You Make Me Feel Like Dancing…

This weeks unlecture was quite interesting, it definitely left me questioning how I want to take my course here at RMIT over the next couple of years. The point I took from Adrian most was the way of thinking about university as a two way transaction where the university supplies the knowledge and intellect required for the area I want to pursue, however it is what i make of it that is most important.

This year was quite a change from High School and all the first hand service that the teachers provided for you whether it was reminding you about homework or helping you with an assignment. That has sort of changed coming into uni which isn’t all a bad thing as it puts you into a working environment that forces you to be independent and of course use your survival techniques (aka. Going to Don Dons to feast on some Chicken Curry). In all honesty I think I need to embrace the blog and all that it offers as it is a way of the future so learning about it now obviously isn’t the worst thing that could happen.

Bonanza Week #2

Week 2 of ye ole Bonanza, back by high demand

Song:

James and Bobby Purify – I’m Your Puppet

I heard this song on an add the other day and it is fricken awesome. The glockenspiel sound is very nostalgic for some reason, makes me want to start slow dancing in a hall full of slow dancers.

Movie (This Week it’s a TV Show):

Entourage (2004-2011)

I have nearly finished the 8th and final season of Entourage and it has been a trip to remember. The characters are so well done and the jokes second to none. All the characters have at least one characteristic that makes them likeable and it has given me a insight into what an actors life can be like. It will be sad to see the end but I think there may be a movie in the works which would be very cool!

Photo

This was a picture from a Nat Geo I scanned. I like how it looks a bit like an explosion, I think they are clouds but the reflection makes it look like smoke. I recently thought of scanning in old images i find in magazines and playing around with them, it allows you to be a lot more diverse when editing pictures and such.

General Post

I am heading to Bali on saturday which mean good times ahead. It also means a couple of more days to catch up for next week. My parents are making sure we make the most of duty free alcohol by stocking up 1.5 litres each before we leave. Apparently drinks are quite expensive in Bali. Two things I want to do! Experience a Balinese sunset and ride a bike around one of the islands! I’m also loving the new Karl Stefanovic videos on that facebook page, very funny man. Definitely trumps anything funny Kochie has ever done!

Reading Week #2 – Design Fiction Satisfaction

Ward discusses the harsh truth about Designers contemporary products that have constantly been dismissed over and over again by corporations that don’t see the object fit for them due to a range of social and economic reasons. Sci-Fi writer Bruce Sterling defines design fiction as the ‘deliberate use of diegetic prototypes to suspend disbelief about change’. These products have come to be known as vapourware, which I think is a bit of a waste. Imagine the amount of people that have created something worth while only to be set aside until the world can catch up with the idea or design. It is quite mind boggling but also quite exciting in the sense that people are using fictitious concepts to create these things.

Ward also discusses a manifesto that he formulated that embraces and interrogates the role of fiction in design.

One important note I found from the 14th point was that the designee can’t let the fictional element of their work pull them away from the reality aspect of their design. I also found the reoccurring aspect of the object rather then the character. I think this makes sense, I can never really tell if my descriptions are ever close to what is actually being said.

Ah well I think I understood this and found it interesting, I personally love the idea of creating or inventing objects that are beyond any current technologies.

Posting A Gif Into Your Blog

I thought posting a gif onto your blog might be a challenge but it is a lot easier then i thought. It is as simple as finding a gif, saving it in a folder on your computer and then uploading it directly onto the post using the Upload/Insert button on top. This is a gif of Paula Deen riding a dog, who is Paula Deen??

Bonanza Week #1

This is going to be my first weekly post of many under the title ‘BONANNZAA’. I’m going have a song, movie, photo and general post of the week!

Song:

Vancouver Sleep Clinic – Vapour

This song is by a boy named Tim Bettinson from Brisbane with a Bon Iver x James Blake inspired bedroom project. He makes use of his falsetto vocals to create a dreamy, ambient atmosphere. Big things are coming up for this guy!

Movie:

This Is The End (2013)

I saw this movie in the cinema the other week going into with no real expectations. Which was good because I sometimes go into these movies with too many expectation. It contains pretty much the whole comedy crew, most notably James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride. 4 of which were apart of a television series I loved called Freaks and Geeks. It begins at James Franco’s house warming party which is ladened with celebrities acting as themselves. The party then goes haywire when a presumed apocalypse occurs setting up a hilarious set of events forcing a bunch of actors to get along with each other. Danny McBride is the standout for me personally delivering some harsh truths to the other stranded actors with his signature witty nature. I thought the movie was great.

Photo

Leif Podhajsky Tame Impala Remake

This section of the Bonanza is where I’m going to put up a photo edit I have done during the week. Photography and editing is one of my biggest hobbies, I enjoy manipulating things. This week I reworked a album artwork of one of my favourite artists Leif Podhajsky, mainly known for the extensive number of music artists he does album covers for including Tame Impala, Cloud Control, Foals and Bonobo. This was formed using two photos i had taken with my GoPro underwater at the beach which created a dreamy sort of image.

General Post

I’m becoming very excited for two particular upcoming events. My trip to Bali for 10 days and the final season of Breaking Bad. Both are beginning around the same time which will probably mean i will need to postpone Breaking Bad till when I get back. But I’m going to Bali which makes up for it. I’m most looking forward to the scenery in Bali and I really miss Walt Jr. so I’m most looking forward to seeing him.

 

 

Reading Week #1 – Argyris Abyss

What can I say?

Chris Argyris is an incredibly dense man that really likes theorising about how theories effect other theories which then go on to create new theories??? All these theories and variables take me back to my VCE psychology days which did not sit with me so fondly. I’m not going to try and unpack the initial spiel discussing all of Argyris’s achievements and workings however I did find some things that I found interesting… I think.

The first section talks about the Theories of action: Theory-in-use and the espoused theory:

Espoused theory – The words we use to tell what we would do in a given situation. The answer given when asked how we would act when placed in a certain position.

Theory-in-use – The actual behaviour sought from personal tactic structures. Their relation to grammar. (I’m not sure if these can be instinct type reactions)

Just as I was typing that i found a video that explains the difference between the two in language that people like me can understand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maAyBcVw5LU

The Theory-in-use also has a model WOOHOO

This is a model which shows the difference between single-loop and double loop learning.

Single Loop Learning – This is a response to a problem through a strategy that will work and within the governing variables.

Double Loop Learning – An alternative to this is to question the governing variables to critical scrutiny.

There are also a number of methods that Argyris devised to help improve / enhance the double loop learning method. There is a group of phases that outline a method that can also help achieve  a environment where an organisation can grow and improve as a collective.

Model I – This is the model of theory-in-use that most people begin in, which usually has them personally on top, not really talking into account what other people are thinking or feeling. Involves making inferences about another persons behaviour without checking if it is valid.

Model II – This has more mutual connotations and calls on a persons ability to make inferences using personal good quality data.  

I believe that this reading is widely used and related towards workplace environments however i think that it is useful for Networked Media as it is very relatable to student cohort. Working together in groups is a very important aspect of classes within the media course and being able to evaluate your position in the group may very well help improve group morale and production.

 

 

#0 – Metaphors

This first post is going to be me talking about the 00 reading that was done in class which was a poem about a small boat in a sea of networks. I personally am not one for poems at all, i usually can’t understand them and just generally don’t like them. However, I had to read this one and actually quite liked how it used a number of metaphors to describe the journey that one can go on when riding the boat of networked media.

One of the questions asked by Adrian was ‘ If this is a description of this subject (it is) then what does it suggest, for you, about what is going to happen here?’ I think that this description of the subject suggests that it is up to you what you want to make of it. It is up to you how far you paddle, look, plunge, dive, throw, crash into what is happening around you in the very diverse culture that Melbourne and the interwebs has to offer.

I am looking forward to see what i can find out about Networked media and how it effects others and myself so that i can begin interacting with it as a more knowledgable media student.