Fever Of 106 (And My Reseach Progress)!

I'm in quite the excellent mood as I'm writing this blog... Wanna know why? Because I scored a 106 on my MLA test!! You know what that means? I'm more than perfect, I'm like Kanye West! Woo-hoo!! Back to the real world.. My research for the paper has been pretty good. Playing Rock Band all week and I'm hopefully gonna buy Rock Band 106 (Opps.. I mean Rock Band 2) by the end of the month, maybe by Black Friday? Dr. Smith gave me some swell ideas to muscle up my paper. I could write about how the songs get there in the first place and how the sales of the albums have been doing since the game introduced the songs to the players (Yeah, I'm sure Kansas and Journey sales have gone through the roof... Name one person who doesn't love "Carry On Wayward Son"). The outline is due this week and I think I'm making progress. Breaking News: Shakti thinks I'm bragging by telling the world about my 106 on my MLA exam. I'm not bragging, I'm just perfect, LOL. Anyhoo, that's the end of my blog and now that this blog has come to an end, remember this... I GOT 106 ON MY MLA EXAM!!

Five Star Paper!

I've been exploring topics for my English 101 midterm these past couple days and there's only one I'm really trying to work on: Do games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band revitalize Rock and Roll? I mean, I know someone who actually started playing guitar because she wanted to play The Police's "Message In A Bottle" and Avenged Sevenfold's "The Beast And The Harlot" because they were her favorite songs on Guitar Hero 2. As a matter of fact, she's the one that introduced me to the Guitar Hero craze. I taught her how to play "Message In A Bottle" once she had a guitar (but she was on her own when it comes to playing "The Beast And The Harlot", LOL). As a musician, I personally think it's an interesting topic but I'm not sure if it's 10 pages of "interesting". I'd much rather write a paper on Rock Band than writing a paper on the cliche "Grand Theft Auto and violence in teens" because Dr. Smith's probably read millions of those. It also wouldn't be that hard to find some research on that topic, seeing as how there are tons of cases online (not to mention the fact that it's a really depressing topic, haha). In my opinion, Guitar Hero and Rock Band are a fresh breath of air in the video game world and it is what I want to do my research on.

I've Got The Dungeon Master's Guide, I've Got 12 Sided Die...

The title is the first line from an old Weezer song "In The Garage", which is what I thought of throughout our trip. Last week, our cluster class went to Manhattan to do some research on games. Before that, I went to Virgin Megastore and bought a documentary on Bob Dylan, which was awesome, LOL. First place we went to was Toys R' Us in Times Square. We went to the R' Zone on played a couple video games while we were there. Then we went upstairs and discovered the joy of LEGOS! I bought a small simple box that was a little too easy (it's ages 9 and UP!), but nevertheless, fun. Afterwards, we stopped by GameStop (Get it, stop? Gamestop? No? Okay..) and checked out some more video games, there were obviously more video games to play because it's specifically a video game retailer. I impressed a huge crowd of people by playing "Eye Of The Tiger" on Expert mode and even got a lucky girl's number... Okay, no I didn't, but still, it was a fun experience. Later on, our small crowd went to The Complete Strategist and check out the small place. It was mostly board games and and Dungeon & Dragons stuff, with pale white employees who probably haven't seen the sun in months. From then on, our group called it a day and split. If you want to know what I did afterwards, I went to Guitar Center and bought a harmonica and a little more knowledge on games than I did that morning.

Thnks Fr Th Mmrs

I apologize in advance for the bad Fall Out Boy title.. It's a pun.

A pun (the title of the song is supposed to be Thanks For The Memories)
which leads to today's blog topic: What I've learned at LaGuardia thus far. Hmm.. Stuff that I've learned. I can't really say I've learned stuff that I didn't really know before. One of the great things I've learned at LaGuardia was through Louis' media class, which was Bob Dylan. I was a Bob Dylan fan a little before classes began. And when Louis introduced the mid-term, I jumped right at the idea on writing a paper on Robert Zimmerman. It was a really great experience at LaGuardia. Another thing I learned at LaGuardia was by Dr. Smith. Ever have that problem when you're typing a paper and you go back to a point in your paper, retype something and find out that what you're typing is going over what you typed before? (Did that make sense?) If you press Insert on your computer, problem solved! Well, this is a short blog, I don't think I learned too much.. Sorry guys!

Lost In Translation

I woke up a bit too early today (an hour early), so I figured I'd write a blog, seeing as how I've always wanted to write one on my spare time. Spare time is here and I am blogging (LOL). In my spare time, all I did was fold my laundry and buy a song on iTunes (If you like Regina Spektor, download Ben Folds "You Don't Know Me", although most of you don't even know who she is.... If you do, tell me and I will love you forever). I really gotta work on my Bob Dylan paper, I stood up till around 2:30 thinking of a good introduction because my paper just feels awkward. Like, I read it and you can tell it's just put together all messy.. Yeah, I gotta get to work on that, thank God it's Wednesday, I could just work on it in class today. Speaking of working on stuff, I gotta work on these lyrics I wrote for a song. The music sounds very, I can't explain it, Frenchy or Italian. Think "Lady & The Tramp" meets The Beatles' "Michelle". I'm thinking about adding an accordian in the song using GarageBand on my BFFL's Mac. Back to the lyrics, I wanna translate a verse in Italian and sing it. The thing is, first of all, I don't know anyone who speaks Italian and second of all, even if I do get it translated in Italian, it doesn't mean it'll fit the song. So if any of you guys in my class speak Italian... Give me a hoot! I gotta get going to school now, probably posting up another blog when I get there (LOL... That wasn't even funny). Oh, my iPods fully charged now, later folks!

Love In This Club

A couple days ago, I went to the Club Fair at LaGuardia. There were some that were interesting, some that were boring, some that offered free mugs (was that even a club?). Clubs that weren't even clubs, just promoting FIZE drinks and other clubs that bribed you with candy (I'm pointing my finger at you Gay & Straight Alliance!). One club that caught my eye was the Phi Theta Kappa club, which is an honors club. It's really cool, you go places there... Literally. They have a convention in Texas once a year. Not only that, they can lead you to many scholarships and grants. The only catch is you need to maintain a 3.5 GPA. That was pretty much the only club that caught my eye, really. I was highly upset when I didn't find a Music Club or something like it at least. There needs to be a club for musicians, I would join it in a heartbeat! Or an Actor's Club, c'mon really? All in all, not a great day that day, there was nothing that interested me. The only club was the honors club and it's not even free! I have to pay 35 bucks! Okay, I'm through ranting, LOL.

No Work & More Play Make Jack A Smart Boy?

In Gee's essay Good Video Games and Good Learning, James Paul Gee enlightens the reader that students would learn more through games than we would through old fashioned textbooks. Education through gaming would be a very fresh and interesting way to learn in schools (And ironic too... Do you know how many times I've had my GameBoy taken away from me in elementary school?). I am speaking for myself, someone who has had textbooks from school stay on the shelf for a year, collecting dust and literally returning books the same way they were handed to me that I truly support Gee's idea of learning through gaming. Humans have been learning through games for thousands of years. From hide and seek to Super Mario Brothers, we have learned many of our knowledge and skills from play and simulation (if you jump on top of a turtle with wings, it will lose it's wings... Jump on it again and it will die). Take hide and seek for example: Humans have probably used our skills from hide and seek to hide from a 880 pound lion, bearing teeth and ready to kill. It's a difficult thing to try and enjoy something that is long, hard and complex. If education came to us in the form of a game, it would appeal much more to students. In conclusion, I completely support Gee's arguement to use video games as a learning tool in schools

Digital Ducks

Does anyone remember Duck Hunt? It was the very first game that was released for the NES. What's even better about it is that you were equipped with a gun, so you can point the orange gun at the screen and shoot some digital ducks on the screen. That was one of the very first games I remember playing as a young boy. Games can be described in so many ways. To one person, it can mean competition or sport. To another, it can just be a source of amusement or pleasure. After playing a group of online games on Wednesday morning, my definition of games is simple: an activity with a set of rules that brings you a source of pleasure. Play can be described as fun, I don't think I can describe it any other way. You can see playfulness a mile away. Just seeing interactivity and enjoyment between the people playing describes play (does that make sense?). Simulation is pretty much the interactivity going on within the game. The involvement of the player(s) is the simulation. Whether it's a group of children playing dress-up or someone playing Halo 3 in their video game chair, simulation is the essence that brings you to the game. It's your imagination convincing you to play along with the game. You are not dressed up as a doctor, you are the doctor. You're aren't a 17 year old holding a controller and smelling like sweat and Doritos, you are the Master Chief, destroying the Covenant with your turret, riding on top of a Warthog. Or you could be shooting digital ducks on the TV screen with your orange gun.

011010010101

Darn, I've been putting this off for a while because I really don't know how to start a blog, LOL (is it okay to type 'LOL' on a blog? Does that mean I'm laughing at my own joke?). Anyhoo, earlier this week, we were watching "The Matrix", now I don't know why I didn't like it the first time I saw it. Maybe it's because I don't like Keanu Reeves, maybe it was because of the commercials in between the movie or maybe it was because I only looked forward to the "Neo-dodging-bullets-in-slow-motion" camera movements, but I really got a lot out of the movie and appreciate the Wachowski brothers more than before. The Matrix was a perfect example of Plato's "Parable of The Cave". Some people see the light at the end of the cave and see the world at its fullest (Neo), while others leave the cave and and want to go back (Cypher). Most of the world haven't left the cave at all (like the people within the Matrix) and have yet to see the world and once you have, youll never want to turn around. "Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. It's really a sci-fi movie on its own level, there's not much you can compare it to. It's just it's own type of sci-fi. I suppose this parable really gave me an idea of what to look forward to when watching this. The "Alice In Wonderland" references were quite a help too, LOL. The kung-fu/spaghetti-western feel in the fighting sequences will probably never be done as well as the Wachowski brothers did it, like that final fighting scene between Agent Smith and Neo. It had that western feel, like when the newspaper flew between them, it signified the cliche tumbleweed that blows through the southern draw. Religion also played a key in the film. I mean really, if you didn't see Neo as a christ-like figure, you need to watch it again. All in all, I really liked the film a lot more this time around then I have when watching it on FOX 5. A really great film and a really great example when trying to understand Plato's "Parable of The Cave".

I Can't Believe It's Not My Password!

I have no idea what I'm doing, this is so flippin' confusing!
I'm really lost but hopefully I'll get everything down in the next couple weeks. I created about 20 passwords in one morning and they're either my social security number, my birthday, my goldfish's name or the brand of butter I spread on my toast (I don't even have a goldfish.... That's how ridiculous this password dilemma is!).