Firescape

I thought that the relationship between the son and the Dad at the beginning was pretty special. As the Dad stated, “…Son this really makes me proud.” Some father son relationships don’t have this same specialness. I thought the scene where they are telling him to abort was pretty interesting. The special effects were rather amazing. This also explains why he loses contact with the real world and the “Sci-Fi” portion of the episode. Once he did get into the other ship and I saw the blue character and the big hairy character, I was turned off. I like shows that could actually happen in real life or in the future. I still am not convinced that this would every happen.

The first thing that I noticed was that this started out on earth which is obviously different then STNG and the original star trek, but similar to Dollhouse and Buffy. I also noticed that they actually used a real life shuttle. I felt like the shuttle in STNG and the original star trek were more fiction then reality. I also thought that they fact that they still have contact with the real world as they are in space made more sense. I felt like the STNG and the original star trek they were basically out on their own with no contact to the real world. Some similarities, however, are the alien like figures that he encounters along the way. I thought that Dollhouse and Buffy were the best shows that we watched in the class and the others were rather painful to watch.

WB Post 5

Dear English 110 Students,

I just thought I would give you a few pointers to succeeding in this first year writing course. First off you need to come into the class with an open mind. When I first heard what our subject was, (Televised SciFi: A Modern Mythology) I thought it was going to be the longest quarter of my life. I honestly had zero interest in SciFi and thought that it was a bunch of BS. I am really interested in sporting articles and anything that has to do with sports. As the class went along, however, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Granted I still am not a very big fan of SciFi, but I did learn a lot about it.

Another thing that I would suggest is to not procrastinate. When we had to write a blog about an episode, I found it much easier to either write it as I watched the show or to write it immediately after class. They weren’t not only the easiest to write, but also the best blogs that I had. If I chose to wait until 11:30 to start writing them, I found myself forgetting what the episode was about.

Overall, I thought that this class was a lot of work but really easy. If you keep up with all of your assignments and don’t fall behind, you will be perfectly fine. I wish you good luck and hope you enjoy the class.

Sincerely,

English 110 AU 09 Student

STNG: “The Measure of a Man”

After watching this episode in class, I continued to ask myself which side of the argument that I stand on. I believe that they both have good points. I can see where the guy thought that he was merrily a machine and that if it was a “box with wheels” no one would have a problem. I tend to agree with him, but that is a completely different point. Data is not a box with wheels; he is more of a human. He obviously has feelings like humans do, and is just as intelligent. So ultimately, I think that the Captains argument makes more sense. Data shouldn’t have to be worked on if he does not want to, especially if the process isn’t a 100% success rate.

Comparing this episode to BSG and the original Star Trek:
I think that this episode is a lot like BSG and the original Star Trek in that they all take place in outer space. They all are more of the “Sci-Fi” shows that I am not really a big fan of. Although this episode wasn’t so bad because there wasn’t so much “fake” fighting and this could actually happen in real life. This episode was more about morality; Whether or not it is morally acceptable to work on Data or not. This is another reason why I was fairly interested in it. I actually wrote my ARP on the morality of Dollhouse, and as you can tell from my first paragraph, I don’t think that it is right to work on Data.

Star Trek

I also watch “Tomorrow is Yesterday” from the original Star Trek. It was quite painful to sit threw the entire episode, and I even had to skip forward a couple of times. I think that I got the main idea though and enough to write this blog. Basically one of the characters, Christopher tries to come back to earth, but he is accidentally transported back in time to 1969. When Captain Kirk tells Christopher that he cannot return because he knows too much, it made me think about the movie Déjà vu with Denzel Washington. Where they try to send a note back to the past to warn the police about the future. When Christopher takes the pictures of the Enterprise I thought to myself that it would be hard to convince anyone today that it really was a UFO. I think that we would just look at him like he is crazy. Which is another difference between SciFi and the real world. Thankfully though at the end of the episode the Enterprise is able to return back to present.

Besides the obviously differences of graphics and special effects between this old SciFi and modern SciFi, there are many other changes. For example in Dollhouse (the show that I watched for me ARP and CP papers) there is less about spaceships and universe and more about newer modern technology. I think that Dollhouse is actually possible one day, but I do not think that we will ever have "space wars." I no that BSG is a modern SciFi and has space wars, but BSG has a lot of things that are more related to us today. I think that SciFi is starting to move closer and closer to reality and possibility then they were in the original Star Trek. I think that this is good because that is the main reason that people are turned off from SciFi series.

Battlestar Galactica

So after watching this episode I was really confused what was all going on, since I have never seen Battlestar Galactica. So I figured that writing this blog would be kind of hard. But then I thought about just writing about some of the small things that happened during the episode. Such as when the girl snapped the baby head and kills the baby. It reminded me of abortion and how big of an issue that it is right now. Being from a small town this is an extremely touchy subject. Every year we have a bus that takes some students from our high school to Washington DC to march. I believe that abortion is wrong, but can be used to certain situations. One situation in which I think that abortion is acceptable is when a girl gets rapped. I believe that it isn’t the girls fault at all and if she doesn’t want to have the baby then she shouldn’t have to. BUT, I would strongly recommend her going threw with it and giving it up for adoption. All in all I believe that what the girl did in the episode is horrible. I try to put myself in her situation and think to myself “…is there any possible way that I could do what she did.” My answer was easy and simple, no. I could never bring myself to do what she did. I think that there is no reason in this world to kill anyone, let alone a baby. When I saw her do it, it made me sick to my stomach and made me feel sorry for anyone that has to have that on the conscience the rest of their life.

Poem

I decided to go for a fun poem rather than a serious one, basically because I have way more interest in them. I hated my senior English class because we had to write and interpret so many poems. I had a lot of trouble trying to figure out the serious ones and always just guessed on what they meant. So the poem that I picked was one that relates well with me. Whenever I write a paper I always rely on spell check to check my work, well this poem shows that maybe I shouldn’t rely on it as much as I do. Now I do think that spell check as gotten I little better then when the poem was first written because when I ran it through it did change some things. But the point of the poem was well taken.

A Little Poem Regarding Computer Spell Checkers...

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

Buffy

After watching the episode in class, I was somewhat confused. I can't decide what is real and what is fake. I really don’t know much about Buffy, other then what we have watched in class. I can only imagine what Buffy is going through right now. I don’t think I could kill my own friends just because someone tells me that the last six years of my life hasn’t been real. Trying to decipher reality from “dreams,” would be extremely difficult.

I though this episode was better then Hush. It kept me interested the entire time and I honestly didn't know what was going to happen. I started off thinking that the Mentle Instatution was fake, then moved toward it being real, and finally at the end thinking that it was fake again. Good episode to watch in class.

The Little Rascals

So I just finished watching The Little Rascals. I think that this movie is hilarious. My favorite character has to be porky, and buckwheat comes in a close 2nd place. It reminds me of when I was a kid. The stage where boys and girls think that one another has cooties and don't want anything to do with them. I remember having our own "club house" when I was little. It wasn't a he mans women haters club, but more of a fun place to hang out all day during the summer. This movie is definitely a great movie and is a lot of fun to watch.

CP Problem

The main problem that I am having is the intro/conlution. I am writing about how a disagree with the blank slate philosophy and am not really sure how to "grab" the readers attention. I start with explain the blank slate philosophy "The blank slate theorem states that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception. " and when and where it came from. But I feel like that is kind of boring and that no what really cares about it. I'm trying to make it more interesting and trying to relate it more to my audience. Just not really sure how to do it yet.

Going from ARP to CP

I think I’m going to write about the blank slate philosophy and whether or not I truly believe in it. The blank slate philosophy states that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception. In my Research Paper I talked about moral issue of dollhouse, whether what they were doing was right or wrong and I mentioned the blank slate philosophy and how may be dollhouse crossing it. In my Common Place paper I’m going to focus more on blank slate philosophy and whether I truly believe it or not. Some things that I wrote down as facts are.

Do I believe in the “blank slate” philosophy?

REASONS I DO
-Main reason most siblings are alike is the shared environment
-Parents will have a high expectation for kids
-Many highly educated people agree with it (Locke, Watson)

REASONS I DON'T
-kids are so much like their parents
-Athletes breed athletes
-Siblings are a like
-Usually smart parents have smart kids
-Usually hard working parents have hard working kids
-Studies show that even when kids are adopted they still turn out like their real parents
-Twins that are reared apart have similar IQ correlations to those IQs of twins reared together
-Twins are so much alike

HALF AND HALF
-Siblings have same genes so they act similar but also have the same environment which may be the cause.

So I guess that I have more reason's that I don't fully believe in it, but I can definitely see both sides to the argument.

Quote

Dollhouse crosses is the "blank slate" philosophy; which states that at birth anyone has the opportunity to be anything possible. What the parents do or what kind of genes someone has virtually has nothing to do with what you will be. John Watson, a proponent of this theory, stated, "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select...regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors" (Powell 2). Meaning that Watson doesn’t care what the child’s parents or grandparents have done, anyone has an equal chance to be anything despite their talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors.

One Problem In My Paper

I feel that one problem that I have with my paper happens to be the biggest problem that I have, organization. I feel that after the first 2 page paper that I wrote, I tried to hard to just add to that. So my 3-5 page paper was about multiple things, rather then trying to focus on the main point.

Also in high school the longest paper that we wrote was only 5 or 6 pages, so the 7-8 page length is giving me some trouble. I feel that after the first 5 pages I am just repeating what I've already said. I am working on trying to find another source that is relevant to my topic. I have been working on it a lot lately and I think that it is getting better. Hopefully by the time it is due I'll have all of the kinks worked out and it will be an easy transition to the commonplace paper.

WB Prompt 3

The product that I choose was Coca-Cola, the classic dark soda. One website I choose was http://www.mycoke.com/index.jsp, the home website. The website first opens up with a scientist talking to you. He gives the date that coke was founded and says that its “…a day the world changes.” As I navigate to the home page there are games that are available, and all kinds of interactions. I think that they are not so much trying to sell their product, but trying to keep people on the website. As the site claims, the “Secret Formula” is another tactic used. I think that when people see that, they want to taste what it is all about.

The second site I choose was http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/. Right on the opening page there is counter that is continuously counting up. It states how many cokes are bought daily on average. The count is around 1.6 billion a day. There is a conversation blog on the site where visitors can say what they think of the product. Also there is over 2800 total coke products.

Overall both of these sites have a lot of info about all of the coke products. Both sites are bright red and eye catching. They also both have interactive features, which get the viewers involved. With coke being one of my favorite drinks, these sites gave me everything that I needed. I feel if I never would of tried coke, I would be tempted to go out and try one after seeing these websites.

We Don't Give a Damn for the Whole State of Michigan: Ohio State Marching Band

One of my favorite Ohio State songs is “We Don't Give a Damn for the Whole State of Michigan.” The song is played by the Ohio State Marching Band. Every year the Michigan vs. Ohio State football game is a huge deal. The song truly shows the rivalry that the two teams have for each other. The song is upbeat and exciting. Every time I hear it I get pumped up for the game. Even though the overall record is in Michigan’s favor (57-42-6), Ohio State has owned Michigan the last 5 games. As the song reads, “We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, we're from Ohio” shows that true Ohio State fans hate Michigan. With both teams having above average years, this year’s game should be full of excitement. I can’t wait.

Wilcox - Fear The Princess Screamed Once

This article continuously states that Buffy knows that she is the princess. She takes the role as soon as everyone loses their voices. “When the wise man, Giles, indicates the need for a princess, all the characters (including Buffy) and presumable viewers alike immediately assume that Buffy, the Chosen One, is that princess.” I believe that this is very important. Everyone looks up to Buffy and looks at her as a leader. I think that the world needs more of these types of people. Being a leader is a very good attribute to have. As a former captain of my high school football, basketball, and baseball teams, I think of myself as a leader. Trying to be a leader and being a good leader though are two different things in my mind. It takes a special person to be able to have the patients needed to be a good leader. If you just give up after something goes wrong, then it is worthless. If Buffy would have gave up after the first unsuccessful night in “Hush,” then she probably never would have survived. I think Buffy is a great leader and that the world needs more people like her.

Is It Art?

At one point in the article Moeller compares the straightjacket monsters to the flying monkeys on the Wizard of Oz. “Could their characters be inspired by the Igor of the Hollywood Frankenstein flicks of the 1930’s and 40’s? Or is it “I”-gor of Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein, or is it Frankensteee-n? Or maybe they are inspired by those extremely-menacing flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz? That seems a better bet.” When I read this I was amazed, because I thought the exact same thing. While watching “Hush,” I was trying to think of what they reminded me of. As soon as I saw them walking on the ground they were, I thought of the monkeys. As a kid the monkeys freaked me out; I was so scared of them. I would cuddle up in my blanket and close my eyes when they came on the TV. I believe that these monsters were meant to have the same purpose. I think that when the students first saw the monsters they were freaked out. As the monkeys were servants to the wicked witch of the west, the monsters are servants. I wonder if the writer intended for this to be so similar?

Grimm Realities

After reading this article, I thought that the "Killed by Death" section was the most interesting. The episode sounds to be one of the better ones. The way that Buffy has to attack the demons is ironic. "Buffy must therefore reinfect herself with the illness so she can see the demon to fight it and save the young patients on the ward. The virus weakens her, but she is the Slayer, so Der Kindestod has met his match." The reason I find it ironic is because things have to get worse before they can get better. Buffy must physically hinder herself in order to kill the demons. Usually when a hero wards off a villain the hero needs to be in tip top shape. Then after the battle the hero is in worse condition then when they started. In Buffy's case it is sort of the opposite. She has to infect herself before the battle, then after the battle she becomes better. I am sure that she had her wounds after the battle also, but ultimately she will recover and be in better shape than before the fight.

Hush

After watching the episode Hush, I started to think what if that would happen at Ohio State. Where everyone's voices had been taken away one morning and no one knew why. It would be so hard to communicate with each other. Having to write things down on paper or having to lip read would be a huge hassle. All class would be cancelled. Then I started to think what if not only we all lost our voices but if those creepy monsters were walking around town. I’m not sure if anyone would have the guts to even leave their houses. I question if I could put the pieces together like Giles did. Luckily I don’t think this will ever happen or really hope it doesn’t happen. If it ever would happen I would be completely lost for words. (Literally)

Free Writing #2

Constructivist learning theory is a theory that states students learn the best when it an active process of creating meaning from different experiences. Or, trying to do something on their own with the guide of a teacher to help them along. I believe that this is one of the best ways of learning. When students figure things out on their own they tend to remember how to do it better then when they just memorize what a teacher is saying. In addition to figuring things out on a your own, "...a persons prior knowledge may help or hurt the construction of meaning." Where you grow up and when you grow up can help in many ways. Your experiences when you are young stick with you as you grow up. When a life lesson is learned at youth, people will remember it for a long time.

This relates to my episode in Dollhouse because dollhouse virtually erases your prior knowledge and feeds you something else. When given another memory, you lose your memory of your past. All of your past experiences and your cultures are useless. This is just another reason why I think that what dollhouse is doing is wrong.

Work Cited

"Constructivist Learning Theory." NDT Resource Center. 13 Oct. 2009

Free Writing #1

The "blank slate" philosophy is relevant in dollhouse. "Blank slate" means at birth anyone can be anything. What your parents do or what kind of genes you have has nothing to do with what you will be. John Watson was famous for saying, "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select...regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors." Dollhouse takes peoples memories and makes them what they want them to be.

I believe that this is morally wrong. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to be anything that they want to be. Dollhouse is taking that away from them. They turn them into what they need them to be. Even if the subjects volunteer to be changed it's still wrong.

I think that this is Dr. Jack Kevorkian on a smaller scale. Those people told him to kill them, but it was still very wrong. No matter how bad someone may think they have it, messing with someones mind is not right. In the episode I watched Dollhouse still wasn't very confident in what they were doing. They weren't sure if everything was going to be "okay." I believe if they have the slightest doubt in what they are doing it shouldn't be done.

Works Cited

Powell, Kimberly. "Nature vs Nurture - How Heredity and Environment Shape Who We Are." About Genealogy - Learn How to Research Your Family Tree. 13 Oct. 2009 .

Life in College

I decided to write on all of my new experience's in college. I'll start off with the best part, the parties. Having no curfew and no parents nagging me is defiantly a plus. To counter that, the studying jumped from virtually zero to a couple of hours a night. The content is defiantly more in depth and if you fall behind its your own fault. Also living with a roommate is a change. Even though I have a brother and a sister, I always had my own room. Its a different experience but at the same time a fun one. Another plus is the meal plan. Having 200 swipes is amazing. I can eat almost anything that I want at any time that I want. Meeting new friends and hanging out with different people is a lot of fun too. Getting out of the high school "clicks" and away from your good friends is exciting. I love everything so far and look forward to the next four/five years of my life.

WB Prompt 2

When eating lunch today at market place, I decided that it would be a good place to write about in the prompt. The dinning hall has all kinds of food such as pizza, pasta, wraps, salads, and soups. Looking around I noticed all of the different kinds of people sitting together. I noticed the studiers in one corner, the group of friends grabbing a bite to eat in another, and finally the athletes in talking/meeting everyone.

Not only is this a great place to go to eat but it is also a great place to meet people. There are tons and tons of people there every time I go. Waiting in line for my pizza, I was able to talk to a couple of people. I told them that I was going to write this blog about the atmosphere at Market Place. They told me that they thought it was a hectic mess, and I told them that it beats being in class.

Lastly I realize that maybe I need to do this more in my life. In this fast and ever changing world, taking time to just sit back and observing my surroundings really helps. I feel like I am always trying to hurry up and get things done. As much as some of these blog post are a pain, I thought this one was worth my time.

Brian's second source

My second source is from the same episode from Dollhouse. It is the scene when Caroline's partner Victor has to listen/watch Caroline get "married." Of course she is not actually getting married, only trying to find out information on Martin Clar, the biggest arms dealer on the coast. I thought this scene was important because Victor is attracted to Caroline. He tosses and turns threw out the night and it hurts him. She makes jokes about it and plays it off like its nothing. She tells him it means nothing that she is, "blind when she needs to be blind." This suprises me because when you think of girls and guys when it comes to sex, its usually the girl that gets hurt and the guy that plays it off as nothing. I thought that this scene was also important becuase it shows that Victor is starting to get emotionally attached. It is no longer just about getting information on Clar, it is now personal.

Brian's first source

For my first source I chose the first scene in Dollhouse episode 1 season 2. One of the subjects that is going to get worked on complains about having an "oriental" work on her. She asks if she can have the white male work on her instead. If there is one that that I have learned since coming to Ohio State, its that everyone is equal. The fact that the girl insults the asain doctor is not only disrepectful but also rude. After realising that the male will not be working on her, she trys to complement the doctor with a vulger joke. This not only makes the situation awkward but also shows the subjects insecurity.

Our Mrs. Reynolds/ "But she was naked"

After watching the episode in class today, I thought that the scene where Mrs. Reynolds kissed Mr. Reynolds was very important. When she came onto the ship everyone felt sorry for her and thought that Mr. Reynolds was in the wrong. He wanted to kick her off the ship and forget about her. She cooked him dinner and was basically his slave. I had a feeling that she was on the ship for more then just an accident. I was right. As stated in the article, Mrs. Reynolds used a couple of techniques to seduce Mal. She continuously shows her vulnerability to try to receive sympathy from Mal. When she kissed Mal and tried to take over the ship it was ironic. It was ironic because the woman took advantage of then man, when it is usually the other way around. She went from an innocent lady to a evil woman trying to take over the ship. Luckily one of the girl crew member catches her and stops her. This scene just shows that "Not everything is what it seems to be"

Dollhouse Season 2:Episode 1

I just finished watching Dollhouse. The show takes and erases subjects memories from them. They then use them to get dirt on certain powerful people. One scene that I thought was extremely important was when one of the characters had to physically hit one of the subjects to get her memory back. She was caught in the act of trying to find important documents, and was going to be killed. One of the Dollhouse employees had to hit her head a few times to get her memory back and she was able to escape before it was to late. This scene made the character realize that she was still connected to all of the subjects that she had been. She now wants to go back and connect with all of them.
While watching the show, I continuously questioned if what Dollhouse was doing was ethically correct. I think that messing with peoples memories isn't right no matter what the case may be.
Despite that, I thought that the show was really good and would be interested in continuously watching future episodes.

High School is Hell

I found this article quite interesting actually. When I opened it up and saw the small print and the length, I wasn't to excited about reading it. After reading the first to pages though, I started to think what if that really did happen. I thought it was interesting how they turned all of these metaphors into reality. I also thought that the portion "On the Irony of Metaphor", was cool. The fact that the episode on school shootings had to be pushed back from its original air-date because it was too close in time to an actual school shooting was very ironic. Ultimately, I think that the biggest message in the article comes in the last two pages. I believe that it is important to just "be yourself." Trying to be someone that your not, and wishing for things you can't have isn't what is important in life. Like the article states, "Be careful what you wish for, It may just come true."

Writings I love to read

Most of the reading that I do is out of a magazine such as, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, or Sporting News. As you can tell they are all sporting magazines. I have a huge interest in all types of sports, especially football, basketball, and baseball. Just like everyone read on commonplace, I like to read what all of the "experts" have to say on my favorite teams. I also find the interviews with the athletes interesting. I feel like it keeps the athlete close to the fans and that they are all normal people too. Sometimes I feel that people think that they are above and beyond everyone else.
Another type of writing that I found enjoyable to read was a blog from Mark Titus. Mark is an Ohio State basketball player that rarely sees the court. The name of his blog is "Life views from the end of the bench." I find that his blog is a quick and interesting read. The way he describes his experiences at the games are hilarious. Most of the time he is watching the big screen or the crowd; basically anything but the game.
Trying to write my own blog is exciting. Although I realize that Mark can write more about his day to day life then we can, it's still fun. So far I can put all of your blogs under the writings I love to read also. Getting used to this type of writing will take some time, but I'm willing to try it out and see how it works.

Firefly

I just finished watching the hit television series "Firefly". It was the first time that I've seen the show, but I've heard a lot about it. Despite my lack of interest in SciFi, I thought the show was pretty good.
I thought that the opening scene was extremely important. The battle wasn't looking looking promising but they refused to give in. The Captain tried to instill positive thoughts into everyone when he said "We've done the impossible, that makes us mighty". He then goes on to shooting down the aircraft that was giving them so much trouble. Everything was starting to look better until they went back outside and saw everything that was happening.
It was the classic "getting your hopes up just to get them let down."
I thought that the scene looked somewhat realistic, which I liked. I look forward to watching the next episode tomorrow.

A little about me

My name is Brian Mueller. I am majoring in Human Development and Family Science. I am from a little town of about 3000. Our school has about 400 kids 9 through 12. Finally, I only graduated with 75 total people.