Boxer and Feinstein at CSUN

Yesterday Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer came to California State University Northridge, for a Democratic support rally. As I got to the event I had to find a way in because I did not know that I had to preregister for the event, I was told about it by my Journalism Teacher. He wanted us to go to the event to cover it and write a article about it for extra credit. After some time I was able to get in wearing a CSUN shirt they wanted me to be on stage behind where the speakers will be. However after some time on the stage I was able to slip away and get into the audience so that I could actually pay more attention to what is being said and be able to take notes on the event.

When I got in there one thing I noticed was they had everyone inside the event on there phones calling people to see who they were supporting in the election trying to get more support for Boxer. I found this to be very interesting. I also found it interesting because while on stage before I left it there were telling everyone what to do and how to act also teaching them the signals of when to cheer and other reactions. I found this part interesting because I was always told that it was done, but I had never experienced it in person until now.

The rest of the event was a typical rally, with much cheering as Boxer and Feinstein would enter the building, leaving the building, and during the speeches. You also had what seemed like the typical speeches about what they supported and did not support and about Boxers opposition supported and did not supported. You also had a lot of what someone would call trash talking, so much just like you get every year during on election its becoming hard to know what is true and not true, which is typical for elections. The other think Boxer talked about was a call to arms or well a call to have those who support her to go out and vote, to get everyone they new to vote, to tell all to vote during this very important elections.

I found this event to be interesting being that this was the first time I had gone to something like this. I have seen them on the television in the past but it is defiantly different in person. Now I have to go back actually writing the article for my class.

My one note from this, is no matter who you support during this election you need to get out and vote this Tuesday November 2^nd its a very important election for our future.

Day with No Media or Electronics Part 2

So as I mentioned before I had to go a full day with out using any media or electronics for a class assignment. People are asking why electronic devices fall into the category of media? And well it's simple. In class not only is most electronic device media recovers like the radio and TV but they are also media creators like blogging on your computer or texting. If you think about it 95% of what people do is revolving around some type of media whether it's in the digital or analog world.

So to get back tithe main topic Monday I went a whole 24 hours with out using any media directly. What I mean by directly is that I did not go to facebook, or turn on the TV, or looked at my phone. However there are some firms of media that could not be avoided like adds on buses, billboards and other places that people cannot avoid unless they are blind.

One thing I knew from the start is how media dependent a person can be when they are able to use it all day. It felt weird getting up in the morning because I usually start my day checking my email, text messages and then turning on my iPod to listen to my daily tech news podcast from the day before. However Monday I could not do any of that. Instead I was smart to turn off my phone and computer the night before so I would not be tempted by those devices, I even had to find a watch to use for Monday because I usually use my phone as my clock. As I drive around I soon realized how quiet the car ride was when I can't use the radio. Slowly as the day went by it got harder and harder to do things that I would normally do with out a problem like intertwining myself. What did make the day some what easier then other days is that Monday is a long day for ne since I have work and school from 4-9:45 and I had a midterm in one of my classes so I did use some if my free time studying for that midterm. When I got home from the day I just went straight to bed being that it was 9:30 and most if what I do at night is on my computer.

This assignment was not only interesting to look at but hard to do being able to go a whole day with out using any media directly. My dad said it should be easy since I do it over the summer and my response to that is that is hard when it's around you and easy to use. Over the summer I work at a camp where the Internet is slow and there is no cell service and since it is like that it's easy to go with out media but here there is cell service and the Internet is fast. Over all it was not horrible to do it more like annoyed. Now I have to work on writing it all up for class.

^_^

Day with no media

This semester I'm taking a intro journalism class that revolves around media in culture. One of our big assignments this semester is to go a whole week documenting every time we use any type of media, calling it our media journal. Once we have done that we have to choose one day the following week to go the whole day with out media. Before I go farther I should probably let you all know what falls into the media category.

For the idea of the assignment; media can be seen as any written or electronic device that you would use to get information or make information. That might be a little confusing to some people so things that would fall into that category is: books, Internet, newspapers, TV, music and radio, phones, and more. With that list I hope it gives you a better idea of what I have to do and won't be able to use for a day.

This Assignment is easy in the idea that you have to keep track of everything media you use for the week. The hard part is having to go a whole day with out media. I say that because I spend most of my day on my iPod touch; listening to music and podcasts, checking email, playing games, social networks, writing and much more. On top if that I use the Internet a lot for work and personal things in a day. So I will have to go a whole day with out any of it, I guess I'll just unplug all my computers and leave my iPod at home for the day.

There is on exception to the whole thing and that is if you are using the media for class or work. Even if you do that you still have to talk about it in your write up at the end of the assignment. For the assignment I have chosen Monday as my no media day because it's the day that I spend the most time away from my house and my computers. I have work from 7:30 am to 1:00 pm and classes from 4:00 to 9:45 so I figure when I get home I can just go to sleep. I will let you all know how I do when I can use media again.

Back to Blogging

So over the last few years I have created this blog as a place to shear my thoughts and speak my mind (ok maybe not speak but write). I thought I was doing a good job over for awhile, but I seemed to stop writing on it, getting busy with other things.

One thing that seemed to replace my blog over the time was Twitter. However for me that seemed like a fad something that did not last for long, maybe because it got to popular or few of my friends were on it. I don't know what the problem was with that, but it is something that I will talk more about in another blog post. Over the last few weeks I have been thinking hard and long about coming back to blogging. One influence on that decision was listening to one of my favorite podcasters Leo Leporte talking about how blogs are the future and that he needed to get back to doing it too. Another big influence is the journalism class that I am currently talking about how a few of my class mates have been blogging.

So I have decided to work hard this school year on blogging. One thing I will say is that I'm done with two blogs, for those that do not know at one point I was working on two different blogs. The first blog for what I'm doing now writing or speaking my mind and the second blog for tech like reviews. But I will now combine both those blogs into one so I will write on what ever I feel like writing about. I hope to have some good blog post soon, everyday I go around and coming up with great ideas on what in see, do, and read about.

Thanks ^_^