Saturday, July 21, 2007

no, pee in a bottle..

i sped up on the hill to my old high school that i dropped out of. and I turned hard and pulled on the emergency brake and the car skidded.... it skidded in to the curb and the car flew above it. my car is fucked again, and it was just the beginning of summer that i crashed my car.

i have some new year resolutions now,
1. i won't drive until i make enough money my self to pay for it. i have to self-disclipline my self.
2. i'll ride a bike up at csu.
3. i'll really dedicate myself to learning to better my self.
4. maybe i'll cut down on weed i don't know
5. electric keyboard for sure so i can practice up there.
6. man...

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Self-Reflective..

I have always seen myself as a really bad writer. Part of the reason is that I always procrastinate. It's a shitty english reality. But it's slowly starting to change.

In this class I have been reintroduced to free-rights and more creative based writing. Usually I look back on the fourth grade free-writes and the free-writes I am currently doing in college. They are strikingly similar. " A story about everyday super stories. " And while you're there you can look at the post number. I just had too much freedom for some reason and it felt kind of good. I don't like writing but for some reason I like to write stuff that really only makes sense to me.

Thats usually how I wrote at first. I only wrote to entertain me then I would go back and change things. Then it usually comes out looking weird and jutting out bizarreness at some points in the papers. From now on I’m taking a baby step everyday. Three thousand baby steps can probably make a lap around any average size house. These are the things I like to look back and pick on.

To be honest I never really cared for the work shopping but I know it was well worth it. It's essential because you can't just get to your view point of writing or else you might start overlooking things.

I see kick ass writing in every single book I read. It's kind of cool, that everything is right there and if you took time to study how they write you can improve as a writer. So basically anything that is published in the real world I find to be pretty awesome and interesting. I wish my writing can sometimes be like that, but sometimes I just don't know how important it is to be a really good writer. I kind of want to be a scientist, but I guess there is no point really not improving your writing as you grow up.

The cool thing about writing is that I can always just look on what I write about like a random journal or something. http://jonathantranucd.blogspot.com/ A my own online journal, and it will probably be here for a long time. It's nuts to think about that it's going to stay here and be a relic in our own personal lives.

I have started learning a lot about becoming a better writer though. I know that it has to be thoughtful and most of all reviewed. It's hard to make a good paper on one write through, that's why I always got mediocre grades in high school. You've taught me to re-read and go through multiple times with anything you write.(I don't think I'll do that with this one though.) Reading through over and over makes it easier to enjoy what you're reading.

My greatest strength in writing? I guess I'm a pretty good typer, so if that counts. Other than that, I don't know. My greatest strength? Hmmm, I know. It's my ability to try and like anything I write, knowing that it might suck really bad. But somehow I manage to crack my own mouth at it.

My worse is rushing through my paper, or falling victim of trying to figure out where to start in my paper. If I am assigned a particular issue, it takes me a long time to start and do it. I just don't know where to start. Then it is the random tetris breaks and naps. But then when I get to the writing process I just kind of peck away at it without a clue. The next thing I know I have 600 words of just random stuff. Then I try and caught that random stuff in to something coherent.

But I know my grammar isn't so good either, also my flow is REALLY chopping. I can tell that. That is something I have had since fourth grade. There has always been kind of a robotic chopping, just sounds nothing what a human would say.

I am working on all of these. But it's dawning on me that I only have one more required english class. Is my writing going to be staying on this child-like level? I fear it will, but maybe perhaps if I start reading a lot of books again. By the time I'm 35 perhaps I will have become a better writer through osmosis.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Rhetoric



There are not many robots telling kids how to live a proper life, thankfully there is Robocop. His message is to keep away from drugs. The writers use a variety of rhetorical elements to that main “idea” to you from Robocop. This would be very parallel to an ad that is selling a product. Using elements of cultural resonance and various rhetorical appeals is a vital pivot for this short commercial to get their anti-drug message through thoroughly to the children of late eighties.

“What’s bugging you Murphy?” The weight on Murphy’s (Robocop’s) mind was drugs. There was a small segment of the actor that played Robocop was in action. This is a rhetorical appeal of ethos. This idea is mostly playing on the invention of cultural resonance by releasing a movie. Robocop had a character image of a smart, powerful, and fearless mechanical-man that did everything for the force of good. So right away at this scene, there is an instant reach from the unconscious that profiles Robocop as a benevolent entity.

By juxtaposing the scene with Murphy and the man who plays Murphy is a way for the audience to understand this is a very real message. Showing Robocop allows for people to be more interested in the message that is about to shown, and allow that message to be accepted more readily. The reason why they showed Robocop in the first place and not a regular cop is because Robocop is a cultural phenomenon. Everybody knows about Robocop. However, if Robocop never became a big figure, then this message would be harder to be received.

Then by switching to a movie studio with the actor who played Robocop, this allows for the message to be taken in a very serious manner. Receiving the same message from Robocop in character can be a little weird and might not be taken seriously.

The actor who played Robocop had a very authoritative and stern voice during the public service announcement. This is to convey seriousness and alert the people that this message is important. If the actor came on with a smile on his face talking in a light conversational tone the message would come out very confusing.

Another additional ethos appearance is at the very end of the commercial. Federal Bureau of Investigation is the white text above their logo. This is the ultimate authority in the context of our real lives. They solve crimes, protect people, and generally make the country a safer place. By them sponsoring this commercial, people can be sure that this is a legit source.



While they had their ethos showcase going, there seemed to be a small exaggeration of authority over evidence. There was no evidence citing that they were drugs everywhere, and also no evidence saying that Boys and Girls club has “no pot, no pills, no crack, no smack, no coke, and no exceptions.” The writers of the commercial believed that they could say a message and have it heard with positive feedback if they used their authoritative power exceptionally.


Their use of conveying pathos is very muddled. The actor behind Robocop starts off by saying, “How do you keep away from drugs?” This sentence starts assuming that that kids want to keep off drugs. Starting off with no reasons why children should keep up drugs can be very confusing. Perhaps it could also just make kids fear drugs for no reason, which isn’t a bad thing at all.

They are also relying on the fact that it is generally known that drugs are bad. This fear is what they capitalize on in the commercial. Starting out by saying that kids need to listen to this gets their attention. Then they say that drugs are everywhere can make the kid feel uneasy.

At the end they clip they tell kids where they can go if they want to be safe, which instills a beacon of hope in to their brains. There is a place where they can go to avoid the fear that had been recently instilled in their brain. Up until the very end, there are different meanings in the message to produce different emotions at different intervals. This is a very useful technique in terms of retention of the message. If a message has “tugged on their emotions in a variety of different ways, students are more likely to remember…” (Tamblin 89) it than if it just flat out told them the logic behind not doing drugs.

In a sense, they used the general knowledge that drugs are bad as logos. They didn’t really need to point out the cause and effect of drugs. That knowledge has been saturated in through other means like posters, educators, and parents. By avoiding this redundancy, they can avoid some patronization of the audience.

This movie came out over 20 years ago and appealed to the audience of the time period. Drugs are constantly growing in terms of quantity, availability, and potency. While drugs are getting more dangerous, anti-drugs are getting more effective. They are using more powerful pathos appeals and more influential speakers. Just last year the government spent two billion dollars on the anti-drug campaign. Hopefully they’re efforts were worth it.
















Tamblin, Louise. The Smart Study Guide: Psychological Techniques for Student Success. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2006

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Final Post #2

Isn't that touching. I haven't got that rhetorical argument for it yet, but that's what I'm doing. I decided right now, isn't that a trip. It's gonna be so hard to come up with it and do it but.

The site where I got this photo, is like a comic site. A Softer World.
Okay, but everything is going okay. I'll just link it later.

Everything on that site is kind of depressing, but some of them are just really funny.

So much good stuff it's great. Really.

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What if you found some one that is wearing the same shirt as you? That would be so weird, because you're both guys, but you're wearing the same shirt.

As the author, I don't like to buy shirts at stores very often. Because there is that chance, that someone else is buying the same stuff. Unless you're buying the really expensive stuff too. I guess, that lowers it. But I like to buy shirts online, so there is a less of a chance of bumping in to someone wearing the same shirt as you.


----------------------

Man the rhetoric stuff is really hard. It is really hard to sort out. I can't really figure it out. I'm having a lot of trouble understand the assignment all together. It's going to be tough, but it's going to be a pleasant challenge.

Pleasant challenges are really nice. Like remember how to spell challenge. It's a challenge, because I haven't done school in so long.

Holy crap it feels like I haven't done school in so long.. that's a really trippy feeling. In reality, I haven't really. Last year and a half of high school before I dropped out I did nothing. No school work, I just got my GED and waited for the next semester of college to start. Man I did nothing... I just kind of sat at home, and played tetris. Check out the high score, I'm on there!

Okay, now i'm gettingb ack in to the school groove, but I might want to take a fall semester off... man my parents are going to be pissed.

I like to forget the post number. Final poast #1. dum dum dummmmmmm

*gasp* i forgot a lot of things. Sometimes I forgot to do propper grammar. Sometimes I get lazy, that is why sometimes I don't get things done. Ever. One two three, times. Done. Ever.

A story about everyday super stories.

You know a good example of a super story is? Page master. It was so epic, and it was. Man it's linking.. why? Page master was a really good story. I'll give a brief synapses. Kid goes in to a cartoon world with books and saves stuff. Good story.

There is a super story every day. Everyone has a super story. I had one today, just now. But sometimes everyone time I take it for granted. It's kind of bad, but sometimes I catch my self, and I understand the super story happening.


You know what stories were kind of cool. The one where they made you flip to different sections of the book at the bottom of the page. They were called Choose your Own Adventure or something like that from goosebumps.

Haha goosebumps were so weird. They were the weirdest book, like i never read them. Only one choose your own adventure. Kinda boring...
"Like this one time, I was totally hungry, and my mom like somehow just brought home pizza. It was crazy. And I ate it. But I only ate one slice, because I wasn't that hungry."

Did anyone think about being a treasure hunter when they were younger? That would be so cool, you just have your metal detector and you're just detecting things. That would be so crazy. But you would have to multitask doing that. Like you bring up Cds, or bring up a tape recorder and just talk in to it looking for metal. Like if you find a ring, you're not really finding anything.

That job actually sounds so depressing. =./

Friday, April 13, 2007

Post 17

Hahhaha-ghost. that's a ghost. ghosts aren't very scary ahough, but i swear to god i had some sleep paralysis. i thought i saw a ghost just a white ghost... holy fuck... i've actually seen that.. it really happened to me... whoa shit!

That's pretty scary dude. Like that I've actually encountered a ghost, but as you grow up you don't know if it was just your innocence, naivety, or extreme creativity.

If I saw a ghost, actually scratch that, I experienced it, and has been retained in my memory as a mystery. Fuck that !

What was he doing. I bet he was going to tell me some rhetoric.

If I could only go to the pas..... actually I have to stop my self right there. reminiscences are of the past.. and only are allowed for five seconds.

So much present like, right now. So many like what are we suppose to do with that much?

"Hey whats up with the anti-christ?"

The future can be great, and will always to be great. the mind has to know everything can be great, so start training. I have to start training my self.

Motivation is so important. But it can be overridden by self-discipline. If you have enough self disclipline, even if you aren’t motivated then you can still get things done. As you get things done you can start relying on stuff to fall your way. You can start to understand that time is going to get better and you’re going to be healing any physical or mental woes. Yep, so sometimes you should just do it. sike

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Youtube Video