Media Meditation #4: Phish 10/23/10 Amherst MA

(Photo Dave Vance copyright Phish)

Now this was fun. I love little more than seeing my favorite band Phish play live. Too much of my revenue goes directly to Phish shows. Its a bit of a problem. Nevertheless, I had never been to a show on the fall tour, and was rightfully excited about this one. Overall the scene was very much the same as any other Phish show that I have ever been to. Its like a never ending party. These guys are like machines, they never stop performing. They are currently deep into their fourth touring season since getting back together summer of last year. They will end this tour with three nights in Madison Square Garden for New Years. This time last year, they were holding a three day festival, Festival 8 in California. You could easily spend all the money you have ever made trying to follow Phish, and I am amazed at how many people never seem to miss a show. I need to find out a way to see Phish for free, this whole paying for music thing isn't seeing to work for me.

Media Meditation #3 People Doing Stupid Shit...in 3D!!!

So I did it. I broke down and bought myself a ticket to see Jackass 3D. Being a product of the 90's, I grew up watching the series Jackass on MTV. A TV series that featured stunts, pranks, and all around crude slap-stick comedy. I ate that shit up.

It probably began when I was a freshman in high school. I was a drummer in an em0-punk-rock band that played only covers. In between playing songs we would hang out and do stupid and dangerous things, partly influenced by the CKY videos we were watching. Created by professional skateboarder Bam Margera and Brandon Dicamillo, they were a mix between skateboarding and bored kids with video cameras doing dangerous things and hurting each other. I don't know exactly why these videos had such a draw. It was funny to watch others with nothing to better to do than cause a stir, document their dangerous exploits. I felt as though I could relate to these guys somehow, and often picked up the video camera myself to document dumb ideas that I had. (I once videotaped me and my friends jumping out the second story window onto a trampoline when my parents weren't home. Needless to say they were not amused when they found the tape still in the camera.)

Now for your amusement I have a compilation video of the best of the CKY 3, because it was the only one that would upload, brought to you by yournamissatan courtesy of Youtube.

These guys are idiots, and many of them struck it big when they were drafted onto the series of Jackass titles that followed. The Jackass franchise has been wildly successful with numerous spin-off series like Wildboys, and Viva La Bam, and 3 motion pictures of the same name. They have the art of toilet humor to a science. They know exactly what their audience wants, and what they are going to expect. With a modest production budget of $20 million, Jackass 3D raked in an estimated $50 million its first weekend. Pretty good for a bunch of Jackasses. I thought the movie was hilarious. Every stunt was produced masterfully to look good in 3D. The only problem I had was getting to the theater five minutes before the movie started on opening weekend. The 3D experience is seriously stiffed when you have your head cranked back at a sharp angle. Note to self: Don't pay for first row tickets for a 3D movie.

Censored 2011: US Department of Defense is the Worst Polluter on the Planet

(Photo: Nate Bierschenk)

Ahhhh Copenhagen, home of the semi-recent U.N. Climate Change Conference. A beautiful city that I had the chance to visit while I was studying abroad last fall. This is a picture that I took of an exhibit put on before the conference titled, "100 Places to Visit Before they disappear." The Danish exhibit featured 100 pictures of places at serious risk of environmental endangerment resulting from global warming.

What I found when I read the chapter "US Department of Defense is the Worst Polluter on the Planet" in Censored 2011, was that although the US Department of Defense is easily the largest polluter of carbon dioxide and other toxic emissions, it was deemed free from any discussion during the conference. Sara Flounders writes in her article, "By every measure, the Pentagon is the largest user of petroleum products and energy in general. Yet the Pentagon has a blanket exemption in all international climate agreements." Throughout all of the US Military's operations, it has never been held responsible for the effects of its activities on the environment. During negations for the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, the US demanded that any military operations worldwide, including those in participation with the UN and NATO, be exempted from measurement or reductions. To add insult to injury, the US under the Bush administration promptly refused to sign the protocol altogether, and instead urged Congress to pass a provision guaranteeing the US military exemptions from any energy reduction or measurement. According to Lucinda Marshall, director of the Feminist Peace Network, "The US Department of Defense is the largest polluter in the world, producing more hazardous wast than the five largest US chemical companies combined." Her article contends that Depleted uranium, petroleum, oil, pesticides, defoliant agents such as Agent Orange, lead, along with various amounts of radiation from weaponry produced, tested, and used, are only some of the pollutants from which the US military is contaminating the environment.

According to the report, The Military's Impact on The Environment: A Neglected Aspect of the Sustainable Development Debate, discusses the links between the military, the environment, and human security. It lists the Military stresses on the Environment as; Pollution of the air, land and water in peacetime; the immediate and long-term effects of armed conflict; militarization of outer space; nuclear weapons development and production; and land use. This paper shows how military's from around the world negatively affect the world's environment. It contends that the world's military forces lone are responsible for the release of more than two thirds of the worlds Carbon Dioxide. It continues, "During the Cold War alone, as results of naval accidents there are at least 50 nuclear warheads and 11 nuclear reactors littering the ocean floor. There are more nuclear nuclear reactors at sea than on land. The Pentagon generates five times more toxins than the five major US chemical companies combined. "

The Following are examples of pollution caused by the US military from the article in Censored 2011.

• Depleted uranium: Tens of thousands of pounds of microparticles of radioactive and highly toxic waste contaminate the Middle East, Central Asia and the Balkins.
  
• Thirty-five years after the Vietnam War, dioxin contamination is three hundred to four hundred times higher than "safe" levels, resulting in severe birth defects and cancers into the third generation of those affected.
  
• US military policies and wars in Iraq have created severe desertification of 90 percent of the land, changing Iraq from a food exporter into a country that imports 80 percent of its food.
  
• In the US, military bases top the Superfund list of the most polluted places, as perchlorate and trichloroethylene seep into the drinking water, aquifers, and soil.
• Nuclear weapons testing in the American Southwest and the South Pacific Islands has contminated millions of acres of land and water with radiation, while uranium tailings defile Navajo reservations.
  
• Rusting barrels of chemicals and solvents and millions of rounds of ammunition are criminally abandoned by the Pentagon in bases around the world.

Midterm Reflection: No Longer Amused

After studying media for eight weeks in this class, what have you learned? Please be specific.

• I have learned to be more wary of the media that I consume on a regular basis. Television programs, no matter how educational you may think they are, exist only to entertain you to the point where you will continue to watch long enough to consume advertisements. I have also become more aware of the media conglomerates that own the media that I consume, and the persuasive techniques they use to promote their ideals. I am trying to do a better job at "reading" television critically, in order to try to see the underlying motives of the programs.
  

What is the most important thing you have learned about yourself as a critical reader, a writer, and a thinker in this class so far?

• I have learned from articles that we read like "Get Smarter," from James Cascio, and from the Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death," that I am not alone when struggling through a book. Many in my generation tainted with the pervasiveness of television and the Internet, easily become distracted when reading a book. This warping of our attention spans make it more difficult for us to think critically. I have learned to focus more reading, and to block out outside distractions when I do. I really need to put in the time necessary to fully understand what the author is saying.
  

What’s one thing you would do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

• I would not take as long as I have been to write on my personal blog. I don't know why, but I feel overwhelmed publishing my personal media meditations on a public blog. Because I am behind by one posting, I have to struggle to find new topics to write about. Because I am posting on a public blog, I only want to present the best content that reflects my abilities.
  

What’s one thing you would like me to do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

• If I took this class again, I would want you to spend more time on the reading reflections after we complete a book. I think it would make more sense to really dig deeply into our assigned readings the day after they were scheduled to be completed. I feel as though we may have waited too long to jump into some of the texts we read, and it would be more beneficial to review them while they are still fresh in our minds.
  

Please comment on the usefulness of the power tools, our quizzes, the course blog, your personal blog, our films, and our books as learning tools.

• I really enjoy the learning tools implemented throughout this class. I think they suit the subjects and topics in this class well. The power tools are something that everyone should know, and I am glad that it is held at such high importance, but I feel as though we could delve deeper into some of its content. Perhaps specific examples of some persuasive techniques, or trends. The quizzes are good to get a better understanding of what we should be learning from this class. The films are interesting, and show perspectives not typically seen in most media. I have to say that "Amusing Ourselves to Death," is one of the best books that I have read in recent years, and I feel is a very important perspective that should be considered. All in all, I really like the way this class is going, and I feel that I am learning important information that will make me stronger.
  

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