Timothy Liu Extra Credit

During Timothy Liu's poetry reading at NE Wesleyan, one line of his poem's that particularly struck me was "Barns loomed in the distance like bison grazing."
This line had particular significance to me because of its reference to Nebraska, the Great Plains, and the relatively recent changes that humans have caused in this landscape. He makes a statement that connects the now with the past. Replacing the herds of Bison that characterized the Great Plains before it became the heartlands and cornbelt, are herds of barns, farms, and fields that displaced the bison and altered their livestyles. Although his statement may not have been meant for this reason within context, it was I immediately thought of when I heard it. It also made me reflect a little bit on the lifestyle that I and many people within the Midwest live.
Much of my family's income is based on farming the land that was taken from bison and entire prairie ecosystem. Prairie has basically disappeared from the Midwest, although the farms that replaced it are the source of food for much of our nation, it is frightening to think about what longterm negative effects this could have. What significane does the loss of species and ecosystems play in the success of the human race? Does each individual species really matter? Timothy Liu's statement sort of woke me up to the fact that humans can greatly alter landscapes and systems within the world. I have no opinion to how good or how bad this is. But I think it is necessary to think about what long term effects actions can have before they are undertaken.

Teenage Crushes: A Reflection on Aaron Carter's "I Want Candy"

First of all, can you look at Aaron Carter and not think PIMP?... Didn't think so.

Everyone can remember their first teenage crush. The time when they first realized they were actually attracted to a single member of the opposite sex. These crushes are often short lived and based on confusion in understanding the new feelings and emotions that come with a crush. Do you remember your first teenage crush or any teenage crush in particular?

I remember my first teenage crush was during the 6th grade on a girl I attended school with. She was the typical sporty, competitive, tomboyish type of grade school girl. She played football and basketball with the guys everyday during recess, and because of her jump start in the physical maturity category, she was taller, stronger, and beat most of the boys. However, she didn't stand a chance at beating me simply because of the sweet skills and human instinct I was born with. Anyways, that is beside the point. Turns out that I was on her list of people that she liked at the time and before we new it we heard head over heals in a serious grade school relationship similar to Aaron Carters. We sat together at lunch attempting to talk with one another about the nights upcoming homework assignments over the murmurs, giggles, and quick glances towards us by our friends. We would meet together on afternoons during the weekends, always bringing with us the protection of one or more of our friends of the same gender and play basketball on the play ground or attend movies. Than one weekend, I thought I hit the jack-pot. We met at the school playground as we had on numerous other occasions; however, this time we met alone. We decided to go on a real date and walked to the ice cream shop where we ate ice cream. It was amazing.
Unfortunately, a week or to later, we both realized that it was possible to be attracted to other people, and since we had rounded all the bases culminating with the precious ice cream moment and had no where to turn next, we decided it would be best for us to take a break and weigh our other options. Aaron Carter's video reminds me of this. It is fun to remember how thoughts involving pony-tailed girls bouncing around on the playground could have so contently filled my wandering daydreams in grade school. Even more humorous, are the memories of the activities like the movie dates with posses of friends as is seen in "I Want Candy." It is almost a right of passage into life and understanding how to control and find meaning in those crush based emotions while learning how to be the catch for that one lucky person.

"I Want Candy" by Aaron Carter: Brandon's Favorite Music Video

In this video we are introduced to a handsome Aaron Carter, and his teenage crush that "sets his heart on fire" Candy. Within the video, the editing and filming styles work/employ a relaxed or nonprofessional approach in appearance. Scenes within the video are deliberately made short and choppy with a lack of any clear cut smooth transitions. In general, the angles used in the filming are abstract/tilted as if taken using a home video. This home video appearing aspect is important to the overall argument of the hybrid text. This quality helps to create and tell the story of Aaron and his teenage crush on candy through his youthful eyes. In the opening phone conversation, a pathetic appeal is created that causes Aaron to appear nervous yet excited for his date with Candy. Through this pathetic appeal and the seemingly unprofessional methods of filming, the youthfulness that characterizes Aaron and Candy's relationship, one that is present in nearly all teenage crush based relationships, is developed as we see them attempting to participate in romantic activities.
Within the video there is a recurring pattern of Aaron's friends habits of busting his and Candy's romantic moments. This may be an attempt to develop an effective ethos in Aaron's favor, by showing his ability to have friends but also his maturity level that may be slightly higher than theirs because he is on the date. Furthermore, the introduction of Aaron's friends and there frequent busting/tampering in of Aaron and Candies moments of romance my expand the argument of the youthfulness that is present in Aaron and Candies relationship. This is mainly a result of the friendships that appear to be strong between Aaron and his still youthful and immature appearing friends.