Roberts Response to Yellow Rain

http://www.radiolab.org/story/240899-robert-krulwich-yellow-rain/

Truthtual & Factful

It's difficult to say how I would define the Truth and how I would define the Fact surrounding my issue.  I must consider that some people simply do not enjoy reading.  I do believe, however, that if one chooses to read, he should do so with an interest in gaining something (knowledge, wisdom, greater understanding of the interstices of the cosmos, etc.) through reading.  To do the opposite, to read for the sole purpose of being able to say one has read (for being well read=intelligence, duh) is an alternate Truth to which many, perhaps not explicitly, subscribe.  I was encouraged, not told to read; exposed to, not assigned books.  This without a doubt influenced how I feel today about my issue.

I feel, if pressed, the reiteration of my project would seem similar to the "Yellow Rain" podcast in that I assumed, as I suppose the RadioLab guys did, the role of Devil's Advocate in order to evoke a response, or strengthen a point.  I believe they had no intention of offending anyone during the interview, but I do feel the interviewers posed questions and seemed to assume roles that were without a doubt designed with the intention of bringing controversial flaws to light and challenge those who held certain "Truths."  I created personal narratives, one to show how reading could best be experienced and one to create ironically, an atmosphere of totalitarian literary discourse, or whatever.

Thursday's Assignment

After listening to Radio Lab’s “Yellow Rain” and reading chapter four of Pelias and Schafer I was able to tell (maybe a bit more abstractly) how these concepts related to the re-forming of my original performance of an Intermedia Concept, America’s health.

“Yellow Rain” really demonstrated the idea of fact versus truth. The man and niece told their personal story which could be deemed at the “truth”, while the interviewer spewed facts to refute their “truth”.

America’s health when discussed is (typically speaking) heavily fact/statistically. Therefore, I think it would be interesting to take a more personal approach (Personal Narrative) and maybe tell a person’s story who struggled with one of the diseases related to poor lifestyle choices (i.e diabetes, stroke, etc). I could tell their “truth”. By telling their story, I could then reiterate why it’s important that governmental implement more rigorous/motivated campaigns about healthy living.

While listening to radio lab I noticed how much of what goes on during war time we turn a blind eye too. Our society knows what occurs but chooses not to address the issue. This relates to my topic because our society chooses to turn a blind eye the violence occurring to innocent civilians. Pelias and Shaffer helped me with my new perspective when I read, "personal narrative asks you to see your own stories as aesthetic texts to be skillfully crafted for the purpose of informing." (55) it really made me think about how I presented my side of the story. It forced me to think about whether I was informing or persuading.

Thursday's assignment

Culture affects people’s perceptions and opinions regarding various issues differently.  Analyzing the way cultural influences impact the public’s view of the abandonment of animals in the United States, differs according to an individual’s own experience and the extent to which they have learned about the issue whether from media or personal accounts.  A person working in a shelter who takes care of the animals being abandoned compared to another individual who has no pets or any connection whatsoever to animals, has a completely different opinion on the importance of this issue. Everyone is impacted by culture in unique ways; however, their perception and opinion of an issue depends on one’s knowledge, community, position and exposure to the problem one’s opinion and perception of the issue. In my opinion, the difference between truth and fact relates to how the stories are told, including unbiased reporting by the media or other personal accounts.

My love for animals, and dogs in particularly, grew when my family and I got involved in an organization known as “Adopt-A-Lab”. Through this organization I became aware of the great number of dogs that are in need of rescue for various reasons. Adopt-A-Lab’s purpose is to place dogs in safe homes as soon as possible. My mom, sister and I spent many Saturday mornings playing with the puppies and dogs, in hopes that at the end of the day they would leave with an owner who could provide them with a permanent home and the love and care they needed.  

“Yellow Rain” helped spark some new ideas for a fresh perspective, in that I want the truth to be told for these animals.  In addition, I would like my new perspective to be from an individual working in a shelter with these animals. I want to compare truth versus fact, and share a real story of an animal’s life from the day it was abandoned and its life in the shelter. I will incorporate fact by adding some statistics. I am aiming for a more personal and factual approach for this performance. This process relates more the hopper method, because my goal in the performance is to replicate the storytelling as closely as possible to the original.

Media Techniques

• Media Techniques
• Getting Media
• CreativeCommons http://creativecommons.org/
• Licenses
• Music http://creativecommons.org/legalmusicforvideos
• Videos http://creativecommons.org/videos
• FreeSound http://freesound.org/
• Search
• Sort by relevance, duration, rating
• Advanced search options
• Browse Tags
• SoundCloud
• Advanced search for license to modify, but still can’t filter for those who allow downloads
• Vimeo Music Store
• https://vimeo.com/musicstore
• Advanced Search Filter - can search for free CC licensed music
• Certain Tracks can be customized
• Vimeo videos
• Advanced Search Filters
• CC licenses
• Downloadability
• Minimum Stats, etc.
• YouTube Downloading
• Firefox → Tools → Add Ons → Search All Add Ons for “YouTube Download”
• A “download” button will appear underneath YouTube videos - choose what format you prefer
• Open Source Media Software
• The Open Source Movement: Open source software is made available for anybody to use or modify, as its source code is made available.
• Open source software promotes learning and understanding through the dissemination of understanding.
• More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_movement
• Source Forge: http://sourceforge.net/
• Find, create and public open-source software
• Advanced search to filter operating system, license, status (the closer to production/stable, the more established the program is)
• Open Source Video Editing: http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/ProductReviews/Software/5-best-open-source-video-editors-for-small-business.html
• Screen Capture
• Camtasia: Free 30 day trial http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html#
• Cam Studio for Windows: http://camstudio.org/
• Audio Editing
• Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
• Windows, Mac and Linux
• Manual http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/documentation
• Media Presentation
• Prezi: Cloud-Based Media Presentation http://prezi.com
• Like Google Docs, always available in the cloud/co-editable with partner/team
• Automatically embed YouTube Videos with just a link
• Can also embed videos that you download (note: this does not work with .mov so always export to .mp4)
• Add Background Music

Thursday Assignment

         The songs are easy to understand today.

         Culture is a big part of this perspective. The way to make songs it’s already became a part of American culture. I said that today’s music like fast food. However, you cannot claim that the fast food is not convenient and cheap. Today’s music meet the goals that is to make people happy. It’s just like other things America made, cars, clothes and so on. They are simple and in good price, but so what? People buy them people like them.

         Personal experience in this case is important, because the first idea came out through my experience. I remember when I was little; I liked those old English CDs from my dad. I’m so sure I cannot understand English at that time. Then I started thinking that I like some songs just like other people who don’t care about the lyrics. I guess it’s another way of enjoying it, there is not only lyrics in a song.

         There are both fact and true in this case. The true is today’s music’s quality does declining. However, the fact is there is nothing wrong about that. That’s the way it should be.

Perri Short Assignment

Short) Assignment for Thursday 10.24

Now that you've read about what Pelias/Shaffer had to say about storytelling and myth and listened to a real-life depiction of this issue from the RadioLab podcast, I'd like you to think about how these concepts relate to your re-framing of your Intermedia/Ethnography issue.

For Thursday please post 3-5 sentences describing how the process of coming up with a new perspective for your issue relates to the content of the "Yellow Rain" podcast and/or Ch. 4 of Pelias/Shaffer. Some issues to consider when posting:

• How does culture shape people's perceptions/opinion on the issue?
• How has your own personal experience(s) shaped your perception of the issue?
• What is the difference between Truth and Fact in this case?
• Does your process of coming up with an alternative perspective on your issue resonate more with the Hopper Method or the Personal Narrative Method? To reiterate from the reading:
• Hopper Method - objective is to replicate the storytelling as closely as possible to the original
• Personal Narrative - the objective is to be as authentic as possible to the performer’s own interpretation of the event

The most poignant theme from our assignment media, to me, was realizing that there can be multiple truths, according to different people that might conflict with each other. I think I am guilty of not always considering multiple perspectives on certain issues, and these assignments have really become aware of the importance of considering 'the other side of things.' The process began with the consideration of another position, which I really hadn't put much thought into. The podcast really drove this notion home, for obvious reasons. 

Thursday Assignment

Culture in the sense of someone’s lifestyle could have an impact on my topic. Someone who has to sit all day for a living that doesn’t have a choice or option in doing so might have a different view on it. Paralyzed or handicapped people might also have a very different opinion since they can’t be active or upright and are forced to sit in a chair. My topic was a bit challenging to relate to the readings or the podcast. There really aren’t ways that it could be argued or seen from a drastically different perspective.

Thursday's Assignment

The media techniques used to tell this haunting story truly affected the way in which the listener interpreted the story. I thought the consistent jump between the narration style and personal recount of the story portrayed the difference between truth and fact. My process of creating an alternative perspective towards my issue, I feel resonantes more with the personal narative concept. I want to be authentic in my performance and I feel that I allow my own interpretation of the event or issue to influence my performance.

The Truths that Come From Culture (Thursday Assignment)

            In looking at culture as a base for people’s perceptions and opinions, there are many facets that make up culture those being beliefs, ideas, social habits, and language, and these all influence how one perceives and processes cultural happenings. The issue I have with people choosing to be gluten free is from my cultural upbringing has lead me to believe that being able bodied is a blessing, for example my culture has been shaped because I live with someone who is constantly struggling to stay healthy because she lacks the ability to eat a healthy diet. However, someone whose cultural upbringing has lead them to believe that health is based off of what is considered by society to be ‘clean eating’ would see gluten as a hazard and would avoid it. In looking at my personal narrative I feel that I lacked a clear and skillfully told message that reflected my cultural upbringing. My issue is not based off my personal struggles so I felt like I did have a well-rounded piece when the interview I did with my roommate was listened to.  

            Looking into the idea of truth I will have to change the cultural perspective from someone who struggles with eating on a daily basis, to someone who chooses to struggle. (Sorry my bias is coming through; I’m just being ‘truthful’) In keeping this performance somewhat close to my personal beliefs I will be putting a somewhat ironic spin on my interview that I will do with my friend who has chosen to be gluten free.

thursdays assignment

When coming up with up a new perspective for my topic I related it to the difference between truth and facts. This idea was seen in both the reading and in the interviews. My first perspective on the topic was that from facts I found coral reef destruction was true but the opposing side could look at and say those facts aren’t true and coral reef destruction is true. They could say there bias in the facts of coral reef destruction trying to convince people to believe it. Also ones culture shapes their perspective on the topic and not living by an ocean or seeing the effects could lead one not to believe the facts.

My personal experience of scuba diving and being able to see the effects of coral reef destruction has helped to shape my perspective.