Suns comin’ up, got Slander on the girddle.

Where this deviates from the assignment a little bit, I uncovered a slander case that struck me as very interesting and because these assignments are considerably freelance, I wanted to write about this case in particular because I figured it would help hone my investigative ethical skills better.

A woman, Missy Chase Lapine, wrote a cook book that was titled The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids. Shortly after her cook book was published, Jessica Seinfeld, wife of Jerry Seinfeld, authored a book entitled Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food.

Where this case started as a case based on the grounds of plagiarism, it became a case based in terms of slander.

Just by comparing the titles of the two cook books, one may expect that there are going to be similar themes with the diction and recipes in the books. After Lapine read the cook book that Seinfeld had published, she pointed out that there were conclusive signs of infringement and plagiarism. These two charges were the initial allegations in the sentence; however, after Jerry Seinfeld was a guest on the Letterman Show, slander and defamation charges were also made.

It was believed that Jerry Seinfeld used his celebrity status to defame Lapine. On the Letterman show, he called her such names as wacko and nut-job. Seinfeld also claimed that Lapine is hysterical for the previously mentioned allegations of infringement and plagiarism.

In accordance with the statements made in the article that is attached to this blog, I too believe that Jerry Seinfeld was not defaming the character or integrity of Missy Chase Lapine. I do believe that the words said about her were unnecessary, to say the least. However, by no means were they malicious, nor do I think the Jerry Seinfeld used them to manipulate anyone into believing anything bad about Missy Lapine.

I did not find any resolution on the case between the Seinfelds and Missy Chase Lapine. This very well may be because charges were dropped. Regardless, in the hypothetical situation that I was the one determining this case, I would find the Seinfelds not guilty of defamation. I don’t believe that Jerry Seinfeld should be exempt from the freedom of speech just because his level of celebrity status.

Free at last!

 

Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty that Weezy is free at last.

Grammy Award winning rapper, Dwayne Carter, commonly known as Lil Wayne, was recently released from an eight month prison sentence that he served for felony gun possession. Where felony gun charges appeal to the vast majority of his fans because it reinforces his “thug” image and everything else that he preaches in his music, there’s no questioning that his thug image needs to be cleaned up a little bit. Even though Lil Wayne’s CD covers have disclaimers for parents that his music is explicit, it is inevitable that his music will land in the hands and ears of children. For that fact, he must be conscientious of how he carries himself in the eye of the public.

The first step that I will take to restore the image of Dwayne Carter is to get a four episode reality TV show for him on VH1. I will have the show be about Dwayne Carter and not his stage name Lil’ Wayne. This is because Dwayne was the man that did the prison time, not Lil’ Wayne. Furthermore, having the show be about Dwayne Carter will make it more personal for the fans. This is a very safe avenue for image restoration because it is not aired live. Any mistakes made by Dwayne Carter on the set that may make him look bad can simply be edited out. Also, as the four part series progresses, it will concurrently show Dwayne’s progress.

On the show, fans will be able to see Dwayne Carter as a humbled citizen and not the thug that desires the glitz and the glamour. Some of his activities will include visiting a retirement home, giving a speech at a high school where he will encourage students to reach for the stars, and a full episode dedicated to his efforts in aiding those that were directly affected by hurricane Katrina.

Another step that will be taken to revamp the light of Dwayne Carter is a clean CD. He is commonly known for bragging about his money, degrading women, and promiscuous sex. Where he can still be prideful in his music, themes will be centered toward a single monogamous partner, being a genuine and loving father to his children, and the work ethic that is necessary for achieving greatness.

The risk with creating a clean album is that sales and ratings may decrease. In the event that sales and ratings actually do decrease, it allows another great avenue to emphasize humility. If critics began to speculate as to why he made the clean album, he could then reiterate that he was passionate about being a positive role model and that money was never a concern of his.

Transforming the world of product placement

 Transformers, directed by Michael Bay, was a box office hit that was budgeted at 150 million dollars and ultimately grossed over 800 million dollars. A starting budget of 150 million is quite a bit of money, even for Hollywood. So no doubt about it, Michael Bay definitely utilized that strategy of product placement to generate a little bit extra spending money for this respective special effects thriller.

For those of you, who don’t actually know what Transformers are, allow me to inform you. They are autonomous “alien” machines from planet Cybertron. Just like Earth, Cybertron is not a perfect world; you have the good guys and you have the bad guys. In this case, the good guys, led by Optimus Prime, are the Autobots. Their assailants are the Decepticons whom are led by Optimus Prime’s evil brother, Megatron. The power source for all of the Transformers is the Allspark; a gigantic electronic cube. After it was launched into their atmosphere, it fell into Planet Earth’s orbit and then ultimately crashed landed on American soil. Go figure.

In search of the Allspark, both the Autobots and the Decepticons brought their war to the USA. Just like their name insinuates, Transformers have the ability to transform. Get out of town, right? To remain inconspicuous, the Transformers camouflage themselves by acting as random ordinary machines. This could be anything from a stereo to a car, a plane to soda machine, or a television to a toy truck. Wouldn’t you know, that the main characters of Transformers, the Transformers themselves, just so happen to be disguised as American consumer products.  In my opinion, that’s a great avenue for product placement.

Let’s start with the most obvious, shall we?

GM was a major component of product placement in Transformers. When camouflaged, four of the five Autobots were different makes and cars that are made by GM. Bumblebee, the Autobot that was responsible for the well being of the main character, Sam Witwicky, was a 2008 Chevy Camaro when disguised. Since the muscle car days, the Camaro lost its cool and sleek image. The 2008 model; however, was made to restore the reputation of the Camaro with an antiquated look that had contemporary features. It’s safe to say that GM probably had an agreement with the producers of Transformers to have Bumblebee be their 2008 Camaro model. Also, another one of the Autobots, Jazz, was Pontiac’s concept car, the Solstice. The third and fourth were a GMC truck and a yellow Hummer.

Another major product that was seen throughout the movie was Mountain Dew. On several occasions, characters including Sam Witwicky are seen drinking Mountain Dew or there are cans and bottles of Mountain Dew placed in the scene. Also, one of the Decepticons was disguised as a Mountain Dew vending machine.

Transformers was not only a hit in the Box Office, but was also a groundbreaking hit in the world of product placement. Rather than simply subliminally placing products in each scene, the producers of Transformers made the products some of the characters.

I Hope They Serve Beer Elsewhere

I don’t consider myself much of a reader and likewise, I haven’t read many books. Out of the few books that I actually have read, one book stands apart from the rest. It’s not Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and it’s not George Orwell’s 1984. It is none other than Tucker Max’s debut novel, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell.

If you know anything about both Tucker Max and me, then you know that we are, in every sense of the expression, polar opposites, thus, making him an unlikely inspiration of mine.

 Tucker Max is a unique human being. He received a J.D. from Duke Law where he studied on full scholarship. Regardless of his degree in law, he has now become a very successful writer. However, all of his success is a direct result of some uncanny combination of an intangible personality, impeccable knowledge, and a complete lack of concern for his actions and the consequences thereof. He is shamelessly an ego-maniac, he drinks beyond humanly healthy on a nightly basis, and he is involved in promiscuous coital circumstances so often that he considers three days a dry spell. I do my best to be selfless, I drink seldom, and I believe in the sanctimony of a monogamous relationship.

I’ll reiterate. He and I are polar opposites.

The question then lies within; how can I be inspired by someone that I don’t seem to identify myself with on any level? For me, the question is almost rhetorical. Allow me to elaborate. Tucker Max is a disgusting human being, yes. However, he is also a man that lives his life completely uninhibited and does so honestly. He indulges every whim without fear of what may happen to him, even if it leaves him embarrassed, in prison, or worse. Then just for his fans’ sake, he publishes the stories for their humor, not his own. Shame is a cold body and Tucker Max does not have any. That’s something to be admired.

What entices me most about Tucker Max is his ability to simply live his life. No matter what he is doing, he is always seeking pleasure somehow and he always strives to have a great time. Furthermore, in order to have a great time, he sometimes deviates from socials norms. He constantly challenges society and as a result he makes great stories to share with thousands of eager fans.

So often, people get tied up in a symmetrical lifestyle. They start in elementary school, and then they go from middle school to high school. Next, they enter the workforce or further their education with college and sometimes graduate school. People go from job to job and then find the one that they’ll settle with until they retire. Along the way they’ll get married and have, in theory, 2.11 children. This is another thing that has fascinated me about Tucker. He did what Robert Frost wrote of and took the road less traveled. Ultimately, it worked out for him.

He has changed the minds of many readers. He has revolutionized the book industry by generating a new genre of book: “FRATire.” He has lived his life without regrets and he has inspired some people to live their lives more care-free. I’d say it’s made a little bit of a difference in my life.

Bravo, Zuckenberg!

The first claim in a 2006 New York Times article titled Brave New World of Digital Intimacy, written by Clive Thompson is: “Mark Zuckenberg changed the way that Facebook worked, and in the process he inspired a revolt.” However, what Thompson didn’t realize was that Zuckenberg simultaneously changed the way that most communications would work. Facebook became a primary form of communication amongst students, friends, parents, children, adults, and virtually every other demographic.

In Thompson’s article he makes a point to show how students were using Facebook in its early stages. College students were blowing up their albums with pictures of themselves partying, gossiping stories of drunken revelry from wall to wall, and changing their statuses to something that would later be self-incriminating, and so on and so on.

Facebook had already paved the way to be a social networking phenomenon because there were very few sites similar to it. Therefore, it was mostly uncontested with the exception of MySpace. So Facebook became the most revolutionary form of a communication.

Just on Facebook, one could send a message, send an instant message, make a wall post, and update a status. Whereas if someone would try to do this without Facebook, they would have to send an e-mail, send an instant message from an instant messenger provider, and then log into MySpace to make a wall post.

All of this was only in the early stages of Facebook. Where Facebook was already revolutionary, it has since been revolutionized. Now on Facebook, one can make a phone call, leave a video message, and see what’s going on through a live News Feed.

This is great and all, but it has an adverse affect on productiveness in the class room and in the work place. For the most part, and I’m just being honest, sitting in the class room seems like a chore. With a lap top; however, one can escape from their class room duties and explore the world wide web of Facebook. In a class full of fifty people, sometimes you just digitally want to be closer to someone else. So, if one’s mind in the web, then it’s not in the lesson. Thus, overall production is less than it could potentially be.

Fast Forward to 2035. Can We Do That Yet?

Whenever I get into conversations with my grandparents about technology, they are always certain to reiterate that they would’ve had no clue that technology would’ve come so far. I can empathize.

However, I’m a considerably imaginary person and I have a pretty vivid idea of what I want year 2035 to look like.

Let’s submerge.

First off, I will not be driving a car. I will be operating my hover craft. I will not be traveling long distances via aircraft. I will most certainly be teleporting. My television will be neither tube nor LCD flat screen. In fact, my television will not be a television. I will have a 3-Dimensional holographic projection system. Will it be awesome? Yup. Let’s continue. The 3G iPhone will be a thing on the past. I’m going to have a telecommunication brain chip so I can chat with my friends just by thinking. Did I mention that I will be able to communicate with my dog, Chomper? He’ll have a brain chip too. Forget the web 3.0 computer cloud; I’ll have my literal 4.0 information cloud that will follow me around, provided I want it to. GPS system? I forgot about those. TOM TOM did away with them long ago when they merged with Google to create the Google Maps navigation chip. It comfortably rests in my occipital lobe. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I won the Nobel Peace Prize for curing cancer. Unfortunately, that led to massive over-population on Earth. Fortunately, I won my second Nobel Peace Prize for building the first sustainable mega compound on the moon.

To quote Morgan Freeman, whom quoted Ernest Hemingway “,’the world is a fine place and worth fighting for.’ I believe in the second part.” I too agree with the second part. However, the fighting is what leads me to believe in my next testimonial. If there is no Utopian 2035, then I don’t believe there will be a 2035. It’s difficult to have faith in an imperfect world that is filled with indifferent people whom hold lavish grudges and have access to extraordinary weaponry.

Hypothetically, if we don’t literally blow ourselves up, then I believe that the world of mass communications will figuratively explode [in a good way].

Journalism will still be a key asset to retrieving information. However, newspaper will most certainly be a dead medium. Information conveyed through journalism will be displayed on-line and only on-line. As far as advertising goes, the billboard is buried next to the newspaper. Most all advertising, including that of which was originally done on television, will be broadcasted on-line or in a manner of contemporary Times’ Square.  There will be many mega screens with motion images and a lot of screens displaying images with marquee. Where public relations will be much less personal, it will still be around. If a person or company needs to speak out to the public, then they will do it on-line and it will be broadcasted live on-line.

Cross SHOmotional

Among the critically acclaimed premium television dramas, one SHOwtime program sits apart from the rest–Dexter: the epic of a man who struggles to balance the adoration of a father, the faithfulness of a husband, the ethic of a man that serves the criminal justice system, and the urge of a serial killer.

SHOwtime gives life to Dexter through ownership of CBS.

Considering that CBS has major ownership of many different public television stations and public radio stations, as well as, considerable ownership in book publishing and magazine manufacturing, SHOwtime’s hit dramatic mystery also has the capacity to become a cross promotional success.

In order to promote Dexter, CBS can air commercials for it on any of its public television stations from Baltimore to Los Angeles and anywhere in between. Concurrently, they can promote through radio commercials on their radio stations across the nation.

Being that Dexter is a unique program, its promotional have to be as well.

The character that Michael C. Hall plays, Dexter, is not just an ordinary serial murderer. He is a man to be sympathized with. “Born in blood,” Dexter witnessed his mother being murdered when he was three years of age, and then sat in her blood for two days until he was rescued by Harry Morgan; a police officer and the man that would then adopt him.

The show insinuates that Dexter has the urges to kill because he was “born again.” As Dexter aged, Harry recognized this and resolved to form a solution: develop a code for Dexter. The number one rule was to only take the lives of people that have murdered. No rapists, no pedophiles, and no innocent were to be harmed by Dexter’s’ urges. Only killers.

Promotions for Dexter must be similar to his demeanor. In public, Dexter is wholesome and happy. He is sometimes self kept, but typically the shoulder for his friends and family. Dexter’s true identity is always hidden. In the eye of the audience, Dexter is never seen as a monster. SHOwtime portrays him as a wounded bird, and so he is seen as a hero. With the substantial amount of Dexter’s dialogue being his thoughts, viewers become able to identify and sympathize with Dexter. One becomes able to become emotionally attached to a man that would, in theory, be a first round draft pick to the public execution.

All television promotion for Dexter should be subtle and eerie. The thought of becoming emotionally attached to a murderer is something to be skeptical of. However, on television, Dexter can be physically seen. When looking at Dexter, he seems like a humble man. Meshing the warming aesthetics of Michael C. Hall with eerie theme music, Dexter can be seen in the mysterious light that it is.

As far as radio goes, dialogue in promotional commercials must be spoken in a way that the audience can feel comfortable with Dexter, considering that they cannot physically see him. The music should be held in a major key so that the audience is not initially deterred.

Two Days Without Media? Nope.

Hypethetically if you were to ask me:

Nick, are you addicted to media?

I would answer:

Yes. Yes, I am.

After wisely and maticulously planning the two days that I would go without media, I still knew this would be an unrelenting task. Two days?! Really?! Alright.

I wake up. I roll out of bed. I take a shower. Boom! Fifteen minutes of my day knocked out without using any type of media. “Sure, I can get dressed today without listening to music,” I say to myself.

Sixteen seconds later, my briefs are on and I’m upset that someone who actually can sing well is not singing alongside of me. Any aspirations of being an A’capella singer have been abolished. I guess that’s a good thing.

The time has come; I leave to walk out of the door and my iTouch has to stay behind. This is worse than a break up, I think to myself. Part of me wants to explain to my iTouch, “It’s not you, it’s me.” Then I regain my composure in confidence that my iTouch is inanimate and will not hold this against me. I’m reassured.

While skating to class, I find that yet again, I am singing to myself. I get self-conscious that someone may have heard me. Then I face a sour moment of self-reflection: How often do I sing when I do have my iPod and my headphones are in. If my headphones are in then I cannot hear myself. How loud am I singing every other day?!

Shame is a cold body. Undaunted, I press on.

Two classes later, I find myself yearning for Facebook or some music, while simultaneously questioning the future of a friendship with Dr. Nichols.

After getting my burrito on at the Patuxent lounge, while concurrently dodging all of the YouTube videos that my friends are watching on their phones and being ostracized from the media community, I make my way back to my humble abode in Tower A.

This is when I realize that, yes, I do have an addiction to media and it is a synonym for drug. I’m alone in my room and up until this point I have seldomly used my phone and need my fix. I start texting. This is the equivalent to a drag of a cigarette. I feel better. I play my guitar for a little while, but actually want to listen to something besides myself. I turn on iTunes, reassurring myself that it would only be this once. In case, you were wondering, iTunes is the gateway media. By night fall of my first day without media, I was already onto the heavy stuff–YouTube, Facebook, full length movies, you name it and I was probably using it.

Maybe I’m weaker than others, but that roughly six hours without media sucked. I stand by my decision to crack prematurely and rehabilitation will not be an option for me. Really, I’m fine.

Media, Where art Thou?

I’m looking up “media”  in Merrian-Webster’s Thesaurus and the only synonym that I’m finding is omnipresence. Ok, so that is not exactly true. However, after keeping track of all of the media that I had consumed over the course of two days, I found that I am the subordinate in this relationship and am truly being enslaved by the media itself.

Posters to Billboards, Indi-films to Feature-films, T-shirts to sneakers; not only do they advertise themselves, so do I and billions of other media serfs.

Yes, I did probably listen to roughly 200 songs in those two days (if not more). Yes, I did watch Beerfest three times. Yes, I probably sent a bare minimum of 500 texts.

Of those 200 songs, how many did my friends hear for the first time and enjoy enough to go download them? Of the three times that I watched Beerfest, how many more new quotes did I embed in my hippocampus for the next time we have a quoting frenzy, and will that inspire more people to buy or rent that movie? Of those estimated 500 text messages, how many did I send that subliminally advertised some form of media, not to mention the fact that sending/recieving text messages reinforces the use of media-technology itself.

Media is everywhere. What amazed me most was the fact that I am such a large promoter and am an inadvertant, walking (and sometimes sitting, if I’m updating my status), media-advertisement.

Do you like my Obey t-shirt that glows in the dark? Go right ahead and buy it at Buckle on the first floor of the Towson Town Center.

“I’m an optimist but only in a perfect world.” Cool status, yeah? That’s a line from “Weathered” by The Dangerous Summer. You can buy their most recent album Reach For The Sun on iTunes or you can download it illegally; however, if you do so,  you better make it out to their show November 22nd at The Recher.

That’s a cool iPhone you have there. I may trade in my flip phone from circa 1983 and plunge myself into the 3G life-style. Talk about movin’ on up!

Maya, from class, is literally sitting right next to me and just read me a status from one of her friends. “The snozberries taste like snozberries!” Maybe I will go home and watch Super Troopers, yeah?

In this web 2.0 world, not only are we producers, we are also advertisers.