As I said in class on Thursday, I recommend that you folks get familiar with Charlie Brooker. I'm going to post a few links to some of his better stuff from the (sadly, defunct) BBC comedy/satire series Screenwipe so that you can see for yourselves what his style of humor is on this show. Beware, however, that BBC language standards are not the FCC's, and British idiom usage is not American usage, so don't be surprised if he uses turns of phrase that sound unusual to you.
Charlie Brooker's How to Report the News is a bit that satirizes TV news presentation. As noted in class, this is a professional norm in the TV business, and it applies readily to American news production.
This is from Brooker's Newswipe program, and it's just as vicious in its satirical take on the medium and business.
Finally, Brooker's take on a career in TV. He exaggerates for comedic effect, but this is not far from the truth- especially as it is in the UK and in the US.
Brooker uses comedy to smooth the rough edges to his message, which is one of skepticism regarding the very medium--television--that he works in and derives his income from most of the time. He has a new series, A Touch of Cloth, coming soon and I do look forward to more of his whit. (That, and the next series of 10 O'Clock Live, which he does with three other notable British TV celebrities: Lauren Laverne, Jimmy Carr and David Mitchell.)
His other notable satire--this time of reality TV in general, and the UK's obsession with Big Brother in specific--is the zombie series Dead Set, which even had several Big Brother regulars involved as live or undead versions of themselves. (If you loved any of George Romero's films, this is for you.)
Friday, August 31, 2012
Blogging is...Evil?
OK, so it looks like I am the first person who is posting. And, oddly enough, I am probably one of the more resistant people to blogging. I have one, yet I only use it for my athletics--and I don't even know why I use Blogger for that. Who cares how many miles I sweated out on the bike, or what the status of my new roller-skis is?
Anyway, I am not a fan of the blog. Oh, sure: it can be a great way to share information, get a book deal, connect with others, blah blah blah. But the reality is, I want my plain old pen and paper. That's right. Gimme those dead trees and compressed lead or soy-based ink.
Writing on a blog seems so...artificial. I don't feel like I am really connected to the words. That, and I really don't feel like I have a hella lot to say. Yeah, I am as opinionated as the next person. Probably more so. But I don't consider myself the center of the universe, and, really: I don't care if other people like me, my thoughts, or anything I have to say.
Wanna know something really weird? I am writing this at 8 PM...outside...at a city park where I am camping for the weekend. I just wanted to get the homework done, and this is the perfect light to be typing on a computer. But what does it say about our culture that this campground now has wireless? I mean, it was bad enough that camping has become something you can do with electricity. But the internet? I have entered the Twilight Zone.
The odd thing is, I have searched the internet, and there seems to be no scientific articles on the potential negative effects of blogging. I mean, don't tell me the effects are all positive. That is like a pot-head ignoring the negative consequences to smoking reefer every day. It is out there. I await the day the social scientists latch on to that one.
So, with no links to be had to prove my point, I sign off for the burny goodness of the campfire and old fashioned s'mores, sans microwave, as the light wanes and I strain to find the right keys with my man-hand-sized fingers. Marshmallow, anyone?
Anyway, I am not a fan of the blog. Oh, sure: it can be a great way to share information, get a book deal, connect with others, blah blah blah. But the reality is, I want my plain old pen and paper. That's right. Gimme those dead trees and compressed lead or soy-based ink.
Writing on a blog seems so...artificial. I don't feel like I am really connected to the words. That, and I really don't feel like I have a hella lot to say. Yeah, I am as opinionated as the next person. Probably more so. But I don't consider myself the center of the universe, and, really: I don't care if other people like me, my thoughts, or anything I have to say.
Wanna know something really weird? I am writing this at 8 PM...outside...at a city park where I am camping for the weekend. I just wanted to get the homework done, and this is the perfect light to be typing on a computer. But what does it say about our culture that this campground now has wireless? I mean, it was bad enough that camping has become something you can do with electricity. But the internet? I have entered the Twilight Zone.
The odd thing is, I have searched the internet, and there seems to be no scientific articles on the potential negative effects of blogging. I mean, don't tell me the effects are all positive. That is like a pot-head ignoring the negative consequences to smoking reefer every day. It is out there. I await the day the social scientists latch on to that one.
So, with no links to be had to prove my point, I sign off for the burny goodness of the campfire and old fashioned s'mores, sans microwave, as the light wanes and I strain to find the right keys with my man-hand-sized fingers. Marshmallow, anyone?
Thursday, August 30, 2012
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