5:Magical Life

I grew up in a generation that uses technology for just about everything. The iPhone was so exciting when it came out, like something out of a sci fi film, and everyone was excited to own one. But as time went on, It just became a way of life for me. The whole world is at my fingertips, instead of me having to go to a library.

I can see the reason why many wish they had lived in the past, mostly the 80s. The media is part of our everyday lives, though it can seem like it is in excess, using technology. I generally feel that way. Sometimes, I just prefer reading an actual book I can touch rather than a digital tablet that has all the pages, and a actual newspaper on that paper they use.

Going forward with life, my approach to media won’t change, the same answer I gave in the previous assignments. I welcome changes made to the way we think about it, and welcome people who stick to the old ways as well. These days, it is hard to be non-partial or biased, and I want to be neutral. So, instead of just watching FOX News, I’ll look at CNN, The Globe and Mail, and other sources and mediums. While I use Netflix and other streaming sources to watch my shows/movies, I still use the TV and use DVD’s too. Mixing it up won’t kill me, and I guess it could count as life experience. Eh, not really, but whatever.

This post marks the end of this assignment. Thanks for listening.

4:Magical Connection

My sister and I got together and we discussed something that we watched together, the film “Alien”, by Ridley Scott. The both of us don’t really watch old movies, considering the quality back then wasn’t great, but when we do watch films from that era of cinema,it is usually because it was before its time, like Charlie Chaplin or someone. The both of us were at risk at falling asleep. After all, the film started out quite slowly, but when the first jump scare happen, our full attention to the film had been regained, and we were curious what would happen next.

Though all the metaphors, my sister concluded that the film was about rape and how it affects others. The alien thing forcefully put an egg inside the man. Then, the man dies giving birth to the thing. It was basically made to show men what it was like for women in the most disturbing way possible. The film was overall, a great watch. Ridley Scott is a favourite of mine, and it was amazing to see what he could do with the small budget he was given.

I love the multicultural cast, the fact there are no useless love interests, and the main character is a small bad ass female. The suspense could unnerve anyone, given the fact my sister and I screamed after each death. The makeup was great, while the special effects still had a long way to go. Prime example, the explosion of the ship close to the end.

I enjoyed discussing the film with another person. I saw the film in a different way. Rather than it being a straightforward story of an alien terrorising a crew of astronauts, it was a metaphor for a crime against humanity.

3:Magical Brain

This week was a great one if you are a nerd. More on this later. There was so many things to read about while I had more important things to do. It has been a week since Trump became president-elect. So of course, late night hosts, tv shows, bloggers, and cartoonists have given their perspectives, whether it be humorous, overly negative and serious, or whatever else. Honestly, with our overly liberal media, they aren’t really saying anything new, and yet, if Kimmel is saying it, it is a trending video on youtube.

I decided to avoid it. Unless it is something serious, I didn’t bother indulging in it. Instead, I looked at things I deemed valuable. Using the website, comicbook.com, I stay up to date in all nerd news, regarding comic book shows, movies, actual comic books, and anything else I like.  Rather than reading about Trump supported boycotting the musical Hamilton, I looked at sneak peeks at the Flash/Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow/Supergirl crossover, Star Wars casting news, Fantastic beasts, etc.

It’s nice focusing on things I actually care about, and not look at the things a majority of people like looking at. Even my mother has been sucked into this system. She recently got into watching trending videos, and constantly tries to distract me with them. In the 18 years I have spent on this earth, I am old enough to know what I like, and what I do not like, so I will not like anyone, or any trending video try to change that, unless the trending video is something I actually care about.

2:Magical Phone

For this activity, I used my Ipad 2. Whenever I use it, I constantly get a notification that it is full. I had three pages full of apps, with a lot of videos downloaded onto it,  reading apps(mostly just comics), and a ton of games. Like suggested to me in the podcast, I looked at the games that brought me good memories. I thought about not following the suggestions at the beginning of the podcast, but later on, I decided not to risk a breakdown like the writer of that book suffered in college.

The comic apps stayed. I read comics regularly because I love reading the excited stories and the cool graphics. A lot of the games were removed, such as “high story story” and clash of clans, because not only did I hate the waiting, but they required a lot of my time to play them, time I just didn’t have for it during the middle of the school year. More than half of my videos were erased, because they represented different interests in time.(I’ve had the ipad for 4 years)There were things I no longer had interest in viewing, so there was no big deal removing them.

This activity had me do something I had been putting off. Anyone who knows me can attest, that I create clutters because I don’t throw anything away. It is something I’ve always done, from keeping old test with good grades, or participation certificates. I even organized my Ipad, creating folders, putting the games together in one, and the reading apps in another, so there is only just one and a half pages full of apps.

1:Magical Day

On Tuesday, I decided to focus on studying for my film class test next week. I had several terms to memorize and define in my own way. Usually, when I study, I have instrumental music playing in the background, often from the “Batman v Superman” soundtrack, and socially lose focus and go web surfing. Despite the multitask, I still manage to get my work done, though maybe a little slower than it have been finished if I focused on the homework alone.

So, in order to make sure I focused on my textbook to study, I cleared my study table, getting rid of any other textbook, candy, and my mp3 player. I would need my laptop later, but for the hour and a half I would devote to film, I disabled the wifi so that I wouldn’t be tempted to live stream the latest episode of “The Flash”. During my studying time, I definitely wanted to stop. I mean, learning the definition of “crane shot” doesn’t exactly grab one’s attention.

To review the whole thing, I’m glad I did it. For one thing, I am just a little bit more prepared for my test, but also to see what it would be like if I didn’t multitask. I didn’t feel like getting up and eating a candy bar, because the gluten in my head wasn’t getting quickly depleted. I felt that I processed more information since my head was focus on just one thing. This will definitely be needed when I have to study for my exams next month.

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