Though I didn’t do a whole lot of work to study for my networked test or my comm project, I did manage to buy tickets for Falls Festival.
The Festival takes place from the 28th of December till the 1st of January every year at both Lorne, Victoria and Marion Bay, Tasmania. For about an hour last week I waited in the “queue” to buy tickets. This was not a queue outside a ticket shop, like it was in the good old days where we actually made physical contact, but a cyber-queue in which I was shown a page telling me that I could not move forward to buy the tickets yet. This is done so that the server does not crash while everyone attempts to buy tickets at the same time.
In the end, I got the tickets for me and three friends without having to get out of bed. Also, I didn’t waste paper or petrol getting the tickets.
Went to see Joss Whedon (below) do the keynote address for the Melbourne Writer’s Festival on Friday night.
Whedon is a God to scriptwriters; a film student who gained huge success writing television, having penned “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003), “Angel” (1999-2004) and “Firefly”.
The importance of the Internet was brought up in the talk; Whedon claimed that his supernatural series would not have had such a huge fan base without Internet communities such as the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fansite” where fans of the show can discuss related topics and look at photos, videos and episode guides. The Internet really became “mainstream” during the mid 90s when the show Buffy was released and it became much easier for people everywhere to meet and discuss similar interests, and according to Whedon, fans would even put forward storyline ideas. It’s pretty amazing to think that all of this happened more than ten years ago.
Watched a movie Kick-Ass (Matthew Vaughn; 2010) the other night when I was sick. It’s an American film about this guy, Dave, who is 17 living with his dad and going to high school in new york city- ‘just a “”normal”" kid’. One day he decides to be a “super hero”, fighting crime wearing a wet suit like superheroes before him, calling himself “Kick-Ass”.
Anyway, he discovers that there are other superheroes in NYC and Dave gets tied up in their plot to kill a mafia boss and before he knows it, everyone is out to get him…
I know I “shouldn’t” like movies like this – I should have watched a Godard or a Kurosawa (below) – but as it turns out, it was a great watch. Enjoyable, interesting characters. Unpredictable storyline, exciting and engaging.
A quote we have looked at in Authorship & Narrative in the cinema from director Blake Edwards (The Pink Panther, 10) goes something like “I loved (Ernst) Lubitsch (a famous comedy/ musical director) from the first frame I ever saw. I loved the characters. They made me feel at home” Well, watching “Kick-Ass” I thought the same thing, and I think that’s why so many stupid American movies are so popular. I can really relate to the teenage characters in American cinema, I feel as though we have grown up in the same society. We really could have grown up in the same suburb. Same music, same tv shows. I guess it all links back to the Americanisation of the Western world and how “American” language has subtly increased in usage in Aus. eg. ten years ago I never would have said “sidewalk” or “cookie”, now it would seem bizarre for me to walk on the “footpath” or grab someone a “biscuit”. This emergence no doubt has a lot to do with embarassing Australian idioms-”flat out like a lizard drinking”- not being ‘cool’, ’sophisticated’ or ‘intelligent’ enough for Aus. middle- upper class teens. This also has no doubt been affected by the internet in some way- easier access to American material + using facebook, myspace. anyway, “Kick-Ass” 8.5/10. Highly recommended
iss week6
and the essay is due at the end of this week
1500 words!
But then we start holidays!
I’m going on a trip to see my sister in Merimbula.
Tourism Photo for Merimbula
I’m going by myself. It’s like an 8 hour drive apparently
Gna need some books on tape if they still make those
Or books on CD
Or I could download some tapes and listen to them
problem: i dont know what the hell books to buy these days. theyre not exactly marketed like films/tv shows/ videogames, unless theyre like twilight or h potter
maybe i could go to a bookstore and “ask” someone there what is “good” to read (/listen to).but im guessing that i wont do this
ill let you know how this goes
i woke up sick on thursday and im still sick it really sucks a lot im losing my mind i think a little bit and i can only do 3 things
1. blow my nose
2. cough
3. take antibiotics
wassup now flu
well actually 4 things, if you count writing a blog. whatver , get well soon
