ART2010

Finals are over, free for Christmas break

Well, finals are over. I have the next few weeks off before the winter ‘07 semester begins. I survived the first semester, and actually managed to get pretty good grades.

In Strategies for Online Learning—which was, I think, the dumbest class I’ve ever taken—I received a 91.84%, a solid A minus, with 349 of a possible 380 points. I can’t remember dreading homework as much as in this class. I think I even enjoyed high school biology more (and I didn’t like high school biology at all).

I fared slightly better in History of Popular Culture, with a 94.27%—329 of 349 possible points. I think I should actually have 10 points more than that, and I am contesting my grade. The instructor graded the final assignments before the end of the 24-hour school day and before I turned my assignment in. She gave me a zero for the 10-point assignment. So, if I were given full credit for that assignment, my final grade in the class would be 97.13%, with 339 of 349 possible points.

Final project: Week 6 research

History of Popular Culture—Week 6, Assignment 2

Since 2000, there have been two major developments in American music: the so-called “bubblegum pop” genre and garage rock bands. Bubblegum pop is a genre of popular music that usually includes catchy melodies, simple musical progressions and harmonies and repeated hooks or riffs. It is popular among preteen and young teenagers, and often features less-than-meaningful lyrics. Garage band rock is characterized by its raw, unfinished sound.

But more has changed in the technology of music than in music itself since 1999. MTV is no longer the only music-centric television or cable channel available. Apple Computer’s iTunes Online Music Store sells millions of songs each year, eliminating the need to buy whole albums by a single artist. Music production is almost strictly digital now, replacing tapes with hard drives and mixers with computers in most recording studios.

American popular culture and you

History of Popular Culture—Week 6, Assignment 1

You’re in the last week of this course and have learned a lot about American Popular Culture from 1900 onwards. How has this information helped you, and how will you use this information in your particular area of interest in the arts and entertainment industry?

In my field of work and study, Interactive Media Design, it is important to know the history of elements of visual design that might be incorporated into my work. This course has shown me how visual design has affected popular culture and vice versa. Also, knowing where popular culture has come from visually helps to know where it might be headed.

What suggestions can you make for the betterment of the course?

Actually, this course exceeded my expectations. I don’t think I would want to see anything changed. Obviously, though, the course will need to evolve with popular culture as it progresses.

Final project: Week 5 research

History of Popular Culture—Week 5, Assignment 4

With the late 1970s’ and early 1980s’ punk rock movement fading, music in the U.S. again saw a resurgence of creativity and expression. Many new genres of music came to the mainstream market between 1984 and 1999.

The term “New Wave” was given to a new style of music that evolved from punk rock. Sire Records’ cofounder Seymour Stein coined the term because he saw punk rock’s mainstream popularity fading and wanted a new term to market these new artists separately from punk rock. The genre is also known as synthpop due to its prevalent use of the synthesizer.

New Wave music was diverse. Initially, artists who were considered New Wave included Blondie, The B-52s, and Elvis Costello. But as its popularity grew, New Wave groups became identified more by their common beliefs—strong anti-corporate, anti-establishment, experimental musical attitudes—than by the sounds of the music they played. The style grew to include better known groups such as The Police and R.E.M. The artists’ music reflected their mutual distaste for and energetic reaction against the “supposedly overproduced, uninspired popular music of the 1970s.”

The New Wave era began to die out around 1986, but the style and thought affected American popular music until about 1992. Even today, references are still made in mainstream movies such as Ace Ventura and The Wedding Singer to the hairstyles of New Wave poster child group A Flock of Seagulls.

Other punk-influenced genres popped up, with moderate successes and followings throughout the nation. These included Gothic rock, post-punk, alternative rock, emo and thrash metal. These are more generally described as heavy metal, punk rock and hardcore punk.

Hip hop saw its beginnings in the mid-1970s, but rose to widespread popularity in the 1980s. Hip hop music became a large part of pop culture in the 1980s. The style was characterized by two key components: scratching, a turntablist technique involving moving a vinyl record back and forth while playing; and rapping, a style of music that merges speech and poetry with very loose melodies, often with the backdrop of sparse, synthesized instrumentation.

The early 1990s’ musical evolution was mostly through two fronts—rap and grunge.

Grunge music replaced “hair metal” bands, so-called because of their tendency to tease their long hair into a large, puffy mass. Inspired by punk rock, the grunge genre of alternative rock was itself characterized by the heavy distortion and feedback of “dirty” guitar, strong musical riffs, and heavy drumming. The style embodied the typical teenager’s feelings of the time—anger, frustration, sadness, fear, and as such was fully embraced in the early ’90s.

Rap music—or “gangsta rap,” as it is sometimes called—while closely tied to the 1980s’ hip hop movement, took distinct steps in the musical evolution of the early ’90s to become its own independent style. Its lyrical focus is on the inner-city lives of gang members and other affiliated criminals. It is from the “gangsta” culture that ebonics phrases, such as “da hood” and , came into popular usage.

Sources:

Angel child movies

History of Popular Culture—Week 5, Assignment 3

How has the socio-political climate with regard to children changed from that of the previous generation?

Movies such as About a Boy and Big Daddy show a resurgence in the importance of children in parents’ lives and a renewed parental interest in participating in their childrens’ lives. These films emphasize the simple values that children have to teach if adults are simply willing to learn from them.

John Rosemond, a successful family psychologist and author, says that childrens’ keen sense of right and wrong is often a stark contrast to today’s society. In a June 2006 interview, ArcaMax Publishing’s Publishing Editor Hugh Spain quotes Rosemond as saying, “Children are simple, they are not complicated. But we have made something that’s simple into something that is complicated. We have made a process that is not through the heart but something that is now done through the head.”

Into what type of environment were Millennial babies born?

In the family, Millennial children were born into a culture rebounding from the liberality of the 1970s. 80s parents were often hippies recovering from the freedom and abandon they had exercised in the previous decade, leaving that lifestyle behind in favor of raising their children. They left their social and political views favoring reform and progress in favor of more conservative values, placing an emphasis on the family and home life.

Politically, Millennials were born into the years when Ronald Reagan was president. His platform of smaller government and lower taxes was in large part successful. Reagan intentionally withdrew federal government interference and allowed free market society govern the nation’s economy. It was a time when businesses thrived, and, much like the 1920s, so did the stock market. As a result, many Millennial children grew to become the entrepreneurs of the dotcom era of the late 1990s.

Do you think this change had any affect on the collective personality of Millennial babies? How and why?

Yes, the effects of involved parents in childrens’ lives will always be profound, and whether that involvement is position or negative will equally affect the children positively or negatively. In my perception, Millennial kids were very confident individuals, sure of their talents and abilities. They were raised to know their own limits while at the same time pushing the boundaries of possibility. This, along with a thriving economy, is why the entrepreneurial spirit was and is so high among this group.

Materialism in the “Me Decade”

History of Popular Culture—Week 5, Assignment 2

After viewing Wall Street, discuss how this film reflects the materialism that dominated the Reagan Era.

“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good,” said character Gordon Gekko in the 1987 movie Wall Street. This one sentence from a speech he made to a company which he planned to buy captures the essence of the fast-buck, “me” culture of the 1980s.

Bud Fox, the main character of the story, is a young stock broker who wants to make his mark on the world. He desires money, fame and power—the American dream. Gekko is his role model. Forsaking his traditional, hard-working, blue-collar roots, Fox shuns his own morals for the pursuit of what is, in his mind, success.

Fox managed to schedule a meeting with Gekko and offered him some inside information on an airline for which Fox’s father, from whom he had obtained the information, worked. Gekko used the information to make a small profit, and he consequently began to mentor the young Fox in his underhanded business dealings.

Ultimately, Fox decides to stand up for what he believes, for the traditional values with which he was raised, but not before getting himself indicted for insider trading. Fox was willing to risk everything to gain everything.

Also discuss the reasons that, in your opinion the film, could foster this materialism in the “Me Decade” of the ’80s.

The 80s were a time when individuals’ focus was in large part on themselves. It was the common American dream to obtain money, fame and power. The film put a face to that dream, helped to make it seem attainable. It showed how a little information could be turned to big profits.

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Evolution of animation

History of Popular Culture—Week 5, Assignment 1

You’ve watched the animated movies Snow White and Toy Story. If Snow White were redone as a computer-animated modern-day feature, how might it differ from its original form and content?

The warm, hand-drawn features present in the original would be lost. The sometimes fuzzy lines and soft, varied colors of the original “Snow White” would give way to the clean, stark contrasting lines and bright, solid colors that can be seen in recent animated films such as “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo.”

A newer version of “Snow White” would have more depth. Today’s 3D modelling software allows artists to add numerous light sources, shadows, and textures that would give an updated “Snow White” much more realistic perception of depth than the flat drawings of the original.

I, too, think that the film would be darker, and out of necessity; it would not sell nearly as well in today’s relatively insensitive culture. The villain would be more ominous, the chase scenes more tense.

One thing that has remained fairly consistent throughout Disney’s many years of developing full-length animated features is the music. Disney productions have always placed a great emphasis on quality soundtracks for their animations. Even while nearly every other aspect of Disney films’ development has been updated to use newer technology, the music—or rather, the qualities of the music—have not changed much.

Final project: Week 4 research

History of Popular Culture—Week 4, Assignment 3

Music between 1964 and 1982 underwent widespread changes with the introduction of new technologies and change in political situations in America. From the advent of the synthesizer to the Vietnam War, musical artists across the nation had much to explore, new avenues of opportunity and creativity. It was a time of great experimentation, musically and otherwise.

One musical development of this period were girl groups. Previously, all-girl groups were not given much serious consideration. They were considered nonsense acts, and indeed usually sung nonsensical songs in silly voices. The Shirelles’ “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” won widespread acclaim in 1960, paving the way for other the music as a style to gain popularity. However, only a few groups successfully survived the demise of this phenomenon. Groups such as The Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas were able to successfully transition their sounds to incorporate the new sound of soul.

Soul music’s rise to popularity in the 50s continued through the 60s, with artists such as Percy Sledge, Aretha Franklin, Howard Tate, Al Green, and Smokey Robinson. The musical style was popularized in great part due to the music of Motown artists such as Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, and Marvin Gaye. Peter Guralnick, in a chapter of The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll entitled Soul, stated that the genre’s demise coincided with the assassination of Martin Luther King. “More than anything else, though, what seems to me to have brought the era of soul to a grinding, unsettling halt was the death of Martin Luther King in April of 1968,” he said.

The late ’60s saw the rise in the psychedelic sound. In 1966, Jefferson Airplane and 13h Floor Elevators were the first to market their albums, Takes Off and Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, respectively, as “psychedelic.” The psychedelic sound has been characterized as trying to emulate the feelings and mind-altering effects experienced while high on drugs, such as marijuana and LSD. Influential albums that were key in bringing psychedelic rock into mainstream popular music and culture included Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced, Pink Floyd’s Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour.

Country rock came onto the national music scene in the early to mid 1970s, with artists such as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Merle Haggard, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and even The Grateful Dead all releasing distinctly country-influenced albums. ZZ Top and the Allman Brothers Band are considered the inventors of the southern rock sound, stemming from country rock’s influence.

More notably, disco was introduced. In 1975, it began its ascent to popularity with hit songs like The Hustle by Van McCoy and Love to Love You, Baby by Donna Summers. Artists such as The Village People, Bee Gees, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Gloria Gaynor, Kool and the Gang and Sister Sledge saw great success in this highly popular genre of music.

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Baby Boomer teenager’s room

60s teenager's room

Sorry for the poor image quality. I don’t have a scanner, so I had to take a picture.

This image shows some common elements that you might see in 1967 teenager’s room: a “lava lamp” lamp, American flag, peace sign, flowers, a poster of a popular activist/musician such as John Lennon. You might also see As is obvious, I don’t draw very well, and I didn’t know how to sketch shag carpet.

In a mid-1970s teenager’s room, these elements would have been replaced with posters of disco bands such as KC & The Sunshine Band or Earth, Wind and Fire and other references to the disco culture. There would likely be bell bottom pants and button-up shirts with large, dramatic sleeves and collars in the closet, typical dress for the disco world.

Writing study notes

Strategies for Online Learning—Week 4, Assignment 1

Notes on Agile Web Development with Rails, Part II, pages 62 through 93

Building An Application

  1. Incremental development
    • Don’t specify everything before starting
    • Requires close cooperation with users
    • Discovering mistakes early makes changes cheaper
  2. What your application does (Depot, a shopping cart)
    • Depot’s use case:
      • Two roles: buyer and seller
        • Buyer browses, selects, and purchases products
        • Seller maintains product lists, checks orders awaiting shipment, and marks orders as shipped
      • Page flow for buyers
        • Catalog page
        • Cart page
        • Checkout page
        • Receipt
    • Page flow for sellers
      • Login
    • Menu
      • Product maintenance
        • Create
        • Show
      • Show pending orders
    • Data
      • Product
      • Seller details
      • Line items
      • Orders

Task A: Product Maintenance

  1. Get something running
    • Create the database
    • Configure the application
    • Test your configuration
    • Create the products model and table
    • Create your controller
    • Create the maintenance application
  2. Add any missing columns
  3. Make the interface look better