Lecture Won

“If I had the ability to fly I wouldn’t wear spandex or call myself Superman.”

Blogging is making my head hurt.

Why is that though? I mean, blogging should be relatively easy. All you really have to do is discuss things that you care about, put up a few odd links here and there, not to mention generally making a fool of yourself out there for the whole world to see even though none of us even care enough to pay all that much attention…

Blogging makes me head hurt because within this blog I actually have to have something that is worth reading and that’s a little scary. I don’t consider much of what I write as something that is necessarily worth reading but we’ll consider that all later. Right now, I’m here, I’ve got a deer and I’ve cut off my own ear just to bring you my very vivid and complex review of my first lecture… which was two weeks ago now so.

MY LECTURE REVIEW:

It was a lecture that it told us a lot of random information, as such: the course we are studying is Networked Media Production; Michael Honey works for Icelab; they expect us to ask intelligent questions; that we are here to learn; we will acquire ‘interesting ideas’ in our time and that in Week 8 we’re kicked out of classes for a while.

This is where my stupid, idiotic, mildly annoying sarcasm should really go and take a holiday to Jamaica but because airfares are just so damn high currently (well for me anyway), not to also note that I am a little terrified of heights and would probably have to be knocked out before even looking at a plane…

[Hello, I am a space where Cal is meant to write something that isn’t rambling. I don’t expect to be filled anytime soon but… Wait… Oh… She’s writing…]

Okay, in all seriousness, that first lecture couldn’t have told me something I didn’t already know, whether it was about Uni in general, the unit, or the actual context of the unit but it did do something a little amazing: It got me interested.

Now some of you might go on to write actual fact in your blogs, I’m not one of those people. I prefer to give my own opinion freely, get mocked, change my opinion, get mocked again and eventually just throw cyber-torpedos at said mockers.

I barely ever write factually unless of course I am asked to. My writing comes from this miniscule place in my head where bunny rabbits bounce about making patterns in the melting, desert sand while cactuses dance wildly to ACDC. This place is obviously insane and makes absolutely no sense, so neither will my writing. That’s what makes it so fun to read.

I’ll admit, there were some standout points in that lecture which amazing penetrated (I can hear the dirty remarks…) my skull and I’m actually going to write about them a bit today since my one post was looking a little lonely all up there on its lonesome. (Don’t you love repetition that isn’t needed with need?)

“We want you to be participants, not spectators.” –

I think this is an important statement in all parts of our lives and I think that a lot of us forget what it means to actually be a participant in anything. It’s easy to go along and not put yourself out there, think that everything is alright if its mediocre and just passes the grade, but me, I prefer to push myself further and stick my neck out for pure torture. That’s also what I want to see with others.

I’ve found in my past two years of perpetual isolation from the education world at large that I’ve developed ways of being a participant without actually being around other people, a good example of this is with a blog. Now I’m challenged to be a participant with spectators of my own, most of whom will also be participants and most likely have me as a spectator to their efforts also. I admit that I had forgotten just what I felt like to be around others and to not be my own focus in my media world.

Participating in media is actually quite simple, we all do it already, it’s just giving your participation direction and focus that majority of us forget why we even wanted to go it in the first place. I am a prime example of this.

Sure I write a lot but most of it is indecipherable to the average, sane person whereas, here in this blog, you might actually find something worthwhile to read instead of my incessant dribble. At least that’s what I’m trying to do.

I’m participating, and probably making an arse of myself currently, but hey, we all need someone to be an arse don’t we?

“We want you to be citizens, not consumers.” –

Citizens, consumers, consummation; too many C words. All entirely different though if we actually look at what we’re talking about in terms of passive and active communication or deliberation in an area (excluding consummation of course).

I believe I’m an active citizen. Why? Well because on occasion I use my vague intelligence to take responsibility for what I’m reading, learning, taking-in, putting-out, distributing and advising. I like to think that I have some form of influence to people who read what I write, but I’m not fool enough to believe I can really change the world all by myself.

Being a citizen means, not just contributing, but pulling information back in a critical manner. Looking at what will be useful and what is utter bollocks that we should just discard now instead of having it take up an infallible amount of room in our brains. A citizen is someone who doesn’t take Yes or No for an answer; someone who takes their own time to evaluate what is being done and whether or not they like it. This is the type of person that the world needs more of.

“What is networked media?” –

We received a fairly detailed account of what ‘networked media’ is in the lecture, but I wonder if our view of what it is will change after we’ve finished out course. We received a lot of information that we had to collate into an intelligible idea, such things as: mediums, time, space, culture, networks. So what does all this equate to?

To tell you the truth, I’m not sure currently. I haven’t yet acquired all the information I can, so I will continue being a participant, an active citizen and a sarcastic blogger some more.

And of course there was a lot more information in the lecture than what I just discussed but I deem not to repeat the Mr Michael Honey in case he takes offence and thinks he did an awful job (which I highly doubt but my own gigantic ego takes place over my doubt).

Any opinions?

– Cal. 

P.S. I apologise for my horrible incoherency and word mix-up if you find any.

“Instead I would wear leather and call myself Epic-biatch.”