Grades, etc.

I finally emailed all of you comments (except those of you doing blogs) and grades. If you didn't get it, email me and I'll send it again - I used the email addresses from the blog. It's been a pleasure! I'd say something more sentimental, but I'm braindead from exhaustion.

My Roommate is Awesome

I'm sick with the flu but Timmy has been nice enough to go and get me juice (he's offered to do it before) this early in the morning. He takes his phone calls outside so they don't wake me up and turns off the TV and anything else that'll make noise in the room even if he was watching it so I can get some sleep. He doesn't go through my stuff and he gives me some of his own food when I don't have dining dollars/passes or when I'm lazy. To that extent (plus a few others) I can say that though I've had a lot of roommates in my life so far (I did switch families several tims in Japan, thanks) Timmy is easily one of the best.

Here's to another semester dude, it's been kick ass up to this point.

Final Project

My final project is a manuscript of an analysis of Poe's album "Haunted." It draws the connections between each track and the novel with a few running commentaries from the editor who mysteriously has the same initials as me (MS Word wouldn't let me change what came up in the comment box). I hope you guys like it... in the end, it was nearly the death of me. I printed it out this morning and made it more manuscript-like (added water marks, there's supposed to be a coffee stain on the cover page and page two and there were food stains as well) but my scanner didn't pick up on any of that. Additionally, it is often hard to see the line connecting the comment with what it is directed at, so I apologize.

Adam, I will e-mail you a hard copy if that will make it easier for you.

Anyways, here it is:

The Haunted House of Leaves

Final Project

my projects been finished. www.nandtfinalproject.blogspot.com

As suggested...

I'm following Mike's suggestion to post more casual things, even if I'm doing it a little late.

2 things about my daughter. First, she read her first book "all by herself" today - the book is called Gus.

Also, here's a picture of her that's going to be used to advertise her school, apparently.

Scratches: Final Cut

The following essay accompanies my 23-page paper which I won't (can't?) post here.


Mike Kobily
This project’s purpose is to show an example of an interactive adventure video game that is able to complete the most necessary effect narratives have to offer- emotion. Scratches builds up a sense of fear, anxiety, and intrigue and brings it all to a cathartic ending. Why a video game? Because I feel that you can do more with this medium than you can with any other.
Accented by screenshots of the game, the project’s story carries the reader through the events of two characters, Michael Arthate and a fictional version of myself. By the end of the story, Mike is driven insane by the game, and is so drawn to it that he believes he is a part of the story, believes he is Michael, and believes that the story is part of the real world. Eventually, Mike starves himself, gets sick, and dies in a manner left up to the reader. Mike, however, believes the game’s monster killed him.
The purpose of this was to use Mike to show how we can get drawn in to games easily. When he makes “phone calls” to certain characters or talks directly to Michael, this showcases a video game’s superior interactivity. Novels and movies may intrigue us, but they never create the impression that we can affect the outcome of the narrative. Notice the sections of the project where Michael’s narration switches directly to Mike’s narration, yet they both use the same person. Michael says “I went to the attic” and then Mike says “I read the newspaper”. This is more that just Mike thinking about the house’s mystery. He seamlessly transitions the character’s actions into his own. The most intriguing aspect of this, however, is that if this story did not involve a crazy person, this effect would barely catch notice. It makes sense when we say that we “sent an email”, despite actually commanding the computer to do it. In the same way, it makes sense for both Michael and Mike to carry out the same actions. Movies and novels don’t have that characteristic.
Note the times where Mike freezes in fear of what is to come, specifically before entering the gallery during the dream sequence. He stops but he can still hear the drums. They taunt him into moving forward. A novel can not do this. A horror novel can force the reader to stop reading but there is no way to assault that reader with elements of sight and sound once the book is closed. A game has no such limitation.
The screenshots were included for an direct purpose other than visually dressing up the story. If the reader of my project can imagine these screenshots as moving, like a film yet controlled by the player, they can grasp the meaning of them. A novel, even an illustrated novel, must spend countless pages explaining the details of a location. Its sounds, its feeling, its impression. In a game, however, that work is done for you. The player instantly sees and hears the place and receives an impression. A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, and this game has infinite pictures. An unfortunate drawback of writing this project was having to conform the benefits of the original medium into the shortfalls of a word document. Movies can use images and sounds as well, but they lack the controllability of a game. When the actor walks down a creepy hallway, the audience can not make them peek over their shoulder. In a game, this is possible and expected.
I chose the adventure genre because it is the best one with a story to tell. The purpose of playing the game is to get to the end of the story to get the final revelation. While other genres incorporate storylines into their games, it is usually just a garnish to the main feature. If I was to express the way narrative is told in games, I had to choose the genre that did this best.
Just as the makers of Scratches use the intertextuality of H.P Lovecraft, Myst (from which I think Catherine’s name is taken), and self-references (Michael’s notes on his book ending mirror the developer’s thoughts about Scratches) to relate to the reader, I decided to use House of Leaves. To the best of my ability, I used fonts and formatting to express what was happening in the novel. When Mike turns really delusional, his text changes to Michael’s style. At some points, Mike is also justified left and is therefore indistinguishable from Michael’s writing. This method does not serve a higher-level purpose though, besides helping me to tell my narrative…except in one spot that I’ll leave to the reader to find.
Despite being tragically long, I hope the reader(s) of my project enjoy it. It was fun to write and design, as well as playing the game. Long live the horror adventure game!

Alien

Yes, I'm an alien geek!

Here's my final projects -> (click me!)

Have fun!

Feel free to leave comments (what you like, what you hate, mistakes I made, if I'm useless, etc.).

Adios!

P.S. Everything in the "accepted" Alien universe is property of 20th Century Fox and H.R. Giger.

ADAM, ARE YOU DEAD?

...or are you just not getting my mail? I need help sending you my 89MB project. I need to know if you're getting what I'm sending you. There's a good chance everything I've sent has bounced because Pitt's system doesn't like attachments. Please get back to me before you fail me!

final paper..

Joy Ransom
Narrative and Technology
Final Project 2007
The female narrative has been constructed and reconstructed over the centuries by
various people, places, and things. The word narrative means story. Who is responsible for adequately telling and retelling the female story? How has the advancements in technology altered the documentation and representation of the female story? As a women of the 21st century I find myself looking to the pictures and words around me, not so much for validation of my existence as a 21st century female, but for the assurance that our story is being responsibly documented, because after all, the way women are represented now will be one of the ways future generations “read” our story of the present..
What about this generation will remain for the future women of the world to learn from? The technological advancements of today has made the images and representations of women more main stream than ever. The internet, advertisements, cable television, and reality shows all have impacted the way women are perceived. Thanks to the technological ease of digital imaging, and other outlets, the female story is being tainted. It is my opinion, that media is negatively affecting the current female narrative, and sadly even still, is that too many women are ignorant to this fact. The story being recorded is that of a superficial, consumerist, shallow representation of women. As I look at vintage dresses and early commercial advertisements, I laugh at the way women are represented and wonder how they could stand for such ludicrous treatment. In my eyes, the way women were treated and depicted in the media outlets, i.e. television, commercials, magazines, is detrimental to the female narrative.
One of my favorite television show is I Love Lucy. This show represents a common contradiction. While Lucile Ball was in part responsible for the production of the show, an example of the power women could have and did have in the 50’s and 60’s, ,in every episodes Lucy is the epitome of the cliché women. Cliché is the house wife and simpleton, enamored with simple the idea of her husband, who dutifully caters to the need of the house and child with no other aspirations. In many episodes she pokes fun at the idea that women can hold responsible position outside of the house
Women see images of what an ideal woman or girls should look like or epitomize. Often times these images have been approved by some man, who is most likely in charge of production in some form or fashion, who approves what he thinks men will want to see, in tern the result is fashioned under male influence, and is not what women of the 21st century represent. For example, the Miss America Pageant started by Frederick Hickman more than 75 years ago, and is very prevalent today claims to “…represent the highest ideals. She is a real combination of beauty, grace, and intelligence, artistic and refined. She is a type which the American Girl might well emulate.” Is this what the women of 2050 will take from our existence today. Our story is being recorded with these negative stereotypes.
There has never been an “ugly” Miss America, and it is safe to say there might never be. Too much emphasis is placed on the superficial aspects of beauty, and the media continues to play its part in perpetuating these shallow ideas. Beauty is a concept that is judged through individual perspectives, but because technology has advanced in the way it has, the mass production aspects has overshadowed what is the more realistic attitudes of women. In addition to shallow ideals about the female body, women and young girls are being taught gender roles. The amount of television they watch will have a great impact on the way in which they see themselves and other women. By continually running weight loss advertisement in Cosmo Girl magazine, and placing “How to loose those ugly pounds in 10 days” in Cosmopolitan, they are emphasizing the importance of weight loss and other physical transformations as the important things in life. Although these advertisements are not the only thing the magazine has to offer, flipping casually flipping though a magazine, I was aware of more of these types of advertisements than any other kind. Allure magazine, which is prescribed for young girls constantly, presents ways in which alterations to the body can be made to become “more appealing”. How can girls consciously grow into anything other than appearance zombies? Just as I am opinionated when I flip through an older issue of Essence Magazine publishes in 1950, as will the future be as the thumb through magazines from today. What is represented in the media is professing to be what is valued. I don’t hold these shallow values and I am sure many other women are behind me.
Various theories have been developed to look at the way in which messages are received and what they do to our psychological nature. For example, McLuhan said that when the cultures dominate medium is reading, individualism is a strong message. With the advancement in media and technology, reading is definitely not our culture’s dominant medium. This is sad when thinking about narrative. I love being able to read stories about women, written by women, of the past, and as technology continues to grow this form of narrative representation will be altered, and thus far this alteration is not one of a positive nature. When we are children we begin our personal relationship with the media, the traits that we learn most about are fear, aggression, and sexuality. Having young girls learn primarily about their sexuality through television commercials, music videos, and magazine ads, off sets reality for them. This is the cause of negative messages about the female body. “The child’s ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality is at the crux of development of children’s relationship to mass media.” Lessons learned in youth will be carried with you for your lifetime. If these images are left un-opposed they will be perceived as fact. History is told by the winners, presently our history is being documented by the big corporations, while the opposing attitudes are still forced to use smaller outlets to present their prospective. As technology has advanced so as the politics behind the control of it. While the media giants fight over who will make the most money off of these images, the reality of female existence in the 21st century is left confused.
Not only is the role of women apparent in Western media, but also in the messages around the world. In a book entitled Women in the Media: Diverse Perspectives, three stories struck me as powerful depictions of medias impact on women. The first story written by Kimiko Akita, Cuteness: The Sexual Commodification of Women in the Japanese Media attacks the idea of “cuteness” in Japanese culture. In the commercials she notices that women are depicted only if they adhere to the standard of cute, (which are almost always younger petite women.) In addition to sex, the Japanese’s medias uses a certain level of humor to capture the audience. Once the audience has been captured, the messages about women that are shown display women as, infantile, ignorant, and stupid. The bodies of the women were strictly sexual and material properties. Akita comments on a show that she watched with a number of other women. The show was a comedy called Samna the Great Teacher. On one of the evening programs for children he makes a comment that she goes on to write about for two pages. He says to a little girl, “You are so cute! I feel like raping you” (Carilli and Campbell, 50). The fact that she finds most disturbing about this comment besides the obvious, is the reaction of the other women watching the program. She says they act nonchalantly about it. This nonchalant attitude expresses a lack of critical thinking on behalf of the Japanese women. “In patriarchal discourse, the nature and social role of women are defined in relation to the norm created by the men to meet individual men’s needs” (Carilli and Campbell, 52). The Japanese women in this story certainly meet this standard. When questioned as to why they reacted or did not react to the comment on the show they remarked that the “hadn’t really noticed it.”
The female image today does not include attributions that are intrinsic to her own personal identity, but rather highlights things like her teeth, hair, skin, lips and eyes. These are the images representing the values f the 21st century female. The following quote captures the thoughts of this author and illustrates the severity of the images of women in the media. Pertaining to Indian culture she or he writes, “In our social order women are “products” used and exchanged by men. Their status is that of merchandise, ‘commodities’….So women have to remain an “infrastructure” unrecognized as such by a society and our culture. The use, consumption, and circulation of their sexualized bodies underwrite the organization and reproduction of social order, in which they have never taken part as subjects.” (Calli and Campbell pg.16)
“What a discussion of feminist media analysis of women’s representation in news and magazines demonstrates, incontrovertibly, is that the media’s framing of women in highly restricted, negative ways is not simply the consequence of idiosyncrasies of this newspaper, that TV channel, or that radio station, but rather, is a global phenomenon that has endured over time and media form, and continues to do so” (Byerly and Ross, 54).
As outlined by Parsigian (1992) In Media Writing, media analysis starts with a detailed examination of the thought process. The section titled, The Mysterious Doman: Thinking takes a close look at the way in which we process information. “Research in schematic, or cognitive thought processes, describe thinking as a natural and human attribute, available to all, but used to it full potential by only a numbered few” (Parsigian, 224). This research highlights the select grouping of people that fully think through issues. Media has a persuasive property and coupled with minimal thought on the part of the average human, the possible influence is severe. Bartlett (Parsigan,227) speaks on the features necessary for dealing with evidence, in the case of media interpretation by women, evidence consist of the messages being transmitted to women through various media outlets. He explains, “ …before fill-ins, “transfer,” and “leaps” can occur, a state of “perpetual readiness,” a mindset of preparedness and attentiveness to the task at hand, must be present” ( Parsigian, 228). That is to say that if one isn’t prepared to process completely any given message the message will be misperceived, or understood differently than it might have been originally intended.
Many variables affect the way in which women process information, all the new forms of technology for example. In Communication Theories by Severin and Tankard they give examples of the many outside influences that change and alter the way we receive messages.Multi tasking is common practice in today’s fast paced world. It is rare for anyone to give undivided attention to anything at any point in time. Commercial producer and advertisement agents understand that they have a limited window of opportunity to connect with their audience. Additionally, they understand the frequency in multitasking on the part of their audience. With these factors in mind, it is necessary for them to repeat and reiterate the point of their message. Consequently often times when something is repeated it soon becomes validated. As as mention before history is told by the winners, in this example, who ever “yells” the loudest will be heard, and remembered.
Razali Ishmael, the Malaysian president of the UN General assembly, raised some concerns about television viewing. “Today’s television environment enlarges choices, creates opportunities for diversity and promotes a freer flow of information. However, such enlargement of people’s choices would only be a false distortion of empowerment were it to be restricted within the doctrine of consumerism, or pre-packaged by power elites. Information technology that spans the global can concentrate ownership, limit access, homogenize content, and pit freedom of expression against certain minimum standard” (Schecter, 446). Media is a constantly changing medium capable of great things. Its effects on women spans globally, and alter the fabric of society greatly. Consequently it is one of the greatest tools that we have today, and both a resource and an outlet for historical documentation. Right under our noses, our history is being tainted, and the story that the future will see is not that of our actually ideas and goals, rather a consumerist nation capable of depicting what is most advantageous to their endeavors.
With this class I have learned that writing can inspire thought, and attitudes, not previously acknowledged. It is my fear that because the media has become so obsessed with individualistic objectives they loose sight of there long term impact, and the representation of women is suffering. Our story/human narrative is not being documented accurately. If the future generations rely as strongly as I do on the images, advertisements, and television of the past to interpret what life was like in any given time, the future will be sadly mistaken about the reality of our time today.

_JOY

IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE BIBLIOGRAPHY LET ME KNOW

A few things to wrap up

First, I had a great semester: you were a wonderful group, and your final projects look very promising.

Second, my current intention is to keep the blog as is, so that people from next semester can look at your work as they do theirs. If there is a post or project you _don't_ want others to see, go ahead and delete it (but not before this Sunday, please). I also see no reason to remove any of you from the blog - if for some reason you want to post next semester (either on subjects vaguely related to the course, or if you need to get in touch with one another), you're more than welcome to. If for some reason you want to be removed from the blog, let me know and I can do that.

Third, I forgot to remind everyone of this, but if possible, please send me an email giving your own evaluation of your class participation for the second half of the semester. Same as last time: rate yourself as poor/ok/good/outstanding in both participation on the blog (counting only comments and ungraded entries) and in class. "Poor" means "I don't participate, or nearly never participate," while "outstanding" means "I'm probably the best in the class in this category." "Ok" means below average, and good means above average. As before, if you submit a credible self-evaluation to me I'll try to be guided by it.

Enjoy your breaks, or, in Emily's case, your many remaining finals.

Dance as a Narrative

and to think I still have 3 major finals to go...

Essay Part:
Dance as a Narrative

Me dancing:
Dance Video

Enjoy your break everyone!!!

You Should Be Ashamed of Myself

Alright, so I'm pretty sure these things were due this morning, weren't they?

But I'm the only one that's actually posting anything.

hmm...Bonus points?

Anyway, I'm as done with this fucking thing as I'm gonna get, so I guess it's time to turn it over to you gentle and not-so-gentle readers of the internet.

http://alex.benevent.googlepages.com/

Go nuts.

late rough draft

Joy Ransom
Narrative and Technology
Final Project 2007
The female narrative has been constructed and reconstructed over the centuries by
various people, places, and things. The word narrative means story. Who is responsible for adequately telling and retelling the female story? How has the advancements in technology altered the documentation and representation of the female story? As a women of the 21st century I find myself looking to the pictures and words around me, not so much for validation of my existence as a 21st century female, but for the assurance that our story is being responsibly documented, because after all, the way women are represented now will be one of the ways future generations “read” our story of the present..
What about this generation will remain for the future women of the world to learn from? The technological advancements of today has made the images and representations of women more main stream than ever. The internet, advertisements, cable television, and reality shows all have impacted the way women are perceived. Thanks to the technological ease of digital imaging, and other outlets, the female story is being tainted. It is my opinion, that media is negatively affecting the current female narrative, and sadly even still, is that too many women are ignorant to this fact. The story being recorded is that of a superficial, consumerist, shallow representation of women. As I look at vintage dresses and early commercial advertisements, I laugh at the way women are represented and wonder how they could stand for such ludicrous treatment. In my eyes, the way women were treated and depicted in the media outlets, i.e. television, commercials, magazines, is detrimental to the female narrative.
One of my favorite television show is I Love Lucy. This show represents a common contradiction. While Lucile Ball was in part responsible for the production of the show, an example of the power women could have and did have in the 50’s and 60’s, ,in every episodes Lucy is the epitome of the cliché women. Cliché is the house wife and simpleton, enamored with simple the idea of her husband, who dutifully caters to the need of the house and child with no other aspirations. In many episodes she pokes fun at the idea that women can hold responsible position outside of the house
Women and see images of what an ideal woman or girls should look like and or epitomize. Often times these images have been approved by some man, who is most likely in charge of production in some form or fashion, who approves what he thinks men will want to see, in tern the result is fashioned under male influence, and is not what women of the 21st century represent. For example, the Miss America Pageant started by Frederick Hickman more than 75 years ago, and is very prevalent today claims to “…represent the highest ideals. She is a real combination of beauty, grace, and intelligence, artistic and refined. She is a type which the American Girl might well emulate.” Is this what the women of 2050 will take from our existence today. Our story is being recorded with these negative stereotypes.
There has never been an “ugly” Miss America, and it is safe to say there might never be. Too much emphasis is placed on the superficial aspects of beauty, and the media continues to play its part in perpetuating these shallow ideas. Beauty is a concept that is judged through individual perspectives, but because technology has advanced in the way it has, the mass production aspects has overshadowed what is the more realistic attitudes of women. In addition to shallow ideals about the female body, women and young girls are being taught gender roles. The amount of television they watch will have a great impact on the way in which they see themselves and other women. By continually running weight loss advertisement in Cosmo Girl magazine, and placing “How to loose those ugly pounds in 10 days” in Cosmopolitan, they are emphasizing the important of theses weight loss and other physical transformations as the important things in life. Although these advertisements are not the only thing the magazine has to offer, flipping casually flipping though a magazine, I was aware of more of these types of advertisements than any other kind. Allure magazine, which is prescribed for young girls constantly, presents ways in which alterations to the body can be made to become “more appealing”. How can girls consciously grow into anything other than appearance zombies? Just as I am opinionated when I flip through an older issue of Essence Magazine publishes in 1950, as will the future be as the thumb through magazines from today.
Mental development is one effect that is due to the representation of women in the media. As a teen I can attest to the fact that I actively used media as a large part of my socialization. If they are seeing things that encourage a specific lifestyle, and function of women in either the domestic sphere or social, they will ultimately connect their own responsibilities to the ones they are seeing. Legally there has not been a great increase in laws to discourage the portrayal of women negatively in the media. This is largely in part to the First Amendment. The legal system is choosing to not regulate content because it is crucial to the theory of limiting the role of government from freedom of the press, with respect to the First Amendment (Kundamis, 9). Various theories have been developed to look at the way in which messages are received and what they do to our psychological nature. For example, McLuhan said that when the cultures dominate medium is reading, individualism is a strong message. With the advancement in media and technology, reading is defiantly not our cultures’ dominant medium. This is sad when thinking about narrative. I love being able to read stories about women, written by women, of the past, and as technology continues to grow this form of narrative representation will alter, and thus far this alteration is not one of a positive nature. When we are children we begin our personal relationship with the media, the traits that we learn most about are fear, aggression, and sexuality. Having young girls learn primarily about their sexuality through television commercials, music videos, and magazine ads, off sets reality for them. This is the cause of negative messages about the female body. “The child’s ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality is at the crux of development of children’s relationship to mass media.”
According to Huesmann’s developmental theory, these sexual messages can become a part of the child’s “life script” (Kundamis, 20).

Final Changes

For all of you that care (no one except Dr. Johns) I slightly changed the focus of my project. I figured I would post this so you weren't surprised that it was different from my initial final proposal. I still have two parts to my project, but I focused on a different aspect of HoL and I also included Jimmy Corrigan. In these books there are a lot of comentary on "how to". At the beginning of Jimmy C. we get general instructions on how to read the comic. In HoL we get a lot of commentary on how to read the book. Sometimes we are told to not even pay attention to some of the things that are said. In my project I explain the signifiance of this "how to" commentary and how it affects the reader. Since this commentary is coming from a knowledgable source, I figured I will write a my own "how to" on something I am knowledgable about, which is being a football fan. This is an odd idea, but I think it turned out pretty good.

It's late, but I thought I'd mention it anyway...

I know that this blog will soon be abandoned as everyone returns home and tries to drown this past semester in a sea of knock-off liquors and cheap beer, but I figured, just in case someone was still interested, I would post some findings about that bastardly list of photographers in House of Leaves.

Well, there were over 700 of them in there. And for the first 500-600 they're almost all real and verifiable; only five or so didn't bring up any information on photographers. This, of course, poses the interesting question of how to actually prove they aren't real since there's countless factors involved. At any rate, it seems that Danielewski actually took the vast majority of them out of some collection book of the most influential photographers in 20th century America, though many are of foreign roots. The collection book had, I believe, ~780 authors total, though some were deleted in the 3rd (and latest) edition of the book, which, yet again, proves to be a real noggin-scratcher. The pattern Danielewski uses, however, seems completely random. And they come from all different backgrounds (even the ones I looked up that weren't in that book): fashion, nature, eroticism, still life, war, the American West; hell, the one guy was a photographer in five separate wars.

Though none of you will read my paper b/c I had never posted a draft (didn't help that I just--for awhile--ran under the assumption that it was just for comments and whatnot, not for credit), I think the list acts basically as an extension of the house, in that it possesses God-like characteristics much like the house (considering the fact that the list includes photographers that have recorded essentially every event since the invention of the camera and in every field imaginable). What's more, though, the list contains its own darkness and properties of an infinite plane, as you could spend forever exploring the fine details of each photographer, his or her life, his or her work, and the connections between them and the book. I felt a lot like Navidson during the whole thing, too; my "two-inches" of difference (which manifests itself in the list in various ways) is what constantly pulls me into the list, until, of course, I'm trapped with no return. Luckily, I made it alive without losing any limbs or other body parts, just a little sanity, sleep, and will to live. At the same time, it mirrors the devices employed by Danielewski. In other words, the narrative is a 3-way layer (Navidson > Zampano > Johnny)--four-way if you count the editors. The list is essentially a House of Leaves, inside the review of a movie about the House of Leaves, all contained in the book called House of Leaves. It's just layer after layer of this, as I'm sure Johnny would put it, flying fuck shit.

A couple names are repeated. Interestingly enough, one is named William. If that weren't going to cause enough trouble, he was the great-great nephew of the guy who was used as the basis for 'Uncle Sam.' So now there's even more to talk about concerning the continual assertion of Will as somewhat of an archetype man, perhaps the true, red (white, and blue) blooded American. A few names are spelled wrong, too. I don't think that they were any of the ones that I found in that collection book, though, which leads me to believe that Danielewski (gasp!) actually made a typo or two. Then again, Zampano's supposedly putting the list together, so it could be his doing. Or Johnny's. Man, fuck this book (just kidding... kind of).

The Vietnamese names stir up problems, though; I could hardly find information on any of them, thereby leading me to believe that they're made up. Who knows, though? Maybe Danielewski had another book with all Vietnamese photographers. Whatever the case, it's an issue worth exploring.

There's a lot of black-and-white photographers, too, which is, obviously, partially a result of the fact that many of the photographers came from a time when there was no color. Even so, though, the ones that seem to have been put in there by Danielewski personally, i.e., those not in that book, are also noted for black-and-white work. One guy worked in some color, but he was big on being neutral in taking his photos; in other words, he, too, worked in black-and-white, albeit differently.

And don't even get me started on the bitter irony that I used Wikipedia, an easily changed and fabricated source, to determine the existence of these people. I laughed a few times because of that one.

So, yeah, just thought someone might be interested. Dr. Johns at least. I can't wait for the semester to end. Nothing like daytime TV and binge eating/drinking for as long as you possibly can.

and this is why i'm not an english major part 2...

since i'm horrible at english, if someone wants to proof read my paper I would love you forever! :) plus I think it might be kinda short so any imput would be lovely.

Narrative and Dance

and this is why i'm not an english major...

does anyone know if The Navidson Record needs to be in italics since its a book but not a real book?

Gahhhh! Here's to last minute changes of plan...

Adam! Could you check your e-mail and get back to me?

Rough Drafts, etc...

For anyone who has not yet posted a rough draft, time has more or less run out. I'll give you partial credit and a sentence or two of comments if you have something later tonight, and some sort of credit, but probably no comments at all, for anything you have in tomorrow.

This obviously excludes those of you who I'm in an ongoing conversation with, or who I haven't gotten back to (Lance, Josh). I'll still do my best to answer questions, of course.

Lance Solstice

Which reminds me, since everyone is looking at the blog-- now would be a great time to advertise this ridiculous birthday bash that I'm having over break. As a lot of people in class are residents of PA and usually have nothing to do over break-- you do not want to miss this. If you want to come and I haven't added you yet on Facebook and invited you (I've already done this for Yomi, Timmy, Dan, Emily, Alex, and Nik) then look me up (Lance Sacknoff) and add me! I'm looking to have this thing be 50 people or more and I'm only pushing 40 at the moment.

I just want to express myself through the art of dance! part 2

Unfortunately, I had to post this on youtube. Please remember that this is made up on the spot; thus it is lacking a lot of technique and planning. I hope you arn't expecting Brittany Spears in her prime or a prima ballerina. I'm far from that.

Dance Video

My ROUGH DRAFTt? Ha, more like my FINAL PROPOSAL.

Alright, the whole... me posting a rough draft is probably not going to happen. At least, not today. But, I have finally decided what I'm doing. I'm listening to Poe's album and then analyzing the songs in relationship to HOL (even when the songs don't have ANYTHING to do with the book, which quite a few do). I'm going to try to make this part as educated, and scholarly sounding as possible. After I have finished that I am going to pull a Zampano/Johnny/Yomi(/whoever else is doing multiple levels of narration) and play the role of the editor to basically rip apart the essay which is going to deliberately be a piece of shit. So... yeah... hopefully it will somewhat resemble a six page essay by the end of it.




But, I have a question:
Does anyone know what page it is when Johnny mentions that the landlord came over to measure the size of the apartment? I mean, maybe I just made that up in my head, but I thought it happened.

Yeah, I should probably be beyond the point of questions right now, but... that's what having an eight page essay due on the same day as the rough draft will do. Awesome. I'd appreciate it if anyone was able to help.

Scratches: First Cut

I arrived at Blackwood manor one cold Saturday morning amidst a thick veil of fog. The weather didn’t look good and an unnatural calm surrounded the area. As the car came to a stop in front of the driveway’s rusted iron gate, I stepped out into the heavy English countryside air. The cloudy sky above me looked unsettling and I felt the urge to run for shelter. I approached the blockade and found that it swung open easily. I peered through the haze at the house that stood before me. The surrounding trees seemed to grip the house from all sides, or perhaps the house gripped them. As I stared at the old structure before me, it seemed to almost stare back. I approached.

Michael Arthate sure was a writer. I heard this is a true story, or at least based on one. Even if it doesn’t, it looks like an intriguing tale. It‘s strange that no one has ever heard of this game. Should go to the library tomorrow and see if Arthate actually existed. I must confess, I only bought this adventure game because I just moved and wanted a creepy story about a new house. Don’t tell my Lit teacher though. He’ll want me to read into the game to find deeper themes and stuff. Finally, after all those papers I signed, it’s all mine! If I have to sign “S. Michael Kobily” one more time, I’ll drop dead.

I inspected the garage next to the driveway but the door is padlocked. I’ll have to ask Jerry if he has a key to it, as I’d really like to put away the car before the weather turns. Anyhow, I couldn’t be bothered with it now. I just wanted to get inside and unpack. I don’t remember being so exhausted when I was a younger bloke.

The front door looks absolutely ornate! What a beautiful house to start writing my new book in. I’m sure I’ll find a lot of inspiration here! The heavy, gold key Jerry gave me fit perfectly into the lock. With a loud click, I heard the tumbler slide into the door. The door opened with a moan.

There’s nothing like the first moments in a new house. You get a sense of childish wonder, imagining all the possible things you can do to the place. I can relate to what Michael is feeling here.

The wooden floor creaked beneath my feet as I stepped through the threshold. A magestic grandfather clock stood directly in front of me, calmly counting off the seconds. The tick-tock was almost sleep-inducing. The layer of dust that coated the place was much to my displeasure, but also expected. The house hadn’t been a home for at least 10 years. I took a deep breath, and the hairs on my arms stood up as a creepy chill crossed my skin. A ringing telephone pierced the silence with the violence of a knife through flesh. Timidly, I lifted the ancient receiver from its golden cradle and placed it to my ear.

Any and every sound is scary in a new house. Every now and then, I hear a faint ring…like a doorbell or phone. I still have not placed the source of it, and I’m not even sure I’m hearing what I think I am. Michael’s telephone rand, and I jumped. I felt a little silly afterwards, reacting to a computer game, but my heart still beat hard against my chest for ten minutes.

Jerry’s voice was on the other end. He asked how I liked the place. I told him I was in awe and that I’d turn this place into an absolute factory of horror stories! He told me to go explore the place, and I intended to do just that. I replaced the receiver in its holder and stepped into the living room.

The grand piano sounded out of tune. Perhaps I could have someone come tune it for me. In any case, the sheet music was opened to a tune that gave the heart a sinking feeling. On the coffee table was a small brown journal that caught my eye. I couldn’t contain my interest, so I leafed through the book. The writer was certainly despaired! He wrote of living with a big secret, saying he felt bad for “James”. As the pages turn, the man gets more and more anguished. James apparently is losing touch with reality. The writer wants to tell the world but fears he would “rot in jail” if it got out. And he’s “a shadow of the man he once was”. Nov 17^th, he starts hearing whispers from “the room next door” and is forced to “lock everything up”. He claims madness is setting in as the noises spread through the house, but they’re strongest “down there”. That last pages contained illegible scribblings. This greatly disturbed me, but I was also curious…

Wow. I wonder who the writer was. He must have felt awful for a long time. What could have happened to him? I should investigate this further, I think. I know it sounds silly but I peeked over my shoulder before I put the book down, as if, when I stopped looking at the pages, some serial killer would be there, staring me in the face. I know, silly, right?

The living room had a heavy oak door in the eastern wall, so naturally I went through it. What a magnificent sight awaited me on the other side!

I had walked into the study! I would have gladly spent days looking through all these books, as there were some wonderful works of horror there. “In the Mountains of Madness” by the godly H.P. Lovecraft caught my eye. I noted the heaviest volume, “The Necronomicon” by Abdul Alhazred, was hard to find these days! It was situated next to some stupid, boring looking book called “Myst”. I didn’t even bother to leaf through that one. Perhaps the most notable feature was the Construction Engineering degree awarded to James T. Blackwood, displayed centrally. After spinning the large globe a few times, I went to the desk. One drawer was locked, but I found a few interesting items in the other drawers.

So James T. Blackwood was the “James” in the diary in the living room. I guess I know he didn’t write it. I checked my watch…it was already 9 at night. I swear it was only 6 a minute ago…It feels like I just got out of work. I must have been playing this game more than I thought- I’d skipped dinner!

Under some worn African currency, I had found a heavy black book. Opening it up, I was able to identify it as the journal of none other than James Blackwood himself! I have summarized as follows.

Feb 6- construction of railway bridge underway. South Africa. Many trinkets brought back. Catherine and he agree to move into new house. Natives causing “trouble”. Vague reference to a John Patterson.

Feb 12- Natives hanging around, startling everyone. Stare at workers.

Feb 15- Tribe uncivilized. Very brutish.

Feb 16- Miscalculation of bridge specs…James should pay more attention.

Feb 20- Natives lurking just inside forest. Strange noises from forest “haunt our meals”. Area has become more sinister.

Feb 24- Locals know of the tribe, through stories. Were assumed extinct. Called D’lhaum, like the sound of a scream or moan. Could see a bright light at the top of a distant hill, and hear the screams.

Feb 27- Obsessed w/ the tribe.

March 4- Managed to see them. Disturbing. Moving around the village slowly, no speaking. Filthy looking, coarse, and disgusting. No weapons. Suddenly, they began shaking and screaming, moaning. Two brought out a wooden mask from a hut. It was unsettling and mesmerizing, hypnotic. Greatly revered. Tribe moved in circles around it, chanting and fluttering. One native walks to middle, else fall silent. Few jump on him, beating him to death. Small crowd tore him apart. Twisted his limbs, disfigured with bare hands and teeth. “Red sack of bones” Not even the compassion to snap his neck. No one cringed or made a sound. James could hear the flesh ripping. Dangerous, but “important ethnical find”, will investigate…

Journal closes with the line “and that mask…that mask…”

Fonts + the Internet

For this of you who could not read my proposal, my project idea is to analyze the use of fonts in House of Leaves and investigate how each of the different fonts correlates to its respective narrator. Without the use of fonts, House of Leaves would be an entirely different piece of literature and Danielewski uses various fonts in an artistic, yet purposeful fashion. After some beginning research, I have two theories on the purpose of these fonts:

(1) Danielewski delegated fonts to each narrator and the history of the font can be derived to say something about that specific character
(2) All of the fonts come from a shared history and are being used to hide the fact that there is only one narrator(Johnny)

The simple problem I have been running into is identifying some of the fonts in the novel. I and my roommate (computer science major) have successfully identified some of the fonts, and had trouble with some of the others. If anyone disagrees with some of these identifications, please tell me, I could very well be wrong.

In 1991, Apple released True Type, the first program with scalable font. The fonts included in this program were Times New Roman, Helvetica, and Courier. Later, in 1992, TrueType came to Windows 3.1, but this time with Arial replacing Helvetica. Interestingly enough, I am typing in Arial currently with Times and Courier as other options. Helvetica, although it is one of the most common fonts, is curiously not included in the selection. Helvetica is held in much higher regard than the other fonts in concerns of aesthetics.

Interestingly enough, each one of the narrators in House of Leaves uses one of these four fonts. Some may argue that Danielewski made this decision for practical purposes rather than narrative purposes. These four fonts are in fact web friendly fonts and House of Leaves was an internet sensation before it ever hit the bookstores. In fact, it is a very logical presumption that the Danielewski's publishers would have been much more wary to invest in all these different fonts if it were not all the internet buzz that surrounded the story.

Despite this evidence suggesting that the choice of fonts was pragmatic, there is a strong case to the contrary.

Zampano's narrative is written in Times New Roman, a font normally originally created for newspaper columnists. Interestingly enough, Zampano is more of a blind reporter than anything else. Eugene Ionesco once said, "The critic should describe, not prescribe," and this is exactly what Zampano does. His narrative is less of a critique and more a collection of other critiques describing the Navidson record. The descriptions become so plentisome that the reader is often lost in pieces of literature distantly related to The Navidson Record.

Later in the novel, specifically Chapter XI, Zampano's narrative is designed like that of a newspaper columnist. His work is split into columns approximately 4.5 cm wide. This width is common in many newspapers and it again shows that Danielewski had more in mind when desiganting font types.

Johnny uses the font Courier, a font that lacks beauty but is consistently used in computer programming, specifically in Unix. The fact that Johhny uses a more techincal font is appropriate. One can imagine him, a child of the modern age, using his computer to add his own comments onto Zampano's narrative. His narrative seems to reflect the change writing that took place with the advent of computers. While it is clear that some editing and careful word choice were used in Zampano's narrative, from the beginning Johnny's text is sloppy. He uses contractions, flow of consciousness, and very raw language. Johnny is a new age writer whose use of the computer as a writing tool is obvious from the text.

Danielewski assigned Karen with a font that is ubiquitous and beautiful - Helvetica. In the documentary Helvetica, graphic designer Wim Crouvel talks about how he dreaming of making "a typeface suitable for the digitizer." For Crouvel, these typeface had to work for a digitizer, but it also had to be piece of art. Eventually this piece of art would be known as Helvetica. Karen, who is in fact a gorgeous model, uses the font in her narrative.

Throughout the interviews, Karen speaks with mostly artists, writers, and architects. Karen speaks with people who would appreciate the beauty of the font and coincidentally notice her beauty as well. After receiving numerous passes and receiving little relevant information, Karen's transcript ends.

Well there is one difficult variation I am working with. The fourth font I have identified is not Arial, but it appears to be a derivative of Arial. Of its exact history I do not know, but I have found some relevant information. The name of the fourth font is Bookman, a font released in the year 2000. This font is used by the editors. Is this a coincidence? I think not. House of Leaves was released in 2000. Danielewski chose Bookman to make the story look fresh, like it had just been edited by a group of lousy, modern editors. This makes House of Leaves appear more like a legitimate critique with multiple authors, instead of something Danielewski compiled himself.

I plan on expanding on each of these relations between narrators and their respective fonts. Hoepfully I can support one of my two hypotheses by the end of it.

Problems:
Tom's font --> Can't figure out what it is

"I am always suspicious of collective truths..." - Ionesco

Guitarred and Feathered (and edits)

Hey bitches (And Doctor Johns).

Here's the link to my work-in-progress website. There is more content in progress that isn't live yet.

http://alex.benevent.googlepages.com/

Check it out and let me know what you think.
I'm a little disappointed by the limitations of the medium but that's just because I'm stupid and don't know HTML or java or flash or any of that stuff. I had much bigger goals for this project, so I'm just going to have to make it extra weird.

Comments?
EDIT: I've been trying to make some more content that will hopefully endear readers to my protagonist of sorts. Content'll go live when I get off my couch, because my laptop is old and shitty, and won't work right when I try to publish content on my webspace. So check for it later, even if you read through it earlier today and already decided it was shit, then there'll be more shit for you to look at later.

Plus my glass of milk is out here and I'm not done with it yet, and my desktop is in my bedroom, and there's no way I can get there without getting up. I don't know much about architecture, but that's bullshit.

-A

The Hurtin's on me (Yeah), And I'll never be free (No no no)

This is my trimmed rough draft, it's sort've an essay but not in the same linear sort of format. I decided to just use one example for this post on the blog, leaving the others mentioned for the final draft.

Throughout Narrative and Technology, we as a class have been exploring different expressions of narratives. A narrative is defined as "a story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious. " The class has revolved primarily around the narratives in books, despite Dr. Johns' additions of a movie or two and the occasional text-based/old school computer game. Because I lack the creative prowess that allows me to create a neo-modern narrative or perform a dance, symphony, or the like to one of the pieces of work that we've read, I decided that since I play so many video games (and thus have a fairly intimate knowledge of them) that I would compare and contrast the effectiveness of narratives between a major console (PlayStationPortable) game, an MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online RolePlaying Game), two text-based MUDs/MUSHs (Multi-User Dungeon/ Multi-User Shared Hallucination), and several Forum RPGs. Instead of one platform being good and the other bad, each modern media expression has its strengths and weaknesses. The goal of this essay is to explain, after weeks of first-hand experience and research, what those strengths and weaknesses are and then give a (hopefully) accurate ranking of which expression delivers a narrative closest to the novel narrative. To divide and rank these narratives easily, I've created four categories that touch upon the strongest points Dr. Johns has made throughout the course as to what is a narrative. These categories include: Narrator & Supporting Cast Characterization, Story Point of View & Strength of Character Voice, Story Depth, and Player Immersability in the Story.

First, an explanation ofthe reasoning behind each category and how a game ranks within it:

• Narrator & Supporting Cast Characterization: What do we know about the main character? Does this character possess easily recognizeable character traits while still maintaining a complex persona that gives the player a good idea, but not utmost certainty, on how they would react in a given situation? Does the same go for the supporting cast? Does the game contain an identifiable supporting cast that stays with the character throughout the story? To what depth are resources on each character's history avaiable to the player?




• Story Point of View & Strength of Character Voice: It is important to note whether the story is 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person omniscent or 3rd person limited because each method requires different approaches to give us a clearly defined, strongly voiced character. This is not a repeat of the previous category because, while the player can be notified about the history and personality of their character, it is quite another thing for the player to be able to make their character display their traits and history through action or dialogue. Also, the amount of choices involved with how a character can display the strength of their presence is also a factor here.




• Story Depth: Obviously this had to be included in what makes a successful narrative, especially in relation to how a game closes the gap between a modern expression of a narrative and the tried-and-true expression of a narrative through written word on paper. How much does the player know about the plot? Is the entirety of the plot revealed at the beginning of the game or is it slowly revealed as the player progresses through it? Is the plot as complex and interesting as the gameplay or does it take a back-seat to stats, levels, and graphics?




• Player Immersability in the Story: A narrative must be immersive enough for the reader or player if it is to be successful. In simple terms of reading, this immersability can be carried out by having the reader go back and make different choices in the novel (ala Choose Your Own Adventure), make a reader interact with the novel itself (i.e. House of Leaves) or be so complex yet interesting enough to hold the reader's interest that the reader may choose to go back and re-read portions of the narrative or do research on/psychoanalyze what is written. This rule applies the same to video game narratives-- does the reader have resources available to them about the story and then, is the story complex enough that the reader applies their cognitive resources to better understand said story? Is there room for metaphor and other forms of figurative language in the game?
  
  

First, it would be easiest to pick a form of media expression that most people would be familiar with-- that of the video game on a major video game platform. To be fair, I chose a game that has the most narrative elemnts in it; a tactical Roleplaying game called "Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions." The story revolves around the main character, Ramza (though players are given the option of picking whatever name they want-- I usually go with "Lance") and the part he plays in a war that takes place between two huge factions within the land of Ivalice (Ee-vuh-leez). Ramza is accompanied by a varied cast of customizable characters, whose jobs can range from Squire, Chemist, Black & White Mage, to Holy Knight, Time Mage, Onion Knight, Monk, and Summoner. These characters do not play a major role in the outcome of the game, merely showing up as the pixelated avatars on the in-game battle sequences. The main players in the game (characters that the player cannot change) are Delita (Ramza's childhood friend), Count Orlando (leader of The Southern Sky Corps), Dycedarg (Ramza's brother and leader of The Northern Sky Corps), Ophelia & Agrias (Adopted Princess and her trustworthy bodyguard), and Mustadio (an engineer in the new Underground Goug City technology). The story is rife with betrayal, love, battle, and politics-- it is just as extensive and requires just as much attention to understand as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

Narrator & Supporting Cast Characterization: FFT: War of the Lions is strong in this aspect regarding the PRIMARY cast of characters. None of the characters that the player spends so much time lovingly leveling up from the beginning of the game have any sort of backgrounds or personality. They are flat and more or less are just ways for you to see all the cool different sorts of jobs you can get within the game and help you beat the crap out of your enemies. Ramza has the most amount of characterization, but I believe that his personality is oversimplified as a benefit for other characters to act as foils. Additionally, while supporting cast characters (such as Delita, Ophelia, and Agrias) will, at many points in the game, have others make references to their past or such-- it is often too vague for me to really get a feel for the character as a whole.

I have to make further comments about History in FFT: WotL specifically because there is a section (under "Chronicles") that allows for a more in-depth look at the history of the main characters in the story. The backgrounds are well-written and give me a good understanding of the character. However, I would have liked to have seen these resources utilized more fully in the gameinstead of being buried beneath a bunch of ambiguously titled sub-menus in order for me to find these histories. If these histories were missing (an indeed, the player could go through the entire game without even knowing about the availability of these resources) a lot of the in-game references would prove extremely confusing-- especially to the player who cares about knowing the characters and their personalities to their utmost extent.

Story Point of View & Strength of Character Voice: This game gets a little confusing regarding point of view. The game is 3rd person limited, yet sometimes expands to 3rd person omniscient before diminishing back to its diminished form. I suppose the reason why the game runs this way is because things are not actually happening in "real time," this is a story that is being conveyed by the offspring of Olan Durai (a somewhat minor character), a man by the name of Alazlam J.D. This is actually interesting because it explains why Ramza does not have much of a voice in the game-- if the game is trying to be accurate as an intimate telling of history opposed to history in the making, it is most likely that the player would not see all the thoughts and feelings of Ramza.

That being said, though, the story still does lack a strong presence for Ramza. Often-times I will feel that he is overshadowed by Delita (a non-playable character that is extremely important to the story), Dycedarg, Zalbag, or even Agrias which is a shame because this game focuses squarely on Ramza and the choices he makes in the War. When Ramza is paired with a weaker-willed character (there aren't many until late in the game) that is when he really shines but I feel that the inconsistency here between the beginning of the game and nearly abrupt change toward the end is too much of a mistake in the narrative to overlook.

Story Depth: This is what makes FFT: WotL such a fun game-- there is so much depth to this plot it's easy to become lost in the politics and love traingles, the implicit statements of relationships and actions and the like. Because the game is not Ramza-centric, many layers of the game are obscured from the player to a large degree with the information slowly revealing itself as the game goes on. The story of the War of the Lions and the different complex politics involved (especially between military powers and religious ones) makes this seem like the TRUE focus of the game, even though I feel the gameplay itself is fantastic. If someone were to write a form of meta-fiction following the entirety of this game, they could easily exceed the length of House of Leaves.

Player Immersability in the Story: This game is the epitome of platform RPGs. The player is given a character who will act a certain way throughout the story (with a small degree of choice on the player's part) with the only game-effecting editable attributes being that of name, date of birth, job selection, and gear. That's it. I don't feel like I could possibly be Ramza in this game; sad considering that most first person shooters and 2nd person novels pull this off better. Even when I change Ramza's name to "Lance," just having other characters say the name in cutscenes does not make me feel like a blonde, purple-armor wearing fighter for peace.

That being said, the story and characters make the game complex enough that I do want to (and have) played the game over and over just to see if I've missed something in the story or some small characterization of the cast. I see plenty of room for allegorical connections, as well as time that could be spent analyzing other parts of FFT history or literary novels that may connect with the game.

I would post more but I fear that I may have posted too much already though I feel this is sufficient enough for Adam to see where I am going with my essay.

Final Project

Thanks to genius also known as Nik i discovered how to make my final incorporate the essence of this class. check out www.nandtfinalproject.blogspot.com for the rough draft of my project. Adam tell me what you think in class please.

I just want to express myself through the art of dance!

If you couldn't guess, I'm a big Dane Cook fan...

The following is a very rough draft of my paper. I have no time to do it tomorrow, so I decided to write it tonight and find some time between studying to brush it up a lot. Dancing as a Narrative

I've been trying to upload the video of me dancing on here but it won't upload at all. Does anyone have a good idea of how to go about this?

U.S.S. Tonoro

Well, I thought it would be a good idea to post an update (and a sort-of rough draft) on what my final project is about. As I posted before, I am working on a meta-fiction set in the Alien universe. The story begins with an introduction from the book's author, Dr. Evan Andrews. Dr. Andrews is one of the seven medical officers aboard the United Systems Military (U.S.M.) Medical Research Vessel Auriga.

The Auriga is on the last legs of its journey to home base (Earth). The ship had to make a stop at the planet known as Arcturus, where the wreck of the U.S.S. Tonoro (which vanished nearly 170 years earlier) was discovered. The Auriga was instructed to pick up "criminal evidence" found on the Tonoro to take back to home base for further investigation. On the trip home, Dr. Andrews, a follower of the U.S.S. Tonoro conspiracy, decides to take a peek at the "evidence." There, he discovers the truth behind what happened to the U.S.C.S.S. Nostromo, the colony on LV-426, the prisoners on Fiorina 161, the U.S.S. Sulaco and her sister ship the U.S.S. Tonoro.

The book Dr. Andrews writes is based on the evidece found on the wreck of the Tonoro which include data found in the Tonoro's computer (videos, radio transmissions), data from the Tonoro's and the Sulaco's flight data recorders, classified files from Weyland-Yutani, and the diary of U.S.C.M. private Alicia Hendrick.

After the introduction, the story picks up 10 years after the events ofAlien 3, now through the eyes of Alicia Hendrick. Hendrick brings the reader up to speed on what has occured in the past 10 years. Lieutenant Ellen Ripley (U.S.C.S.S. Nostromo) is dead, the prison on Fiorina 161 is sealed, and prisoner Morse is re-assigned to another facility. Network Comcon lost contact with the U.S.S. Sulaco shortly after Ripley's EEV crashed on Fiorina 161. A search party was sent out by the U.S.C.M. to find the Sulaco, but after three weeks of searching, they gave up and the Sulaco is presumed lost.

After the Weyland-Yutani vessel Patna dropped off prisoner Morse on the planet of Denobola, the ship heads back to LV-426 (a.k.a. Acheron) in the hopes that the derelict ship the Nostromo investigated 57 years earlier survived the explosion of the Atmosphere Processing Station. They find the ship severely damaged. To their dismay, the chamber where all of the alien eggs were stored collaped and was inaccessible. The eggs are presumed crushed and the Patna returned to the Core Systems. For the next 10 years, Weyland-Yutani experiences financial problems. Their problems escalate after prisoner Morse published his book in which he tells the story of Ellen Ripley and how she died to save humanity from the alien species. In his book, Morse revealed that Weyland-Yutani had planned to use the alien for their bio-weapons division. Rumors began to spread about the destruction of the colony on LV-426 (known as Hadley's Hope). The rumors quickly turned into a full-blown conspiracy after classified information from Weyland-Yutani leaked out concerning the Nostromo and the Sulaco.

Shares of Weyland-Yutani continued to plummet over the years. Then, 10 years after Fiorina 161, the wreck of the Sulaco is discovered by a Weyland-Yutani deep-space probe. The ship is orbiting the planet of Gamma Serpentis when she is discovered ("how she got there is anyone's guess.").

Weyland-Yutani asks the U.S.C.M. to help them retrieve the ship. At first, the U.S.C.M. refuses to help on the basis that "the company has given [the marines] enough headaches already. It is unlikely that the ship is repairable based on the information provided by its computer prior to her disappearance." Weyland eventually managed to convince the U.S.C.M. to cooperate after Weyland promises them to assist in any repairs the ship might need (though they do not mention that the ship's orbit is decaying and towing the vessel back home will be difficult, if not impossible).

This is where the story starts, with the salvage team waking up from stasis as the Tonoro approaches Gamma Serpentis. Once the Tonoro rendezvous with the Sulaco, the story is mostly radio communications between "Search Squad One" and Lieutenant Charles Gorman (Lieutenant William Gorman's brother) on the Tonoro. The search squad finds 5 of the Sulaco's decks scarred from the fire that erupted on board. It is determined by the party that the fire started in the cryogenic compartment and worked its way to the dropship hanger. There, the fire caused the fuel in the dropship to explode, destroying the craft as well as most of the equipment in the hanger. The fire moved its way up through the ship until it reached the reactor room. The computer scrammed the reactor and cut power to the ship's life support systems. The fire continued to burn until all of the oxygen in the ship was burned. The search squad found the ship still had some power in her emergency systems as well as some oxygen left in her tanks. With the help of the atmosphere scrubbers, the team managed to make the air in the ship breathable. For the next three days (it was calculated the Sulaco had 4 days to live before she entered the planet's atmosphere and crashed), the team retrieved everything from the Sulaco's computer and searched for any evidence of the alien that was rumored to have been on board the Sulaco when she jettisoned her cryo tubes. With only 12 hours before the Sulaco crashed, private Aaron Johnson goes missing. The party finds him unconscious in one of the ship's cargo holds which, surprisingly, was not damaged by the fire. What cought their attention was the egg lying next to him, which was empty. Johnson is carried back to the Tonoro (he later regains consciousness in the ship's infirmary) and the team discovers the dead face-hugger, which they also take back to the Tonoro for further analysis.

The team seal the Sulaco for the last time and stay in the area to watch the Sulaco crash into the planet. The Tonoro heads back to Earth. As the team is about to return to their cryo tubes, Hendrick notices that Johnson has not returned from the mess-hall. The crew find him dead in the mess-hall, with a hole in his chest. From there on, the story is centered around the team's attempt to catch and destroy the alien which is killing them off, one by one.

The story ends (as a sort of epilogue) with Dr. Andrews, now 20 years after he examined the "evidence" the Auriga was taking back to Earth. Here, he notes the destruction of the U.S.M. Auriga (from Alien Resurrection) and the discovery of the Tonoro's missing EEV....
....and the alien frozen inside.


What do you guys think? I still have a number of things I need to work out.
Most of the dialog from the "hunting for the alien" section will be taken from Alicia's diary and videos found in the Tonoro's computer.
The "searching the Sulaco" section will include radio transmissions between the search party and the Tonoro, as well as communications between the Tonoro and Network.

Dr. Andrews will be adding footnotes to the story, since more in known about what happened aboard the Tonoro at this time then what the ship's crew knew as they searched for the alien.

Oh yeah, I made a cover page for the story. I posted it earlier in a comment, but I figured I'd post it again (don't ask why). I plan to include pictures with several of the pages.


Any suggestions on anything I should change?

No Class Today

Hi Everyone,

I just had a root canal, and I decided there's no way I'm making it through all of my classes today, so everyone gets a day off. So just work on your midterm projects instead, and we'll wrap up House of Leaves on Friday. Post any questions you have about your projects.

Final Proposal

It has taken me a while to figure out what I should do for this last project. House of Leaves has always been my main focus. Since I did more of a research project for the midterm I will try (emphasis on try) to make more of a creative project. So, the idea I came up with is separated into two parts. The first part i will talk about the impact that text, font, positioning, and so on has on the way we read a book. Each chapter in House of Leaves has its own unique style which makes the reader take different approaches to understanding the chapter. The second part of the project is where my creative side is going to come in. I will write up a short story, about what, I don't know yet. But the point of this short story is to show how different ways of putting text on a page changes the way we read books. So, I will have the same story printed out twice. One copy of the story will be in standard format, while the other copy will be similar to HOL. I am also thinking about putting footnotes in as well, but that could be pushing it. This idea still needs to be cleaned up a bit so if anyone has any imput let me know.

After Much Anticipation.

So my final project idea is………………

A paper on the media and Women…now before you count me off..the rest will hopefully make more sense. It is my opinion that the female narrative in the 21st century has been written out and planned for us ( women) by other entities than ourselves. I love to take picture and looks at things and through my love of observation I believe I have noticed a ploy by the various media outlets to build women into a very specific pattern of existence. To me the female narrative has been toyed with in such a way that now we( women) are almost forced to by into the desires of (______i haven’t decided who yet…_____) thus building our lives and writing our narrative built on false pretenses.

So my narrative thus far, until my “awakening”(lol) has not been written really, by what I want and feel naturally, but what I am taught to want and feel by society. Please Please help me focus this idea more…

To My Esteemed Peers, Friends, and Mentors

I have about 12 days left here in Pittsburgh before I go back home and this semester ends. That means that I probably won't see many of you (in a class setting... or maybe even at all) again. No more Goodfellas Wannabe, Ears-N-Dew, Firefly Fanatic, Inappropriate Siesta-time Student, and the masses of faces whose matching names I will never find (like Waldo). Most students would declare this a god-send, but I don't. I like this class for the people in it, for better or for worse.

So, while this note is small in comparison to others I've made, let anyone who reads it not be confused:
It's not the size
of the post
but wha
t you g
et out
of it.
.......
.....
get
it
?
In any case, I just wanted to say that I've had a great time in this class and that has somewhat to do with my peers. You guys rock out loud (even when you don't speak like Emily or... his name's Zack, right?) and it's been a real pleasure.

Okay, fuuuuuck.

Ummmmm. So, it's Saturday. I'm at the library. I NEVER go to the library.

I am having a meltdown along the lines of the one I had at this time last year. Generally it starts around the time when I look at my schedule up until the end of the semester and realize I have no time and a shitload of work.

That being said, I don't know what I'm doing for this project. For one of my classes I have two projects due (this upcoming Friday and then the second is due on the Tuesday of finals week). Since they both come before the due date of this one, I am tending to focus completely on them. I am scrapping most of my ideas for the final project in this class and I decided to make it an interactive project (interactive standing in for "What do you guys think I should do?")

Ummm, I am planning to do something with the Poe album, but I don't know what. Annnd, my computer won't download the copy of the CD off of the internet (Adam, could you bring yours on Monday?). Anyways, what do you think is an interesting idea for something to do in conjunction with the album? Because, I am at a loss.

This is "Oh shit, I'm fucked" mode. And, it doesn't help that I am at the library on a Saturday night.

Scratches: Part two

Here's my revised game plan for the final. I'm going to play Scratches, writing once as Michael Arthate (the main character), second in the footnotes by myself (a humble game-player), except fictionalized and enhanced. I'm playing the game, but it's drawing me in like Zampano and Johnny were drawn to Navidson's story. The footnotes will describe my "real life" as I progress through the game. A third level, which we'll call "the editor" is the actual me. It will contain all that academic, analytical stuff about the game from a real world PoV. In other words, the first level will be set in England with Michael Arthate. The second level will be in Pittsburgh, with Mike Kobily, the third level will be omnipresent and anonymous.
My implicit thesis will change from "Can we invoke raw emotions like fear though video games" to "HOW can we..." to "How DO we...". From the angle of the first level, I'll show how the game's story progresses. From the second level, I'll dramatize the effects that it has on the players of the game. From the third level, I'll analyze the narrative elements and explain why I had "Mike Kobily" do what he did.

final project proposal take 2

After doing some thinking here is what I could possibly narrow my final project down to:

1.I could make up a dance using one of the songs by Poe. (I could string different songs of her together but 1. I don’t have a music cutter 2. I don’t know how to cut music and 3. I don’t have the time haha). I would then video tape myself dancing and then write a short essay component on what I’m trying to display in each movement. I really like the songs ‘Hey Pretty’ (unmixed versions – sorry Adam, but when you played it in class the other day, I was already making up a dance to it), ‘Haunted’ and ‘Walk the Walk’ (it won’t be anything like the dance I talk about below, haha). However, if I do this project, I will be unable to add the lights and costume effect to the dance (a big downer).

2.I searched numerous times for a dance that is solely based on HoL or for that matter any dance that is danced to one of Poe’s songs. The only thing I could find was some dance studios attempted performance to her song ‘Walk the Walk’. The overall affect if not pretty and I refuse to do my project on that piece. Thus, writing a report on whether the dancers are accurately displaying what the singer is trying to express is kind of out of the question for that piece.
On the other hand, there are two different dances that I know of that I could connect to with HoL. It will definitely be a stretch though. To the naked eye, one of the dances tells a story of a breakup between a boy and girl. The other one tells a story between a girl persuading the boy to come into her world (through a frame). I could relate this to HoL by talking about Navidson and Delial.

I’m kinda leaning more towards actually making up a dance since I know I am a better dancer than a writer (also because making up a dance will be my stress reliever, and I need a lot of those in life right now).

PS. Biosystems and Signals is a class based off of wave forms and how to combine different wave forms together in different domains. However, in our class, we just look at waves developed in the body by nerve cells. So yes, in a roundabout way, it is teaching us how to make a monster in the future, but then again so do the rest of my BioE classes.

I'm Caught Up, and a Question

First: I've commented on everyone's project proposals, I think. If I somehow missed one, let me know. They all sound promising, although some are a little vague still.

Second: If you haven't done a proposal yet, do one ASAP. Passing is good, and correlates with doing a final project, which correlates with proposing one.

Third: I'm pretty happy with the work everyone is doing on the blog now, now that you're actually having conversations, and saying all kinds of things that I wouldn't have thought of (take Lance's "Horrible Post" as a great example). It took a while to get to that point, though. So I have a question for all of you: is there anything I could do next semester to get the blog working at that level sooner? E.g., do I need to learn to shut up, or do I need to post more prompts, or is it something that just takes time? What do you think?