Monthly Archives: January 2013

Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

How did LucasFilm (Disney) exec Kathleen Kennedy get JJ Abrams to agree to direct Star Wars VII? That question is answered, along with a great look at how Kennedy went from being a PA to one of the most powerful … Continue reading

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Link Ch. 3 – Revisiting Re-imagined Disney Princesses

Several years ago, illustrator Jeffrey Thomas posted several incredibly twisted re-imagined Disney princesses/heroines that immediately went viral on the Interwebs.  I’ve loved his images, especially the zombie Little Mermaid and the evil-eyes Snow White. Now Thomas has released a series … Continue reading

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Watching the Inauguration

In my book, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, I present “The seven truths ‘they’ don’t want you to know about the media.” These are essentially the seven thesis statements of the book, but that sounds so boring, so … Continue reading

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Glee covers Jonathan Coulton’s version of Baby Got Back without any credit to him

About seven years ago, singer/songwriter Jonathan Coulton recorded a brilliant acoustic version of Sir Mix A Lot’s “Baby Got Back,” turning the rap into a sweet ballad. Take a listen: Lots of fun, and a very distinctive cover.  No way … Continue reading

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If your mother says she loves you, check it out…

Updated 1/18/13 I was sitting in the dental chair yesterday afternoon, waiting for the dentist to come fix my chipped tooth when I came across a tweet pointing me to the Deadspin story about Manti Te’O’s fake/made up/fraudulent (choose your … Continue reading

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Media in our Lives

On Monday, I asked my students in my 9 a.m. Global Media Literacy what media they had used since midnight.  Here’s what they had done during the first 9 hours of the day (during which they presumably slept a little…).  … Continue reading

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Link Ch. 13 – The Hazelwood Decision’s 25th Anniversary

Twenty-five years ago, the United States Supreme Court  ruled that a high school principal in Hazelwood, Missouri, had the right to censor articles in the student newspaper about pregnancy and divorce.  The court, in its ruling, wrote: The First Amendment … Continue reading

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What is Gangnam Style? And how did it turn Klingon?

Last fall our friend Charley Reed gave us an in-depth analysis of the insanely popular Korean video Gangnam Style.  Me?  I added in the wonderful parody video of Klingon Style!  We talked about it in class today, so if you … Continue reading

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George Carlin and Movie Trailers

In my Global Media Literacy class I’ve been showing and talking about several videos I’ve had around for some time. Thought I would share them with you this morning. We’ve been talking about how movie trailers can set an emotional … Continue reading

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Blogs From My Commentary Class

As I mentioned the other day, I’m teaching commentary and blogging this semester, and I’ve got an interesting group of students who will be commenting on just about everything over the semester.  Here are their blogs! Eric Nelson – nelsonej2’s … Continue reading

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