[ culturologist.com ]

So, is that how the world ends?  If you don’t know the reference, as I mentioned in class, it is time to start reading.  Read what appeals to you, what looks like you can be engaged with…A great book for truly loving to read and to write is Stephen King’s (yes, that one) On Writing, a fantastic book.  I hope you enjoyed class, but more importantly, I hope you feel comfortable to continue on with university and to not expect the traditional, easy way to get by…it isn’t about marks, it really isn’t…try to learn and to engage…and to teach…

BTW, if you get a chance, watch True Blood, then new series by Alan Ball (6 ft under)…enjoy the winter break, I loved this class and really appreciate the participation you all engaged in….Shirley

As your blogs wind down, consider how you will use media literacy as a teacher.  Will you encourage blogs, build websites, deconstruct TV and film?  What are your thoughts about the position of media in our society?  in our schools?

Remember on Tuesday you have a guest speaker on student blogging, I am interested to hear what you think and how you will employ blogging in your classrooms.

Shirley

Now that I have recovered from the shock of not losing another election, I turn my interest to to the appalling defeat of gay marriage in California.  For anyone who has not come out from under the rock of media blindness, the proposition now bans gay marriage in California…yeah, I know, it was just legalized.  16,000 couples were married this year, and now find themselves being told that their marriage was not valid.  In Arkansas, gay couples are now forbidden from adoption…ironically, in many provinces in Canada, social workers in adoption look for gay couples as an ideal adoptive couple for children.

How much hate must a person have to deliberately fight someone’s happiness?  Why would this affect anyone other than the people directly involved?  What is the pedagogy involved in a child’s early and formative years that creates someone so devoted to ruining others’ lives?

Recently, pundits have said that positive images help to create a climate of tolerance….well, Will and Grace blew it, we are now back in the dark ages.  Hopefully, Canada will never follow this example.

Ok, so you all know how nervous I am about tonight.  And, that I think everyone should be nervous.  It once was that we worried about who would win, but in 2000 everything changed, and now we worry more about who will play more games/do more scummy things/steal, mame, and destroy the political system.  Will this election remain untouched by the gimmicks, the lies, the power mongers from 2000 and 2004.  To really see a scary movie, watch RECOUNT…like a nightmare.

I believe this is an election that will be won with the media as the greatest influence.  The bloggers, the youtube.com videos, the SNL skits, the debates, the images created by the media will make the difference.  AND, if there are “issues” with the results, and we land in another mess like in 2000, how will the media handle the coverage?  What and how the commentators speak, the words chosen, the selection of clips and images…they make up the minds of viewers.

Media is powerful, the most powerful tool in our age…When will it become responsible?