I did something today which I thought I would never do. I took a stab at Second Life. My Second Life experience began with a few hiccups though. Firstly, I had trouble registering with Second Life because they were having technical difficulties or something. I had to check back several times to actually create my avatar. Then when I finally did register, I was a little dissapointed with what I found. I was expecting thousands of possibilities for my avatar. But for a basic user like myself, I could choose from only a few. That's why I picked fuzzy-sexy-fox lady, she was the most interesting and wasn't super ugly like the rest of the default female avatars. I named her Jeannine Mavendorf. I chose Mavendorf because it sounded like something from Harry Potter. When I took my first step into Second Life I was a bit scared. I was thrown in a random room with a bunch of strangers, and they were all speaking different languages. One person said, "Hello Jeannine!" But I didn't want to speak to them, so I left. It took me a little while to figure out how to move around, talk, and of course, dance. But from there I went to a Reggae Dance Club, and felt a little more comfortable as Jeannine Mavendorf.
I felt way more at ease in our comfortable classroom setting. I was so much less afraid of being in an online universe with people I knew from class, even though they looked really different...and someone was naked. As for the art displays which were available in our pretty little garden, I also had very high expectations. I was really expecting mind-blowing work. Even though I could never produce anything like the work I saw, I had a completely different vision in my head regarding what we would see. I also think I got too caught up in the whole experience, and was so excited/distracted by my classmates that I didn't get the full effect of the installments. For instance, with "The Raven," it asked me to change the environment setting to midnight to get the full effect of the literary classic. But, I didn't. I looked around and went to the next one. With "Mme Rimbaud's Salon," I was expecting a beauty salon. But, I guess they meant salon...like a room. An empty room, I guess. I appreciated the creative writing portion of "On Looking North." I also really enjoyed the paintings featured in "A Vision of Raphael." Although, some of the paintings were blurry and I didn't know if I could change that. I thought each of the installments were great examples of things we touched on this semester. I think having taken BECA 670, we are all on the right path toward creating interesting projects like the ones we saw, if we are so inclined.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Cinco de Mayo
Today was Cinco de Mayo. While many people say that you don’t have to be Irish to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, they also say you don’t need to be Mexican to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. In America, March 17th and May 5th are traditionally two days a year where we get drunk in honor of another country. I’m not saying that this is entirely bad. I too, on St. Patrick’s Day: wore green, ate Irish Stew, drank green beer and Irish carbombs, and passed out on my friend's couch. The next morning, I woke up believing that I thoroughly celebrated the unofficial holiday. But, one thing that always bugged me a bit was not knowing why I was celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. So, I looked it up and felt a little better about having celebrated like I did.
I’m not Irish, but I am Mexican. While seeing lots of ads for Guinness around St. Patrick’s Day never bothered me, seeing all the ads for Corona around Cinco de Mayo did set off something in my brain. This feeling was kind of like anger, confusion, and thirst all mixed together. I thought, “Why is Cinco de Mayo all about getting drunk?" And then, “Am I a hypocrite because I drank on St. Patrick’s Day, and I’m not Irish?” And, of course, “I really like to drink, and I’m Mexican. Should I just forget it and go get drunk too?” (For the record, I hate Corona. There are plenty of other tasty beers that come from Mexico. And I appreciate how those other tasty beer companies don’t make cheesy commercials. When I vacation in the tropical paradise of Mexico, you won’t find me lounging with a Corona!) After all of that, I decided that I would not judge myself too harshly. Instead, I would take my pride in my heritage and do whatever I felt like today. This is what I felt like doing...
I did some research on Cinco de Mayo, and found that it is not just a chips-salsa-Corona-Margarita holiday. (I also don’t drink Margarita’s because tequila is like liquid disaster to me.) Technically, it’s not an official holiday at all. Most people actually think it is Mexican Independence Day, but it’s not. Mexican Independence Day is a highly celebrated holiday in Mexico. Whereas Cinco de Mayo is moderately celebrated in certain parts of the United States by Chicanos. Mexican Independence Day celebrates Mexico’s fight to win independence from Spain, and is celebrated on September 16th annually. On May 5th, 1862, Mexican forces won a battle against French forces in the city of Puebla. Today, Cinco de Mayo honors that victory on Mexico’s behalf. Even though I have celebrated on May 5th in the past, I never knew of the battle that took place in Puebla. Thinking about it more and more, I guessed that many others have not either. But, since I live in a city heavily populated with people who have emigrated from Mexico; I guessed that many other people actually have heard of the Battle of Puebla. Either way, I decided that I wanted to publicly appreciate the people who made Cinco de Mayo possible: the people who fought in the honored battle.
While doing research on the Battle of Puebla, I found some of the names of leaders and generals who were involved in Mexico’s victory. I jotted down the name of Mexican President Benito Juarez, and Generals Ignacio Zaragoza, Felipe Berriozabal, and Porfirio Diaz. I printed out some pictures of these fellows on some glossy photo paper I had at home (only the best for these war heroes). I wrote their names on the front of each photo, took some duct tape, and was off to show some appreciation for making Cinco de Mayo such a popular date.
I thought I should go to some areas of San Jose which have a great Chicano presence, or that have a high amount of bars where people may be celebrating and tape the pictures where they would be seen. My reasoning was that people in the Chicano-populated areas may recognize those pictures and names and take some time to appreciate them, and those on their way to a bar would see them and wonder who they were. I began my journey in East San Jose, and worked my way to Downtown San Jose. What began as another chapter in my Guerilla Media Campaign, ended up being a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Driving around on an undesirably hot day, I found myself around places I had not seen in years. East San Jose was where I grew up, but moved away from around 15 years ago. Driving down familiar streets, I past my cousin’s old apartment building, the place where my grandma used to get her hair done, the high school my mom went to, Lake Cunningham Park where we used to have bbq’s, and eventually, the house I grew up in. It was a great day. After waking up some great memories, I went back to business.
I stopped at Latino Mercado’s on Capitol Rd. and Alum Rock Rd., randomly on San Fernando St. downtown near some bars, and in front of the Dairy Belle on McKee and Story Roads for no reason other than I wanted a milkshake badly. (It was a corn syrup slip-up. I had an Oreo milkshake. It was amazing.)
Cinco de Mayo, 2008 meant remembering those who fought for the country my ancestors came from, and how far my family has come in my lifetime. Guerilla Media aside, I took today to appreciate my heritage and the culture that surrounds it. And, I also drank Pacifico.
I’m not Irish, but I am Mexican. While seeing lots of ads for Guinness around St. Patrick’s Day never bothered me, seeing all the ads for Corona around Cinco de Mayo did set off something in my brain. This feeling was kind of like anger, confusion, and thirst all mixed together. I thought, “Why is Cinco de Mayo all about getting drunk?" And then, “Am I a hypocrite because I drank on St. Patrick’s Day, and I’m not Irish?” And, of course, “I really like to drink, and I’m Mexican. Should I just forget it and go get drunk too?” (For the record, I hate Corona. There are plenty of other tasty beers that come from Mexico. And I appreciate how those other tasty beer companies don’t make cheesy commercials. When I vacation in the tropical paradise of Mexico, you won’t find me lounging with a Corona!) After all of that, I decided that I would not judge myself too harshly. Instead, I would take my pride in my heritage and do whatever I felt like today. This is what I felt like doing...
I did some research on Cinco de Mayo, and found that it is not just a chips-salsa-Corona-Margarita holiday. (I also don’t drink Margarita’s because tequila is like liquid disaster to me.) Technically, it’s not an official holiday at all. Most people actually think it is Mexican Independence Day, but it’s not. Mexican Independence Day is a highly celebrated holiday in Mexico. Whereas Cinco de Mayo is moderately celebrated in certain parts of the United States by Chicanos. Mexican Independence Day celebrates Mexico’s fight to win independence from Spain, and is celebrated on September 16th annually. On May 5th, 1862, Mexican forces won a battle against French forces in the city of Puebla. Today, Cinco de Mayo honors that victory on Mexico’s behalf. Even though I have celebrated on May 5th in the past, I never knew of the battle that took place in Puebla. Thinking about it more and more, I guessed that many others have not either. But, since I live in a city heavily populated with people who have emigrated from Mexico; I guessed that many other people actually have heard of the Battle of Puebla. Either way, I decided that I wanted to publicly appreciate the people who made Cinco de Mayo possible: the people who fought in the honored battle.
While doing research on the Battle of Puebla, I found some of the names of leaders and generals who were involved in Mexico’s victory. I jotted down the name of Mexican President Benito Juarez, and Generals Ignacio Zaragoza, Felipe Berriozabal, and Porfirio Diaz. I printed out some pictures of these fellows on some glossy photo paper I had at home (only the best for these war heroes). I wrote their names on the front of each photo, took some duct tape, and was off to show some appreciation for making Cinco de Mayo such a popular date.
I thought I should go to some areas of San Jose which have a great Chicano presence, or that have a high amount of bars where people may be celebrating and tape the pictures where they would be seen. My reasoning was that people in the Chicano-populated areas may recognize those pictures and names and take some time to appreciate them, and those on their way to a bar would see them and wonder who they were. I began my journey in East San Jose, and worked my way to Downtown San Jose. What began as another chapter in my Guerilla Media Campaign, ended up being a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Driving around on an undesirably hot day, I found myself around places I had not seen in years. East San Jose was where I grew up, but moved away from around 15 years ago. Driving down familiar streets, I past my cousin’s old apartment building, the place where my grandma used to get her hair done, the high school my mom went to, Lake Cunningham Park where we used to have bbq’s, and eventually, the house I grew up in. It was a great day. After waking up some great memories, I went back to business.
I stopped at Latino Mercado’s on Capitol Rd. and Alum Rock Rd., randomly on San Fernando St. downtown near some bars, and in front of the Dairy Belle on McKee and Story Roads for no reason other than I wanted a milkshake badly. (It was a corn syrup slip-up. I had an Oreo milkshake. It was amazing.)
Cinco de Mayo, 2008 meant remembering those who fought for the country my ancestors came from, and how far my family has come in my lifetime. Guerilla Media aside, I took today to appreciate my heritage and the culture that surrounds it. And, I also drank Pacifico.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Net Neutrality: More important than Miley Cyrus
We expect a lot from our Internet Service Providers (ISPs): no one wants spam in their inboxes, consumers want to feel safe while buying stuff online, whiny parents don’t want their kids to see anything inappropriate, and copyright holders don’t want anyone to steal their stuff. We want our ISPs to make us feel safe and we expect access to whatever we want online. Like myself, many of us thought that all was well in the internet world. I guess we were all like selfish little children who took and took, and asked very little questions. For me, it was quite a shock to learn that ISPs were taking advantage of many by being sneaky and blocking services and sites that they felt unnecessary for me to use/see. Thank goodness for all the smart people who caught wind of companies like Comcast, who were slowing down peer-to-peer file-sharing for users of BitTorrent. If it weren’t for all those smart people, I would probably still be in the dark on the whole topic of net neutrality.
It was a little hard for me to accept this news about Comcast (I am quite fond of their commercials. I admit they make me giggle.). I even tried to justify Comcast’s actions by assuming that users of software like BitTorrent were probably taking advantage of unauthorized content that was available online. However, I cared little about how Jimmy Download got his illegal copy of Ironman and more about what this trend might mean for everyone else. After some research on the topic of net neutrality, I found that many ISPs are planning to offer neutrality for a price. This meaning that the companies with the larger pockets would be able to pay ISPs more money in return for higher priority and faster availability. Speaking of large pockets, Neil Burkett of Virgin Media can’t seem to get enough money in his. Burkett has openly called net neutrality, “a load of bollocks.” Well said, old chap. Like Comcast, Virgin Media sees users of services like BitTorrent sort of like internet hogs using up large portions of broadband. Burkett has openly warned content providers that those unwilling to pay the fee his company proposes for priority, may get stuck in the “bus lanes” of broadband delivery. This is the same principle behind my mom’s warning at the dinner table when I was a child, “If you don’t eat, then you can starve.” On the other hand, Comcast is trying a less-confrontational approach to standing up against net neutrality. In a recent press release, Comcast has proposed an inclusion of a “Bill of Rights and Responsibilities” to be used among ISPs and peer-to-peer users. In response to the recent investigations being made by the FCC and the potential inclusion of Congress, Comcast’s press release states,
(I think they learned their lesson when it comes to pulling a fast one on its users.)
With more research, I realized I was much more naïve than I thought. I would consider myself a reader; a person who reads books, stories, signs, t-shirts, bumper stickers, but I guess not terms of service and contracts. This article addresses the many ways our ISPs control our internet uses, which we agree to allow in our signed contracts. I’m almost afraid to speak out about the subject, fearing some form of thought police might break down my front door any moment. Even though it seems like some kind of 1984, pre-Terminator ideas here, but it’s not. While many of us live and organize half of our lives online, ISPs are taking advantage of the fact that we need them to do so.
I felt like I should take part in spreading the word about net neutrality. Many companies, bloggers, and even ISPs are taking action in creating a solid army behind keeping the net neutral. However, I will not go as far as this chick in the fight to spread awareness about net neutrality. Unfortunately, I have not been able to create a guerilla media strategy in confronting this topic. Using only words, I thought this topic was worthy enough of an entire blog entry.
It was a little hard for me to accept this news about Comcast (I am quite fond of their commercials. I admit they make me giggle.). I even tried to justify Comcast’s actions by assuming that users of software like BitTorrent were probably taking advantage of unauthorized content that was available online. However, I cared little about how Jimmy Download got his illegal copy of Ironman and more about what this trend might mean for everyone else. After some research on the topic of net neutrality, I found that many ISPs are planning to offer neutrality for a price. This meaning that the companies with the larger pockets would be able to pay ISPs more money in return for higher priority and faster availability. Speaking of large pockets, Neil Burkett of Virgin Media can’t seem to get enough money in his. Burkett has openly called net neutrality, “a load of bollocks.” Well said, old chap. Like Comcast, Virgin Media sees users of services like BitTorrent sort of like internet hogs using up large portions of broadband. Burkett has openly warned content providers that those unwilling to pay the fee his company proposes for priority, may get stuck in the “bus lanes” of broadband delivery. This is the same principle behind my mom’s warning at the dinner table when I was a child, “If you don’t eat, then you can starve.” On the other hand, Comcast is trying a less-confrontational approach to standing up against net neutrality. In a recent press release, Comcast has proposed an inclusion of a “Bill of Rights and Responsibilities” to be used among ISPs and peer-to-peer users. In response to the recent investigations being made by the FCC and the potential inclusion of Congress, Comcast’s press release states,
“The arrangement is yet another example of how these technical issues can be
worked out through private business discussions and without the need for
government intervention.”
(I think they learned their lesson when it comes to pulling a fast one on its users.)
With more research, I realized I was much more naïve than I thought. I would consider myself a reader; a person who reads books, stories, signs, t-shirts, bumper stickers, but I guess not terms of service and contracts. This article addresses the many ways our ISPs control our internet uses, which we agree to allow in our signed contracts. I’m almost afraid to speak out about the subject, fearing some form of thought police might break down my front door any moment. Even though it seems like some kind of 1984, pre-Terminator ideas here, but it’s not. While many of us live and organize half of our lives online, ISPs are taking advantage of the fact that we need them to do so.
I felt like I should take part in spreading the word about net neutrality. Many companies, bloggers, and even ISPs are taking action in creating a solid army behind keeping the net neutral. However, I will not go as far as this chick in the fight to spread awareness about net neutrality. Unfortunately, I have not been able to create a guerilla media strategy in confronting this topic. Using only words, I thought this topic was worthy enough of an entire blog entry.
Monday, April 14, 2008
HFCS UPDATE!
So, today was my first completely corn-syrup-free day! I had a few slip-ups over the weekend. Cutting high-fructose corn syrup from my diet was actually harder than I thought. I began by thinking, well I don't drink a lot of soda anyway...so this should be easy. But it wasn't! It is in everything! After my last post, I had a hamburger slathered with bbq sauce. It was delicious, but then I realized that I had not even thought to check the label to see the ingredients. Whoops. Then after class the next day, I grabbed one of those 100 calorie cookie snack things. Note to self: just because it says 100 calories, doesn't make it a health food. Oh well. Over the weekend, all was well. Before work on Saturday I was so proud to have had a breakfast that was free of corn syrup. Then I go to work and find a box of free It's-It ice cream sandwiches in the freezer, and I gobbled one down without thinking. An hour later I thought, oh shit...that totally had corn syrup. They are just so irresistible!
But today was my day! I finally did it, but it was really hard. It might just be my imagination, but I felt hungrier today. I almost broke down so many times. I craved a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, but I made a peanut-butter-and-honey sandwich instead (no hfcs in the Skippy Chunky peanut butter OR in the Oroweat bread). I really need to go shopping for some corn-syrup-free condiments and snacks, and I'm so glad I found this site to help me at the grocery store. This particular blog has a growing list of products that contain no high-fructose corn syrup. This blog post also has some tips and warnings about snacks that contain corn syrup. It would have been helpful before I scarfed down those 100 calorie cookies, but whatever. I was still getting used to things. But now, I'm feeling good about my new corn-syrup-free diet. Just over this past weekend, I have talked about this to a lot of my friends and I was shocked to hear that many others are doing the same thing. It seems like everyone I know, knows someone else who has cut corn syrup from their diet. I also read this article from SF Gate about the whole high-fructose corn syrup dilemma.
I just wanted to update everyone on my progress with this new healthier diet choice. And just to be clear, I'm not cutting sugar from my diet. I just can't do that, I have way too little self-control. Just corn syrup! And I also wanted to share this picture I took today at the Pepsi Bottling Co. in Hayward. I had to pick up a bunch of soda for my work, and saw these huge towers labeled "CORN SYRUP." Gross, right?
But today was my day! I finally did it, but it was really hard. It might just be my imagination, but I felt hungrier today. I almost broke down so many times. I craved a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, but I made a peanut-butter-and-honey sandwich instead (no hfcs in the Skippy Chunky peanut butter OR in the Oroweat bread). I really need to go shopping for some corn-syrup-free condiments and snacks, and I'm so glad I found this site to help me at the grocery store. This particular blog has a growing list of products that contain no high-fructose corn syrup. This blog post also has some tips and warnings about snacks that contain corn syrup. It would have been helpful before I scarfed down those 100 calorie cookies, but whatever. I was still getting used to things. But now, I'm feeling good about my new corn-syrup-free diet. Just over this past weekend, I have talked about this to a lot of my friends and I was shocked to hear that many others are doing the same thing. It seems like everyone I know, knows someone else who has cut corn syrup from their diet. I also read this article from SF Gate about the whole high-fructose corn syrup dilemma.
I just wanted to update everyone on my progress with this new healthier diet choice. And just to be clear, I'm not cutting sugar from my diet. I just can't do that, I have way too little self-control. Just corn syrup! And I also wanted to share this picture I took today at the Pepsi Bottling Co. in Hayward. I had to pick up a bunch of soda for my work, and saw these huge towers labeled "CORN SYRUP." Gross, right?
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Corn-Fed
The other day I was watching Current TV, and there was a segment about a new documentary called King Corn. Two filmmakers chronicled their decision to move to Iowa to grow an acre of corn. They realized that their acre of corn would be consumed by Americans in many forms of our favorite foods. This short segment, which can be seen here, really opened my eyes to how important corn is to our society. I just never thought about this very much before watching this…corn=high-fructose corn syrup=candy, soda, juice, HALF OF MY FRIDGE!! Yeah! I got curious, ran to my kitchen and started looking at the ingredients of some of my favorite foods. The base ingredient of so many tasty treats in my kitchen was high-fructose corn syrup. It made me sick to think that I ate that much…sweetness!
I looked up more info on this film, and didn’t feel any better. You can watch another piece from the film here, which shows the two filmmakers actually making corn syrup from scratch. This piece also gives some really disgusting facts about our corn-syrup-lovin’-American-asses. According to the research done by the King Corn guys, over the past three decades our consumption of high-fructose corn syrup has increased 1,000%! Also during this time, our consumption of table sugar has fallen, but consumption of sweeteners has gone up 30%. That increase is due to the widespread usage of high-fructose corn syrup as a replacement sweetener for sugar. Sugar is more expensive for us to get here in the U.S., so high-fructose corn syrup is a cheaper and easier alternative. We grow all the corn ourselves in the U.S., therefore we never need to rely on anyone else to give us the sweetener we need. It all comes from the corn.
So in the end, I came to an understanding about how much sweetener I put in my body. I’m not going to stop eating anything with corn syrup as an ingredient, but I sure am going to think about it more. And I want to encourage others to do the same. Stop and think about how much sweetener is going into your body. Diabetes is everywhere in my family, and it just scares me to think about how much glucose is running through my body and the unhealthy foods that put it there. We are all aware of the high rates of obesity in this country too. So, for this guerilla media spectacular, I wanted to make others aware of how much high-fructose corn syrup is in the food we eat.
In an attempt to shed some light on corn syrup, I thought I should try to intervene the purchasing of products with high levels of high-fructose corn syrup. So I decided to go where people buy food. With a package of bright colored labels, I set out to the grocery store down the street from my house with facts from King Corn about our consumption of corn syrup.
Labels= $7. I wrote on the labels the facts from King Corn about the increasing percentages of corn syrup in our diets, and just the basic fact that it is the base ingredient for many foods consumed every day. At the end of each fact, I wrote, “How much high-fructose corn syrup is in your shopping cart?”
Bright labels, stuck to shopping cart handles. You can’t miss it! While keeping a look out for "the man," it took me less than 5 minutes to stick a bunch of labels to shopping carts sitting around in the parking lot.
I looked up more info on this film, and didn’t feel any better. You can watch another piece from the film here, which shows the two filmmakers actually making corn syrup from scratch. This piece also gives some really disgusting facts about our corn-syrup-lovin’-American-asses. According to the research done by the King Corn guys, over the past three decades our consumption of high-fructose corn syrup has increased 1,000%! Also during this time, our consumption of table sugar has fallen, but consumption of sweeteners has gone up 30%. That increase is due to the widespread usage of high-fructose corn syrup as a replacement sweetener for sugar. Sugar is more expensive for us to get here in the U.S., so high-fructose corn syrup is a cheaper and easier alternative. We grow all the corn ourselves in the U.S., therefore we never need to rely on anyone else to give us the sweetener we need. It all comes from the corn.
So in the end, I came to an understanding about how much sweetener I put in my body. I’m not going to stop eating anything with corn syrup as an ingredient, but I sure am going to think about it more. And I want to encourage others to do the same. Stop and think about how much sweetener is going into your body. Diabetes is everywhere in my family, and it just scares me to think about how much glucose is running through my body and the unhealthy foods that put it there. We are all aware of the high rates of obesity in this country too. So, for this guerilla media spectacular, I wanted to make others aware of how much high-fructose corn syrup is in the food we eat.
In an attempt to shed some light on corn syrup, I thought I should try to intervene the purchasing of products with high levels of high-fructose corn syrup. So I decided to go where people buy food. With a package of bright colored labels, I set out to the grocery store down the street from my house with facts from King Corn about our consumption of corn syrup.
Labels= $7. I wrote on the labels the facts from King Corn about the increasing percentages of corn syrup in our diets, and just the basic fact that it is the base ingredient for many foods consumed every day. At the end of each fact, I wrote, “How much high-fructose corn syrup is in your shopping cart?”
Bright labels, stuck to shopping cart handles. You can’t miss it! While keeping a look out for "the man," it took me less than 5 minutes to stick a bunch of labels to shopping carts sitting around in the parking lot.
I hope this adventure of mine sparks an interest in the rest of you readers to go check out your own fridges and cabinets. I'm also thinking of going corn-syrup-free sometime this weekend. I will update everyone on how that goes. For more info on King Corn, go here. The documentary will be airing on PBS April 15th at 10 p.m. Check it out, and let me know if you want to go corn-syrup-free also! We can share our results!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Home $weet Home
Right now I feel like I’m in the ring about to tackle a Sumo wrestler. The Sumo wrestler is the Real Estate Market. This is a topic I knew very little about, but have recently tried my best to research a very large economic and social issue. Economically, the Real Estate Market represents a big hunk of money. A market which involves buyers, sellers, and builders. Socially, it represents the “American Dream.” Owning a home for your family has long been the meaning of “making it,” in life. That said, I risk sounding like either: A.) A complete idiot who completely lacks in knowledge of the current market. B.) Someone who did an alright job of attempting to understand such an issue which involves lots of numbers, dates, and technical terms. Or C.) "Real Estate Genius," whose knowledge is unmatched. At this very moment, I feel a little bit like all of the above. Either way, in my very own way I will now seek and destroy the topic of the Real Estate crisis which we currently face with my next installment of my Guerilla Media Campaign. Here we go…
During the dot-com boom of the 90s, big cities like San Francisco and San Jose seen a tremendous growth in their businesses. Curiously, as companies grew in numbers of employees, the population of these Bay Area cities did not. Instead of buying expensive homes in cities close to work, many flocked to cities in Merced and San Joaquin Counties. These counties saw rapid growth because of their building efforts of low-cost homes.
If we skip ahead, let’s say 7 years, we find these counties facing foreclosures and high amounts of mortgage debt. This is what many homeowners are facing all around the U.S., leaving a giant rift in our economy. You may have already heard about this situation because of news coverage. As I searched for articles online about the situation, I realized the issue is being addressed by many others, including blogs like this. Out of all the different sources, I found that most agree that the housing crisis points in the direction of a recession. This involves more homeowners being unable to pay their mortgage, home values declining, rising foreclosures, loss of jobs, and lower consumer spending. Overall, a shit storm to our economy.
I approach this particular shit storm with great caution, as I would any shit storm. I don’t think any thrown-together Guerilla Media idea could help this growing problem. I also think that this topic is quite well-known at the moment. Just look around your own neighborhood and notice all the “For Sale” signs. I had to go only two streets from my own house to find four on one block. Putting my creative mind to work, I devised a plan to add a little laughter to the seriousness of the situation. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny to call attention to the fact that these houses are not selling?” It really isn’t funny, seeing as these homes not selling means that the people who own it probably can’t afford it and really want to get rid of it. But I’m going to call attention to it anyway, because the people who don’t know about the situation might open their eyes to it. And I really don’t care what some Realtor in a fancy suit thinks about me defacing their sign. OH NO! I just gave away my plan. Alright, I have gone out into the night with some set goals. Like a vampire, I’m working hard tonight.
With four signs (Total cost of $12.95), duct tape, quiet shoes, and my sneakiest apparel, I aim to complete some Guerilla Media madness. Cue the Mission Impossible music…
I'm like the Unabomber, but with classier shades.
That's all for now. Please feel free to respond with whatever thoughts that may come to mind regarding my latest act of vandalism.
During the dot-com boom of the 90s, big cities like San Francisco and San Jose seen a tremendous growth in their businesses. Curiously, as companies grew in numbers of employees, the population of these Bay Area cities did not. Instead of buying expensive homes in cities close to work, many flocked to cities in Merced and San Joaquin Counties. These counties saw rapid growth because of their building efforts of low-cost homes.
If we skip ahead, let’s say 7 years, we find these counties facing foreclosures and high amounts of mortgage debt. This is what many homeowners are facing all around the U.S., leaving a giant rift in our economy. You may have already heard about this situation because of news coverage. As I searched for articles online about the situation, I realized the issue is being addressed by many others, including blogs like this. Out of all the different sources, I found that most agree that the housing crisis points in the direction of a recession. This involves more homeowners being unable to pay their mortgage, home values declining, rising foreclosures, loss of jobs, and lower consumer spending. Overall, a shit storm to our economy.
I approach this particular shit storm with great caution, as I would any shit storm. I don’t think any thrown-together Guerilla Media idea could help this growing problem. I also think that this topic is quite well-known at the moment. Just look around your own neighborhood and notice all the “For Sale” signs. I had to go only two streets from my own house to find four on one block. Putting my creative mind to work, I devised a plan to add a little laughter to the seriousness of the situation. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny to call attention to the fact that these houses are not selling?” It really isn’t funny, seeing as these homes not selling means that the people who own it probably can’t afford it and really want to get rid of it. But I’m going to call attention to it anyway, because the people who don’t know about the situation might open their eyes to it. And I really don’t care what some Realtor in a fancy suit thinks about me defacing their sign. OH NO! I just gave away my plan. Alright, I have gone out into the night with some set goals. Like a vampire, I’m working hard tonight.
With four signs (Total cost of $12.95), duct tape, quiet shoes, and my sneakiest apparel, I aim to complete some Guerilla Media madness. Cue the Mission Impossible music…
I'm like the Unabomber, but with classier shades.
That's all for now. Please feel free to respond with whatever thoughts that may come to mind regarding my latest act of vandalism.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Damn the Man!
So, just as an update, I have spent the last week basking in the glory left behind by my successful Valentine's Day smackdown. Unfortunately, I had a very busy week and could not fit in another project. But please don't worry my little peaches, I have some great ideas brewing in my devious skull of some Guerilla Media projects of fantastic proportion.
Since I don't have any of my crazy antics for you to witness just yet, I thought I would introduce you all to a group whose work has caused a stir all over bookstores and the web. The Ministry of Reshelving is a group who, like myself, has taken the words and images received by the Media quite seriously. They are a group whose sole purpose is to reshelve George Orwell's book 1984 away from the Fiction section of big name bookstores into sections they feel better suits this literary classic. I found out about this group several years ago while working at Borders. Usually around the end of summer, high school kids living in San Francisco would come to the store to buy their books for that semester. One of the most popular reads for a high school student is 1984. When asked for this book, I would run over to the Fiction shelf to grab one and would find a large empty space. Puzzled by the empty shelf and the computers inventory showing 10 copies, I would give up. Later while reshelving books left by the masses of SFSU students who crowd the store and leave their mess behind, I would find copies of 1984 left here and there. Sometimes in the Sociology section, other times in Politics & Government, and even in Business. This became a trend, and at least once a week I would find the book missing from the shelves. Sometimes the manager would notice and send the staff on a man hunt for George Orwell. Myself and co-workers would get annoyed and vent to each other about the kind of losers who come in just to switch around some books. It didn't make sense to me, and all I could see was that it made my job harder. Only later we found out more information regarding these small-time crooks. Inside the books were small notes to the reader explaining that the "Ministry of Reshelving" was responsible for its relocation. Even though I found it quite annoying at the time, I have since changed my opinion of the group. I think their efforts to create their own small movement is the kind of work that inspires people like myself to do the same. Although their work never sparked any massive change (Borders never took their advice and re-located the book to another section), their work was noticed. Just try to Google "Ministry of Reshelving," and tons of topics will pop up. Here is just one article about the group. If the topic interests you, which I hope it does, here are some pictures of the group in action. I think their work is just another example of Guerilla Media, and incentive for other people to join in the fun in creating new forms of sharing information and opinions.
Since I don't have any of my crazy antics for you to witness just yet, I thought I would introduce you all to a group whose work has caused a stir all over bookstores and the web. The Ministry of Reshelving is a group who, like myself, has taken the words and images received by the Media quite seriously. They are a group whose sole purpose is to reshelve George Orwell's book 1984 away from the Fiction section of big name bookstores into sections they feel better suits this literary classic. I found out about this group several years ago while working at Borders. Usually around the end of summer, high school kids living in San Francisco would come to the store to buy their books for that semester. One of the most popular reads for a high school student is 1984. When asked for this book, I would run over to the Fiction shelf to grab one and would find a large empty space. Puzzled by the empty shelf and the computers inventory showing 10 copies, I would give up. Later while reshelving books left by the masses of SFSU students who crowd the store and leave their mess behind, I would find copies of 1984 left here and there. Sometimes in the Sociology section, other times in Politics & Government, and even in Business. This became a trend, and at least once a week I would find the book missing from the shelves. Sometimes the manager would notice and send the staff on a man hunt for George Orwell. Myself and co-workers would get annoyed and vent to each other about the kind of losers who come in just to switch around some books. It didn't make sense to me, and all I could see was that it made my job harder. Only later we found out more information regarding these small-time crooks. Inside the books were small notes to the reader explaining that the "Ministry of Reshelving" was responsible for its relocation. Even though I found it quite annoying at the time, I have since changed my opinion of the group. I think their efforts to create their own small movement is the kind of work that inspires people like myself to do the same. Although their work never sparked any massive change (Borders never took their advice and re-located the book to another section), their work was noticed. Just try to Google "Ministry of Reshelving," and tons of topics will pop up. Here is just one article about the group. If the topic interests you, which I hope it does, here are some pictures of the group in action. I think their work is just another example of Guerilla Media, and incentive for other people to join in the fun in creating new forms of sharing information and opinions.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Phantom Menace
And so begins my Guerilla Media Campaign...
Yesterday I ate some Chinese food, and my fortune cookie said, “DO SOMETHING UNUSUAL TOMORROW.” And I said, “Get out of my head fortune cookie!” I already had something up my sleeve for the next day.
I often work odd temp jobs because I got restless working lame jobs at coffee shops and such. On Monday I worked for my boss’ sister at her flower shop in San Francisco. She always needs help in the shop around Valentine’s Day because of the large shipments of roses that come in. I spent the day de-thorning bouquet after bouquet of red roses for $10/hr with unlimited snacks and the company of a cat named Chloe. It was an alright day, but I started thinking about where those roses came from. The packaging around the roses were labeled “Star Latin” and were all in Spanish. Then I started thinking about that movie Maria Full of Grace, and how the main character worked in Columbia putting together bouquets just like these. I put together in my head the route which it takes for those flowers to get to the shop which I was working at, from there the roses are sold at anywhere between $100 and $200. The whole process got me pondering what a big business Valentine’s Day is. After a days work and a pocket full of tax-free cash, I went home and did a bit of research on the subject.
I came across some articles which gave me a little more insight on the business of buying love. While many see Valentine’s Day as a “Hallmark Holiday,” there is much more to February 14th that involves Latin America, India, and Africa. In this article by Forbes.com, surveys done through market research companies showed that the total 2007 spending for February 14th is expected to reach $17 billion. An article from The Huffington Post explained more about what I had been thinking about while de-thorning roses. The article goes into depth about what Columbian flower workers must go through to prepare for Valentine’s Day. Flower workers, including 80,000 Columbian women, make around 50 cents an hour putting together 70,000 bouquets a week in preparation for this holiday. To think that I was making $10/hr, leisurely de-thorning roses on Monday while young women like myself were in Columbia working twice as hard for much less to get those roses to me got me down. In another article I found more information about making rose buyers aware of this big business and at what expense these roses come.
I decided for Episode 1 of my Guerilla Media Campaign I would try to make others take notice of what is behind Valentine's Day. In hopes of making people more aware of where those roses came from that they are buying their spouse, girlfriend, lover, baby-mama, or friend.
Evil cupid and myself put our heads together to think of a good way to do so (while simultaneously slapping Valentine's Day in the face)...
After some consideration, we thought balloons could do the trick. Without spending too much money or time on something which might fail miserably, balloons seemed like the right idea. Yesterday I went out to my nearest party supply store and bought 6 balloons, which somehow ended up being free with purchase of Little Mermaid party plates and a package of birthday candles. The Diddam's employee didn't seem to care about the balloons, and I didn't argue. With my research handy, and a jumbo black Sharpie pen, I decorated the pink balloons with facts and ideas to ponder this Valentine's Day.
I took these balloons with me early this morning to show to my audience: the students of San Jose State University. Since I live in San Jose, this seemed like the ideal place to spread awareness to open minds.
I took the six balloons and placed them all around campus where I thought they would be seen. I put the first balloon here in the stairwell of the crowded parking lot.
I tied another to a bench in front of the library.
After distributing the balloons in front of buildings and in courtyards, I decided to stick around and see if anyone notices my work. I sat in the shadows near the entrance of the library like a creepy voyeur, drinking a nasty Odwalla drink I bought from inside the Student Union building, waiting. People walked by, acknowledged it was there, but did not read it. A skateboarder smacked it while riding past, but for the first 15 minutes it got no response.
Then, it finally happened! Two girls leaving the library stopped and took a few seconds to read the balloon. My heart jumped and I scrambled to snap a photo of this rare encounter. When it was over, I was thrilled. I suddenly got excited to see if my other balloons were causing a stir at their posts.
This one was causing a stir. I walked up to the scene of the crime. In this photo, a campus police officer struggles to detach my balloon from a bench in front of this building. I didn't wait to see how long it took to take it down, but it probably took a while (I triple knotted that thing).
On the other side of campus, in front of the Student Union/Cafeteria, another student stopped to read the balloon. I felt pretty good about my balloons and the response they received, so I decided to head out. I hope my balloons last a little longer than the one in front of Moorehead Hall did. Most of all, I hope the people who stopped to read the balloons acknowledge and appreciate the work that goes into making this holiday possible.
Good job evil Cupid. Our work here is done.
Yesterday I ate some Chinese food, and my fortune cookie said, “DO SOMETHING UNUSUAL TOMORROW.” And I said, “Get out of my head fortune cookie!” I already had something up my sleeve for the next day.
I often work odd temp jobs because I got restless working lame jobs at coffee shops and such. On Monday I worked for my boss’ sister at her flower shop in San Francisco. She always needs help in the shop around Valentine’s Day because of the large shipments of roses that come in. I spent the day de-thorning bouquet after bouquet of red roses for $10/hr with unlimited snacks and the company of a cat named Chloe. It was an alright day, but I started thinking about where those roses came from. The packaging around the roses were labeled “Star Latin” and were all in Spanish. Then I started thinking about that movie Maria Full of Grace, and how the main character worked in Columbia putting together bouquets just like these. I put together in my head the route which it takes for those flowers to get to the shop which I was working at, from there the roses are sold at anywhere between $100 and $200. The whole process got me pondering what a big business Valentine’s Day is. After a days work and a pocket full of tax-free cash, I went home and did a bit of research on the subject.
I came across some articles which gave me a little more insight on the business of buying love. While many see Valentine’s Day as a “Hallmark Holiday,” there is much more to February 14th that involves Latin America, India, and Africa. In this article by Forbes.com, surveys done through market research companies showed that the total 2007 spending for February 14th is expected to reach $17 billion. An article from The Huffington Post explained more about what I had been thinking about while de-thorning roses. The article goes into depth about what Columbian flower workers must go through to prepare for Valentine’s Day. Flower workers, including 80,000 Columbian women, make around 50 cents an hour putting together 70,000 bouquets a week in preparation for this holiday. To think that I was making $10/hr, leisurely de-thorning roses on Monday while young women like myself were in Columbia working twice as hard for much less to get those roses to me got me down. In another article I found more information about making rose buyers aware of this big business and at what expense these roses come.
I decided for Episode 1 of my Guerilla Media Campaign I would try to make others take notice of what is behind Valentine's Day. In hopes of making people more aware of where those roses came from that they are buying their spouse, girlfriend, lover, baby-mama, or friend.
Evil cupid and myself put our heads together to think of a good way to do so (while simultaneously slapping Valentine's Day in the face)...
After some consideration, we thought balloons could do the trick. Without spending too much money or time on something which might fail miserably, balloons seemed like the right idea. Yesterday I went out to my nearest party supply store and bought 6 balloons, which somehow ended up being free with purchase of Little Mermaid party plates and a package of birthday candles. The Diddam's employee didn't seem to care about the balloons, and I didn't argue. With my research handy, and a jumbo black Sharpie pen, I decorated the pink balloons with facts and ideas to ponder this Valentine's Day.
I took these balloons with me early this morning to show to my audience: the students of San Jose State University. Since I live in San Jose, this seemed like the ideal place to spread awareness to open minds.
I took the six balloons and placed them all around campus where I thought they would be seen. I put the first balloon here in the stairwell of the crowded parking lot. 
I tied another to a bench in front of the library.
After distributing the balloons in front of buildings and in courtyards, I decided to stick around and see if anyone notices my work. I sat in the shadows near the entrance of the library like a creepy voyeur, drinking a nasty Odwalla drink I bought from inside the Student Union building, waiting. People walked by, acknowledged it was there, but did not read it. A skateboarder smacked it while riding past, but for the first 15 minutes it got no response.
Then, it finally happened! Two girls leaving the library stopped and took a few seconds to read the balloon. My heart jumped and I scrambled to snap a photo of this rare encounter. When it was over, I was thrilled. I suddenly got excited to see if my other balloons were causing a stir at their posts.
This one was causing a stir. I walked up to the scene of the crime. In this photo, a campus police officer struggles to detach my balloon from a bench in front of this building. I didn't wait to see how long it took to take it down, but it probably took a while (I triple knotted that thing).
On the other side of campus, in front of the Student Union/Cafeteria, another student stopped to read the balloon. I felt pretty good about my balloons and the response they received, so I decided to head out. I hope my balloons last a little longer than the one in front of Moorehead Hall did. Most of all, I hope the people who stopped to read the balloons acknowledge and appreciate the work that goes into making this holiday possible.Good job evil Cupid. Our work here is done.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Intro to my campaign
To decide what I wanted this blog to be about was a very hard process. After much consideration I decided to choose something that would force me to be productive outside of work and school, rather than sitting at home getting upset at (or consumed with) what I find on TV.
Last semester I took BECA 301-Media Literacy in the Electronic Culture, which is how I became familiar with guerilla media. Although I liked the idea of the required Guerilla Media Project, I was not happy with having to work with other people. I think everyone has been in this situation, where your group members are extremely difficult to contact and agree with, and you just wish that you were working alone. This time I'm going to do this the right way: by myself.
I'm planning a Guerilla Media Campaign to create awareness about various issues and distribute information in clever ways, then blog about it! For me, this is a way to creatively express some thoughts on issues which interest me and share them with a wide audience. I think that the more issues I approach, the wider my audience will be. I know this may be a large project to attach to this class, but it is something that I hope to accomplish alongside the rest of the work I have ahead of me this semester. I feel like this is an idea I can take many different ways, and I am excited to share the course of activities I approach throughout the following weeks.
After deciding on this topic for my blog, I did a little research in an attempt to find similar projects. I found that this is something a lot of companies are catching on to . Guerilla marketing has become very popular, and there are now companies which exist solely to produce creative ways to advertise and distribute information. One marketing company called Go Gorilla Media creates innovative ways for clients to advertise their products or services. Take some time to look at some pictures from recent projects if you are unfamiliar with this topic. I also found an article called The Rise of Guerilla Media which explains new techniques in guerilla media, including the rising popularity of blogging. A similar and very interesting blog is Guerilla Innovation. This blog includes many cool and creative guerilla projects and inventions.
With that out of the way, I am now off to create some clever, fun, and cheap ways to spread my opinions all over this city (I live in San Jose)! Stay tuned...
Last semester I took BECA 301-Media Literacy in the Electronic Culture, which is how I became familiar with guerilla media. Although I liked the idea of the required Guerilla Media Project, I was not happy with having to work with other people. I think everyone has been in this situation, where your group members are extremely difficult to contact and agree with, and you just wish that you were working alone. This time I'm going to do this the right way: by myself.
I'm planning a Guerilla Media Campaign to create awareness about various issues and distribute information in clever ways, then blog about it! For me, this is a way to creatively express some thoughts on issues which interest me and share them with a wide audience. I think that the more issues I approach, the wider my audience will be. I know this may be a large project to attach to this class, but it is something that I hope to accomplish alongside the rest of the work I have ahead of me this semester. I feel like this is an idea I can take many different ways, and I am excited to share the course of activities I approach throughout the following weeks.
After deciding on this topic for my blog, I did a little research in an attempt to find similar projects. I found that this is something a lot of companies are catching on to . Guerilla marketing has become very popular, and there are now companies which exist solely to produce creative ways to advertise and distribute information. One marketing company called Go Gorilla Media creates innovative ways for clients to advertise their products or services. Take some time to look at some pictures from recent projects if you are unfamiliar with this topic. I also found an article called The Rise of Guerilla Media which explains new techniques in guerilla media, including the rising popularity of blogging. A similar and very interesting blog is Guerilla Innovation. This blog includes many cool and creative guerilla projects and inventions.
With that out of the way, I am now off to create some clever, fun, and cheap ways to spread my opinions all over this city (I live in San Jose)! Stay tuned...
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