The information in the readings was pretty sparse so I can’t say I learned anything from blogging.  I wasn’t about to write about how the “Trekkie” stereotype is funny or cute because I do like Star Trek and I found that reading assignment to be offensive and a waste of time.  To claim that Star Trek fans obsess over “useless” information is completely relative because what “is” useless information?  I would say that the reading assignment was useless information because I didn’t learn anything from it other than it’s appropriate to categorize and classify an entire group of people based on what their preferences are.

My favorite post was probably “BumFights, Inc. Presents ‘Car Wreck’” because it shows the darker side of Youtube that people who enjoy “silly” videos would be shocked to watch.  It takes away that unfunny, staged video aspect and replaces it with a much more interesting and much more real take on what “comedy” is.  Since Youtube was a popular subject of the class I thought it only appropriate to show another side to Youtube and why it’s important.

The worst post was obviously the first one.  I think a lot of the other students could say the same of theirs.  I’m a fan of Fear so it felt only appropriate to post about it and why I liked it, without really relating it to the larger scale of things.  It is certainly a part of popular culture but I failed to say why, it was only a love of Fear post.

I don’t think there’s anything different I would do for this project with the information from the readings.  I have a pretty good understanding of what popular culture is, and I’m just not capable of reaffirming an author’s opinion because it’s part of the assignment.  Writing about popular culture is fun though and I might decide to keep the blog open.

In conclusion I like “pop culture” but I didn’t really learn anything from this assignment that I already knew.

Just when you thought things couldn’t be any stupider, they’re at it again.  Apparently some Christian teens were dissatisfied with pop culture and decided to protest it in New York City.  Stupid decision?  Well, who am I to judge.

“They think the problem is that people are disconnected and alienated in society because they don’t believe in Jesus,” said Debra Sweet, one of the protesters, and national director of the group World Can’t Wait, an anti-Bush organization.

That says it all.  One group of people thinks they have the solution to the problem.  It’s not because the world tries to destroy its inhabitants, no, it’s because we don’t believe in Jesus.  This entire blog is about the glamorization of pop culture so I thought it fitting to end it with a post about those who would destroy it.  Let it be said that people hate what they don’t understand.

http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2008/02/15/lake_life/lakelife05.txt

I’m not a terrible fan of today’s pop culture.  I think that all it represents, the ideals, the fashions are bland and stupid and it’s not something that I want to be a part of.  Popularity has become a deciding factor in whether something is “good” or not and I think that misses the principles of pop culture that I identify with, which is the key of popular culture:  being able to identify with what is being presented.

This website, although it touts what I don’t like, delivers what it promises, making it a successful site.  It covers a lot of the categories like celebrities, movies and music.  Hopefully in the future sites like these will be more interesting to me because at least they have a lot of multimedia and organization.  Only the pop culture itself needs to be fixed.

Source:

http://www.popculturemadness.com/

Everyone that cares about legitimate news sources should be wary of Fox News.  Apologists like to make the claim that all media sources are biased, which is true to a degree, but the flagrant way that Fox News parades their corporation’s views makes its claim to be “fair and balanced” or even a news source laughable.

This stupid picture makes the claim that the Dems are trying to do something to us.  The “Dems” are presented as some invisible enemy that is trying to make our lives worse, again, which no evidence than trying to scare people.  The Christmas touch is also tacky and lame.  This sort of fear-mongering provides no information and only reinforces the belief, which is increasingly evident, that Fox News isn’t about news.  It’s about trying to destroy the opposition.

Source: Fox News

Earlier in the quarter we watched one of the popular “I’m a Mac and I’m a PC” commercials.  These commercials demonstrate the advantages of the Apple computers.  We also watched the PC response with merely reaffirmed “I’m a PC” and surprisingly didn’t say why PCs were better.  The commercials simply ripped off the Mac version.

Now it appears that Windows has once again ripped off Apple, according to this BBC article.  The aesthetics of the new Windows operating system have apparently copied that of the latest Apple operating system.  Windows officials denied this, but the pictures show otherwise.  This shows that competitors of similar things have a tendency to play off each other but in the Mac vs. PC debate it’s been mostly PCs.

Source:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8358712.stm

Much has been made about DEVO’s return to the music scene.  They are currently on a tour in which they are performing the entirety of their first and third’s albums on separate nights and the response has been extremely positive.  The band even wears their costumes from the respective years of 1978 and 1980, a bit of  “obsessive fandom” that has the fans enthusiastic.  This was all prompted by DEVO’s new record contract with Warner Brothers, a deal that no one thought would happen after WB fired DEVO in 1985 after the Shout album.

As part of the new deal, Warner Brothers redesigns and maintains DEVO’s longtime website “Club DEVO”.  This consisted of an entire site upgrade, new features and interactive multimedia.  The new approach is clearly a response to the change in music fandom, as myspace and other interactive sites have been a success for band interest and promotion as there is more information for fans to digest.  It also shows that a band like DEVO, that was for a long time considered dead after their 1990 album Smooth Noodle Maps, can still be relevant today with their unexpected resurgence and that in following in line with their own “devolved” path while accepting changes to how bands are promoted, that there can be success.

Source:

www.clubdevo.com

These on one hand are a collection of old pins, most of which date back to the 70′s.  On the other they are popular culture artifacts that are simplifications of political and ideological movements that people could wear to express themselves.  This collection is clearly leftist on the political spectrum but it shows ideas expressed by slogans and pictures.

These could be classified as the precursor to Facebook groups where people join because of similar interests or beliefs.  In this time period people in essence wore their “profiles” on their clothing and belongings, with other methods such as a bumper stickers or t-shirts.  The larger concept here is that methods of information always become more inclusive and smaller to allow everyone a chance to express what they want.  In the 70′s it was buttons and today it is Facebook groups where people of similar interests can interact from around the world.

Source:

http://homepage.mac.com/stevegarfield/buttonmuseum/pop_culture_2.jpg

This is a response to the pop cultural blog “Pop Cultural Universe” and its post about the significance of the Berlin Wall.  Twenty years ago the Berlin Wall fell and East and West Germany were reunited after almost thirty years of being separated by a wall erected on the eastern border.  The cultural significance of this is that two sides that were not allowed to interact with each other and they could finally reunite and act as one country instead of two.  This blog provides good information about the event and also the response from the west, in popular media.

The perspective of the response is largely from U.S. rock n roll groups and the television medium for them, MTV.  The report was covered on MTV when it happened and numerous bands wrote songs about the event.  The primary one, which was the unofficial “anthem” was Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World”.  The song was in actuality about current events but it’s “freedom” title nonetheless made it popular with the sentiments about what happened.  This blog provides good information about the response to the Berlin Wall falling from a pop culture point of view.

Source:

http://pop.greenwood.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/04/rockin-in-the-free-world-anniversary-of-the-berlin-wall-coming-down/

“Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey think gonna beat them bengals?” is the slogan of the Cincinnati Bengals when the team wins or has a dominating performance.  This song and video were produced before the Bengals’ appearance in Super Bowl XXIII, as they won the AFC Conference Championship twenty years ago, but it continues to be viewed.  Why?  It is a cultural artifact of that period and presents information about the time period and team.

This video also shows the masculine qualities of the Cincinnati Bengals.  The players that participate wear sunglasses or very tough looking sweatshirts as they sing rap verses.  The general qualities shown are that the Bengals are tough and you can’t mess with them or stop them.  These are the very core qualities of manhood and masculinity.  The 2009 Bengals are hearkened back to those days of 1988 which could also describe the video’s popularity during this season.

Source:  Youtube

Let’s face it, Star Trek is an easy target.  The “Trekkie” stereotype is pretty boring and persistent because of the mob mentality about Star Trek.  “Trekkies obsess over useless information”.  This is a completely relative argument as a fan of Star Trek could argue that the “obsessive” nature about Star Trek is important to them because Star Trek portrays larger ideals and concepts that are important.  That is the basis for the quest for knowledge, and Star Trek certainly has a lot of information in it.

The BBC website encompasses some of these ideals as its online slogan is “wherever you are, whatever your age”.  It attempts to provide information that is relevant to “everyone” in the world, with an emphasis on worldwide current events and cultural news.  Its article on Star Trek, an American show beloved around the world, is proof of this.  The fact that Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek’s creator, is being inducted into the Television Hall of Fame is also proof that Star Trek is more than just a show for “obsessive fans”.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8354500.stm