Composing Spaces

What better way to get back to blogging after a 2.5 month break than with The Daily Show, Photoshop, and Rick Astley:

My initial reaction to this video (sent to me by a colleague at Rowan) was a loud, sharp, guffaw. After recovering from seeing Obama as Rocky doing one handed pushups, I began to realize that there is quite a bit of masterful visual rhetoric going on in here taking off from the boxing conceit afforded by the movie. A semiotic reading of the video would, I suspect, reveal a host of modes, discourses, and meanings.

via PostSecret

One of the greatest culture shocks of my life (that is, after the shock that came from moving to Cincinnati after an unbroken year in Europe) came when I moved to Texas and it was not because of the politics or the history or anything, but the fact that there is so much pride in the state—pride that I came to share and miss having. Growing up in New Jersey was often an exercise in rationalizations for the license plate tag, "Garden State," explaining away the factories of Elizabeth, asserting that New Jersey is lush and beautiful—which it really is. I swear! And, of course, we have Bruce. But, we will never see the shape of the state of New Jersey engraved in the concrete of highway overpasses like they have in Texas. Indeed, installing the engraved Texas state shape and the lone star seemed to be a priority over just about everything else in the construction project, so proud the state and the workers and the citizenry were of their state of residence. And no matter how much I miss Austin, TX, and its parks and paths and waters, we who hail from the Garden State do feel a bit of pain when, as the post card reads, you make fun of us.

A student blogging at Care4Poor posted a link to this site as a humorous break from the all the technology frustrations she was having. Its an interesting video, however, to consider in terms of our reading for this week—Wenger’s (1998) Communities of Practice (interestingly, students have been blogging most about (read: complaining about) Wenger’s instructive style and also calling it "common sense"; more on that later)—and the below discussion of Siva Vaidhyanathan’s review essay "Naked in the ‘Nonopticon’" on the ubiquity of surveillance. Enjoy.

A student in my graduate course blogging at Famous in My Own Head points to this news release from Lewiston, Maine:

A large, mysterious blob has taken over a major sewer line in the city of Lewiston, leaving public works crews stumped as to how to budge it.

The best part of the story, however, is the Google quickmaps iframe embed they have included, and the label "Location of Blob":

Diane Penrod over at Blogdelirium Redux points to this hilarious student-created eHarmony parody by creating stories around Facebook relationship status updates, groups, and poking (as well as another by the duo Rhett and Link). Hilarious.

Credits: Produced for EXPOSED, a variety TV show at the University of Southern California. Directed by Mu Sun; Produced by Adam Sussman; Written by James Grosch.

Update 9:48am, 1/29/08: I just noticed that an argument could be made for this commercial being yet another example of the person of color as tech expert. See here and here for prior discussion.

The first snowfall came to southern Jersey on Thursday, starting around 9:30am and ending around 11:00pm. About 3 inches in total. I, like many others I imagine, enjoy seeing how snow transforms the spaces we take for granted everyday. While walking around campus I snapped a few photos of Rowan Hall with my cell phone.

How Can We Raise Awareness In Darfur Of How Much We’re Doing For Them?

The graphics in the new HP commercial featuring Jerry Seinfeld are incredible.

This morning the scale in my bathroom read 176.5. Shocked, I rubbed my still-sleepy eyes, went a got my glasses off the nightstand, stepped again on the scale. 176.5. Again. Same result.

I am pleased to announce that my diet which officially started in May of this year is over. I have lost 25.5lbs since arriving in NJ from Austin, TX.

I attribute the weight loss to 3 things:

1. no longer drinking soda of any kind–my vice was Pepsi at dinner
2. salads for lunch consisting of: organic spring mix, sugar snap peas, brussel sprouts, raw fresh baby corn, cucumber, ground black pepper, raisins, and Maple Grove Farms of Vermont Fat Free Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing
3. riding my bike in the summer on the Glassboro-Monroe Township Bike Trail 3 - 4 times a week for an hour each time, and doing 80 push-ups, 20 pull-ups, and 250 crunches 2 times a week

I found that most days I was vegan. Other than salads, the foods I have eaten most while on the diet:

1. Eggo Special K 99%Fat Free Waffles which essentially serve as a boat for 5 - 7 cups of fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, tangerines, etc.)
2. Hungry Jack Lite Syrup
3. sweet potatoes
4. a stir fry consisting of fresh zucchini, onions, brocholini, and either tofu, chicken, or shrimp
5. pizza from Benny’s Pizzeria on Mantua Pike ordered with no cheese but with mushrooms and green peppers
6. various sushi for dinner
7. various Chinese for dinner
8. Orville Redenbacher’s Original Kernal popcorn cooked on the stove in my special popcorn pot

The one food that I know immediately puts the weight back on, which is sad to say because it is so good, is Pal Joey’s subs.Changes I have noticed since the weight started coming off:

1. I make more trips to the supermarket to replenish my supply of fruit and veggies
2. I went down one pants size
3. I don’t get nearly as winded when walking across campus
4. Now that winter is upon us, I am much colder most of the time
5. I have more energy

The goal now is to keep it off. I’ll let you know how that goes. Off to breakfast.