`ART && ARTIST_ In the DIGITAL AGE`

There was a very interesting entry on the NPR show about Issa.  Issa renamed herself completely and basically started her whole musical career over again.  In the past she had been under a label and she was using the first and last name that she was born with but slowly by slowly she drifted away from this and decided to do something completely different.  Instead of Issa having a music production company distributing her music she is deciding to distribute her music herself online. The crazy thing is that she is doing at a price that is fair to her fans and to the public.  On her latest tour she was accompanied only by a keyboard and her music was very simple and defied the normal rules of your stereotypical pop singer.  This bold move that she made with digital technology is landing her ratings and interviews in today's artistic society.  

Everybody knows that YouTube has just about everything.  My teacher posted a video up on our homework assignments and the setting of the video took place on a NYC Subway by a group named Atomic Tom.  This is a pop group singing their lungs out on a subway.  I thought it was really interesting.  I really would like to know what their artistry behind the whole thing was.  Did this group just want more publicity or were they trying to make a statement, letting the world know that it doesn't matter if you have a label or if you're famous.  Play because you want to play not because you want attention! Check it out! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAllFWSl998

On a different topic there's a great video out about Cosmetic Ingredients.  This video informs all of us about how toxic and dangerous a lot of the things that we have in our bathrooms are.  Such as shampoo, deodorant, hairspray.. etc.  I had no idea that things I use everyday have lots of bad toxins in them.  Luckily there's a place called. healthycosmetics.org gives great advice.  

~Revisit~Restore~Recreate~

+WHat it IS+

I think that it's fair to say that you can't talk about digital media without talking about computers. Our world has changed rapidly since the early 1800's.  Television is not longer anything new.  Neither are computers or satellites.  To communicate with networks all over the  world digital media is used.  This is how CNN broadcasts it's information worldwide and local news companies do the same thing as well.

Lev Manovich talks about the difference between old digital media and new digital media.  In his opinion, the difference is that new digital media is used for distribution rather than production.  

Lawrence Lessig talks about digital media and how it relates to copy writing.  There once was a time when there were strongly enforced laws that prohibited individuals from illegally downloading and distributing media but now just about any person that knows how to operate a computer can manage to download music, pictures, and software at the their own disposal.  The film Girl Talk elaborates more into depth on this subject.  


Steve Dixion talks about the various uses of digital media in the performing arts.  Out of all of the articles as films this one was to me the most interesting because I am an artist.  According to Steve the arts become digital when technology is the main source of the art.  As an opera singer I would love to go to the Metropolitan Opera in New York City once every two weeks to see a show but that's financially impossible for me.  Thanks to the Met HD Broadcasting software I can go to my local movie theater and watch my favorite opera lives.  This is something that I could not have done if I was growing up years ago.  The argument that seeing art performed life is still valid.  The experience that you gain from a live performance is unexplainable, but being able to watch something that you aspire to be states away is still amazing!!!!! ~Revisit~Restore~Recreate~

DMA---Opinions on Framing

Framing…

George Lakoff stresses the importance of "framing" very well.  Framing is a concept that will continue to grow everyday because the world is changing every day.  Therefore societies’ emotions and opinions are also changing daily.  Lakoff says that linguistic framing reminds him of humanity and language and how the two together can be used to create and mold the public opinion.  Most people don’t realize how they are being affected by language every day.  Sometimes it can be an ad online and other times it could be a commercial on television. In my opinion, the ads on the internet are the best example.  When I’m online I feel that I have to pay attention the new sunglasses that are popping up the right of my browser page.  Even when I’m looking at a website for school work I’ll see a campaign about new shoes that I could probably get. I can’t imagine how many thousands of people's minds are stimulated and eventually persuaded by these ads.

    

Life as we know it is becoming more and more dependent on other peoples opinions rather than their own and technology is the fastest way to reach people.  Another significant person when it comes to framing is Bruce Mazlish. He is the author of The Fourth Discontinuit.  This talks about humans and their relationship with technology. Bruce does his own framing by suggesting that to truly connect with the world humans must be “separate from the machines we build”.  This funny connection has basically turned us into something that is now known as "cyborgs."  Cyborgs was created  by Donna Haraway.  She describes cyborgs as a “hybrid of machine and organism” Her main reasoning for stating these opinions could very well have something to do with humans and how we are so dependent upon cell phones and digital technology. Expression is becoming lost when it comes to communication.  Cell phones make it to where we don’t have to have that “human” interaction any more. This is throwing linguistic framing out the window but almost everyone is doing it, so maybe it’s not that bad at all………  ~Revisit~Restore~Recreate~

Survival 101: Dega Edition

As a human being in America survival skills are desperately needed.  People that are born in America usually don't pay attention to the basic tools that they use in everyday life.  As a part of my project with the Montangard Dega comminuity I really want to find out what the teenagers and children are told when they first come to America. Do they just rely on the information given to them by their family and friends in the Dega community? Even though some members of the Dega community have been here for awhile  do they still have someone that has been born and raised here in America to tell them the necessary skills that they need to survive?  Even though North Carolina is not as harsh as New York there are still some things that the young people within the Dega community need to know about. What better way to learn the trades and tricks than from someone who has been experienced it first hand.

These questions came about from the skype interview we had with some of the Montangard representatives a few weeks ago.  One of my classmates asked the question this question, Do you feel like your children have been Amercianized since they've been here?  The answer was yes.  One of the ladies spoke about how her sisters children would go to school and learn, but while they were learning they were also copying.  They grew accustomed to doing things that they would see American kids do.  These things included smoking, drinking, fighting...among other things.  Following these steps will get you no where.  They lead you to a life that no one really wants to live, but if no one from America is advocating the right thing then the situation is almost hopaeless. Every person that you encounter is not necessarily a good example to follow and it would be very unfair for the young adults in the Dega community to grow up without knowing these basic survival skills.  Stay tuned for the results and remember... Revisit~Restore~Recreate

http://www.cal.org/co/montagnards/vcult.html

http://sites.google.com/site/mdagreensboronc/

Just_Me

ll was given the name Travis in the year of 1992 on February the 16th.  I was born with a passion to sing. My instrument in particular is sort of high so people call me a tenor. Music = Life and Opera = Air.  I can't help but to breathe it all in. My Current location is Winston Salem, NC.  I go to UNCSA also known as School for the Arts.  My family resides in Greer, SC. We're small but tight. It's my mama, my daddy, and myself.  You can probably guess what my major is by now, but just in case I'll tell you anyway, vocal performance.  In my opinion the best color in the world is blue, which is why it is also my favorite.  I am 19 and loving every minute of it.  I have no idea how long my family has been in the states but I'm on a mission as of now to find out.  Living in America is a beautiful thing.  I've never grown food but I love to eat it. Here in the states we are so fortunate to have so many resources and so much freedom. And by 'we', I mean you all as well. Live everyday to the fullest and remember that education is vital to success. I'm too young to pay my own bills but too old to think as a child.  I've never been out of the states but I dreams about having an established career overseas one day.  I've never really had interactions with people that were not from the states.  This new class that I'm taking called Digital Media for the Artist is going to be exciting for me because I'll be able to have some type of interaction with people that I haven't met before that come from a different cultural background that myself. Not everything is important but everything matters.  I think that's all for now, see you soon.

~Revisit-Restore-Recreate~