Food Inc.

Food Inc., made in 2008 by Robert Kenner in an expose into corporate America's meat industry. We follow Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation into factories and chicken farms, through grocery stores into offices, uncovering a dirty truth about how meat is manufactured: animals are treated cruelly and health and safety is not a priority. We meet several growers, such as Vince Edwards and Carole Morison, as well as industry insiders such as Troy Roush and Richard Lobb. Kenner explores the subjects of vegetarianism, corporate America, animal rights and cruelty, food production, etc. One aspect of the film that I enjoyed was the great dilemma in the minds of the growers and raisers of animals. They have to make a choice that's balanced between their consciences and the almighty dollar.
Another aspect of the film that I enjoyed was the lifestyle of poverty-stricken families that have to choose less healthy, cheaper fast-food options for their children because of the dollar menu and the money that they make. If it's not possible to afford healthy options, who wouldn't refuse to feed their own children, even if it's constant fast-food?
Another aspect of the film that I enjoyed was the perspective of Maria Andrea Gonzalez, who lost her son to food poisoning from beef from fast-food. Her campaign is inspiring, because of the personal pain involved with losing a child.
I would recommend this documentary for anyone who is either ignorant of where their food comes from or is torn between food options. Although it may be gruesome, it is an ugly truth we have to face in terms of what we eat. This documentary opened my eyes to what really happens to meat used today.

Food Inc., 94 mins., PG.

In Response

I was saddened and sickened by the events that transpired on Friday, December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. Words are not easy to use, and I'm not sure how to clearly reflect my deep sorrow. When I found out on Friday, I was moved to tears reading articles and watching coverage online.

Out of this tragedy, there have been tales of heroism and selflessness, such as Victoria Soto, 27, who hid her children in closets, then told Adam Lanza, the gunman, that they were in the gym. He then shot and killed her, but none of her students were harmed. The school principal, Dawn Hochsprung, reportedly lunged at Lanza in an attempt to overtake him, and was killed in the process. It was other adults' and teachers' fast action that kept other students safe and alive.

It is clear that gun control laws are needed especially in light of this tragedy. In his Friday show, Piers Morgan said:
"There are nearly 12,000 murders a year from guns in this country. When are you guys going to focus on that, and stop telling me the answer is more guns? It is not the answer! How many more kids have to die, before you guys say, 'we want less guns, not more?'"

The 1934 National Firearms Act taxes the manufacturing and sale of guns, requires that distributors of guns register then with the Attorney General, and relays sales information.
The 1968 Gun Control Act requires that gun manufacturers and salespeople be federally licensed, and prohibits the interstate sale of guns.
The 1993 Brady Handgun Prevention Act requires background checks for those purchasing firearms who were not already licensed to carry them, and puts two age restrictions on purchasing guns: to buy "long guns", you must be 18; to buy "short guns", you must be 21.
The current laws don't go far enough in terms of gun control.  It's clear we need a change.


I've been trying to imbed two videos, but my computer is glitching, so I'll link them here:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/tribute-newtowns-fallen-heroes-17993817

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/obama-connecticut-school-shooting-hearts-broken-17977068

 

Here Comes the Sun King

I've been in love with The Beatles since I was a little girl, and I'd like to talk for a minute about one of my favorite musical pieces by them. I've had trouble picking my favorite Beatles album. I've gone through my Sgt. Peppers and Revolver phase, and am now stuck between the White Album and Abbey Road. Abbey Road (1969) I really enjoy because of the medley of songs at the end of the album. This was their last recorded album, and there was less pressure because they all knew that they were broken up. They were able to relax and put together some really interesting music. The 16-minute medley, sometimes called the Golden Slumbers Medley, is composed of 8-9 songs: "You Never Give Me Your Money" (McCartney) is one of my favorite songs because of the great and haunting piano track. "Sun King" (Lennon) is one of those chill-out songs that also encompasses Beatles humor in adding hints of other songs into songs, such as in "Glass Onion" on the White Album. "Mean Mr. Mustard" (Lennon)is a god song to sing along to, with it's crazy story, like Maxwell's Silver Hammer or Rocky Raccoon. "Polythene Pam" (Lennon) was originally going to be names Shirley, but was changed to Pam to fit with Mr. Mustard's sister Pam. I adore the british accents in this song with the long "ah" in "Paaahm". "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" (McCartney) was actually written about a crazed fan who climbed into Paul's house through the bathroom window. "Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight" and "The End" (McCartney) are the end of the Medley, not including Her Majesty. Golden Slumbers was based off a 17th century poem and is a truly beautiful song, and the three ending songs show off distinctive band patterns: McCartney playing guitar in a staccato style, Harrison playing guitar in a melodic style, and Lennon playing guitar in a stinging style with much distortion, as well as including Ringo's only drum solo. I can't really go into more4 detail on how much I love these songs because then I'll start fangirling and won't be able to cope. *sigh* Sleep pretty darling, do not cry. And I will sing a lullaby...

Tumblr (That Thing That Ruins Your Life)

In case none of you have heard of it, tumblr.com is another of those social media websites such as facebook or twitter (but tumblr is better). Tumblr is basically a blog that's more picture and gif oriented than text. You follow other peoples' blogs and reblog their posts. I only started tumblr last summer, and it's pretty much taken over my life. I'll admit that I spend about an hour every day on tumblr. I guess what I like about the constant sharing and reblogging is that you can experience and collaborate anonymously. You can share a photo and have no idea who originally posted it, or how many people have reblogged it until you saw it on your dashboard. I love looking through vintage and photography tumblrs, as well as the ones about food, and blogs that express feelings. Some other favorite blogs are here, here, and here. It's really frustrating sometimes because of the layout, but I find that it's worth it when you create a blog you're proud of. Just in case you were wondering, my main tumblr is here and my tights tumblr is here.

A Vegetarian Thanksgiving?

I am a pescaterian and have been since 4th grade. A pescaterian is a person who abstains from eating all meat except for seafood. Throughout my life, I've found that people are very ignorant about vegetarian eating habits. This thought comes up more often as we near Thanksgiving and Christmas, when we finish shoveling down Halloween candy and start carving the Turkey.

 

I became a pescaterian because, first of all, I hate the taste and texture of meat. I've never liked it, unless it's sliced thin and hidden in something else. my least favorite food would probably be a tie between beef and bacon. I do, however, love fish and shellfish, and it would be really hard to give it up.

 

It's assumed by others that if you label yourself as a vegetarian or a type of vegetarian, you have to follow a set of rules. Vegetarianism is a belief, and I believe in not eating meat. If I do eat meat, I haven't broken the law; I'm still considered a vegetarian. It's a personal choice what you eat, unless your family or religion hold you to the rules. It's rude when people act as if I'm breaking a rule if I eat something that has beef sauce on top.

 

People tend to make a big deal about vegetarianism, but, at least for me, it's never a problem. When I am at other people's houses, I'll eat what they give me out of courtesy. I'm not offended by their choices and I don't mind if they serve me meat or - god forbid - eat it in front of me.

 

I've had people serve me meat and be disappointed that I don't like it. "But you'll like my chicken!" Sorry, I don't. It's not you, it's me. And then there are people that act like I'm crazy for not liking meat. I'm not altering my lifestyle enough to upset myself, and I'm certainly not altering theirs. How could it be possible that I hate bacon? But bacon is the best thing that ever happened to this planet, better than sliced bread! Maybe I am crazy, but I can't believe that you don't like some things I do, like brussel sprouts or tuna fish.

 

All in all, I wish people would try to be more informed about the types and lifestyle of vegetarians. I don't expect people to accommodate for me of understand my reasons, I just want to live in a society where we can be free to eat whatever way we find healthy. Why not do some research and try out different meals?

 

So thin Thanksgiving, I'll probably try a bit of gross to-furkey, then give up, and stick to the rest of the meatless meal. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Why is babysitting the best?

I babysit a boy that lives down the street from me, and it's one of my favorite things to do. I really like kids and babysitting, because it's fun and a great way to get experience for teaching. The job I have is really convenient because he lives down the street from me and I can walk to his house. It's a pretty regular job; I usually work once or twice a week after school.

The kid I babysit is named Owen, and he's 8. He's an adorable, sweet kid who loves dinosaurs and soccer. It's amazing how polite he is considering that most 8 year old boys are really annoying. Owen and I play soccer outside his house and love playing games like Uno, Sorry, and Monopoly (which he cheats terribly at).

I've had some great times hanging out with Owen. It's been an amazing experience, and I encourage anyone and everyone to try to get some babysitting jobs. Babysitting is an easy and fun way to make money. I would recommend getting certified first by the Red Cross, though.

Happy sitting!

What is the best thing about Autumn?

The best this about autumn is crunching on leaves. I go out of my way to step on them. There's a tree two houses away from me that has really crunchy leaves. I hope leaves can't feel pain, or I'd fell pretty bad about myself.

Actually, the best thing about autumn is all the new smells in Bath and Body Works and Coffee Shops. They always come out with some delicious pumpkin-smelling candle or some fancy Spiced Apple Cider Latee Frappucinno Capucinno Iced Autumncinno Awesomecinno...

Let me take that back - the best this about autumn is getting ready for halloween. I feel that you're never too old to dress up for halloween, and getting ready is the best part. Trick or treating with friends and then trading candy is just the absolute best feeling. But sometimes you tend to feel a little bit sick the day after...

The best this about autumn is still being able to wear tshirts without freezing to death, because it's not too cold yet. You still have some opportunities to wear your summer-y clothing before bringing out the parka and snowpants.

The actual best this about autumn is the changing leaves. Or the pumpkin carving.

No, the true best thing about Autumn is that all of the fall cliches don't actually bother me. I get completely caught up in scented candles and leaves and sweaters.

Well, there's school too.

Nah.  Sweaters are the bomb.

What is your plan for your future?

What is my plan? I have a basic sketch, though I know that life has many twists and turns and my direction could change quickly. Basically, I want my life to involve my favorite things: music, art, children, fashion, etc.


I plan to attend college, which will probably be American University. My mom recently started working full-time for WAMU, which is owned by AU. Because of the job, I'll be able to go there tuition-free. I really love the school, and it's probably the college I'll end up attending. If I don't go to AU, my other top colleges are UNC at Chapel Hill, NYU, Stanford,and Claremont McKenna. I want to major in Elementary Education, though I'm also considering Women's Studies, PR, General Education, Drama, and/or Sociology.

After college, I plan to travel for a few years. I want to live in Italy for a year of two, and I want to visit my family in Japan and my Aunt's village in Cameroon. I want to become an elementary school teacher, but I might have a career in theater or high fashion, depending on how the tables turn. I'm certain that I want to be a mother, and I want to start a family. We might stay in the US and live somewhere on the east coast or we might live in France. I've always been obsessed with France, ever since I was a little girl, and I really appreciate their education system, maternity leave, and quality of life.



Who knows where I'll end up? I'll be happy as long as I have family around. I'm glad that I have this much figured out at this point of my life, though I'm open to and accept the change that will come.


Have a splendiforous day!
Laura

Questions

I'm not sure if I'd classify this as a full blog post, it's more of an announcement. After we were given the freedom to post about whatever interests us, I was very excited to be able to post freely. I thought of coming up with a theme, then realized that it's very hard to classify myself.

I don't fit into a certain "type" of person, I have varying interests and I can't be labeled as part of any group. It's hard for me to describe myself or my hobbies, so I thought of this theme as a way to express all of the sides of me.

My blog's new theme is: questions. We're surrounded by so many questions in our lives, some that we can't answer. I'm planning on using this blog to go into detailed answers to questions I think up, whether that means blogs titled "Why are babies just so cute?" to "Who are you?". Maybe I'll just answer a bunch of short questions, or I'll go into detail on a more retrospective one.

I think that we all have voices in our communities and we should take advantages of the modes of communication given to us.  I'm going to attempt to do this with my blog. I apologise in advance for my love affair with commas and for my lack of te letter "h" which sticks on my keyboard and doesn't always appear in my text. I try to add it in later, but one might be lost every once in a while.

Have a nice day!

Scriptwriter

My group's script for the trailer "The Condemned" is progressing well, as we've gotten rid of many extraneous scenes. We started out with almost 4 scenes involving dialogue between the same characters. Through editing, we've gotten rid of many of them and shortened our movie-esque trailer into a trailer-esque trailer. 
Some of the elements of a dystopia our script incorporates are: 

• Propaganda is used to control the citizens of the society - Leia is confused by Cade's talk that the world is far from perfect, and says that she doesn't know what to think.  
• Fear of the outside world/Natural world banished/mistrusted -In the narration, Leia talks about how they're told there's not a world out there, and we see archival footage of a mushroom cloud explosion.  
• Citizens live in a dehumanized state - In the narration, Leia talks about how some people are taken away and killed if they don't score high enough on the test. We have several shots of people being taken away, and a mother hugging her son goodbye.   
• Citizens conform to uniform expectations - This is shown by having all the citizens wearing the same uniform: gray shirts and black bottoms. 
  

We're using voiceover and sound from the actual scene. There are 6 total scenes on our script. We first learn about Leia's world and her relationship with Cade. Then, we see her nightmare about losing her brother. We then learn that Cade's not satisfied with their world and that some teachers rig the scores. Then Cade and Leia search through the files on the top floor, and are chased by guards. Leia finally escapes into the field.

5x5 Video Project

1. wide shot of clearing
2. deer walking away
3. ripples in stream
4. pan of deer tracks
5. view under leaves

I created my 5x5 video using the camera on my mom's iPhone, and I used wevideo to edit it. I had problems with wevideo's exporting process, which took overnight. I'll need to allocate extra time for that in future.

I am pleased with how my 5x5 turned out. I like the different shots that I got and I like how they flow together.

I think that our next video challenge should be a "mood" video, where we have a certain amount of time to create a modd setting, such as "sad" or "angry" in our video.

V for Vendetta

 

Title: V for Vendetta
Director: James Mcteigue
Rating: R
Release date:  March 17, 2006 

Synopsis: A freedom fighter known as "V" fights against his totalitarian society usint terrorist tactics. He rescues a woman named Evey from the thought police and uses her as an ally in his attack on the government.

V for Vendetta's trailer in an exemplary trailer because of the information given, the images used, and the musical accompaniment. The trailer gives just enough away to get the viewer excited to see the rest of the film, because they know about how V is trying to bring down the government. There are several motifs used, such as the symbol for V, his mask, flashlights, and the cross of the party. The music adds tension with its military beat and dramatic strings. They also show violent scenes, to add action and suspense to the trailer. THe only text seen is when they say "An uncompromising vision of the future" which, in turn, adds more theatricality. 

We will try to use the aspects from the V for Vendetta trailer in our own. We will add dramatic tracks to add suspense, use motifs, and give just enough information away t make the audiences eager to see the rest. We want them to know who our character is, what her society is like, and why there is something terribly wrong with it. We will use fewer colors in ours, however, because our society is, for all intents and purposes, black-and-white.

Laura

World Without Walls

"Welcome to the Collaboration Age, where even the youngest among us are on the Web, tapping into what are without question some of the most transformative connecting technologies the world has ever seen."

 I read "World Without Walls: Learning Well with Others", which was about the new generation of communication and how online tools for group collaboration are changing education and the learning process. There are many programs used for collaboration, such as YouTube, GoogleDocs, Wikipedia, etc.

Will Richardson writes about the access youth today has to internet communications, and how that can be taken advantage of in our ability to share and receive data. As Richardson writes, "Anyone with a passion for something can connect to others with that same passion -- and begin to co-create and colearn the same way many of our students already do." An example he gives is Laura Stockman, an 11 year old girl who, through her blog, has connected with people all over the world to share their experiences in community service. I was surprised that she was able to do this all at age 11, and it inspires me.

 People with shared interests can collaborate on websites - "weapons of mass collaboration" - to learn and grow from each others' help. "These tools are allowing us not only to mine the wisdom and experiences of the more than one billion people now online but also to connect with them to further our understanding of the global experience and do good work together." 

The article also discusses the need for teachers and adults to help kids navigate these sites and guide them. Kids are already navigating these sites, to he argues that help from adults would only help them learn online more constructively. Also, our public education system, he believes, needs to put more emphasis on these collaboration sites in their programs. 


The new age of communication is dawning, and we're just getting started.

LINK HERE

Stranger Than Fiction: Movie Review

1. I read a movie review of Stranger Than Fiction, written by James Berardinelli on reelviews.net. The review praises the unique premise, the acting, and the overall experience. Berardinelli starts out by stating their opinion of the film, that it did a lot of things will, and almost none poorly. After his opinion paragraph, he writes two paragraphs of the plot. He does not give away the ending, which I appreciated. Instead, he ended the description with the discovery of the theme. He then has a paragraph on the actors, and a final paragraph about the cinematic experience. This reviewer focused mainly on the acting and plot aspects while not touching cinematic aspects at all. This is written in a funny and casual tone, with humorous descriptions of parts of the plot. The reviewer rates the film as 3.5/4 and recommends it as "a welcome way to spent a chilly autumn evening".

2. I think that we should structure our quarterly movie review in a free and casual way to accomodate creativity. We should be given the options of our own for of review, be it posters, videos, written work, radio report, etc. We should not have a specific format, except for usual ideas of noting cinematic techniques, plot, actors, etc. I think that we should receive a lot of freedom, because our creativity and expression is the root of truly good understanding of what we're reviewing.

My annotated review is here: http://diigo.com/0sx9l

Have a lovely day!

Oh hello!

Howdy there, welcome to my blog. My name's Laura and I'm a Sophomore student in the CAP program. I enjoy the arts and education, and I plan to be an elementary school teacher when I grow up. The aspect of filmmaking that I'm most interested in is brainstorming and creating concept ideas for videos. I enjoy making videos because I like acting and expressing myself through art.

One of my favorite film projects I have done in the past was the video editor project I filmed in Freshman year. My friend Milena and I filmed a parody of "Let's Go To The Mall" from the hit TV show, How I Met Your Mother, about the life on a video editor. I was one of the actresses and I also edited the video. I also really enjoyed doing the Infoflow opening videos last year, when my group put makeup on a boy named Isaiah and wrote "Infoflow" on his forehead. I enjoyed the project because coming up with simple, short, funny concepts for a 30-second video was challenging and exciting.

Some ideas I have for blog ideas are:

• As a collaboration tool for our "Change" projects
• To continue class discussions
• To offer opinions on books and projects in our classes

Thank you so much for visiting my blog.

Have a nice day!

Laura

image source : http://www.flickr.com/photos/seyyed_mostafa_zamani/5664919365/