themediamademecrazy.com

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).

tonight’s premiere episode, “a clean escape,” starred sam waterson and judy davis as patient and psychiatrist, where the former cannot remember the past 24 years. it was interesting at best. disregarding the gaping plot holes (like where does he go when he leaves her office, or why has it taken 10 months to utilize what seems like the most probable solution?), the style of the program was poor. for me it began with davis’ character. a actress of 57 should be allowed to look 57; every close-up, especially her emotionally distraught ones, only offer further evidence that she is far to old for the role asked of her. it really prevents one from suspending disbelief.

furthermore, i think that the director put too much faith into the plot of the story and oversimplified the shooting, causing the entire project to collapse under poor visuals. in fact, i was much more interested in the story after listening to the dialogue on NPR (yeah, i listened to NPR yesterday… that’s another blog) than after watching the exact same scene.

however, i did commit to watching the whole episode and it generally improved from 2 1/2 to 3 stars (on a 5 star scale). but i have hope, and i will continue to watch the remaining 3 episodes, saturday nights in august at 10pm on abc.

Four thought-provoking tales of present and future Earth are brought to life in “Masters of Science Fiction,” an all-new anthology series featuring a stellar lineup of actors and directors, and narrated by acclaimed physicist Professor Stephen Hawking. The series premieres SATURDAY, AUGUST 4 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

i was very excited for the final installment; although there were a few parts that fell flat, overall, i thought it was a great conclusion to the trials and tribulations of harry at hogwarts. having said that, i’ve heard quite a few complaints that the book was substandard and closed in a desperate manner that leaves the reader disappointed. i felt that the ending, “nineteen years later,” is less of a conclusion and more of a prompt. rowling has left 19 years for spin off books, television shows, and other stories to emerge. however, i can only hope that this is a nod to the millions of children worldwide who utilize the narrative to create their own fantasy world.

one of many online communities:

http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/

according to henry jenkins in “convergence culture” fan culture is an essential part of any good media franchise and offers the reader a chance to become deeply involved in the story and the characters. there are 19 years to fill with adventures and magic, this was not lost on rowling or the publishers. and like any good series, the character will always survive, and live happily ever after.

’saved by the bell’ (1989-1993) was one of the best integrations of race, class and gender that i’ve seen on television and decades ahead of its time. granted, children’s programs tend to integrate race effortlessly, because children will be children. however, after living in LA, i realize that it is not as simple as SBTB would lead one to believe. allow me to elaborate…

the main cast is multi ethnic: of the 6 main characters, half are white (zach, kelly, screech) while the other half are ‘of color’ (slater, jesse, lisa). although this may seem evident to the viewer, the narratives never highlighted their races or made that part of the discussion (despite living in southern california in the late 80s). the text tended to focus more on class and the trials and tribulations that come from teens dealing with these all-too-real differences: lisa is a shop-aholic, which clashes with her best friend kelly’s large family and spendthrift demands. for the other characters, class is less of an issue, although zach never sees his father because he is working and it takes a car accident to bring them together.

the characters are intended to be a slice of the american high school system (a classic tool of TV and film): the cool guy, the geek, the jock, the american sweetheart, the spoiled daddy’s girl, and the nerd/smart chick. this last category is also what draws me to the program. the smart chick, jesse spano, is both of questionable ethnicity (which is also never mentioned in the program) and remarkably attractive. she even lands the jock! it gives hope to all of us sexy smart chicks who question our own attractiveness. as for the gender reading, jesse was clearly a feminist, a label that many place on women who are too smart, too strong, or too driven. however, jesse was all of these things AND feminine. she was a feminine feminist, an elusive moniker that i try to advocate.

in short, i think that i am better off for watching ’saved by the bell’ at a key point in my development, as compared to other programs that were popular at the time, like baywatch, or melrose place.

the month of june was hellish, but everything that had to get done did get done and now we are into july. the summer is zipping along, but my july will be relatively relaxing (fingers crossed). i am going hiking with girlfriends, chillin’ in the bay area, reading books, and cruising through my netflix queue. today i will be watching my first hitchcock film, vertigo.

at the end of the month, i will be returning to NY for 11 days to celebrate the wedding of two very special people, the birthday of one of my favorite comedians, and the opportunity to not do my laundry. until then, get ready LA.

tomorrow is still technically SPORT DEATH DAY. nestled among a historical week of tragedies (virginia, oklahoma, waco, columbine), i understand the potential arguments for and against “sporting death.” however, for those of us who are in the know, we are aware that this phrase, this symbol, and (what i had hoped for) the day has the potential to be a show of support, individuality, and nerd power. having said that, i will be wearing my pin, [and i did put those in the mail this week for anyone that requested them (see pictures)] but perhaps wearing SPORT DEATH to work may make life difficult for my fellow haüsmates.

so if you do choose to sport death tomorrow, please do so with love and in memoriam. do send pictures if you can, and i still intend for this to be an annual day. and i hope to see even more pictures next year.

SPORT DEATH DAY

NOTE: i suppose this is less of an issue for those of you on campus, but if it is, i’d love to hear about it. cause there are a lot of folks at MIT that just don’t get it.

prince’s half time show was the most amazing thing i’ve seen on television in a long time. it was beautiful, shocking, revolutionary, soft and wet. i’ve been raving about it for 24 hours and i’ve gotten some repeated comments:

1. “you know they fill the field with prince fans so that they can get footage of girls crying…”

duh. that does not negate a phenomenal performance. he had over 50,000 people in the stands singing along, not to mention the audiences at home, and around the world. i’m aware of the techniques, (raises into snobbish tone) i have a degree in television theory.

2. “half the crowd went to the bathroom anyway.”

well then they are damn fools. to walk away from a show like that. prince is a living legend, that’s like saying, “no thanks, i’m not interested in seeing ravi shankar, sir paul mccartney, and bebe king perform for free. i’ve got to use the restroom.”

more importantly, i am always affected when i know that the majority of the homes in the united states are watching and listening to the same thing that i am right now. only the lucky ones can feel the way i do too.

henry jenkins, my undergraduate media studies advisor and long time friend, recently posted on his blog…

5 Things You Don’t Know About Me

its a chain blog; someone posts a blog “5 things you don’t know about me,” in response to someone else, then demands the same from 5 of their friends. although i think chain mail is pretty lame, this might be awesome. i was not included in henry’s original five, but i felt inspired to respond to it anyway. since it should be written as a response to the sender, these are specifically five things that henry does not know about me. but as a blog chain, i post it for all my readers.

i must mention that i met prof jenkins when i was 16, as a freshman at mit. he is the housemaster at senior house, my habitat and habit from 1998-2003 and in the past nine years, he has been a part of my academic and personal life. there are very few things about me that he does not know, like how i cry when i’m frustrated, that i bleached my hair blonde for four days in 2000, and that the most important man in my life is a 22lb italian furball from long island. so after much thought, here we go…

1. in christmas 1988, my cousins got a nintendo entertainment system (you know the kind that came with mario brothers and duck hunt on the same cartridge?). it was the first time i actually played a video game. when my cousin killed her last man, i kicked my foot out and a toothpick left over from dinner went straight up my heel. i passed out screaming and crying. my relationship with video games has never been quite right.

2. during my freshman year at mit, a friend of mine and i used to get drunk and sneak into kresge ice rink to go skating at midnight. there isn’t much else to the story, just keep trying until you find the right door. the space is empty, the echo is deep, and the late night lighting is as smooth and serene as the ice.

3. i’m really good at doing my own nails. at one point in my childhood, i wanted to be a manicurist. it seemed like such a simple, yet fun job, bringing pleasure to other people. and i was good at it. i suppose this is related to my periodic thoughts about being an exotic dancer and a porno director… but henry has probably figured that out by now.

4. my old man crush is steve martin. some women like sean connery or patrick stewart. jeremy irons is a good one too. but for me, i like steve martin. i always have. there is something about a man that can make me laugh just by walking into a room. some of my first memories are reruns of steve on saturday night live. senior year of high school, i had a bit part in his play “Picasso at the Lapin Agile;” it was awesome and i keep meaning to read more of his written work. even after “bringing down the house,” steve martin could have me any day of the week.

mmm… i did really love ed bradley though…

5. in high school, a friend of mine decided that “charisse” required too much effort, and in 9th grade, i got dubbed with the nickname “CC” (sometimes spelt “CiCi” or “CeCe”). at first i loved it; i grew up hating my name and believing that a nickname meant that you were accepted into a group. i answered to it for about 2 years, but one night at ebersole ice rink, i snapped. i thought that “CC” sounded too much like a barbie doll name and, like every other 15 year old girl, i was never going to be a barbie, therefore i hated everything about her. i cussed out my friends and adamantly refused to answer to “CC”. since then, i’ve come to appreciate my name, its novelty, and my attachment to it. i haven’t had a nick name since, just aliases…

now for one thing that i didn’t know about me…

i’m the second in henry’s top 16 friends on myspace!

http://www.myspace.com/henryjenkins

to continue my blog, i’m going to request a response from 5 people with blogs, but please note that i’m eager to hear anyone and everyone’s responses!

teresa fazio, ian kreisberg, dan mcanulty, becca maglathlin, rene ruiz

in dick cheney’s exclusive interview with wolf blitzer on wednesday (the day after the president’s state of the union speech), wolf asked the vice president to comment on the fact that his lesbian daughter, mary, is pregnant without a husband. dick refused to answer the question, stating that it was “out of line.”

i found that remarkably offensive; he claims that this should not be part of the discussion, but it was he and his religious fervor that raised this issue and submitted it to american debate. he should have to answer since he forced his ideology into other people’s homes. his family should NOT be exempt.