Fandom

The fandom I most relate to is my love for mysteries and the ultimate detective Sherlock Holmes and his partner Watson. Holmes has been portrayed numerous times on Television and movies but it is the two recent television version that has sparked the intense fandom interest in the character and the arguments between fans on which version is better the BBC version Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch or the CBS version  starring Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu. While many fans enjoy the BBC version I love the American version more because the increased allow a better exploration of Holmes character and allows us to learn and see much more about his arch enemy Moriarty. The chase of the Moriarty character is very intense in Elementary and brings continual excitement not seen in the BBC version Sherlock.

Other shows I have had interest in have included Eureka and Warehouse 13 on the Sci Fy channel and Orphan Black on BBC America. All these shows have strong characters and interesting mysteries that have intrigued me from the start and led me to being a big fan. 

In Class Assignment

The most prominent symbols in this story is the existence of superheroes and the main character a super-villain named Professor Incognito. The professor is the protagonist in this story and is also narrating in first person to his girlfriend in the form of a letter or holographic image.  The nature of the conversation is quite unusual for this type of story as it is placed in a very realistic normal world. The apology from the professor is quite straight forward and humorous and could have been given outside of the superhero milieu. The professor's remarks about his super baddie activities seem very matter of fact.and his comments about their relationship and going to therapy ground this story in a very real world .This juxtaposes with the world the Professor has created in his comments in which he is attempting a world takeover  and has done a variety of "evil" things to both people and property. This placement adds much humor and originality to the story and allowed me to sympathize with the Professor and humanized him as a character. I was able to connect with the fact that he was a person who has  had relationship struggles like many of us and is also struggling with his place in the world.

The medium I could see this story being placed in would be video. The character of Professor Incognito reminds me somewhat of Dr. Horrible from Dr. Horrible's singalong, If Professor Incognito had captured his girlfriend and tied her up and was telling her his apology before he finished his evil plan for world domination this would be very funny. Of course I would add a hero who would save the day.

The video which would combine music and humor would make a great way for the Professor to tell his story while staying true to his goals of world domination and still keeping his humanity.

Comment on another blog - Natalie Monte

As a fellow fan of Orphan Black I too enjoy many of the elements of the show that you pointed out in your blog post.

I enjoy the fact the ratio of woman on this show is much higher than the typical five males to one female  ratio of most shows. The woman are strong independent and smart and include a wide variety of what may seem like stereotypical characters but are actually new and original.

The actress who plays the lead character Sarah actually portrays seven characters over the course of the show and makes each an interesting individual. One of the other things I love about the show is that Sarah's real goal is for her and her daughter to survive and build a better life for themselves.

I'm curious to find out where the show goes next as the new season starts.

My Youtube Recommendations

I am a huge music nerd, I love everything from hardcore punk and folk to hip hop and r&b

TheNeeedledrop is very much like a podcast where you can get good music recommendations

(altho he doesn't play the music that he is talking about in the video which is extremely annoying,

but copyright laws)

Youtube is also a great source of indie music.

Indie Music Recommendations:



A Tribe Called Red 

Gogol Bordello





Le Tigre

The Friendly Atheist is a great youtuber that makes great thoughtful smart videos 

about atheism. He also does a great podcast with the same name interviewing 

people on atheism/religion.  

Laci Green is another youtuber that has some great videos of pop culture critiques from 

a feminist point of view. 

Generally I am not more than a very casual video game player and I have never played a video game on a game console such as XBox or Playstation Recently a friend though got me interested

in a game available on Android called Sim City Buildit. This is one of the family of games that was

created by Maxis that started with Sim City in 1989 and was developed by designer Will Wright who

was inspired by his interest in Civic design to create a game in which a city could be realistically built and designed. Sim City buildit is a simplified version of Sim City that was created for both

Android and I phones. While the mobile version of the game is a simpler version of the game it still

allows you build a city, provide services, education, encounter disasters and trade sell and manufacture items as in Sim City. 

      This game is unique in that there are no winners or losers just your own enjoyment in how

your city progresses over time.The graphics are well done and involving and you can easily be

drawn into playing the game for hours on end. A nice tough in the game is the fact that you

can develop your city to your tastes. Environmentally friendly? Then only create wind and solar

power for your Sims. This game is easy to learn, fun to play and allows you a unique experience.

      The design for the game by Electronic Arts the company that now owns the Sims franchise is well done but not particularly ground breaking or original. It basically transfers the Sim City Pc game

to a mobile platform. While the game is not terribly original or groundbreaking it is enjoyable and

can be enjoyed for a few minutes at a time when you have a chance to play a feature I truly enjoyed.

The final plus is the game is a free download.

Hipster

It is very difficult to define what a hipster is when the genre is constantly changing. A hipster is a person who always appears to be ahead of the curve in the tastes of society. Once a cultural change has been accepted by everyone it is no longer "hip". According to Hipsterdom professor Christopher Taylor the key to hipsterdom is "Apriorism the instinctive knowledge where you evaluate something before it exists,” Taylor said. “It’s really important for a lot of people to have this uncanny knack to identify what is good before the rest of the world knows.”

Music under the hipster banner is almost impossible to define. The group the Muffs captures a vintage look with a unique style that combines the past with a punk rock sound.  

The hipster enjoys the combination of vintage fashion style and modern sound of the Muffs and hopes that no one else discovers the unique sound they are enjoying since the Hipster believes once the public has discovered a sound it is ruined and no longer interests the hipster. 

Fashion Style for the hipster is difficult to define and the hipster enjoys it that way since their goal is to be ahead of the curve and to set the standards. The hipster enjoys their originality but does not want the general public to popularize the look and lose its originality. The hipster wants to be distinctive unusual and cool.

 

Links:

 Daily Texan Online - Defining and exploring modern day hipster culture

Buzzfeed - Types of Hipsters you encounter in London

StyleCaster - Hipster Fashion

Haruki Murakami's Tsukuru Tazaki

In Haruki Murakami's story Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his years of pilgrimage he has introduced his audience to a character who lives in a traditional Japanese world with 

traditional Japanese values. However Tsukuru has undergone a traumatic experience when his four high school friends that he was closest to mysteriously cut him out of their lives. To protect himself emotionally and mentally Tsukuru closes himself from

the world and withdraws into himself. He withdraws from his family seldom visiting 

them in his hometown and decides not to pursue with his friends the reason for their shunning him. The world that Murakami creates for Tsukuru floats in and out of 

different timelines and creates a dreamlike effect that leaves the reader at times

unsure what is real or just fantasy. This gives the reader a vivid understanding of the

conflict and emotional pain that Tsukuru is facing. Tsukuru is fortunate enough to meet a woman who he makes an emotional connection with who convinces him he 

must face the friends who shunned him and deal with the emotional pain and baggage he has been avoiding. Tsukuru decides to take a risk and talk to his friends and is

brought back to reality with the discovery that he had done nothing wrong at all. He was shunned in an attempt to protect someone else. Tsukuru realizes that his world is one of reality and one in which he can seek happiness and love and a future. Murakami has taught his readers that often many of us hide behind our pain and put up emotional barriers but only by facing what has happened to us can we move forward into the future.

Oz Writing Assignment

     

      Dorothy as always was eager to explore the land of Oz. She had visited the Emerald

City last time she was here in Oz and met the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion

as well as fought the Wicked Witch. This time she wanted to visit the lands to the

North she had not seen yet so using the map that was given to her by a mysterious Traveler whose name she never learned she headed Toward the Land of the Gillikens along with the map a picnic basket and her faithful companion Toto.

    “I hope I am going to meet some fun and interesting people like I did last time Toto”. “We had so much fun even if it was a little scary meeting that Wicked Witch. In response Toto barked twice and licked Dorothy’s hand. Wandering along a wooden path Dorothy noticed that everything was now purple. The trees were tall and thin with purple leaves and dark purple flowers. Some of the plants at her feet had small fruit that resembled grapes and some had none at all. The sky was a lighter lavender color with fluffy clouds that resembled cotton candy. These were all sure signs she had arrived in Gilliken Country as the traveler who gave her the map had told her all things Gilliken were purple. He didn’t know why they just were. 

         Looking off in the distance Dorothy saw several figures standing around and headed in that direction to introduce herself and Toto and hopefully make some new friends. “Wouldn’t that be wonderful, Toto? When she drew near Dorothy called out “Hi, I’m Dorothy from Kansas and this is Toto” pointing to her dog. A young boy of about thirteen responded to her. ”Thee Dorothy? Who traveled to The Emerald City with the Scarecrow and the Tin Man and who fought the wicked witch?”

‘‘You’re famous” said the boy who then introduced himself.     

     “Hi, my name is Tippetarius but everyone calls me Tip as my whole name is way too

long to remember”. Tip then pointed to one of his companions, a wooden figure with a pumpkin for his head who said “Hi, my name is Jack Pumpkinhead Tip created me and brought me to life using a witch’s powder” and this is Bunny she is in a wheelchair due to

a hunting accident”.

      “Nice to meet ya” exclaimed Bunny. “I’m a travel guide so if you need any help finding anything or anyone I’m the one to talk to as long as you don’t want to go to Munchkin country they keep trying to catch me and turn me into rabbit stew”.

      “Oh my that’s awful” exclaimed Dorothy “I certainly won’t ask you to go there”.

The fourth person there then rushed up to Dorothy and reached up to shake hands.

Dorothy looked down and realized he was only about three feet tall but very muscular and tough looking. “I am TINY STRONGFELLOW AND I AM THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE LAND OF OZ” exclaimed the Three Foot tall man loudly “If you ever need anything lifted or carried I’m the man for you”

   “Well if I do you’re the man I’ll call on Tiny but I didn’t bring anything to carry with

me except this map and a picnic basket for lunch”. “Hmm I am kind of hungry” grumbled Tip. “Maybe we can eat lunch while you are trying to decide where to go next.

   So Dorothy placed all the food on a blanket she had brought with her. Bunny was happy because of the lettuce and carrots Dorothy brought and everyone ate until they were full. They decided to explore as a group the nearby mountains where none of them had been before. “As long as we stay away from the Tower of the Dark Wizard we should be ok”

Tip tells the group.