The Opposite Of What’s Good.

A lot has happened in my life since I last updated my blog. I…

- Enjoyed a winter break, and my birthday.
- Changed my major into Mass Communication and am going to be pursuing a co-major in Interactive Media Studies.
- Decided to partake in a study abroad program this summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.
- Watched and became a part of the most exciting political period in our nation’s history.
- Renewed my WoW habit, and played the Wrath of the Lich King expansion with <Blue Garter>

Obamarama 2008-9 and What It Meant To Me.

During the course of the election I became more interested and involved in politics then ever before in my life. Early on in the campaign I became an advocate of Barack Obama’s presidential bid, and I did what I could to volunteer, doing some signwork and knocking on doors both in Columbus and Oxford. Many of my friends didn’t share my sentiments, but my father certainly did. He was in charge of several Obama volunteer offices in Columbus during the campaign season, and had special duties on election day to manage polling stations and prevent voter fraud/insure accurate recording of votes. Upon considering attending the inauguration, I decided that with the start of a new semester it wouldn’t be the most appropriate time for me to take a trip. However, as I sat on my couch and watched the coverage that day, as I walked outside to go to class, and as I began to see in the days following Barack’s inauguration, all the action he was taking… I began to feel relieved and confident in the notion that things are beginning to change in our great nation.

A New Semester Of Classes and A Study Abroad This Summer.

After enjoying a nice winter break, I have found that during this new semester, this new load of classes has brought changes from having to wake up every day of the week before 8:00 am, to introducing me to a major/career path I think I’m going to truly enjoy. I have redirected my focus in school from Education/History to Communication/Programming. Specifically my new major is entitled Mass Communication, and I’m pursuing a Co-Major in Interactive Media Studies (aims.muohio.edu)

One topic that has particularly interested me has been in a class known as Aesthethics and Computation (IMS259). It is a relatively introductory level programming class utilizing programming art in a language known as Processing. I’m taking a Java class as well this semester, and I have been enjoying learning the first ins and outs of it, but Processing has specifically peaked my interest because it is an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) built upon other coding languages designed to introduce artists to the world of coding. It is fairly easy to get rolling and begin producing art and cool visualizations through code while using Processing.

Plans for the summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Edinburgh, Scotland
This summer, I’ve got plans to go to study abroad in Edinburgh with the same professor currently teaching my IMS259 course, as well as a good friend of mine Josh Costello During the program we will be “Using Edinburgh as a data source”. We will be using data forms such as photos, local news sources, and things like twitter feeds to creatively represent trends within the city through art/blogging/web design. Were also going to work with University of Edinburgh students to get a handle on what it is like to attend a foreign university. We are seeking more students to come with us, as numbers are very low so by all means, if you attend Miami and you’re reading this/are interested, contact me for more information.

The Wire

Ultimate "Good Cop - Bad Cop" Routine.

As I had a difficult time finding a job in Columbus over winter break, much of my time at home was spent laying on the couch and watching season after season of this show. The series is an HBO production about the inner city drug trade in Baltimore, Maryland through the eyes of both drug dealers, and the cops who hunt them down. Each season is roughly broken up into how each of these subzones affect drug trade/enforcement in the city

1. Streets
2. Ports
3. Political corruption
4. School systems
5. The media

As of now, The Wire is the best show I have ever watched for numerous reasons. Firstly, the realism of the show is staggering. Many of the actors in the show portray characters based on themselves in real life, which always adds to realism. The people who produced the show went out into Baltimore, they talked to the real people living in neighborhoods plagued with drug trafficking and drug related violence, they talked to the real cops, and then they painted an accurate picture of what it’s like to exist within inner city areas in our country.

Secondly, the acting is amazing. The cops on this show aren’t your typical Hollywood cops (ie CSI, Law and Order, etc.) They are all smart, funny, likeable individuals and ultimately their intentions in fighting the drug war are noble. However, in opposition to the typical Hollywood mold of a cop, you often see them worn out/driven to things like gambling/alcoholism by the stress and seriousness of their jobs.

Thirdly, the level of depth in the writing for the show is just remarkable, it leads you to become so attached to the characters and involved in the plot that you feel so involved in the story. Trust me on this one and check it out, everyone I’ve shown it to has absolutely loved it.

My return, and departure (again) from WoW.

The most recent expansion of World of Warcraft, Wrath of the Lich King, came out in December, and I played it for a while. I liked it a lot, leveled quickly and raided through almost all of the new content at level 80 near the end of the first semester. I got back together with my old guild, Blue Garter However, as I’ve gotten into this new semester and have developed a desire to really attack my studies, I have decided to let my WoW account run dry again. This isn’t to say I’m saying goodbye to it and Blue Garter friends forever, but I’m just re-evaluating priorities once again. This also means that I’m in search of a game to pick up and play casually in free time, my roommate just got Guitar Hero World Tour, so I’m sure we’ll be getting into that soon, but other than that I’m considering grabbing Fallout 3 as I’ve heard it’s pretty good.

Pretty good update on what I’ve been up to. Hopefully I’ll be putting this on private hosting soon and I’ll be encouraged to update more frequently.

Saw Armin the other night up in Cleveland. Friends who were thinking about going with me bailed so I went this one alone, but I was fine with that because I was so amped to see Armin, and he delivered.

There were two opening dj’s and a closing dj as well. One of the openers really stuck out…

Blake Jerell
http://www.myspace.com/blakejarrell

Guy did a good job getting everyone pumped up. His set started off pretty standard, but he moved into some house versions of “Around the World” By Daft Punk, and everyone was really feeling it.

Armin came on at about Midnight and played until about 3 o’clock and it was 3 hours of unfiltered awesome. He did a lot of stuff of his newest album, Imagine and everyone was just loving it.

The best part of the show was that at the end of his set, he walked out to the crowd, to give out hand shakes/autographs. I just happened to be front and center for the last 20 minutes because I had a feeling he would do this. I was scrambling to think of something to get him to sign, and it hit me, I had a two dollar bill in my wallet. Bunch of people were holding bills of various sizes up at him and he was looking at all of them, he signed some kid’s hundred dollar bill and my two. It was pretty awesome.

Guess I’ll wrap things up with a few of the pictures I took. The quality on the iPhone camera is questionable, but every once in a while you can come up with something tolerable.