jrnwfire – Page 6 – Its Everybody's Business

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Maybe it just IS like that…

Today found me finding my first little bit of frustration with my University Course… I found myself thinking of this quote by Paul Reis:

“It seems that part of art is making things appear far more thought-out then they actually are. Likewise, improvisation is an art”

In the morning we watched experimental films… for those of you who need an explaination – experimental films are basically the modern art of the film world – and i was having a crisis. The Shakespeare crisis.

“The Shakespeare Crisis” is what im naming it – it relates to my highschool and primary school days when i would indignantly scream “WHY CANT I MAKE UP WORDS! SHAKESPEARE DID IT!”. The answer was always “because he wrote great masterpieces… Ok. ill give him that. But then why when i go to an art gallery do i see works equal to a pre-school student and blank canvases being sold for thousands of dollars?

Its unfair – it seems that you can get away with anything and call it ‘art’ as long as you are famous or have a respectable background…

So after watching lots of ’emotional’ paint splotches and flashing pictures on a screen i was understandably frustrated. Now, in no way am i trying to belittle the work of the film makers, but it just does not resonate with me – im always left wondering… Why.

Heres where the plot twist arrives – i was later asked to edit a video, this was a practice excersise to show that we had some editing knowledge. Luckily for me I have already dabbled in editing – so I focused my energy on creating this masterpeice:

Behold: Bush Funk!

Oh… and i better give it some deep meaning… Well you see – its a social commentary on the battle between politics and popular culture. With the interrupting music and conflicting styles. the line “beginning to see the light of freedom” is meant to be symbolic of us escaping the corruption of politics through pop music and the new generation. #Deep #Enjoy

Footage Sourced From Creative Commons (archive.org)

The Office US (youtube.com)

Song: Uptown Funk (Bruno Mars)

Who Is It!

March 16, 2015 / Jordan Raj / 0 Comments

To access the content of this post follow the Following Link:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BxpSbw0Q2xKIRmR1OWhVeE5xSlE&usp=sharing

I was asked to create a self portrait using different digital mediums, the catch however was that there were no selfies allowed. I figured that if i can’t take photos of myself, i would take photos of other people doing the things that i do, preferably people who looked like me. Because in the end of the day we are all part of humanities great big family.

One could argue that this method of looking at others to describe myself is an inaccurate way of building a ‘self portrait’ because it implies that i am not a unique human being with individuality. However, i disagree – i believe that the diversity of the photos all relating to one person indicate me as being a unique combination.

For example in statistics, we have a bunch of data points none of which are the exact value – and then we find the mean, this is how I’ve used these 9 clippings to describe myself.

The photos are meant to represent how i appear – as they are visual

The sounds are what people around me hear – as they help create atmosphere

The Video is what environment i want to be a part of – as sound and visual together create emotion

The short poem is what i believe in, my personality.

In order of Appearance:

1. Photo of someone who dresses like me

2. A traveller

2.5 A selfie

3. A photographer

4. Studying

5. Guitar music

6. Jokes

7. A magician who makes people happy

8. A person who values their friendships

9. Belief in God and positivity

Its Everywhere – AND I LOVE IT!

March 14, 2015 / Jordan Raj / 0 Comments

There is literally no point in trying to hide it – we are all present on the internet. Whether we post, our friends post, or we get caught in the background of security footage (woopsss) – theres no escape. We are reminded of this fact every day, and i have to be reminded not to roll my eyes at the constant “be careful of the internet, “its gonna steal your information”, simply because, I DONT MIND.

Ok, perhaps its because i don’t have any information which people are necessarily interested in, im not a president or an army commander, so why would anybody steal from me. What further gets me annoyed is the question of “why not”, if you are going to let it go on the internet, it should be appropriate for everyone to see – ammyrite.

The shock however came for me when i realised how available my information actually was. You see, i make Youtube Videos, and i post them on my Channel, which I then share with all my friends and hope that ill be the first male Kardashian. I then go about my day to day life and dont stress about whos watching my videos. Then occasionally ill come across a friend of a friend who says “OH, Ive seen your Videos!” Usually when this happens i jokingly say “Oh No!” while inside im saying “Great Success, Im about to break the internet”. The person then usually comments on a video they saw and the conversation moves on. At this point i realise how available my information actually is, but i still dont worry – i think its great.

It is great… But its important that we are aware what a massive part of our lives the media actually is, for example this week we were asked to go out into the city and look at different medias that surround us daily. Unsurprisingly its everywhere, and we dont even notice it – but there is no escape. Here are some of my favorites…

Over your heads watching over you – advertising

On the floor you walk on – brand image

In yo Face! – SHINY LIGHTS!

Even the trash is unescapable…

The trams that you used to just use for transport… now transport your money into other peoples pockets

But calm down – its not all just advertising…

Its important to note that ‘Media’ is not simply just advertising or colourful pictures. Media can be a place, any elements of a place which you cognitize in your head and make context out of something. For example a group of people is a communicative medium, or an eye catching building.

In conclusion what im saying, is that the media is everywhere, and we often dont realise it. What we need to do is use its powers for good – and not evil.

****

Nice to Me-dia, How Ya Doin’?

March 13, 2015 / Jordan Raj / 0 Comments

While on the train I read an article titled “Studying Me-dia: the Problem of Method in a Post-Broadcast Age” by “William Merrin”, the guy seems really concerned about all the ‘Me-dia’ being created. Basically the article talks about how in the current day and age the sole producers of ‘media content’ are no longer massive broadcasters, they are instead every individual creating huge amounts of content on a daily basis. He looks at this from a media studies standpoint and… crys. He states that this huge diversity means it is no longer possible to have a single comprehensive understanding of the state of the media – i agree. Its not possible, in fact if it were possible it would be impossibly hard to do, you would need to take into account everybody’s personal facebook timeline and vine account while hacking into their snapchats.

So, what should we do about it, should we just give up on studying media? No. Of course not. We simply need to figure out whats actually important to study. You see, in the age of broadcast media it was possible to study and understand everything, but now in this day and age its virtually impossible (pun intended). I suppose we have to learn that we cant have everything, we need to decide whats important and whats worthy of study. This can be decided by looking at pop culture, or simply from what we experience in our own social circles and then forwarding on our experience. This is effectively what search engines try to do: they gather all the information and then hand us what seems to be popular or important. Granted this means we only experience our world the way Google wants us to, and information will fall through the cracks, but i suppose theres not going to be a totally perfect system.

In the end of the day, the world of the ‘Me-dia’ is clearly the most rapidly expanding and fastest changing beast on the planet, and for now the best we can do is pick our favourite bit and try to understand that one, and just maybe stay on top of it. But dont stress – in about 2 weeks people wont even remember what colour the dress is.

Noticing Your Dreams

March 12, 2015 / Jordan Raj / 0 Comments

For our weekly reading this week we were asked to read John Masons “The discipline of Noticing” – But you aren’t particularly interested in that part, what you want to know is what it said.

Well, basically it talked about the different ways in which we can Notice things. For example, a symbol on a door or the song playing in the background. It broke it down into 3 categories

Ordinary Noticing – Seeing something but not necessarily remembering it

Marking – Remembering something well enough that you can later bring it up in conversation

Recording – Taking note of something and recognising its context

The most interesting of the 3 would have to be recording – recording means that you look at a situation and remember it. then the next time something similar occurs you might refer back to the first time, or understand the forces at play. – or quite simply ‘learning’. The most common example of this would be a teacher being asked a question by a student, the teacher would then remember the question and know that students are likely to ask it again, would then next time be able to answer before it is even asked. Geddit?

How do we become noticers?. Well – the article suggested some activities in order to practice noticing. For example, saying a particular phrase every time you pass through a doorway, Or smiling every time you hear the word “fish”. These tasks will be much harder at first – but your brain will slowly become more consistent at noticing them.

Ok – all the boring stuff is done now, Great Success. Now let me tell you what i find interesting – there is a very simmilar concept in learning to Lucid Dream. Lucid dreaming is a subject i have done quite a bit of googling on, for those of you who are wondering ‘what the cushions’ i am talking about – Lucid dreaming is the state where you realise that you are dreaming and control what happens in the dream world. In order to achieve this state you must first become aware that you are dreaming, while you are dreaming. Ohhh Boi, sounds hard – it is. Luckily there are certain things about dreams that we can pick up on, for example we will have different numbers of fingers, we dont reflect normally in mirrors, light switches wont work, we can hold our breath forever and probably fly. Now all we need to do is notice these things and take control of our dreams, but, we first need to notice them. One theory on lucid dreaming suggests that you train your coinscience to notice these things, you do this by doing reality checks while in your waking life. Reality tests might be as simple as trying a light switch or counting your fingers, the problem is remembering when to do them.

I always tell myself, ok. Tomorrow im going to remember to do reality checks, but i dont remember, because i have not trained myself to notice. One thing ive tried is making an association with an object, so for example, whenever i pass through my bedroom door – i do a reality check. This worked for about a 5 minute period.

So conclusion, noticing is hard, but given the right amount of commitment it can be achieved…. so im hoping by writing this post i can make you more aware of how many fingers you have.

Is This a Dream? #sunset #contemplation #exams #study #selfie

A photo posted by Jordan Williams (@jrnwfire) on Apr 11, 2013 at 10:17am PDT

Wart a Strange Predicament

March 8, 2015 / Jordan Raj / 1 Comment

Its 11pm on a cold Melbourne night and I find myself on a rooftop balcony in my underwear… How?
Given that it is a full moon one could assume I am about to transform into a werewolf – but I would make a pretty wimpy werewolf. So I wasn’t invited to their party.

Well – let’s get some context…

After playing with probably the most enthusiastic dog in the universe; I find myself covered in 50 shades of Dog hair and drool. Shower time. I undress and grab my towel only to find the shower occupied by one of the other boys who I’m staying with. So naturally – I find a quiet place to wait and apply my wart medicine. Bedroom is out of the question as most people are already asleep, alas, I find myself on the balcony.
Using my phone as a flashlight I set up camp; lay down my towel and start applying the “wart-off” to the sole of my foot (way to much information). The plan seems pretty much flawless at this point. And it was – until I spilt the “wart-off” onto the white towel which now has suspicious looking brown dots on it.

So why am I telling you this? Good Question. Well I realized while sitting sitting on my stained towel how hilarious that little moment of my life was. How that situation, however strange or uncomfortable, was not bad.

I suppose life is full of moments like this, where perspective is the most important element. Seeing things in a positive way, a funny way, perhaps even with a childish spring. Learning to enjoy the bumps in the road that could have slowed us down – but instead became a jump…

***

This story is dedicated to Ciccio, for the constant cheer he brings to every story

Four Since the Fourth

March 8, 2015 / Jordan Raj / 0 Comments

Today I will be turning 4, as a 20 year old. I still find it hard to say it when people ask “how old are you” I give them that big round figure… “20 years” Which sounds like the amount of time your Grandfather worked in the air force…
Hahah yeah – I’m a big boy.
These were the thoughts I had as I sat in a tree… “Is a twenty year old man really meant to be climbing trees?”

I recall back to when I was 10 years old sitting on my bunk bed at bed time. (Half my life ago!!!) Between reading Harry Potter I had a little notebook where I wrote my theories to life. Life was simple back then. Solutions were simple…
And I thought to myself. Well. Wouldn’t the world be easier if we all simplified it like children. Well. That’s the plan. I remember writing that down in my little notebook. A point of reference for my future self “always think like a child”

Years after that I would look back on that and think… Well. Yes. But how. The world is not so simple. But the 10 year old me was not totally wrong…

A child can see things objectively. With humor. Take hurdles with a leap and lives untainted by negative influence such as prejudices. But what happens then? Well through their youth children start to see the sharper side of life… The one what if we are not careful tends to scratch us. Mindset changes and they can go astray… (This is different from going to straya). This time in their life has become known as the dreaded adolescence. And we have all heard about it – how the youth are going cray cray. But what to do?!? *sigh* *shrugs*

Well that’s where me sitting in the tree comes in. We teach them to climb. Metaphorically speaking… We need to help them rise above the sharpness of the world. Rise above the adolescent stigma and connotations that it involve.
How? Well… That’s what I’ve been doing this weekend… There’s a mystical force known as the “Junior Youth Empowerment Program” which aims to morally educate and redirect the energy of youth during this complex and changing time in their life. The program provides youth with tools and understandings in which they can look at the world in a more positive light.

Suddenly – nek minnut. We have changed the dreaded adolescence into the most constructive time of their lives. Great success. Not forgetting that I’m still sitting in a tree – I’m there thinking about how I’m going to help with this process of educating the youth. This is where my study of media comes in – I’ve always loved the way in which media has a direct and powerful influence on its audiences. Like right now, all the media on the news just makes us think that its a hard knock life for us… Well I’m hoping that the media of the future changes all that…

I suppose what I’m trying to say is that we can’t simply think that the world is all terrible and there is no way to fix nuthing…
There’s a certain charm in the joyful and playful way children see the world. The trick is to look at everything childhood represents and never let that escape us. Always finding time to hug each other, play, tell jokes and leap hurdles. So what if you are 20, 50? Go climb a tree.

I guess its hard to swallow you think of all the things ahead of you… And all lifes responsibilities, but if u welcome that challenge with excitement you can then take it on. I mean… At the age of 20 you have already overcome the mountain of learning how to drive, getting a job and school…. Yeah sure – there’s a 13 year old genius millionaire kid who’s got a Ferrari and u don’t. But calm down and stop comparing yourself to others… Just hop in their Ferrari and have a laugh. (I’m not sire what that metaphor was meant to be)

Just go climb a tree… Or better still… Rise up.

Four of Three for Big Two O

March 4, 2015 / Jordan Raj / 0 Comments

It seems to be becoming a trend… every year on the third day of the Fast – I grow one year older.
My Birthday.

I have been searching for a Guitar, Since i have recently moved to Australia i dont have a guitar – and i love guitar. I had been looking in all sorts of music shops and pawn brokers to find the perfect guitar. I had thought i knew what i wanted but simply couldnt find anything which was exactly what i wanted for my price range.

Then this morning. on my Twentieth birthday – i found it. Bless Gumtree.com.au i found a listing for a Small Body Electric-Acoustic Cort in my area… Hopped on the bus without even confirming that i could rock up at the guys house. As my bus arrived at the stop he called me and said i could come and see him – excellent.

I was welcomed by a french couple who were moving back to the south of France – they were a musical Family with many instruments in the house and talent running Deep. (Thats why when i asked for the guitar he said “Which One”) I ended up spending 45 minutes with them – discussing life and music. Turns out that their son Matt Dadian has quite a successful music career being able to meet with Musicians such as Julian Lennon!

As for the guitar itself – it was perfect. And at more than10 years old it has characteristic scratches and a beautiful aged sound.

This serves as a quick moment to interject with a reflection. Its crazy how the internet is changing the face of media and performance. Today alone i was able to buy a guitar and hear the story of its original owner, all thanks to the internet. Youtube allowed me to then watch Matt Dadian become a performer and find a large fanbase. Considering that only now im starting my Media Course, Im excited to see how much further the internet goes in the next three years, and where it will take me.

All in All – my First Twentieth Birthday was a GREAT SUCCESS!

Shoutout to my Parents – YO WE MADE IT!

Testing out thr New Guitar! YAH boi!!! #Guitar #UptownFunk

A video posted by Jordan Williams (@jrnwfire) on Mar 3, 2015 at 8:08pm PST

Goals and Keeping Score

March 3, 2015 / Jordan Raj / 0 Comments

Day Two of Uni – Yeah so we learning fast. Apparently its not a good idea to go all the way to the train station until AFTER you check your timetable. This way you can find out that you dont actually have a class… Otherwise you end up getting off at the next stop and walking back home for another two hours of sleep

***

I eventually tried again and went to my ‘Lectorial’ where we read an article about deep attention. The article was published in 2007 and it was referring to people who were 12 years old. which means that its basically now referring to us. It was comforting to know that the education system has realised that we are Hyper Attentive and it will no longer work to use a deep focus approach. Because it definetly feels that thats what the education system has been trying to make us conform to.

Furthermore it spoke about whether hyper or deep attention was better and which our generation preferred. I suppose at this point i was interested to note procrastination. I thought about how people of my generation do like to procrastinate. The artile referred to how it was more efficient to do tasks back to back than to try and multitask and do them all at once. And i noticed that when i do multitask – tats actually how i facilitate my procrastination.

However, its also curious that i personally need my own moments of deep attention. for example when i was studying and doing my a levels i noticed that in order to actually work i would need o just focus on the task at hand.

So i suppose that I need to explore this further and really find out where my sweet spot is in terms of hyper vs deep attention.

For this course specifically this is going to be important – for example i think its necessary to mention i was quite relieved to find out that for Media 1 projects we actually had to CREATE media and that this was the preferred form of assessment – simply because essay writing is NOT my thing.

I also formed a list of my goals for later this course. which i have attached onto the bottom of this blog post – so check it. Yadig?

Two Firsts for Once

March 2, 2015 / Jordan Raj / 0 Comments

I woke at 6:35am – my Grandmother walked into my room and flicked on the lights. Blinding me. Nooo I wasnnnt Ready!!! . It was the First Day of the Baha’i Fast. I am a member of the Bahai faith, more information on this later. But basically this means that come March 2nd we start to observe our 19 day fast – abstaining from food and drink from Sunrise to Sunset.

I had my breakfast and instantly went back to bed. but not for long. Today was also the first day of University – What…
After graduating from highschool in June 2013 i was finally ready to pick the books back up… oh boi.
at 8:15 I hopped on the train and started my 1 hour journey into university – arriving just in time for my first ever University Class.
I soon realised that choosing this course was one of the best wind shifts of my life, This realisation came as we watched the Wizard of OZ at 9:30am on a Monday in a Cinema. This education – worth every penny.
My excitement was subdued by the 3rd song in the movie… WHY SO MANY SONGS BRO!

Once the class ended it was time to watch my friends eat their lunch…
Jks. They asked me what i planned to do for lunch – which is when i explained it was the first day of the Baha’i Fast, surprisingly they took the information very well, I had worried that they might think i was strange… but apparently i had nothing to be worried about… except not thinking about food.

Come time for the second lecture of the day i was excited to find i was in a class with people i knew! Wooohoo. We did introductions and i settled in for a great lesson. This is when i got the news.
the. news. oh boi.

I was in the Wrong Class… NUUUUU
I was Exiled by Brian Morris… i sadly walked from the classroom leaving all my new best friends… “Bye my Friends!”
I found myself then in a new Class… new faces. Very few of Which i Recognised… well. New opportunities i guess…

Luckily they were all not scary, we introduced ourselves at the table… and together battled the excruciatingly slow wifi, and they helped me forget my hunger.

At the end of this class we were asked to complete a tech survey including what types of media equipment we were familiar with using. To my pleasant surprise I found that I had quite a bit of experience using the equipment that was listed on the survey; giving me a positive attitude towards the future of this course.

***

By the time i got home i was quite satisfied with the Best Double first day of my life and settled down to a fine bowl of chicken curry.

First Day of School! #NeverSayNever #TwoYearsLater #rmitmelbourne

A photo posted by Jordan Williams (@jrnwfire) on Mar 1, 2015 at 1:41pm PST

Its Everybody's Business

We gotta Stick Together