Notes for Test

On Thursday this semester's test is finally here so I thought I might as well write a summary of the books and themes which I will be tested on. Who knows, if I perform badly in the test, maybe the lecturers will look upon me favourably due to these notes.

Firstly, I'm gonna talk about James Joyce's Ulysses. James Joyce was the Godfather of Modernism and this novel was groundbreaking in so many ways, particularly how Joyce rebukes the idea of a single narrative and gives us a decentered narrative as we see the events in the book through Stephen, Bloom, and Molly's eyes. He shatters the single version of reality of looking at things, providing the reader with unreliable narrative, where personality is in constant conflict and memory is often unreliable. Joyce likes to show that the same event can be viewed from different angles. He shows in his book that atoms can be viewed differently from person to person (relativity).  Ulysses show that Art and culture and politics have been overridden by psychology as the characters in the novel all have individual opinions.

James Joyce's High Modernism made people discard single viewpoints. Joyce was an icon for modernism, as there is nothing definitive within his works. He used  his Stream of Consciousness to present conflicts of contradiction. In Ulysses, the spontaneity of Bloom’s persona portrays Joyce's belief in fragmentation of thought. Joyce’s character’s also show uncertainty e.g. Stephen’s feelings throughout the novel and Molly's opinions on men. 

In addition to these points, Joyce also employs ever changing structures in his novel as there is no clear beginning, middle, and end, just a series of unconnected events which lead into one another, as is our everyday reality. 

Ulysses was banned due to its explicit content and sexual nature. Joyce was of the opinion that writers should write without fear of offending as such things as sexuality and deification are everyday experiences, which should be included in a novel. The sexuality and taboo nature of this book, plus the fact it was banned, contains clear Freudian undertones as the novel speaks openly as Freud wanted people to adhere to, and the fact it was banned just represents a conservative society which Freud disagreed with. 

Another cheeky character we will be tested on is Sigmund Freud. Sigmund like to talk about sex; . Freud believed sex motivates all and that sex is at the heart of humanity's ills. He also believed in analysing dreams to get to the root of people's problems, he said that dreams are the royal highway to the sub-conscious.

Freud also argued that Civilization causes people to deny their instincts by its social restraint and believed there is a conflict between the conscious and sub-consciouses as is shown in his theory of the Ego, id, and superego. Freud felt that a conservative society made people ill, and that because of a society which hide taboos, people are not what they seem. 

Freud has had a massive influence on theories of a consumer society. To appeal to people with psychoanalytic Freudian = massive cultural influence.

A favourite of mine on this year's reading list was definitely George Orwell's 1984. The themes running through this book are very clear, with ideas that people can be controlled through words and that these words are enforced by Thought Police; the ideas that Thought Police control Word crime. The world of 1984 has its own language called New Speak, which gets rid of words to indoctrinate and manipulate people through language. 

 Although 1984 is only a work of fiction, its does hold great poignancy, and such brainwashing can be seen in our society today. An example of this is when our MOD was called ministry of war. Why is it now called the Ministry of Defence? We aren't under attack! 

In 1984 the population of Oceania are fed to believe that they have always been at war with Eurasia. For me, this holds parallels with Stalin’s doctoring of photos as he wished to change the past to control the future just as Oceania did in the novel

Furthermore, sex isn’t a crime in 1984, it is sexcrime. There is no possibility of sex as it is a crime in itself.

Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath was another personal favourite of mine this semester, and although many criticize its methods of propaganda, for me Steinbeck's motives for such propaganda are pure. Grapes of Wrath is truly a classic. I feel that the novel was very humane and moral, so definitely acceptable. The novel showed that People are better off when they work together. 

Steinbeck gave the voiceless a voice in Grapes of Wrath by using campaigning journalism, which induced shock value via visual writing in the wake of photography. The novel included a series of articles he collated to create fiction. Steinbeck isn’t lying e.g. Tom Joad represents everyman’s struggle at the time of the dust bowl and Rose of Sharon's generosity shows ultimate kindness at a time of desperation, and she acts as somewhat of an advocate for socialism. 

Grapes of Wrath won the Nobel prize and it was the moment journalism became art. 

Finally, Emile Zola's Germinal was an interesting read. It was definitely beautifully brutal! Although some would argue that the violence he portrays within his work is unnecessary, I would counter that argument by saying that violence was used through necessity by the miners in the novel and was used as a force of good. 

Zola was one of the greatest realists of his time and also one of the first real photojournalists. Germinal portrays imagery so graphically that it would be hard for the reader not to taste the imagery. Pages and pages of description for a single event is common in Zola's novels e.g. the scene where the mine is flooding and the workers have to escape up a almost never ending ladder.

Thoughts on WINOL

Wrote my critical review for WINOL last night and I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed this module. Writing the review has made me realis how much fun this module has been. As it is a "critical" review i have included both the good and bad points of the module and reached an overall conclusion, which for the most part was positive. Good points I have picked up on from working for WINOL have been that I have become more confident in my work and have overcome my reluctance to use technology to aid in my learning.

I am of the strong opinion that the higher your confidence and morale, the better the work you are going to relay. So I feel that the confidence I have shown in my handling of people is very much reflected in my writing style, as the more relaxed you are, the easier the words come. In my initial reviews I never felt I was holding anything back as I felt I spoke my mind without fear, but as time passed, writing the reviews became easier and less abrasive, and all the signs point to the confidence factor.

Further positives which can be drawn from the WINOL “experience” is that it reluctantly forced me to become acquainted with the dreaded word “technology”. This module required both pictures and video to give it any sort of credit or worth so it was imperative that I used cameras. Fiddly buttons and I have never got along, but I managed to produce a few video packages, which despite usually terrible sound quality due to me being useless at editing, turned out pretty well. They would not look out of place on a news bulletin apart from the fact I didn’t include vox pops because I tried to keep the review feel going throughout, and vox pops I felt would not have worked in my favour for a personal review.

I still hate using a Sony PD170 and the rest of those type of cameras, but I would say I am now very handy with an SLR camera and have taken a lot of very plausible photographs; one even ended up as the background for the “Life” section on the website. Using the SLR cameras has given me a greater sense of direction as to the kind of field I wish to pursue on completing my degree. I would very much like to become a freelance photo-journalist. Despite being a technophobe, the fact that this module forced me to use technology has given me a greater sense of direction, of which I didn’t have before undertaking this module.

Towers of London gig for WINOL

Last Sunday, I bravely ventured down to the coastal town of Southampton to embark on writing another review for Winchester News Online. Easily the best review I have had to go to HANDS DOWN. I have come to the decision that I won't be giving up my position as reviewer for the features... so there! It is too good of a position to give up.

Despite being unable to hire out an SLR camera from the loan counter, (as they are useless) I nicked my Father's little digital and got in close and personal

Forget the facade and charade of Donnie Tourette's appearances on Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Celebrity Big Brother, because when the Towers of London come to rocking something fierce, do they?!

Storming the Joiner's stage on Sunday night in true punk rock fashion, singer, Donnie could have said anything and the crowd would have lapped up every word of it. The band played up to the cliche mannerisms of a standard punk band with ghastly smirks and peculiar hand movements, but instead of leaving the audience feeling embarrassed for them, the crowd relished in the scene.

Essentially, what it all boils down to is raw talent and these guys definitely have this by the bag load. Keeping a dying UK punk scene alive, true punk fans have to put their faith in the new generation as the likes of Sham 69 and UK SUBS aren't going to be around forever, plus it would be unfair to expect these veterans to tour forever. Towers of London are certainly as mental as the original punks of the day, and as far as music goes, they are on a par with, if not better than the punks of the late 70's.

Going to the gig with preconceptions of witnessing a bunch of media whores, i was pleasantly surprised. Tonight was all about the music. Stand out tracks were the crowd-pleasing "I'm a rat" with its awesome intro build-up, which climaxed into a crescendo searing lead guitar riff, with a catchy chorus of repeating I'M A RAT. Simple yet effective.

Towards the end of the gig the band left the stage leaving just Dirk Tourette on stage with an acoustic guitar. He gave a great acoustic version of "F**k it up", which, apart from being suitably mesmeric, provided a well earned break for the army of exhausted fans. Then, after being prompted by the crowd to give another song he played the theme tune for Only Fools And Horses, which was excellent. Not expected, but certainly well received, it fitted oddly well in with the vibe of the show.

Without a doubt, one of the best gigs I have been to this year. You simply don't get new bands going all out to make this style of music anymore. With beautified adaptations of punk being broadcast on the airwaves today, Towers of London make no compromises and uphold how the style was meant to be.

No fool, it's a "test"!

With my confidence at an all time low as this semester's "test" looms ever closer, I was nicely reaffirmed today that the test would have some what of a layed back approach to it.

The themes running through this semester have captured my imagination effortlessly. With Chris Horrie's resilient, and at times controversial views, acting as a shining light at the end of the tunnel. If I don't pass this test, which I have been assured that I will, it will be through my own doings; the education I have received this year has been nothing short of exceptional.

Personal highlights for me obviously include Freud (I bang on about him enough), Grapes of Wrath (who would have thought a novel could entertain master Hopley), and of course Orwell, and Wells.

Today's lecture on the works of Orwell was excellent and very formative. I have always had a love for Orwell, and the lecture just acted as a reminder of how truly great this man was. With Animal Farm acting as a somewhat obvious yet potent and poignant allegory for Soviet Russia, and 1984, well, what can i say...? this to me is a work of art. I'm sure any novelist in the world would give up his arm to have written either of these!

For such blatant symbolism, Orwell writes without shame, I mean, come on, who would name a pig "Napoloen" if he wasn't a pig with revolution on his mind. These two novels share great parallels with Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath as both write unashamedly about troubles and strife as a form of propaganda, as they create sympathy within their protagonists. Although Orwell employs allegories within his novels, as opposed to Steinbeck who is clear in his message, both just use different ends to meet their respective means.

I hope I'm not just writing rubbish. If I am then this will be the sort of rubbish which causes me to fail my "test"

Ulysses: Useful links (or not)

Being the lazy person I am, I downloaded the audio book for James Joyce's Ulysses, as I found out within twenty pages that this was not a book I would be dedicated my time to reading. This post is really just a bit on information to help my fellow journos who feel that Ulysses is an uphill battle... maybe I'm the only one, and those of you have read it and loved it will hate me for choosing the easy option. The link is below:

http://librivox.org/ulysses-by-james-joyce/

Furthermore, for those of you struggling to interpret this somewhat challenging piece of literature (as I certainly am) I have stummbled across some useful links, which helps the reader understand the symbolism and parallels within the novel.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/ulysses/themes.html

Hopefully, you guys won't even need to look at these links, as you probably possess greater brains than I, but if indeed you do I hope they help.

Camera Skills

First outing with a camera for loveable ol' WINOL... The life owner. Went down to sunny Southampton on Tuesday eve to review the band Detachments. Quality act, but my camera skils left alot to be desired. In all I estimate I took around 50 pics in total, only four of which warranted the quality to supplement my written article... Ouch!

I'd been a foolish young man and managed to leave the camera on manual focus, purely because i didn't know how to switch it to auto. I was rather lucky in the sense that due to the lack of people at the gig, I was able to get in close on the action and when it counted I took some awesome pics, ones of which that would sit comfortably and gloriously on an album cover or as a promo poster for the band.

As far as the focusing went it was a rookie error, but I now feel very comfortable to be able to take decent photos. "Jono the Photojournalist", that has a nice ring to it

Platform 4, The Tempest

As i become more familiar with my role as Reviews writer for Winchester News Online, I am definitely getting alot better as my confidence is growing thus improving my writing.

My latest review was at the Tower Arts in Winchester where I watched a production of The Tempest(which I managed to get in for free I hasten to add). Below is the full review. 

For a performance with a cast consisting of just three people, Platform 4 gave an emphatic interpretation of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ on Thursday evening at the Winchester Tower Arts. The performance was by no means the best adaptation I have seen of this famous play, but it was certainly an interesting one.

The actors, although playing the parts of numerous characters, managed to establish very believable personas; the relationship between Ferdinand and Miranda was very well done, with the actors conveying great chemistry. Notably, the parts of Miranda and Aerial were played by the same actor and for her to be able to switch between characters so swiftly and effortlessly is a skill to be admired.

Due to a minimal cast, not every character in the original play could be included in this production due to the fact that in various scenes of the original there are more than three characters on at one time. To ignore more than half of the original characters and to perform a flawless recital, really is exceptional. The way the cast managed to do this was by following the story line of Prospero, Miranda, and Ferdinand, and completely ignoring the likes of Stephano and Trinculo, who only offer supplementary story lines.

The set was cleverly crafted to accommodate the lack of actors, and kept the story flowing and interesting by being transformed regularly. Furthermore, the inclusion of props proved very significant as they also made up for the lack of characters; a chess board was constantly used to set the scene and refer to characters that, if it weren’t for the lack of performers, would be in the play.

The night was a real success, with the performance captivating the audience and maintaining tension throughout the hour and a half show; definitely a four star performance.

The Grapes Of Wrath: Propaganda At Its Finest

As far as propaganda goes, Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath is definitely a masterpiece in its own class. It's up there with the best of them. The story tells of a fictional family and their struggle throughout the Dust Bowl period of American history. In my opinion, upon reading what i have read so far, this novel is a superb testament to the struggling of the American Immigrants of the period.

It's biblical analogies and parallels are exceptional, they are very thought-provoking and poignant. As with other great novellists such as Golding, Steinbeck employs this technique to purify something and to ultimately make the subject/subject matter seem to hold "the truth". Brian made reference to the eloquence of Steinbeck's symbolism and told of how Jim Casy is used as a narrative devise to represent Christ When he dies he is seen as somewhat of a martyr, "you don't know what you're a-doin"". By using these allegories, the reader sympathises with the character thus expressing sympathy towards the subject. An exceptional piece of propanda! Using Christ as an allegory is perfect propaganda.

Tom Joad also bares Christian allegories, as he leads his family across the country to get to the figurative "Promised Land". Here there is a clear parallel to Moses, who lead the Israelites to the promised land from Egypt. With these two pieces of imagery alone, one finds it hard not to connect and sympathise with the characters in the novel. With such powerful imagery, Steinbeck has ensured that his novel will be remembered.

Press Officer's and Journalist's Cold War

As described in the lecture today, there is somewhat of a Cold War scenario, which is mutually reciprocated between a Press Officer and a Journalist. Chris used this analogy as both Press Officers and Journalists always threaten each other but neither acts, through fear of total devastation (pretty good analogy I thought). This got me thinking... at the end of the day what makes the Press Officer at the university different from any other? Nothing! What stops me ringing the University Press Officer in middle of the night if I need to? ANSWER: The fact that no one will pick the phone up on the receiving end!

One point which Chris picked up today was that the role of a Press Officer is one which is 24 hour, as news never stops. This does not appear to be the case at the University of Winchester, so why is this? Just because it is a 'job' at a university, this should not mean that someone is not available for the press to talk to at any given moment; after all it's what a Press Officer is put in place to do.

From the reports I have been hearing, the Press Officer at the University has proved nothing but a nuisance and a hindrance, making it very difficult for both me and my fellow students to obtain basic information. Refusing to comment and not getting back to people - is this what we really need at the University? A Press Officer should be as helpful as possible! Perhaps this is why Winchester University is still somewhat of an unknown entity as far as identity goes?!

Below is a Press Officer Job description. Note the first point.

Press officer:Job description and activities

A press officer acts as the official media contact for a specific public or private organisation, handling all media interest.

Typical work activities include:

• answering journalists' enquiries;


• writing press releases and news articles;


• liaising with the press and broadcast media on an everyday basis via telephone, email and networking;


• monitoring press and broadcast coverage;


• arranging press conferences, news briefings, media interviews, visits and public events;


• attending committee meetings and debates;


• keeping up to date with current issues and public opinions;


• managing the press and media in a potential crisis situation.

Is our Press Officer meeting this criteria? I think not.

Citizen Kane

Materialism! a word synonymous with today's culture. Orson Welles' Citizen Kane replicates the way in which modern society is heading, with rich, wealthy, powerful people always under the watchful eye and having their life's destroyed by this. 

Kane initially started out as a man for justice (this can be seen when he takes over "The Inquirer") but became  corrupted by power and cared more about the way in which he was perceived than anything else. With an inability to love, Kane alienated all who loved him as he could only provide them with 'material' love and not the true love which human beings crave for. 

Throughout the feature, it is clear that every cinematic devise somehow works as a narrative implement to dehumanise Kane and the perceived idea that money brings happiness. From the very outset the audience has their metaphorical guard up as to how they interpret Kane, with the dark images at the beginning creating a sense of darkness and isolation within wealth. The way in which the outside of Kane's castle-like mansion is filmed greatly reinforces the themes of the film as the dark images fade into each other, establishing a sense of dread.    

Furthermore, the camera angles employed in Citizen Kane offer great allegorical meanings and symbolism. The film is shot from many angles, which can be interpreted as Kane's disjointed soul, but more importantly I believe the varied camera angles are in place to create a sense of alienation between the audience and Kane as the shots create a sense of distance.      

Possibly the best piece of symbolism in the film is Rosebud. To me Rosebud symbolises everything Kane lacks in his personality e.g. love. It only became obvious to me what the meaning of this word was at the end of the film, where the word Rosebud is burning away on one of Kane's possessions. It clearly symbolises all the great human characteristics, which the one-dimensional Kane did not posses. This really is a great cinematic devise on Welles' part as it works well with other symbols in the film to strike a lasting image in the audiences mind.

All in all Citizen Kane is a great masterpiece, employing timeless visual effects to induce deep thinking; proving actions speak louder than words. 

WINOL first decent review

My first decent review made copy this Saturday. Despite the weather and my soaked clothes I braved it down to the Railway Inn to review this week's dire performance. Although I was soaked for the entire show, I did leave the venue with a sense of achievement and satisfaction as I knew exactly what I wanted to say in my review, and walked home writing sound bites on my phone so as not to forget.

For some reason I find it somewhat easier to write about something when i have distaste towards the subject matter. I think this is true with many people; there are only few ways to praise something but many ways to destroy it, or maybe that's just me. Also, I feel that the general public prefer a negative review to a positive - Don't ask me why. 

Although it's early days, WINOL seems to be great! I am relishing in my position as Commisioning Editor for Reviews and Previews, and wanna make it the best I can cos i bloody well want to keep it (although that won't happen). Below is my article.

On Friday, The Lonely Hearts Club at Winchester’s infamous Railway Inn played host to yet another up and coming band. Holdfast, a female fronted, post-punk four-piece headlined the stage tonight to a decent sized crowed, but why they had such a good turn out baffled me!

Holdfast resemble a poor man’s Blondie. Think Debbie Harry meets the Yeah Yeah Yeahs minus the crucial element of talent. Much of their sound consists of a peculiar mixture of dull electronic drone with glimpses of pop elation, which never manage to prevail. Their music is a cacophony of mundanity! 

BBC Introducing described the band as “It’s fast and it holds my attention. Driven post punk girlie groove thang”. These are merely observations, as a band with such dire musicianship does not warrant anything more than a one-dimensional analysis.

Despite their distinct lack of individuality, it is plain to see why these guys are becoming increasingly popular. Their style very much fits the criteria for today’s scenesters; appealing to people in their late teens who have yet to discover who they are, and relish in a band which they think can relate to the way they feel, even though they sound awful.

Credit where credit’s due, as a unit they were very tight, and for an unsigned band this is often a rare commodity. Furthermore, I must complement these guys on their energy and crowd interaction. They definitely managed to connect with, and create intimacy with the crowd, which so many playing at the Lonely Hearts Club do not manage to achieve. But I get the feeling that this intimacy is only superficial, as their music is not attractive and just mildly resembles the trendy music of today, which will almost certainly be forgotten tomorrow.  

Analyse This

Freudianism on the whole is a flawless, eloquent interpretation of the way in which the mind works. Previously I have applauded the theory of id and super-ego etc, as I know I can relate to what Freud is saying, maybe not to the same extremes as another individual, but I know what he speaks of when he refers to id… By George I wish I lived the id lifestyle, but I don’t because I am not yet mental. Furthermore, if someone is willing enough to open him or herself up to free association, then yet again Freud is a God amongst Philosophers.

However I must challenge him on his views of dream analysis. I have had many a dream where someone has said something fairly innate to me in conversation during a state of consciousness, and I have gone on to have a dream based loosely around what they have said. At the time I have thought nothing of what they have said to me and also after a dream, still nothing. Furthermore, if analysing dreams is so effective then why is it not common knowledge about what dreams mean? People have been arguing for centuries about dream interpretation… still no real conclusions.

I strongly believe in the id interfering with the ego/super-ego whilst conscious, but simply cannot accept that the unconscious state (sleeping) does in anyway resonate the true desires of the id. Dreams to me are merely either a cacophony of rubbish or a representation of my super-ego. 

Maybe I am too boring to have my id establish itself whilst I’m asleep? Or maybe I just don’t need psychoanalysis? Didn’t Freud give up on the idea of unconsciousness in the end anyway?

Plagiarism

Got well and truely caught with my pants down today! Whilst attempting to publish my first preview/review for WINOL today, I became a victim of the deadly plague that is plagiarism. 

In all honesty, I did not intend to make such a fatal error, (I am familiar with the seriousness of plagiarism) but today fell into the figurative trap! The preview which I was asked to write about was on the "Please Note" concert by Winchester musicians and singers, which is to take place next Tuesday evening (10th Nov) at the West Downs Centre.

I am not going to deny the fact that I had little information on the performers/ performances, thus making plagiarism very difficult to avoid, but I did not intentionally plagiarise. I was caught out in the way in which I listed the acts... exactly how they were listed on a website advertising the event. FOOL! 

Understandably, the first draft (which I considered a final copy) was not published and thankfully I have a chance to redeem myself. In my rejected copy I made the mistake of relying on an email reply to help give me more information on the event, but when that email never arrived it made it very hard to review something I knew nothing about.

Tomorrow is a new day, and it is clear that I need interviews to complete my preview. Reliance on emails is the ethos of a mad man!

NOTE TO SELF..... Must try harder

WINOL

Excellent, so I received my position for WINOL today and I am quite pleased. I'm the commissioning editor for reviews and previews features. Sounds like a good position but at this stage I am still quite unsure as regards to my responsibilities. 

I always thought that working on WINOL would take ages to come around, but now it's here all of a sudden and I'm really excited. I will be previewing/reviewing entertainment within the area of WInchester. Things i'll include will be reviewing local concerts, films etc and giving the thumbs-up or thumbs-down. In addition to this i will review Winchester student nights and be leasing with the people in charge of keeping student's interests.... interesting. 

I think I will fit into this role with relative ease as I am sure I have mentioned in previous blogs that my passion lies in writing, so to work as commissioning editor for reviews will suit my style perfectly. 

Although I find this task indeed a daunting one, the fact that I have a Features Editor above me should keep me in check so as I don't go on mad ramblings containing biased content. With someone approving my work I think it will only improve my writing style, but that's not to say that I can't be trusted to work by myself to produce entertaining content in my features lol. 

"My Story"

On Monday, we finally produced a decent news package for the first time. Our story was on the BBC's "My Story" campaign, which is a national campaign in which the general public are asked to retell a personal and interesting, life-changing story. Chanin, Tom, and I went down to Winchester Discovery Center, where the touring campaign was being held by BBC Solent. 

We were very much pressed for time as all of us had gone home for the weekend, so we had only Monday to arrange, film, and edit the piece; although we saw this as bad - when WINOL is up online - we will be doing this every day. 

We filmed an interview with a presenter from BBC Solent, who set the scene for the story. He was excellent, as he gave us everything we needed so that the viewer would be entertained whilst remaining informed, plus he made it easy for us due to the fact we needed to do very little editing!

A guy called Peter then gave us an interview about his story he told BBC Solent. He used to be a commercial pilot but was made homeless six months ago after the airline discovered that he suffers from Asperges. He had been living out of his car, whilst his wife and son were in St Petersberg. This was excellent for the production as it was such a sad story, which would really create the desired emotive effect within the viewer. Again, his pronunciation and delivery was second to none.

After we got the interviews we captured numerous fillers and a piece to camera with Tom. Tom's presenter voice was exceptional, and he took very few attempts at getting the final piece. The only problems we had during the filming was the fact that we were outside a library and there were small children around, which as we know in the journalism world... is a NO GO!

In the lecture today we viewed every one's packages, and I am in no way saying that ours was the best, but we definitely received the least criticism (beep beep lol). However, the criticism we did receive was things which were very obvious when we watched the footage back. An example of this can be seen in the amount of times we filmed the BBC logo; it was almost as if we were making an advertisement for the beeb. Once it was pointed out by Brian, it was almost comical the amount of times the BBC logos appeared in our package. 

In addition to this criticism, Brian played a package which South Today had made on the event, and they had interviewed the same "pilot man". This wasn't bad in itself but we had failed to mention that he was a pilot and also a sufferer of Asperges... OH DEAR. That sneaky man Brian had managed to shoot us down as these were fairly important points which we had missed out.

All in all we were very much pleased with the production. I would like to say that we knew what we were doing that day but the truth is that we didn't and it was luck that played its part in it all working out for the best. Also Chanin and Tom were great guys to work with as they remained professional and astute at all times. 

Sex with Mother?

No thanks Sigmund, you dirty man! In fact, I can't think of a more harrowing thought than to have sex with my Mother; killing my Father on the other hand....... (joke). 

Jokes aside, in my mind Freud is one of the world's greatest... greats. His theory on id, ego, and super ego are superb and very much hit the nail on the head as to the way humanity behaves. 

The id is the impulsive, consequent disregarding, part of the brain, which acts soley to achieve pleasure and self-preservation . The id is based on instinctive thought processes. When researching the id, i came across this analogy, "If the infant is hungry or uncomfortable, he or she will cry until the demands of the id are met." 

The ego and the super ego are two entirely different entities from the id. The ego handles the real world. It helps achieve the desires of the id, but projects them in a way which is viewed as acceptable by society; a sort of justification. The ego decides whether to put desires into practice or refrain from doing so. The super ego goes one step further as it is this that creates our ideals and opinions based on those of other's around us i.e. parents or peers. It works to stamp out all unwanted impulses, and it is in the super ego where the conscience lies. 

Surely one must strike a balance between the three so as to achieve a sense of well-being, whilst not being disruptive to the morals of society's super ego. I am sure the argument as to the balance in these behaviours is never-ending. I am of the opinion that "good people" must praise the super ego as it lubricates society and that without it the world would be in social ruins, but then there is also the counter argument of how well an individual is taught, and to whom he has acquired his own morals from.

Understandably, my opinion could very well be wrong, as there may be a genius out there who acts heavily with his id (i.e. by not thinking about his/her actions) and will never be understood due to fabricated morals of the super ego within society. 

Is the super ego denying us of who we really are?

Radio Journalism

After completing our first radio production, this part of the course is fast becoming my favourite. In all honesty, I was dreading doing radio work as I'm quite the technophobe and absolutely detest the sound of my own voice, but I definitely don't consider putting a radio show together a chore by any means.

Initially I was under the impression that I wanted to pursue a career in feature writing; (perhaps in music magazines) believing that my talent lay in writing reviews etc, however I'm enjoying radio production so much that i may need to have a rethink. It turns out that I must REALLY like producing for radio as I don't even mind listening to my awful voice being played back to me.

Although it's early days as we have yet to produce a live show, I do believe i could really relish in the opportunities of creating a radio show, and maybe even try and get into it as a career path. The idea of forcing people to listen to the music which i like is rather appealing as is jabbering on about myself aimlessly lol. Perhaps i can transfer my love of writing to radio by reading out features and reviews etc, who knows?

Beyond Good And Evil

After enjoying the lectures on philosophers last year, I wanted to know more about these clever guys, so over the summer I thought I'd give myself somewhat of an education in philosophy. Naturally I began this education with the keystone readings to any philosophical adventure; personified in this case by the works of Socrates and Plato. These guys know there stuff! But it was the teaching's of Nietzsche in "Beyond Good and Evil" which really intrigued me, with his flawless wisdom and insight.

However, I would be foolish to whole-heartedly agree with every utterance communicated through his fluid, lyrical lexis. Two main issues I have with Nietzsche is that he rebukes any sort of organised religion, and secondly he hates moralists.

 I am, by no means, a religious man. However, I was brought up from a young age in a Roman Catholic School thus I sympathise with them a great deal(Nietzsche has a real distaste to Christianity in particular). Call it indoctrination or naivety, but I like to refer to it as being agnostic. To denounce religion would be to deprive hope and inspiration for millions the world over. Whether or not there is indeed a God, religion serves its purpose; for the most part it has a positive influence. 

Secondly, a human race without morals is, in my mind, a most dreadful and freightning comprehension. Neitzsche argues that morals are drummed into us and that we should ignore them, but surely to ignore them would make us no better than any other beast on this earth. I for one pride myself on my morals as they not only give me a sense of self-worth but they also resonate individuality.

Despite the above deviations in opinion, Nietzsche's controversial views make for great reading and I do agree with an awful lot of what he says. Below are a few sound bites from Chapter IV, which represent Nietzsche in all his glory

79. A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.

88. One begins to distrust very clever persons when they become embarrassed.

94. The maturity of man - that means, to have reacquired the seriousness that  one had as a child at play. 

97. What? A great man? I always see merely the play-actor of his own ideal. 

The Gurkhas

On 21 May, Gurkhas who left the British Army with at least four years service before 1997 will be granted UK residency. This is a topic I feel particularly strongly on as my Grandfather was in the Gurkhas from the early 1950's to the 1980's, and then when he retired from service he established the Gurkha Museum in Winchester.

Before Thursday the Gurkhas who had left the British army before 1997 with at least four years service were denied the right to settle in the UK. Appreciation must go to Joanna Lumley who created "the perfect storm in a positive way". Her Father, like my Grandfather, fought with the Gurkhas so this personally I am very grateful for what she has done for these brave warriors.

I have become active in my appreciation for the Gurkhas as for our third project for Media Production I chose to create a photojournalism piece on the Gurkha's struggle. This included taking photographs in the Museum in Winchester and at my Grandfather's house, and an interview with my Grandfather, which details his opinions on the Gurkhas right to settle within the UK.

Intitially my production piece was created before the Gurkha's won the right to settle with the UK, thus making it a convincing piece of localised propaganda, however they went on to gain access to settle in the UK so now my piece merely stands as a tribute to the Gurkhas and their hard work over the last two hundred years.

The Stupid World Of People And Cameras

Sunday... what a day. But this day ended in my group producing the best god damn news package the world has ever seen!!!!!!!

For part of our Reporting Skills course we had to produce a minute and a half tv package on a local news story. We chose to film ours' on the Alresford Watercress Festival, which initially I wasn't too sure on but it turned out to be a great story as the streets of Alresford were rammed with watercress enthusiasts lol.

For our piece to camera we filmed Josh walking towards the camera "miked up" and telling the camera about the background of the festival. We thought this would be a relatively simple task to overcome as how hard can it really be to film twenty seconds of footage of a man walking and talking through a crowd?.... ANSWER: very hard! The stupidity of some people was amazing! At one point we had a woman stand about a metre in front of the camera lens as we were filming, and remained there even when she had noticed... stupid bitch.

If our group were to burn all of the amusing out-takes onto a disk then we would probably have a pretty decent DVD of ridiculous antics. One of the most memorable moments of the day for me was when a woman walked across Josh's path and nearly sent him flying, and because I had the headphones on I could hear everything... the poor woman was so apologetic hahaha!

A further disastrous part of the day was that when we arrived in Alresford it was absolutely tipping it down. So to counteract that move we decided to buy an umbrella and no sooner had we parted with twenty pounds for a shitty umbrella from a coffee house had it stopped raining. The staff at the coffee house found this most amusing as we walked outside and the rain ceased, so to show them how bothered we were we just walked around with the umbrella up, however this just encouraged their laughter. boo hoo.

Another amusing point to note is that we were at a watercress festival, and wait for it, we didn't film any fillers of watercress. In fact the first time watercress is mentioned in the package we cut to images of sausages on a barbeque. How stupid could we be? It was only when we played back the footage in the editing suite that we all noticed the absence of the very reason we had gone out to film in Alresford in the first place.

Despite these funny events, we managed to produce exactly what we had been asked to. As far as quality went we were pretty spot on BEEP BEEP. Although I don't know that Brian liked it too much, which was a surprise (satire). If we had included shots of watercress I feel that the package would have been almost without fault.

Man Flu: The truth Is Out

The facts are here. hahaha. Finally we have the proof! Man Flu is for real.

It turns out that men have weaker immune systems then women. Scientists have discovered that female hormone oestrogen boosts women's protection against infections. However, an enzyme in men hampers their ability to fight bugs.

This is the best news since sliced bread. When this news was broadcast yesterday, I was sat in front of the TV with a cold and had to shove the sky plus on to show my parents the revelation when they got home from work. Although i myself thought this revolutionary, my Mother just rubbished this revelation (obviously cos she thought i would want sympathy, which i kinda did) and my Dad, who should have supported me, just shrugged and said that he already knew that. This aside, I know that in the future the "man flu" argument, is an argument with scientific fact and who can argue with fact.


Quote of the day:

Dr Maya Saleh: "These results demonstrate that women have a more powerful inflammatory response than men."

Why Obey The State?

For our final assessment in People and Politics we were asked to write an essay. I decided to write the essay of why we should obey the state. I chose this particular question as I initially thought that I would try and shake things up a bit, and try and find justifiable reasons as to why someone would indeed obey the state, however I found this harder to achieve than first thought.

The odds were stacked against me. I mean, come on, there are a million and one frickin' reasons as to why one should obey the state. Just think about it, for all the so-called "obeying" we do, we get a lot in return; a strong example of which can be seen in the NHS. If we did not obey the state then the NHS would be non existent. In addition to this, everywhere would be total chaos as there would be no police force in place and thus total anarchy would prevail.

Rousseau made the point that we need a governing body to protect us from humanity’s State of Nature (where we were before law and order) and thus that is why we should obey the state, to protect people’s property and interests, freedom and equality. From reading his work I found it very difficult to justify my own attempt at an argument for not obeying the state.

As much as I tried to start my essay by arguing that we shouldn't obey the state, the fact of the matter is we have to so that the world can function. Below is an extract from my essay as to why we should obey the state:

"However philosophers like to rephrase scenarios, the fact is that we can always find an argument within their own argument as to why one should obey the state, thus giving very good grounds as to why we should indeed obey the state"

Day at the Courts

On Friday I ventured to the courts to do some "reporting". The case i chose to report on was the good old fashioned "body in the suitcase" crime.

The body of Richard Emery, 62 was found last year, in a suitcase near his home in Bournemouth, Dorset. The day i went was the summary of the defence. The defence was started with the postmortem, which argued that there was no DNA evidence or physical evidence linking the defendants to the body. They then went on to say how some of the witness statements were conflicting and that their reliability was questionable as they kept changing their statements. The defence lawyer even went as far to say that one of the witnesses was, and I quote, "bonkers" hahaha.

This was all very interesting and oddly entertaining but my visit to the courts was unfortunately cut short. A member of the Jury began to choke terribly and the judge subsequently had to call for a break (that felt rather surreal). Then when they returned, the Judge decided that court would finish for the day at lunchtime to allow the member of the Jury to go to the doctors in the afternoon. Unfortunately this meant that the prosecution had to sum their case on Monday which was a real kick in the pants as I would be sitting on my lazy back at home on Monday... boo!

Radio Bulletin

This task was alot harder than i anticipated. Unfortunately I had the misfortune of reading the bulletin out, here my group had made a massive error of judgement.

I feel that my radio voice is quite okay but on the day it was my nerves which got the better of me. I stuttered three times and I feel this was due to the fact that some of the news stories we used were too long in sentence structure (me blaming others, lol), so the combination of having trouble reading them and my nerves proved to be my downfall.

I addition to the fact that I made some errors, I also overan in the time we were allowed. We were supposed to keep the bulletin to two minutes but i overran by twenty seconds. This happened because another member of my group had prepared the bulletin but I was the one reading it so our differing delivery speeds were not taken into account. WHOOPS.

These mistakes aside, I did feel that our group gave it our best shot, and judging on how the groups performed (i can only guess how they performed by hearing them say how badly they messed up) I believe that we were one of the better groups (beep beep).

If I were to undertake this task again, I would definitely meet with my group an hour or so before so that I could make sure that the bulletin ran more smoothly and effortlessly.

Journalism: A Financial Minefield

Journalism is indeed my passion. I wouldn't be studying it if it wasn't right? Right. But I can’t help wondering what the future holds for me as a journalist. I mean sure I could be a journalist but there is a clear line between one who has made it and one who hasn’t.

Since undertaking this course I have learned a massive array of skills ranging from short hand to producing radio bulletins but does this acquisition of skills outweigh the impending doom which decimates many a journalists’ career? This “impending doom” of which I speak could fall under many categories. Firstly, one of the first things I can remember which truly unnerved me in one of the newsroom lectures in the first semester was when I was told that most journalists rarely start their trade earning more than £12,000 a year. Argh.

This is frightening to me. It was also frightening to other students as the chorus of gasps in the lecture theatre suggested. Earning £12,000 a year and having a comfortable standard of living seem to me to be somewhat of a paradox, particularly when you throw that tiresome word “recession” into the equation. The thought of being a journalist and never earning more money than this is truly terrifying.

On top of this, the threat of getting sued for libel is apparently quite high. I’m not entirely sure how dangerous the risk of libel is as I can’t decide if its our lecturers being overprotective of us by putting the fear of God into us or whether the big bad world is indeed just waiting to sue a pathetic journalist. Either way I’m scared lol.

I won’t speak for too much longer as I feel that this blog has again turned into a rant, but I must point out one more thing… FATAL ERROR SYSTEM… nuff said.

Although I have had a bit of a cry I still aim to be the best journalist the world has ever seen so ha.

Burn Bad Catholics?

Of course we're not going to be burning Catholics. This is just an eye-catching headline and subject which was touched upon during the lecture today.

Today's lecture was an entertaining one, with Chris Horrie's menacing opinions pushing the boundaries once more. One of his arguments which was hot topic during the lecture was the "American language". This got me thinking...

Being rather lazy i decided to check the pages of the "reliable" and trusting Wikipedia. As usual Wikpedia provided me with the answer i wanted and said, "English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian and Lower Saxon dialects".

I can see where Chris is coming from by him saying that the English language is actually the American language due to the fact that people learn it because the Americans use it but it would be more accurate to say that the English language originated from Germany not America!

Empiricism And A-Priori. Just Baffling words?

Yes Empiricism and A-priori are indeed a pair of hyperbolically named words but their actual concepts are relatively easy to comprehend.

A simple definition of empiricism: Somebody who relies upon observation and experiment rather than theory to determine the truth about something.

A simple definition of A-Priori thinking: Is someone who has knowledge and reasoning, which is independent of experience.

Chris got me thinking when he labeled himself as whatever he said. People can’t possibly pigeonhole themselves by such flippant definitions. Can an empiricist not have A-priori views? Surely an individual’s behaviour cannot simply be broken down into such terms? Why can a person not have both of these views or even utilitarian views as well?

Historical philosophers have tried to incorporate different belief systems to create new ones (an example of this can be seen in the Vienna Circle establishing “logical empiricism”, which is a combination of empiricism and a-priori thinking) but these philosophers then usually only seem to adopt the stance they have created thus proving them to be ignorant.

An individual who holds a mixture of philosophical views is surely a normal person! People can have differing views within the same subject matter. An example could be seen in someone having an empiric view towards politicians e.g. they observe how they are programmed to lie etc. Conversely that same person may have A-priori feeling towards politics, after all politics is all about reasoning. Clearly this shows that humans are all different and a lot of philosophies can have an impact on an individual.

Examples of both schools of thought can be seen all over the media today. An example of empiricism can be seen in the guardian the other day where 438 jobs were lost at JJB Sports today. This is clear empiricism as regards to the recession; we can see it in motion as businesses such as JJB are constantly suffering. A-priori thinking is also very prominent in the media. Today in world news US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke warned Congress that without the right policies from the government, the US recession could last into 2010. This is a good example of A-priori as it has not been proved but is a prediction through reasoning.