themediamademecrazy.com

i usually cannot stand facebook quizzes. but every so often there’s a good one; i quite enjoyed “what crazy bitch are you” (sylvia plath), but didn’t like “what r&b diva are you” (jill scott)…

“what inner nationality are you” caught me because for quite long i have been considering leaving the states, just to get away from this nearing 30-year immersion. the quiz itself includes all sorts of interesting social psychological measures including attachment to one’s mother, individualistic vs. collectivist cultural tendencies, as well as concepts of the self and other. i encourage you to check it out.

turns out i’m an american at heart. i’ve come to grips with it.

http://apps.facebook.com/whatisyourtrueinnern/

my diagnosis:

“You are highly competitive and highly independent, although you also have an easygoing and spontaneous nature. In order to hide and mitigate just how badly you want to win, you have developed a thick veneer of friendliness — in order to lull your opponents into a false sense of security, yes, but also in order to actually tame your own natural blood lust, and most of the time it even works. Because you are so mobile and ever-changing, your friendships are always in flux, and the people who are your oldest friends may or may not accompany you all the way through life. Probably not.”

this monday i drove my car to USC and parked on vermont. i was in the building for 2 hours and when i returned (slightly worried about getting a ticket), there was a 8×11, bright orange flier on my car advertising tax preparation. every car on vermont had fallen victim. when i reached my car, i pulled the flier from under my windshield wiper and let it fall under my car. usually, i would toss it in my car and put it in the trash later, however, i was tired of picking up other people’s litter. this tax preparer hired someone to affix litter to my car! and when that litter hits the ground and officially becomes litter, am i the litterer? it was still litter when it was on the hood of my car! and the name of the perpetrator is on the piece of litter!

in short, car fliers should be considered illegal. paper does not become litter when it hits the ground, its litter when it becomes unwanted.  furthermore, the guilty parties write their name and number on the piece of litter. maybe next time i will collect all of them and dump the litter at their place of business.

because this is technically an endeavor about the role of media in constructing the psychology of self, i figured i should include my most recent exciting media moment. i posted this movie review of coraline (in 3D) on facebook.

“absolutely amazing in 3D. much like speed racer in IMAX, i don’t know if i could give it such an enthusiastic thumbs up had i see in it in standard film format. the 3D effects were used to immerse the audience in the story, instead of simply as a gimmick. well played.”

i don’t usually post movie comments on this site, however, the experience of current 3D technology has inspired me to expand my content. allow me to elaborate on my aforementioned coraline experience…

last weekend was the last weekend to catch coraline in 3D that, according to leonard maltin, “was the best movie [he’d ever seen] in 3D.” although 3D has yet to improve on the mild headache induced by the glasses, i was very impressed with its use naratively in the film. the stereoscopic-ness was employed to create a realistic environment. coraline as a film was exciting and really demonstrated an awareness of creepy family films that came before it (e.g., beetlejuice, nightmare before christmas, pan’s labyrinth).

i suppose i should admit here that i am easily scared and, despite my “grown person” status, i was scared at some point in all of the aforementioned films. with coraline, however, the fear response that i experienced was definitely more visceral due to, i believe, the effect of 3D, and this sensation increased over the course of the film as the narrative heightens the suspension of disbelief.
without spoiling the film, coraline is forced to crawl through a tunnel that looks very much like human intestines; as she is chased through this tunnel, the music, the narrative tension, and the actual perceived depth of the tunnel all combined to create a strangely disturbing experience for a 28-year-old woman in the theater.

then again, i’m the person who cried at lilo & stitch in 2002.

i’m intrigued as to other’s general experience with 3D films - do you actually perceive an increased sense of presence and physicality when watching a film in 3D? independent of the tricks like butterflies flying into and out of the screen, but is the overall experience of the film heightened?

so much has happened since my last post, i cannot begin to even cover it all, but i will do my best. november was a particularly difficult month. the love of my life, vinny, my 9 year old tabby, passed away 2 days before thanksgiving. we were together for 8 years and 10 months and he was, paws down, the best man in my life. i  was terribly heartbroken for weeks afterwards but tried to keep myself busy (an easy task given my workload). i went home for thanksgiving, which was bittersweet; the house seemed very empty without him.

i returned to LA for a few days to finish up the last of my work before departing on a 6-week, overland camping trip from nairobi to cape town. i didn’t think that i could spend 6 weeks sleeping in a tent, but i did, and i’m probably better for it. in fact, the first night sleeping in the test was the best night of sleep i had in months; i had no responsibilities or deadlines, i just had to take care of myself. i missed vinny hard during the first weeks, and kept picking his hairs off of my clothes and throwing them out the window. it was a strange sort of memorial, leaving his hairs across kenya, but it put a smile on my face. the trip was amazing a “life changing experience;” although i don’t feel particularly changed, i’ve tried to maintain my relaxed mentality from africa since my return to the states. truth be told, everything will get done, providing you relax and do it. internal stress is a modern phenomenon.

From namib naukluft park, namibia

i am in the process of posting a full diary at…
http://www.themediamademecrazy.com/charisseinafrica/

until then, the pictures are available at…
http://picasaweb.google.com/charisseinafrica

the trip was amazing: i saw all big 5 (elephants, rhinos, buffalos, lions and leopards), went horseback riding around lake malawi, walked with lions in zambia, took a microlight ride over victoria falls, jumped off of a gorge at the zambezi river, rode in a mokoro through the okavango delta, went skydiving and quad biking over the namibian desert, and drank wine in south africa. some parts were rough, some were simple, and i did not get malaria.

since returning to the states, i’ve been trying to get back into the swing of things, although its really felt like a holiday from my holiday. i was in LA for 2 weeks catching up on work, then spent a weekend in tampa for the SPSP conference (for which the trip was fully funded) and now i’m in NY spending time with family and friends before leaving to drive to SF with one of my best girlfriends.

as for media, i’ve been fairly detached. i spent most of my downtime in africa with my nose in a book; i didn’t speak to anyone at any length for the first 10 days, it was a delightful break from my own life and my own mind. i did not read newspapers or watch any news - i didn’t even know that there was a battle ensuing between israel and palestine until about a week after the fact. furthermore, i spent the time reading fiction (atlas shrugged, memoirs of a geisha, me talk pretty one day, the satanic verses, and a thousand splendid suns), albeit smart fiction, but a significant departure from my regular reading material.

i returned on january 20, just in time to watch the inaugural parties for obama, which was a delightful media return. its fun to be back in the states, its a new america, but it still smells the same.

i watched the debate on wednesday night in pennsylvania and i must admit that it was fairly unimpressive. perhaps because i’m so inundated with this primary process, the candidates have simply become parodies of themselves. i know what obama is going to say before he opens his mouth, and i know that hillary is going to attack him for it. since then, he’s been commenting that the debate did not get into the issues for 45 minutes, going on to chastise the debate process for focusing away from the issues with a desire to create controversy. however when they begin to discuss the issues, they only talk about issues that they agree upon. so what’s the point?

if we have nothing more to debate and you have no real issues on which to separate yourself from each other, then clearly you must separate yourself on character and an appeal to the affective component of the american people. that’s why you campaign. not because you’re looking to share your ideas, but instead to get people to rally and be emotionally drawn. obama should know that more than anyone. furthermore, in florida, where campaigning was prohibited as well as media ads, obama managed to run ads through an “oversight” in national television time purchasing, and he still lost. i think that this is indicative of obama’s need to to reach voters on an emotional level thereby bringing them over to his side (hillary as well, i would simply argue that more people had some affective response to her at baseline). alternatively, some would claim that “clinton” has name recognition whereas obama was less known… really? really? it seems since he announced his bid for presidency,  obama is one of the most popular names in american culture (granted, a manipulation over time):

research question: during this campaign season (january - denver), has barak obama been mentioned more times than hillary clinton; a content analysis of the names “hillary clinton”, “clinton”, “barak obama”, and “obama” across major news media (i suppose the easiest would be major print media). or a primetime section of major cable media from say 7-11pm over sample weeks from now until the primaries. i understand that news networks make a concerted effort to balance their time, but biases exist, and often they manifest on this subtle level

just a thought for everyone with all that free time.

New Rule: No more gift registries. You know, it used to be just for weddings. Now it’s for babies and new homes and graduations from rehab. Picking out the stuff you want and having other people buy it for you isn’t gift giving, it’s the white people version of looting.

New Rule: Stop giving me that pop-up ad for classmates.com! There’s a reason you don’t talk to people for 25 years. Because you don’t particularly like them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football team is doing these days — mowing my lawn.

New Rule: Don’t eat anything that’s served to you out a window unless you’re a seagull. People are acting all shocked that a human finger was found in a bowl of Wendy’s chili. Hey, it cost less than a dollar. What did you expect it to contain? Lobster?

New Rule: Stop saying that teenage boys who have sex with their hot, blonde teachers are permanently damaged . I have a better description for these kids: ‘Lucky bastards.’

New Rule: If you need to shave and you still collect baseball cards, you’re a dope. If you’re a kid, the cards are keep sakes of your idols. If you’re a grown man, they’re pictures of men.

New Rule: Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here’s how much men care about your eyebrows: Do you have two of them? Good, we’re done.

New Rule:There’s no such thing as flavored water. There’s a whole aisle of this crap at the supermarket, water, but, without that watery taste. Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft drink. You want flavored water? Pour some scotch over ice and let it melt. That’s your flavored water.

New Rule: Stop screwing with old people. Target is introducing a redesigned pill bottle that’s square, with a bigger label. And the top is now the bottom. And by the time grandpa figures out how to open it, his ass will be in the morgue. Congratulations, Target, you just solved the Social Security crisis.

New Rule: The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the asshole. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a ‘decaf grandee, half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n’-Low, and One NutraSweet,’ ooooh, you’re a huge asshole.

New Rule: I’m not the cashier! By the time I look up from sliding my card, entering My PIN number, pressing ‘Enter,’ verifying the amount, deciding, no, I don’t want Cash back, and pressing ‘Enter’ again, the kid who is supposed to be ringing me up is standing there eating my Almond Joy.

New Rule: Just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn’t make you Spiritual. It’s right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to ‘beef with broccoli.’ The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren’t pregnant. You’re not spiritual. You’re just high.

New Rule: Competitive eating isn’t a sport. It’s one of the seven deadly sins. ESPN Recently televised the U.S. Open of Competitive Eating, because watching those athletes at the poker table was just too damned exciting. What’s next, competitive farting? Oh wait, they’re already doing that. It’s called ‘The Howard Stern Show.’

New Rule: I don’t need a bigger mega M&Ms. If I’m extra hungry for M&Ms, I’ll go nuts and eat two.

New Rule: If you’re going to insist on making movies based on crappy old television shows, then you have to give everyone in the Cineplex a remote so we can see what’s playing on the other screens. Let’s remember the reason something was a television show in the first place is that the idea wasn’t good enough to be a movie.

New Rule: And this one is long overdue: No more bathroom attendants. After I zip up, some guy is offering me a towel and a mint like I just had sex with George Michael. I can’t even tell If he’s supposed to be there, or just some freak with a fetish. I don’t want to be on your webcam, Dude. I just want to wash my hands

New Rule: When I ask how old your toddler is, I don’t need to hear ‘27 months.’ ‘He’s two’ will do just fine. He’s not a cheese. And I didn’t really care in the first place.

New Rule: If you ever hope to be a credible adult and want a job that pays better than Minimum wage, then for God’s sake don’t pierce or tattoo every available piece of flesh. If so, then plan your future around saying, ‘Do you want fries with that?’

today, south carolina announced that the state would move its primary to january 19 in response to florida’s recent shift, ensuring its role as the first primary in the south.

NYTimes: South Carolina G.O.P. Moves Up Primary

i’m excited for this primary leapfrog, i think that it keeps the the candidates on their toes. instead of skipping from state to state based on its position in the primary ranking, they must now focus on major issues that will speak to a national audience, changing minds through national media. of course there is the argument against a 9-month general election; that’ll suck pretty bad, but i can’t see how it would be worse than the current campaigning culture.

today i completed a feat that i had only dreamed about since moving to los angeles 3 years ago: riding my bike from downtown to venice beach. it is about 15 miles straight down venice blvd, and it took me just over an hour. when i arrived in venice, i realized that i had forgotten my wallet and had no bus fare in case of emergency. i placed a variety of semi-frantic messages to friends and found a hook up. i meandered north on the beach bike path to santa monica (another 3 miles or so) and decided to catch the express big blue bus.

after riding up as it pulled away, i got on a metro bus instead, but it was local. by the time we reached fairfax, i had been riding for about 45 minutes and realized that i could make it home much faster on my new marin san rafael city series. i hopped off (to the surprise of the bus driver as he knew my downtown destination) and cruised down fairfax to the grove and then rode my bike home down 3rd. another 10 miles or so.

in total, i rode my bike almost 30 miles today. it felt good. i think this will be my new saturday morning ritual. there are so many interesting things that you miss when you are zipping along in an automobile. for instance, there are 2 bowling alleys on venice, one of which has a roller rink (World On Wheels).

this morning i missed the bus because i was talking on the phone. i watched three F buses go by and i made a decision to take a cab. when i crossed the street and looked up, another F bus was coming down the road! i got to campus and i left my water bottle in my statistics classroom. i suppose i lucked out with the bus issue and i had to let the water go…