Fancy free...

The results are in...

2008-04-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome back! Where we left off last time was my proposal to put the Uncertainty Reduction Theory to use in my own life. First of all, here is a picture of me and the girl I bonded with.

When I went over to my friend's room, her two friends whom I've never met were there bonding it up already. I was introduced to Lauren and automatically I told her I liked her shirt. It seems that every time I bond with a female I look for something on her person (subconsciously) and compliment her on it. It is either her shirt, shoes or purse. With Lauren it was her shirt.

One thing I pointed out as well is that my middle name is Lauren. So take a moment here. This Uncertainty Reduction Theory seems to be on point here. I just revealed to this person that my middle name was the same as her first, but if this weren't the first time I met her, I would not have mentioned that. Huh. So it turns out that scholars are on to something with this theory...

Or I'm just really awkward.

Well I'm a little uncertain...

2008-04-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

So as my two readers know, I have started this blog for my Communications class and am encouraged (required, whatever) to have some of my blogs be about communications studies! So tonight, dear reader(s), I introduce to you UNCERTAINTY REDUCTION THEORY!

Here's the basic premise of this theory: when you first meet someone, you disclose more information about yourself than you normally would to reduce uncertainty. If you have high uncertainty (or if you're really nervous in a situation) then it is more likely that you will tell this stranger a little more than you would tell an acquaintance.

Since this is a theory that is published in a college text book, let's put it to good use. I am going to go over to a friend's room tonight where she is hanging out with two of her other freshman friends (I am a junior) that I do not know. While I am thrown into a situation like this awkwardly let's see how I interact with the two new girls. I'll test out the theory and see if it's all it's cracked up to be...

Technology My Way

2008-04-03T20:45:00.001-07:00

Now that the whole world is becoming digital it's no wonder that television shows are taking on the internet as well. The thing that probably really spurred this movement was the fact that people were recording the episodes and uploading them illegally for people to watch for free. So NBC and ABC finally caught on and offered full episodes on their websites for free, but to still earn money they air commercials (one or two) in between.

It took Fox a little longer to catch on and they're still very slow. The new episode isn't uploaded until after the next one airs on television which doesn't make any sense. If all viewers are able to watch the episode online and catch up, by the time the actual episode rolls around, more viewers would tune in. So thanks to new technology, I am able to cuddle up with my laptop (as if that's my actual laptop) and spend hours at a time watching episodes with limited commercial interruptions. :)

That Yeti Is One Smooth Talker...

2008-03-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

While watching Nip/Tuck the other night, I thought about how upsetting it would be if FX decided to end the series after this season (Season 5). It seems that a normal span for television shows is about five or six seasons, but when a show is so good, I think it's fitting for it to stay on longer. Like Friends and Seinfeld lasted for ten seasons and even though that seems like a long time, I still miss new episodes of Friends.

Nip/Tuck is only a half season, so comparably it's going to be starting the second half of it's third season since it takes up half the time normal seasons do. Around the sixth season it seems that shows start to become repetitive and boring but Nip/Tuck is getting even better. The season finale was such a doozie that all Nip/Tuck fans, including myself, are itching to see the new season. In the last episode, Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) was stabbed repeatedly by his crazy stalker/ex-talent agent while in the middle of performing surgery on his 12 year old daughter who was injured in a car wreck caused by the paparazzi. So yes. Nip/Tuck is one show I will be watching as soon as it comes back on. So here's hoping it will have a long prosperous run like our Friends.

Lipstick and Cashmere

2008-03-07T12:16:00.001-08:00

So there seems to be a trend out now with empowered females who kick butt in the business world. I watched Cashmere Mafia first and fell in love. I don't think it's so much the empowered female aspect but just the good plots, talented actresses and great writing. And it's spreading to other shows as well.

I was at the book store the other day and saw the book Lipstick Jungle and saw that it had been turned into a television show. I'm not a big fan of Brooke Shields but it looked a lot like Cashmere Mafia and I wanted to give it a shot. Turns out it's just like Cashmere but with only three girlfriends instead of four. Also, Lipstick is not afraid to show some skin. It's not nearly as graphic as Nip/Tuck but it's enough to make your tummy tingle.

But if you're on the side of females in charge, it definitely gives you plenty of that. The three women in Lipstick Jungle are the most successful business women out there and know it. It shows us all aspects of a love life when the roles of power are switched: a happily married Wendy (Brooke Shields), a married Nico (Kim Raver) with a mister on the side, and a single Victory (Lindsay Price). Both shows are clever but it makes one wonder if one's not just modeled after the other.

Whichever it is, I know I'll be in front of the television at ten o clock on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Jumper

2008-03-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

So I just went to see the movie Jumper with my sister-in-law this past weekend, so it's time for a movie review! (yayyy)

Here's the synopsis I found on SmartCine.com: The science fiction thriller leaps into a new realm with JUMPER, which begins the epic adventures of a man who discovers that he possesses the exhilarating ability to instantly teleport anywhere in the world he can imagine. From New York to Tokyo, from the ruins of Rome to the heart of the Saharan Desert, anywhere is possible for David Rice (HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN), until he begins to see that his freedom is not total, that he's not alone . . . but part of an ongoing, global war that threatens the very survival of his rare and extraordinary kind.

I was a little hesitant to go see it because I had just recently seen the movie Shattered Glass (I was forced to for school) and a guy at Blockbuster told me it would have been a good movie if Hayden Christensen wasn't such a bad actor. I'm not sure if it was because the guy got it in my head, or he really was that bad...but I was thinking this when I bought the ticket to Jumper.

The beginning was great; it gave us just enough background information. The concept was brilliant, and the part where he was learning how to teleport was hilarious. I'm big on the tone of the movie. I think tone is set with lighting and how the director interprets the script. The lighting of the movie was fitting. I remember seeing the new Superman film and thinking that the darkness of the movie wasn't very fitting, but I guess they wanted to go dark. Well the darkness fit with Jumper because, while it had it's comedic moments, it was a drama. The choices the director made were great, too. I'm not sure if the script called for the ground to break where he teleported to, but that made it POWERFUL.

The actors and actresses made it great, too. This is a big step up from Shattered Glass for Christensen. I must say he did a good job of acting and not indicating (bad, bad form of acting). Rachel Bilson did a beautiful job of being beautiful and coy; she's such a great actress, I was happy to see her in this film. Now Samuel L. Jackson is worth a whole 'nother blog. The man is a legend and I am so jealous these actors got to act with him. He was amazing and played one scary bad guy.

So I am pleased to say I enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to you avid movie goers out there. And to all the average Joe's as well :)

Music in Television and Movies

2008-03-04T21:22:00.001-08:00

This blog was actually inspired by Sergio Mendoza Hochmann's blog: http://www.therockgazette.com/ He has really great posts, so check him out.

So, have you ever realized how powerful a soundtrack is? Or just how music integrated at one point makes a scene AMAZING? My favorite thing to see is some guys (could be hot. Well, preferably be hot) walking and suddenly the walking slows down and the bass starts thumping or rock music starts rocking. My heart starts racing and I'm like, "Wow. That's hot." So what is it about that that makes it so hot? Maybe that their bodies are moving sensually toward the camera or the look on their face is promising to make you pant.

Or maybe it's the rhythm of the music seeping into your blood stream and pumping your heart to the beat. Whatever the reason, music in a show or movie has proven essential because it can make a moment that much better. There have been moments when the music swells at the perfect time and it makes my eyes water. For instance, in the movie "The Truman Show" the director (Ed Harris) is directing a "scene" and he's telling the crew to "zoom in here" and "cut to this camera" and then "And bring the music up..." and his face is a picture of complete rapture as he inhales the beauty of this scene. Truman is reunited with his dad and because the music was paired beautifully with it, it made half the audience misty eyed.

A lot of people don't even realize how much music influences a television show or a movie, but I'm sure they will pay attention now...

She actually slays vampires...

2008-02-26T14:03:00.000-08:00

I wanted to dedicate a blog post to the illustrious vampire slayer Buffy Summers. Before I started to watch Buffy obsessively, I was talking to a friend about it. I told her that the couple of episodes were really good, so it might be a show to watch. She then informed me that every fan of BtVS she's ever encountered has been a fanatic. I just laughed and said the only show I'll ever be obsessed with is Friends. Oh how wrong was I.

In my communications class (which I'm sure I talk about constantly in my blogs) I've chosen the show as the topic for my literature review. Basically what a literature review is is a summary of all the research done on your topic. Since I was urged by my teacher to choose a topic I wouldn't easily get bored of, I went with my favorite television show.

Instead of getting into all the gory details of the literature review, I want to talk about why I chose Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I would like to say I'm an expert on the show, but I think other than just an avid watcher I'm as average as the next fan when it comes to the technical aspects of Buffy. Researching this will be fun because while I know about every drama aspect of the show, I will become informed on the small little quirks that are very important to the story line. Like why they dress her in the girliest clothes possible to go a-slaying and the way that they talk (very funny quips and sarcastic remarks) and how they show has affected the real world we live in.

I fell in love with the show after I saw the fifth season premiere, "Buffy Vs. Dracula." The character Xander is enthralled by Dracula and has become his slave and in this "trance" comes the funniest lines of the episode. The gang is brainstorming ways to defeat Dracula when Xander shouts from his corner, "No one can defeat the dark master!!! ....bater." They didn't know he was Dracula's bitch so he covered it up with one funny form of the word masturbation.

So based on my love for watching this television show I want to research the parts that make it so great. Maybe my whole senior thesis won't be as boring and tedious as I thought. Buffy expert in the making.

Hey Jude

2008-02-23T22:40:00.000-08:00

I just watched Across the Universe. Yes, I felt like a complete poser for watching it. I was one of those people who was like, it's an indie film, therefore I will be cool when I watch it.

It turned out to be amazing. But it also made me so angry that I cannot sing. I.wish.I.could.sing. And I also want to fall in love with a guy who can sing. But that is a different story for a different blog.

So in my Communications class we've talked about social construction. Socially constructing your world whether you want to or not (an interesting way to think about it). I really love the idea of social construction, that you can make your world the way you want it to be. In my house, our pets are people. They are part of our family because they talk to us (okay, it's actually just us talking for them) but I think that we have socially constructed the animals, our pets, to be a part of the family.

So with that example out of the way, in the movie itself, these people made their world theirs through their passion. Instead of taking the route that most do/have done and go to college, get a job, get married and settle down with the proverbial 2.5 kids, they made the world their own. But in a more literal sense with social construction is how the people MADE the movie. This world they created with the psychedelic colors and peace love sing a longs (I do understand it was a manifestation of all the drugs they were doing during the 60's) was such a magical place to step into. To float around while Jim Sturgess croons about how love is all you need, it was just the highlight of my night.

I find it hard to express my love for this movie in the form of Communications notes, but I think the characters in the movie constructed their world through, like I said before, their passion. Lucy (Rachel Evan Wood) decided that war was not an option for her, that she wasn't going to lose another person she loved to it, so she sought out someone to protest with. She participated in that peace movement against the Vietnam War, and they constructed it to be a way of life.

The movie was such a beautiful thing that it left me feeling like I was floating away on a cloud of mushrooms myself...not that I would know what that was like... :)

Good movies always make me happy. *Sigh*

Communications, you say?

2008-01-28T02:10:00.001-08:00

A fancy way to further communication within our society: blogging. I was talking with my mom the other day about blogging and I said, "So my teacher said that we could substitute one of our tests with a blog, even though it might be more work," but my mom cuts me off and says, "What?" I said, "Oh yeah, it might be more work but..." At the confused look on her face I trailed off and my sister-in-law said, "Blogging, it's like a journal online." Clarity dawned on my mom's face and I just smiled. It's so easy to be outdated now with technology rapidly becoming more and more complicated (or just evolving, rather).

So how great is it that we've added tools to keep everyone updated on our whereabouts and what we just had for breakfast. Blogging is the future but has it dampered our communications skills?

There are two sides to this. The other day in my Communications Theory class we discussed the consequences of Facebook; this is very similar. Facebook can lead to diminished face-to-face communications skills, bad health, bad grammar, unpopularity and a drop in productivity among many things. Blogging can be the same way and I've experienced this first hand. When there is nothing to do but homework a lot of procrastinators (such as myself) look for ways to put off doing work. I had a blog on myspace and a blog on Xanga and I must have posted two blogs on each page in the span of an hour. Talk about diminished productivity. People can get so caught up in blogging that it can become an obsession and take over your life.

But that can be the same for a lot of things. On the positive side, blogging can help you keep in touch with friends that live far away (or keep up with a long distance relationship), it can make your social and professional networking increase and it can help you sharpen your grammatical skills. I know that I use a lot of fancy words in my blogs that I wouldn't use in a natural conversation, but that's the fun of blogging: you get to sound like a professional.

So blogging can be good or bad, depends on how you use your time. Blogging is a great step for Communications because it's a way to discuss things (theories, concepts, Communications class) with the world fast, and without spending money on postage.

Chuck Norris does not sleep, he waits...

2008-01-19T11:29:00.000-08:00

So the other day, Clemson campus was graced with an appearance from Chuck Norris! Oh, yes, Mike Huckabee tagged along, too, but that's not the important part. The important part was the Chuck. I wish I had known he was coming, otherwise I would have attempted to go to the rally. One of the guys in my classes even received an autographed card of Chuck Norris round-house kicking the photographer.

But the thing that really tempted me to blog about him was a girl in my Broadcast Journalism class. She said, "I think that Chuck Norris would hurt Huckabee's campaign, because he's only a big joke. The only reason he's famous is because everyone's made him a joke." I wanted to retort with something, but that is what I think of Chuck Norris. It's funny because of all of the Chuck Norris "facts." Such as the title of this blog. But isn't that what the entertainment industry is made up of? Angelina Jolie is just a big joke to people. I mean, she's a great actress and beautiful and all that, but all people see is a walking punch line.

And Britney Spears. Poor, poor Britney. Her life is nothing more than a mockery to the paparazzi and all the media outlets now. I was adamant in disliking her along with the rest, but when she had her breakdown, I could only think of her kids. These are real lives that are being invaded and mocked.

But with Chuck Norris, his life isn't being mocked, just his role for being on Walker Texas Ranger. Back to the comment, after the girl said this, our teacher pointed out that that's how Huckabee is reaching the younger audience with him. With a joke that all kids find as funny. But the older generation is being reached, too. Because adults who grew up watching Walker Texas Ranger (Peggy Bowers included) see him as the epitome of justice. Mike Huckabee may not be able to kick drug dealers' butts, but Chuck Norris sure can. He can deliver a round-house kick-o-justice to the bad guys' faces.

So. Huckabee chose Chuck because of the wide audience he influences and also the toughness that he emanates. I think Chuck Norris should teach a Communications class. He could teach a class about the effectiveness of communicating. It's not just about sending a message out, it's about the other person understanding the message and why it's being sent.

Okay, I've blabbered on enough.

My Director of the week

2008-01-17T12:47:00.000-08:00

Joss Whedon. This man is an institution. Not only has he created three television shows (one of which was wildly popular) but he writes for the funniest shows out there as well.

I am in love with Joss Whedon because of his ingenious writing. His ability to create this fabulous worlds that are dark and hilarious at the same time while keeping the writing sharp and witty is...positively amazing. All three of his television shows (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly) are part of my TV shows on DVD collection. When I first started watching BtVS someone told me that the only people he knew of watching that show were fanatics. I thought I was impervious to that, but Whedon's words drew me in. I'm not sure what parts of his shows I enjoy the most, but I think it is the characters and their relationships. And their dialogue; if only I could speak like Buffy or Xander.

But apart from the small little charms that Whedon puts into his shows, it amazes me how one man can be so determined. A lot of people I put onto pedestals and think that they are a different kind of species; that they aren't made of the same things that I'm made of. Sort of like Bill Gates and Einstein. But Joss Whedon is just another witty writer (something that I aspire to be) who put forth this amazing work and determination to succeed, and did so. I'm not an overachiever by any means, but maybe I can make my dreams come true (cliche, but go with me here) by looking to what he did. I only need to make small efforts to do what he did. Put together a portfolio and send it off to some amazing magazine.

I choose Joss Whedon as my director of the week (or basically just person of the year in my diary) because this one guy created three of my favorite television shows. His vision was put out there for others to take part in and ENJOY and without him, without his writing or part in the creation, I would not have a sanctuary to go home to today. I would not have Angel and his group of friends waiting in my DVD player to keep me warm from the snow. So thank you, Joss Whedon.

And for those of you who are interested in Joss Whedon and his projects, go here: it's very lovely :)