Informal Post 1

Hey class! My name is Meghan Patton but you can call me Meg or General Patton if you prefer. I know it sounds weird, but it is my nickname. I am a sophomore here at Pitt and I am loving every minute of it. I am currently a business/communications dual major and one day I hope to go into advertising and make commercials. Either that or write for a comedy show (a girl can dream lol). On my free time I enjoy sports, hanging out with friends, obtaining street cred., singing, dancing, and yes the occasional video game tourny.

We all use technology in our daily lives, and I think its fascinating how accustomed we have become to it. When I think of technology, I think of all of the electronics and tools we use to help make our lives easier. You don't go anywhere without your cell phone, am I right? One might say technology is distorting reality, because much of the developed world relys on news and television shows to find out whats going on. It is almost as if technology is replacing our ability to act in social situations. Really, could we live without it? To everything from difibulators to computers to the microwave you used to cook your chef boyardee, we live in a technology-hungry society and I don't think people would know what to do without it as a crucial part of their lives. I would even count seemingly small things such as paper and pens as technology because we use technology to help make those, and they do make our lives easier. The Twain book kind of backs up my opinion in a way because it is about a man from the 20th century who goes back to the sixth century and realizes just how essential technology is to his everyday life. That's basically my take on technology, and I am really looking forward to learning a lot more about it in this class.

I really actually enjoyed the silent film, Modern Times, and I thought it was crazy how much we could figure out about the plot and what was going on without any dialogue except for the small tidbits. I agree with Brian when he says you really concentrate more on the body language and it tells the story itself. The body language being exaggerated almost has a more powerful effect than actual words would. I had a few film classes here at Pitt and in one of them we watched a silent film that just had sound effects. That was also really cool to see how the narrative developed with no dialogue. I also got a feel that the singing at the end did not make any sense. I found it rather strange that he has made it up off the top of his head. That's really interesting that it was the debut of Chaplan's voice on film. Does anyone know how many films he did before this one? Anyway, I really enjoyed the film.