Why do we Manipulate Photos?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This saying means that for every picture that has been taken, there is a story behind it, and you can usually read that story. But if we manipulate a photo, is the story still there? Do we really add to the story by doing that? Look at the many cases where photo manipulation has been used: OJ Simpson being made to look darker, Marthat Stewart's head was placed on someone elses body and the picture for Wisconsin Univertisy, where a black kid's face was edited in to show they were multicultural. Most of these cases are extremely untruthful. The OJ Simpson mugshot was darkened in Time's version, to make him seem more evil and more guilty. At the time, when this and Newsweek's mugshot came out, OJ was on trial for the murder of his wife. People who read Newsweek thought he was not guilty, but Time's readers injstantly knew he was guilty, because of his darkened mugshot. We should wonder if Time was using it's power of influence because they thought OJ was guilty, so everyone who read Time should have thought that. 'How much is too much'? I think that any photo manipulation at all is too much. When someone takes a photo of anyone or anything, the photo should be taken to show true beauty or wonderous shots. When one manipulates, they are taking away what the person has to offer, and replacing it with lies and things the person doesn't actually have. This also causes a problem because when we see a glamorous picture of a movie star that has been manipulated, and then we see their real image, they look like they have let themselves go. When we see these pictures, we treat them like they should be this glamorous all the time, but they're just people, shouldn't we all just like people for who they are?

Politics: Should we all just "shut up"?

The Dixie Chicks. When you read that name, not only should one of the biggest country/pop groups pop into your head, but Natalie Maines and her whole controversy should pop in there also. In a show the CHicks were doing in England, Natalie Maines said that she was ashamed that President Bush was from Texas. As soon as Maines said that, her whole story began. In 2003, when Bush said that he was to invade Iraq, the whole of the US's society was behind him. When Maines made her infamous comment, all of America turned on the Chicks and they started boycotting their music. They could not get on the radio, Lipton, their biggest sponsor, stopped sponsoring them, and it was a whole uproar. Although the Americans were disgusted my Maines, her band agreed with her and backed her up. Shortly after, a documentary came out called 'Shut Up & Sing'. This documentary was basically that on Maines and the Chicks showing us how they liverd their lives after showing the world their "disgust" of Bush being from Texas. The ttile is something to be disputed, though. Is this title just directed to the Chicks? I don't think so, and nor do I think it was directed at any other anti-Bush artists. I think this was directed at ALL Americans who didn't support Bush at all. I think this secretly means 'Everyone, if you don't support Bush, too bad, just suck it up, shut up, and live with it." This documentary really opened my eyes as to how many supporters Bush had before the war. But, when all was said and done, the Chicks went from their original Country fans, and told them to take a hike. They turned into Pop artists and rallied up a whole new bunch of supporters. Eventually, as support for the Chicks went up, support for Bush went down, and the Chicks ended up going BACK to where they said their first big controversial statement anmd said it again;
"I am ashamed that President Bush is from Texas." -Natalie Maines.

72-Hour Media Survey!

What I did:
Rode city bus
Media I Experienced:
Saw ads for Safe Sex, Cystic Fibrosis, and for Mapleview Mall

What I did:
Waited for School Bus
Media I Experienced:
Saw an ad for a roofing company on the side of a truck, saw an ad for Nature's Best eggs on a truck, saw an ad for Sparkie's Tire on someone's car

What I did:
Watched 'After The Sunset' movie
Media I Experienced:
Saw an ad for other movies, such as The World Is Not Enough, saw product placements in movie

What I did:
Watched TV
Media I Experienced:
Saw a commercial for Mr. Clean, Windex, W.O.W., and for Honey Bunches of Oats

Before this assignment, I had never noticed how much media was staring me in the face, and I never bothered to actually look for it. Now that I have completed this assignment, I have become super-Media aware and now I notice everything media related in my life. I am even starting to notice things I never noticed before, like ads for people on benches, and ads on the billboards. I now know how much Medi9a affects my everyday choices and my whole life.

The Toronto Experience!

Ahhh, the glorious CN Tower. As our class stands outside the Art Gallery of Ontario, the presence of the CN Tower peering over the Gallery is welcome. Man, I wish I could get close enough to it to touch it…

This is the funky checker building across the street from the AGO, which Brandon and I decided NOT to go into, because we were hungry..




We decided to roam round the Streets of Toronto, seeing as EVERYONE on the trip went to the Eaton’s Centre (correct me if I’m wrong, but everyone I asked said everyone went).




After a few minutes, we came upon this interesting building. I don’t really remember WHY it was interesting, but I thought it was cool.




We had decided on having Pizza for lunch, and as we approached the Pizza Pizza, we spotted this car sticking out of the side of a building.. If I could, I’d put in action circles to show the wheel in front moving, but I can’t.




Mmmmmmmmmm, Pizza is gooooood. We walked back to the park where the class last rendezvoused, and we were attacked by a flock of hungry pigeons!! Believe me, there were a LOT more than those seen above…




This is one building which I want to come back to, the Chapters/Imax/whatever else this building has to offer. I only wish we had actually gone in, it would have been awesome..




After lunch, Brandon and I decided to trek to the one, the only CN Tower!!! RAH RAH RAH!! On our way down, I caught a picture of the ONLY Double Decker bus I saw that day. This was just at Richmond Street.




This is the bridge over the Go Trains, which also leads to the Rodgers Centre which id on the Right. We were soooooooo close to the CN Tower, we could have thrown a rock at it!! OH MAN, LET’S GET TO IT!!




Before we actually got there though, I had to take this picture. See the picture of the Rodgers Centre above? Well, this is the little piece just above the window. It’s pretty funky the way everyone is acting.




FINALLY!! THE PRIDE AND JOY OF OUR WANDERINGS AROUND TORONTO!! Brandon and I got to the CN Tower. Our journey was complete. This is my FAVORITE shot of the whole time. This was taken on the small flight of stairs leading to the base of the Tower. I decided to get a shot that made the Tower seem larger than life; because it was! The only thing left to do was touch it…and my day would REALLY be complete.


MUCH MUSIC!!

My trip to Much Music was, I’m sorry to say, worse than I expected, and I expected the worst. I don’t mean to say ALL of it was a total poop-load, I just mean the times when I was actually seen on TV was a total poop-load. I am really self conscious when it comes to seeing myself on TV. Apart from that, I felt that it was really good and the hosts were really friendly. They are one of the most important components of the show, after all. More important are the floor directors, the camera men and, of course, the director of the whole show. Without them, Much Music would not be able to air and we would have no Much Music. Though, if we had no Much Music, we wouldn’t have me on TV either, and that wouldn’t be so bad…