Looking Back.. and Stuff

As I look back upon the body of work I have created this semester, I am somewhat surprised at how much of myself is revealed in what I had to say about a variety of unrelated topics. For the most part, I represented myself in a fairly accurate fashion, or, I should clarify, I represented the feelings and beliefs I had at the time in a fairly accurate fashion. Even though I would argue that I have not gone through some drastic change in the last few months, the “little” changes have been numerous. Altogether, they have compelled me to become a more mature, knowledgeable person. And it would be my hope that from this time onward, what I write and what I have to say would reflect this. I believe our writing can help us recognize who we are and re-reading our own texts written in an earlier time can also reveal to us who we were. Every time we create a text, we create it as a different person. We establish our ethos, or credibility, by revealing this to others.
For instance, in my first assignment I chronicled how I reacted to a certain advertisement by AXE Body Wash. I analyzed how the ad was supposed to make me feel and looked closely at how I actually responded. I came to the conclusion that the AXE ads would more than likely “appeal to a younger man who has not had the good sense yet to think the whole thing out.” Before I wrote the “Am I This Man?” essay, I was that younger man, but the assignment itself compelled me to study the appeal of the advertisement closely. But after re-reading my work, I wondered if I had really felt driven to come to the conclusions that I had and if the mood I had presented to the audience was a real one. At the time, I appeared to be upset and offended by the AXE campaign, but today the whole concept of a body wash ad rousts very little emotion in me and lots of apathy. I am obviously not the same person who wrote that first essay. In our next assignment, I was even more enthusiastic in my arguments. When I wrote “The Video Game Revolution: Why Americans Need the Scary, the Criminal, the Confrontational and the Violent,” I felt great attachment to my thesis and I believe my great love and general excitement for recreational gaming was obvious. I still feel that way, but, nevertheless, if I had to write another essay on that very topic today, my reasons for supporting the art of gaming would be radically different.
Oftentimes, authors establish their ethos, their trustworthiness as a writer, without even noticing it. I found this to be true in my own writing. I consider myself a loving, energetic individual, but when I write, especially for an assignment that will be graded, I often struggle to subdue some of my energy, all of my prejudices, and the knee-jerk reactions that we all are guilty of making. I want to appear clear-headed, intelligent, all-knowing, full of good humor, loving of all , blessed with all the right answers and, if at all possible, good-looking. Did I establish such an ethos in my writing this semester? I doubt it. Sometimes my elusive ethos was so subtle I had a hard time noticing it. But every now and then, when I had just the right thing to say and the exact turn of phrase, I found that my writing allowed me to share what I consider the best of myself with others. I actually found that my ethos was most appealing, seemingly the most true and good and right, when I wrote what I really thought and tried to impress my audience the least.
I suppose, in conclusion, I have to say that our writings should almost always be an expression of our true, inner selves. This is what establishes ethos and what helps us connect to our audience. Unfortunately, our true self today will often not be our same true self of tomorrow. Every day our life changes us in some small way. Before we know it, we are a completely different person and what we write will reflect that. But this only means that we can never write the same thing twice and that what we create when we do write can only be described as a one-of-a-kind, all-out original.

My Day without Technology

Today, on Monday the 10th of May, I have chosen to go my day without using my cellphone. I thought this would be a great Idea. Its finals week, and what I should be doing is studying. I was going to just give up my phone for the day and be able to really get some of the studying done that I had to do. It sounds like a great plan.
I woke up around 9 in the morning and went to the gym. I kind of viewed this day as just something I had to be done with as quickly as possible, so I was going to try to fill it with activities and studying. After that I started studying, and studying. I didnt realize how boring actually studying for hours upon hours was. I had like 3 in me until I was done. I then went to get some food. It was at this point around 1:30.
While eating, I happened to meet with my good friend David. I the nspent the rest of the afternoon hanging with David. I realize that happening upon my friends was basically the only method I had to contact them.
Around 8, I went back to my room and, once again, began my studying.

Before I embarked on this assignment, I didnt really think it would be that hard, but I now see how very wrong I was. I need my contactsd to other people. Without that, my life is just extremely boring. I will never take my phone, or for that matter my friends, for granted Again.. -Vneck Biker

Sometimes the Previews are better than the movie

This last thursday, I and geoup of friends decided to take a break from studying and other studious behaviors to go see the midnight premier of IronMan 2, starring Robert Downey Jr.. put it simply, the movie was exceptionally satifying. I loved almost every second of it, but after it was over, I wasnt very excited about the movie. What I was really pumped about were the handfull of coming attractions in the beginning..

One of the coming atractions was for Christopher Nolan's new film Inception.. I kind of take a bit of a time out now and explain who Chris Nolan is and how much I love him. Chris Nolan is the directer of Memento(If you havent seen it, watch it as soon as possible), Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight. To put it shortly, I love him.. His newest fim, Inception, is set to be released July 16 of this year, I dont believe there are words in the tongues of men that can start to describe how excited I am(ask me about Inceotion and I will literally talk Forever). one of the coolest things about this movie is that everyone involed with it has been extreamely quite about the movies content. all the public basically has to go by arethe trailers. So, For Ironman 2, Nolan released a brand new trailer for Inception showing the people never before seen footage and even revieling a few plot points. To say the very least, it was awe-inspiring. I was in the theater and every ten seconds I would raise my hands and Shake with excitement and aticipation.. By the way, Here is a link to that trailer http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/inception/theatrical-trailer
Leaving the theater, even though the movie was really quite good, I felt nothing but excitement over getting to see Inception in a few months. I felt a little bad that I had just seen this great movie and a two and a half minute trailer was what I was excited about.. I guess sometimes the previws can be the best part.. -Vneck Biker

The Most Effectively Placed Swearing of All Time

My friend colin had been trying to gety me to watch the film In the Loop for about a month. He would tell me that it was one of the funniest movies he had seen. But I was still skeptical, because when I would ask him what it was about, he would tell me,"You just have to see it dude. Trust me." Well, last night I finally trusted Colin enough to actually watch the film. And to my amazement, it WAS one of the funniest films I had perhaps ever seen. Usually, I am fully against telling "why a movie is funny." Partly because humor is subjective, but also because I think it is also sacred. We shouldnt dissect What makes certain things funny, but back to my point. Im sorry to break my code hear, but what makes In the Loop so funny is the swearing. The curse words in the film are so effectively, and not to mention inventively, placed that it makes the already hilarious premise of the film ten times better.

Now dont take me wrong, I fully support foul language to be used for comedic purposes. But many timesthey are used as the entire joke, instead of the just an amplifier. If a word is just over used and stretched it takes away from the coedic power it has. In the Loop uses its swearing woth such inventiveness that they are never over done and remain fresh throughout the film. Sadly, other comedies, such as Superbad, The Big Lebowski, or Knocked Up(and please dont think I am bashing these fims, which is why I chose 3 of my all-time favorite comedies), arent able to see the sacredness of their swearing, and much like Icarus flying to close to the sun, these types of films just over use thier cursing and it becomes dull. Im hoping that comedies of the future are able to learn from such films as In the Loop and respect their swearing and view them as the gifts they are..
-Vneck Biker

Am I This Man?

For many years now I have been a devoted “AXE” man. AXE Body Wash sits in my shower stall in an array of scents: Phoenix, Vice, Snake Peel (complete with scrubbing beads), and Dark Temptation are just some of the specific varieties I myself choose. As I use my AXE products, my daily grooming routine becomes a sensual experience, where I am infused with invigorating energy and wonderful scents that open my mind to all sorts of possibilities. Imagine my chagrin, then, when I first spied the new ad campaign for my beloved AXE brand. Shame is what I felt, with more than a tad of actual embarrassment. Did I actually use these products so that I, too, might become a masculine beacon to women everywhere? Do I actually choose my body wash on the basis of how it makes me smell to females, in hopes that it would drive them to cling to me in droves? Since it seems unlikely, I must confess that I am one consumer who buys AXE products “in spite” of their ad campaigns.

Obviously the advertisers who authored this new AXE campaign had high hopes of raising sales among men across the globe by featuring, of all things, an emaciated man with a long, unkempt beard, dressed in rags who has been drifting alone on the ocean in a homemade raft. Three young, attractive, Coast Guard females, dressed in skimpy, non-issue uniforms, have rescued him and are now literally hanging on him, trying to get as close as possible. At first glance, it is hard to see how any woman could be attracted to this man. From the chest up, he is nothing but a ball of hair. His ribs are popping out and what is left of his pants are torn and stained. Since there is nothing on the raft but the man and a stick with a rag on the end, the audience must be tuned to the fact that this man has been long without a comb, or toothbrush, or company of any kind . But despite all of the negatives associated with this man’s grooming, these women obviously cannot get enough of him.

The overlying message in this advertisement is blatant: AXE products must be so long lasting that even though a man is stranded at sea for months, women will still be able to find him by the smell of his AXE and, even better, will still find him overwhelmingly attractive. The underlying assumption behind this advertising is just as obvious: men really want women to find them attractive. If what this ad implies is true, these are some very potent, long-lasting products. They would be worth whatever you had to pay for them. What man would not want to use them?

In most cases, these advertisers are exactly right in their assumption. Most men do want women to find them attractive. But what these advertisers did not take to heart and perhaps do not fully understand is that even though men want women to find them attractive, these same men do not want women to think they have perfumed, buffed or groomed themselves specifically for this cause. No, men want women to think that they are attractive and sweet-smelling all as a matter of course, just one of those strange facts of nature. Men do not want women to think they take specific and thought-out actions to attract them. And men do not want women to think this because if they do, it is all over. What woman would want a man who has perfumed himself up to appeal to her? The whole concept is just, for want of a better word, unmanly.

Somewhere in all of this complex psychology is the reason that this ad works on me in a negative fashion. Certainly I want to have a pleasant odor that women find attractive. I like that AXE products are able to do this for me and even though I doubt that they would last the many months and years that it would take me to grow a beard of the caliber on this specific ad’s model, I also like that the product has long-last effects. But I would be embarrassed if some woman thought I used these products so that I would be more attractive to her. I cringe at the very thought.

Perhaps this ad will appeal to men who are desperate and do not understand how far they must go to not look desperate. I also realize that it would appeal to a younger man who has not had the good sense yet to think the whole thing out. It might also have some effect on foreign men, who are not privy to the complex thinking of the average, American woman. But my own reaction to this ad, or any advertisement in the male grooming industry that attempts to sell me a product by convincing me that it will attract women, makes me want to give these advertisers a strong, hard shake. What in the world are they thinking? They should realize that women read these ads right along with us. I would never, ever, want a woman to know the artificial lengths I might go to in hopes of gaining her positive attention. These sort of advertisements “sell me out,” so to speak.

The latest AXE advertising campaign (http://www.theaxeeffect.com/) has made me leery of purchasing my favorite body wash at the local Wal-Mart. Will women who see me buying it think that I want to be one of those “smell-gooders” with women hanging all over them? Should I find another brand of body wash to purchase? Or perhaps I could just use duct tape to wrap around my bottles in the shower so that no one would be wiser to what I was actually using. This latest development has me in a bit of a kafuffle. What should I do? All I know for certain is this: I seemed to be a lot better off before AXE decided to label its users as women-hungry, girl-chasing, blatant womanizers who are downright desperate to make themselves smell better.
-Vneck Biker