Presentations

I thought that the class presentation we did on Tuesday were extremely helpful because I had not yet had to get up in front of the class and speak so it was nice to get a look around before presenting next week. I also found it helpful because I was reminded of the quirks I have when I present which are I generally talk to quick and move around, but I know am reminded to practice not doing those things.

Detroit Movie

After watch the documentary about Detroit I was not surprised. Months ago I had the opportunity to visit Detroit with a job that I once held. We went to Detroit with hope of seeing the art history that they had throughout the museums in the town. yes, they had several museums but whenever expected to see what when seen once we arrived. We seen several abandon houses and businesses, homeless people, and several others who were effected by this great depression. It was as if Detroit was unable to keep up with the economic change nor competition of other companies and with that they allowed it to cause the entire economy to crash. the movie was very similar to what I witnessed on my trip to Detroit but its nothing like actually going there.

Detroit Movie

I really liked this video even though it was extremely long and boring. It was very well put together, the producer of the video instilled pictures and interviews that made the viewer really feel for the city. I like how they kept asking the audience the question of if Detroit, being one of the first major cities, is already tore down like this, is it a precursor for the future of all American cities? It really left us with something big to think about.

Detriot Movie/Detroit Arcadia

I really enjoyed this film. I thought it was very well put together, and I really liked the different styles, voices, and areas in which the creator incorporated. I agree with Anna that the movie is in many ways a transformation of Detroit Arcadia into a new project. I wish I could create something like this piece because it was very interesting and truly captured my attention. The only critique I have of this film is that I felt there was no real focus. It seemed for a long period that the creator was going to focus on the Ford industry that thrived in Detroit, but then it wasn't involved, and then randomly he'd go back to the Ford topic. It just confused me and that was the only part I had difficulty with in understanding. Overall, I really enjoyed watching the film. I liked it a lot more than the reading, however, both were exceptionally well put-together projects.

Detroit Movie

I thought Detroit Arcadia and the movie that we watched in class are similar.  I feel like they put the reading into a movie.  They showed stuff the reading like the fires.  They showed how run down it was and how as u go down one street u see nice houses and then the next block are run down houses and empty lots.  I really didn't know Detroit was that bad.  The only thing I know about Detroit is their hockey team the Red Wings.  People from Detroit also commute to Huntington, WV for drugs.  I always why they came from Detroit, but now I think I know.  I think its pretty sad how run down the town is.  I hate seeing the old factories, there were so many there.  I can't believe they don't take more care of it because that's where the Ford Model T came from.  I really hope that something is done about Detroit to build it back up.  

Detroit Video and reading

After watching the video and reading the reading "detroit arcadia" I was surprised. I never knew that all of this was happening in Detroit. I did not no that the city was fallowing apart. I am a little confused on how the city got to be this bad. I know that over the years things have just changed and the car industry dropped. I feel that the people of detroit did this to the city. Atleast that is what i got from the video that we watched today. it made me wonder if there was anyway that detroit would ever become a nice city again. I think that they have a long way to go and it is really up to the people to help get this city back together. It use to be such a nice city and it just seems crazy to be that this could happen. From the reading i got the impression that they were really trying to rebuild the city. In the end of the reading it talked about gardens and stuff and that was the impression that i got from it.

After watching the video today, I still didn't receive an answer on exactly why Detroit is being destroyed. The only thing I can come up with is the people are just doing it themselves. When they talk about it they seem really concerned about the idea of losing their city, but it didn't seem like they were doing much about it after that. I understood why they would want money from the government to help them out but I can't say I would give them money either if I didn't see them working on it by themselves. I tried to feel bad for them but I just can't get myself to whenever I don't see any progress.

Requim for Detroit

Today we watched the video about Detroit and I thought it was really interesting after having read Detroit Arcadia, although we did not get out of class early : ). Anyways, it was really interesting to get the perspectives of the people who actually live in the area and the reasoning for all the destruction. The story in EC reflected on all the problems of the area and the damage that is done by the people, but it does not talk about how the industrial businessed have affected the people by using Detroit as their workplace. It has not been fair to the people because it causes them to go from job to job and not be able to make something for themselves. From reading Detroit Arcadia I was sort of disgusted by the city itself, also because I know that they come to Huntington, WV were some of my friends live and sell a lot of drugs, but I know realize that the city has been torn up and the people are forced to look for alternative methods of income. I was shocked that even the schools had been closed down because that seems illegal and of course then children are going to get into trouble. This movie also helped to insipre some ideas for my project 4 and I really did enjoy getting the perspectives of the people.

Another P4 example.

Here's a video that one of my students created last semester. For Project 1, she wrote about a tattoo on her ankle that she got after her grandmother died. The tattoo, a butterfly, was symbolic of her grandmother's love of butterflies and the colors represented ovarian cancer. Other women in her family have the same tattoo. This is her only tattoo, yet she often felt like people stereotyped her because of it. For Project 4, she examined the stereotypes surrounding tattoos and went to a local tattoo parlor to talk to people.

Remix Powerpoint

That thirty minute powerpoint we had to watch was sooooooo long. It was somewhat interesting at the beginning but it just got really boring like ten minutes in. The black and white color scheme got old. I think I understood the main points of the presentation like how culture is now "owned" and regulated rather than free to create whatever you wanted like in the past, but it just wasn't what I wanted to do for thirty minutes on Easter Sunday. I bet this guy would actually be entertaining to watch in person though!

Reflecting On Taximan to the Rescue

Although it's been awhile since we've talked about Taximan to the Rescue, I really enjoyed reading that essay. I really enjoyed the interview, and the style in which the author went about interviewing. Besides the formatting, I thought the author raised a great point: are taximen heroes?
I went to Keeneland today and there were a lot of drunk people walking around. I was pretty scared because my friends and I were going to drive home and I was nervous that the rode would be consumed by drunk drivers everywhere, and even though I hadn't been drinking, nor were my friends, I still felt uneasy being on the same road as potential drunk drivers. What I noticed on the walk back to my friends car was there was a station where constant yellow cabs were pulling up to take influence drunk kids, and adults, to catch a ride with them, instead of go behind the wheel. This really reminded me of Taximan to the Rescue. It made me feel so much safer knowing that they were offering a service to protect people. I hadn't really thought about how helpful they really are in situations other than taking me from point A to B, but after reading Taximan to the Rescue, and experiencing Keeneland today, I really felt the impact that taxi drivers do have on society. I am very thankful for their hard work.

Public Speaking/Video Presentation

I've never made a video presentation which goes along with my speech, but I think it's a really cool idea. One of the video presentations that go along with a speech and that have caught my attention is a graduation speech by Baz Luhrmann. It's basically a bunch of tips on life and some of them are funny and some of them are serious. I really enjoy the audio clip of the speech, and the video presentation somebody made to match it. If you're interested in watching it, I posted the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfq_A8nXMsQ&feature=related