Its All Around Us

Friday:
· Woke up
· Turned on the TV
· Seen a Tim Hortans commercial about their coffee, which I got later.
· Went to school
· Counted 37 people total with iPods
· Walked home from school
· Sung along to the songs that cars had blaring out of their radios.
· Walked into Tim Hortons and noticed their “perfect looking” bagels and muffins on the TV.
· Had to restart my iPod, which brings up the apple logo for 10 seconds.
· Noticed a perfect looking snack wrap at MacDonalds on of their signs.
· Got home
· Turned on the TV, Harvey’s commercial comes on to tell you about their deals.
· Go on msn, “msn today” pops up to advertise publicity on their site (msn.ca).
· Go and pick up my friend
· Billboard of a new Honda Accord
· A sign in front of Royal Bank that says “Support Brian Melo for Canadian Idol!”

Saturday:
· Walked friend home
· Bought a coffee and one of Tim Horton’s “perfect looking” muffins. Wasn’t so perfect.
· Billboard of an Alpha class for some college
· Billboard of Hakim Optical glasses
· Billboard of MacDonalds chicken snack wrap
· That same Royal bank sign that supports Brian Melo
· Heard a radio commercial for some bands CD coming out of a car.
· Got home.

Sunday:
· Woke up
· Went on MSN, and Facebook
· Heard a “Support Brian Melo” commercial from downstairs
· Driving with mom to work
· Billboard of an Alpha class for some college
· Billboard of Hakim Optical glasses
· Billboard of MacDonalds chicken snack wrap
· Billboard for a new Honda Accord
· Seen about 20-30 posters about the movie “300” in separate stores
· Seen girl playing her iPod.
· Got home.


My media journey began the minute I woke up and turned on the television and seen a Tim Hortons commercial about their ever so famous coffee. It continued as soon as I got to school and counted 37 people in total that were listening to iPods. After school, after seeing the commercial I had seen when I woke up this morning, I found myself buying that very same coffee that had been advertised on that Tim Hortons commercial. I realized what I had just done as I continued to walk home, as I started to sing along to songs coming out of cars. After the talk we had in media that Friday about how much media we are actually surrounded by, I didn’t think much of it. I was overwhelmed by how much media actually makes its way into our lives. From the moment I got home, the media hadn’t stopped. I turned on the television and that perfect, juicy, just the right sized Harveys Hamburger fill my screen for a good 40 seconds. At this point I was taking every single example of media I had seen, and starting to break it down. Why is this hamburger so perfect, and so juicy? How come whenever I buy one of these burgers, they don’t look half as good? Is that burger even real? Is that a plastic burger? How do they make it look so real? All these questions just starting popping into my head, and I didn’t know why. Maybe I was just paying attention to what was going on. Maybe I was starting to care what I was watching, and what I was buying. Maybe I was becoming media literate.
The media exposure I was witnessing really didn’t affect me in any sort of way, most likely because I am so used to it. Media comes at most people so fast that they don’t have time to take it in, so they leave a lot of it out. No matter how much they try blocking it out, some is going to squeeze in, so people might as well be somewhat aware. Maybe some of these messages will become important, but they might be so used to blocking it out that they won’t even bother with the message that the media is trying to portray.
Personally I think all of the media that I have encountered within the past 3 days has been just about right. I mean, shouldn’t everything that is trying to be sold have the right to give us a reason to care? I don’t think the media will ever be to much or to little. The media tells us everything we need to know, or wants us to know. Sure, there are probably things that the media is trying to hide to save their own butts, but it’s not like their the only ones doing that. People of all ages of all countries are hiding things from other people just to save their own, or other people’s butts, that’s just life.
“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power, because they control the minds of the masses. – Malcom X.

"X, Malcom."Thinkexist: Finding Quotations was never this Easy!. Thursday, December 13, 2007 .

McNally's Rally : Harajuku Delight

Gwen Stefani. Once raining queen of grunge rock with her band No Doubt, now an over fashioned, self conscious solo-artist. Well, not really solo, more like a leader of an entourage that she says to be a "spec of her imagination". Are you serious Gwen? You have millions of fans saying "Whoa, I wonder what it's like to be in Gwen Stefani's cool group! I mean, you get to hang out with her like every second of the day and like wow, oh my goodnessss!" Well million's of Gwen's fans, let me fill you in a little something something. Apparently, to be in Gwen's "cool group", you have to be straight out of Tokyo Japan, and you must have a unique style (a style that can strongly relate to the style brought fourth in the Tokyo district of Harajuku). Oh, and don't forget that you are never allowed to speak, and you must ALWAYS stand in a specific order. And I almost forgot, you're also not a real person. If you can follow these simple steps, then you might have a chance to be in Gwen's Stefani's entourage! But, unfortunately, you might have to compete with the four reigning adoptions of Gwen, whose names have followed her since the day she decided to go solo, those names are Love, Angel, Music and Baby.

Ever since her 2004 solo release "Love, Angel, Music, Baby" (ironic?), Everybody has been wondering who those four Asian women with a fashion style that looks like it was picked out by a five year old were. They appear frequently with Gwen in music videos, photo shoots, as well as red carpet events. They even have their own dolls. The fantastic foursome, known simply as the Harajuku (a district in Japan known for having a very unique style) Girls, were originally hired as Gwen's backup dancers but quickly became a serious factor in Gwen's social success. Now, most westerners most likely have never been to Tokyo, Japan, or in that case any part of Asia, and probably never will, so chances are they are going to accept the fact that the way the Harajuku Girls dress, act, and whatever else they appeal too, are probably the way that all other Asians dress, act, and appeal too. That's understandable for most westerners, only knowing Asia as Kung-Fu, and school girl outfits. Maybe if a certain someone wasn't using certain somebody’s for their own self gain and personal accomplishments, then we would get to see the very fun and fascinating culture of the true Harajuku district of Tokyo, Japan.

Another huge part of the Gwen/Harajuku franchise are those plastic molds known as toys. Alright, these have to be the most ridiculous and stereotyped dolls I have ever seen in my life. First of all, Asian’s do not look like the average Caucasian Barbie doll. Second of all, not all Asians look the EXACT same, unless they are twins of course. And third of all, Asian’s have their own distinct facial features, not those of the common westerner. All of these toys don’t look like Asians straight out of Harajuku Tokyo, Japan. They look like four white twin girls walking down the sidewalk on Halloween in Alabama. The only differences between these dolls are their outfits, which they have obviously made to suit the needs of certain individuals of certain age groups. Everybody has their own preferences.

Gwen Stefani still reins one of the high end queens of our era, but based on what? False descriptions of four girls that want to be exploited for some white westerner’s personal gain? In my eyes as well as others, that’s how it seems to be looking, but what about them? How do Love, Angel, Music, and Baby feel about being Gwen’s puppets?

Hyphen Magazine. Gwen/Harajuku. 15 Jan. 2008. . http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/archives/gwen.jpg