Happy St. P's & 2 films to see

Happy St. Patrick's Day, readers!  I hope you're out celebrating your Irish heritage or at least pretending to be Irish for the day.  Whether it's enjoying a green beer, fryin' up some spuds, or wearing a ridiculous shirt that says, "Kiss me, I'm Irish!", I appreciate your support of my heritage today.

Personally I celebrated today by finishing Frank McCourt's memoir, Angela's Ashes.  10 weeks into 2012 and 3 books down.  Only 17 more to go! ...Anyway, on to the point of this post...

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently saw two films that I think are really important:

1. Almost a year ago I saw that a documentary called "Miss Representation" was playing on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).  I was at my parents' house at the time so I PVRed it and then forgot about it.  Recently I was flipping through their PVRed shows and saw it there.  I was relaxing with my Saturday morning coffee, so I thought, why not?!  I spent the next two hours watching a documentary that really shook me.  In the simplest terms, the film is about the negative portrayal of women in the media and how that leads to a shortage of women in the government and other high-powered positions in the corporate world.
   
   A barometer for my world is my Facebook news feed.  I was an active volunteer in university in the LGBTQ community and as a result crossed paths with queer activists, feminists, and the like.  Now, my news feed is in large part made up of videos, articles, and personal statements about issues of homophobia, sexism, misogyny, etc.
   
   I am wholeheartedly against these things.  However, when they are the bulk of what I see on Facebook, I have become very desensitized and find myself with compassion fatigue.  So, I stop thinking about the problems and how they impact me and those around me.  When I sat down and watched "Miss Representation", it was like a smack in the face -- these are real issues!  There is a real problem!  I watched esteemed women like Condoleezza Rice, Lisa Ling, Rachel Maddow, and Gloria Steinem talk about this real issue, and I felt overcome with an urge to weep for women everywhere.  I know this sounds dramatic, but it felt dramatic!  I felt like I had totally forgotten that these are real problems affecting me and every female in my life and the world.  It was a wake-up call.  It was a very powerful & important film, and I strongly recommend it.
   
2. The day after I watched "Miss Representation", I went over to my sister's place for a delicious brunch and another engaging film.  She and I watched "We Were Here".  This doc is about the AIDS crisis in San Francisco in the 80s.  It really outlines the spread of the virus, both physically and also the social spread of information; from the early days hearing about the "gay cancer" to learning about potential meds to help those with AIDS.  The story of it all was told by artists prominent in the area at the time, individuals who had partners die of AIDS, and nurses who helped comfort patients in hospitals during their final days.  It was well-made, well-told, and emotional.  Another one I highly recommend.

EM ESS EN

I would guess that the high school experience these days is very often shaped by Facebook. Making plans, spreading gossip, complaining about homework, flirting, etc., etc. I'm so glad my high school experience did not involve Facebook in any way -- it was hard enough surviving the most self-conscious years of my life as it was, never mind what it would've been like trying to find a somewhat decent profile picture.

However, we didn't experience high school in the absence of technology, because there was a mode of communication that, for me at least, did shape my high school years.

MSN

I'm thinking about this because my Gmail chat just cut out for what seemed like 3 minutes, but was probably 1.5. When it happened, I was reminded of what my reaction was when this happened on MSN in grade 11. My anxiety would kick in, I would click click click... restart the computer... the sweat would start pouring... I would think about what the person I was chatting with might think... would they still be online? OMG OMG OMG!!!

Ahhhhh... sweet relief as the little green man spun around and then your friends were displayed once again.

How many serious conversations did you have on MSN? How many transcripts of conversations did you re-read? Did you ever print a conversation out?

I haven't used MSN in ages, but it really did define some pivotal parts of my adolescence.
Food for thought, I guess.

FB.

I could go on and on about how fascinating Facebook is and how it's changed our world and the way we socialize, communicate, etc., etc., etc., but I won't. We all live it and know it and there won't be anything unique about the way I articulate it, so I'll avoid self-indulgence & pretension for once.

I'll just make a few small comments about the movie "The Social Network":

• I thought the writing was fabulous. It makes me want to get into "The West Wing" again.
• I thought the acting was really good, too. Justin Timberlake isn't a great actor, maybe, but they picked a good character for him to play... although as a sidenote, I heard (read in Vanity Fair) that Sean Parker isn't really that much like the character in the movie. That may or may not be true.
• I had no idea that Sean Parker (one of the guys behind Napster) was involved in the beginnings of Facebook. Was that news to anyone else?
• My parents really enjoyed the movie, too, but my dad said it took him a while to get into. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that they don't have Facebook.
• Overall, definitely worth watching!

Tweet / Poke

I think Twitter & Facebook are meant for different sentiments. You know what I mean?

Gravy LOVES: Alex & Luke

THEIR STORY :

In September of 2009, after a few unexpected life turns, we started planning this project. Restless with our current positions in our respective lives, we set out to see what would happen if we used the power of social media to enable an exploration of North America.

Without a route or any preconceived idea of what we will see and do, we are calling on the communities behind the most popular social media websites to act as our compass (pointing us where to go) and our guidebook (telling us what to see).

Equipped with a small car and a trunk load of equipment, our goal is to travel through every state, province and territory while documenting and sharing the experience through web videos and other internet content available at our website, alexandluke.com.

We will be exploring the gap between real-time relationships and online relationships and it is our hope that connections between these two realms will be made in interesting and unexpected ways. Every individual who participates and engages with alexandluke, both on and offline will play a role in our journey. Sometimes these relationships will be formed deliberately, and other times by pure happenstance.

The desire to explore has been with us for thousands of years. The geography of North America is relatively the same as it has been for centuries. The need to collect and share the travel experience with others is as old as is travel itself. But never before has exploration been so accessible and sharing been so easy.

Who we will meet, where we will sleep, what we will see, and even the most fundamental aspect – where we will go, are all unknown. The notion of directionless travel may not be a new one, but this wanderlust is both facilitated and shared through new social technologies in an internet-empowered world

We leave it in your hands to help us experience the North America that you think we should experience and you can do this in a number of ways. Regular polls will be held on the home page of our website, but you can also interact with us through Twitter (where you can vote and make suggestions), YouTube (where you can vote and watch our videos), Gowalla (where you can check in with our current location and visited destinations) and on our Facebook Fan Page (where you can interact with us and our other followers). Click on the Interact button on our home page to learn more.

We can’t wait to see how the story unfolds, and how your involvement will affect our journey.

Alex & Luke are innovative, fun, smart, cute, and totally plugged in all the time! CHECK THEM OUT!!!

Social Media + Marketing = Mind-Blowing

Before I say anything else, check this out: This is the official YouTube blog. I checked it out for the first time today and yesterday they posted a great entry. It segues pretty well into my topic today:

Social Media and the concept of "Accidental Spokespeople".

I'm reading this great book right now that my boss lent me. It's called *Personality Not Included and it's written by Rohit Bhargava. I haven't read many (if any) marketing books, and I'm feeling like this book is a great intro. I'm only 60 or so pages into it, but here's what I figure it's about - "why brands need personality in this day and age to be successful". Bhargava talks about social media and the birth of the "accidental spokesperson". This person is someone inside or outside of a company that discusses the company just because they want to, and presumably are enthusiastic and passionate about it. Examples he uses are Intel employees who keep blogs about research, updates, and news regarding the company, Jared from Subway, and this guy named Armand who LOVES Moleskine notebooks. In fact, Armand loves the notebooks SO much that he keeps a blog called Moleskinerie where he discusses all the great things you can do with a Moleskine. Just a sidenote: I have a Moleskine notebook, too. They are the best.

Anyway, what Bhargava is saying is that all these people keeping blogs are amazing assets to the companies they belong to or are enthusiastic about. In this day and age, we rarely look to TV ads (if we even watch TV), newspaper ads, or flyers when we're thinking about buying a product, WE LOOK TO PEOPLE. We ask our friends, we check comment boards online, we ask a Yahoo! question and get a Yahoo! answer... We make it our status on Facebook, we tweet about it to our tweeple... You get what I (and everybody else) am saying. The world is changing, and these bloggers/tweeple/Facebookers are now our authorities.

How cool is that? We have so much power. If I write that I love Diet Pepsi SO MUCH (which I do... I was just drinking it while reading this book), and you read my blog and have never tried it but figure if I love it SO MUCH that maybe you will too, then maybe you'll drink it. I'm not saying you will for sure, but my blog might actually inspire that action. It's a really cool thing.

Social media is something I'm really starting to get into. Not in the sense that I'm registering for all the sites (because I mostly have already... at least all the popular ones), but I'm starting to reflect on its power more than ever. These aren't just sites that we waste our time on anymore. They are legitimate and powerful tools that we utilize to learn, help make our decisions, and keep in touch.

My mind is officially blown. Is yours?

Jacko!

Not that I'm any famous blogger or anything, but I feel the need to blog about Michael Jackson. I refuse to reference it in my Twitter (https://twitter.com/maevaflave) or Facebook statuses because it's all been done, and plus - it's hard (for me) to say anything heartfelt in less than 140 characters.

Sidenote: I am NOT a Facebook/Twitter hater. I love new technology, and I'm completely self-obsessed, so I figure that everyone loves my statuses.

Anyway, back to Jack.

Firstly, an unreal pic is in order:


I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I love The Beatles, so seeing Sir Paul & MJ together, lookin' all stylish and musical genius-y makes me really happy.

MJ changed the face of music and its performance, let's be real. The music he made was new, fresh, and fierce. His dancing was the same, and he did it all SO. WELL.

I know he's done some crazy things, but you know what? Personal lives and professional lives are tied together far too much these days with celebrities. It used to be about the music back when MJ was doing his thang, so why can't it still be about that? I'm glad to see (so far) that people are celebrating his musical legacy, as opposed to harping on his mistakes, etc. I don't know what he did or didn't do in terms of all that, but I know that he changed our cultural world, and hope that we all focus on that.

RIP.