resplacida's blog

Well, two out of three of these games were depressing. Three out of three were at times, frustrating. But overall, there was enjoyment. Especially at the end of game, etc, when the narrator/author/designer said "There was only one single capsule left. He and his friend Charlie..."
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Eliza hath failed me with dull stupidity.
The Colossal Cave Adventure narrator hath failed me with his attitude and unwillingness to compromise or accept bribes.

Maybe it's something I'm doing wrong. Maybe I'm failing.

Okay, Eliza really isn't helping with the frustration. I can't even be satisfied with taking it out on her, because she doesn't understand.

You are being a bit negative.
>> you are being a bit stupid
What makes you think I am being a bit stupid ?
>> you are a simple machine
Do computers worry you ?
>> no, i love them
Why not ?
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I had never realized that there are so many shows based on, or taken directly from, reality. Shows from Fear Factor, Road Rules, and Survivor to Super Nanny, Iron Chef, and America's Next Top Model.
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Today's lecture was interesting, pulling together the beginning and current states of narrative. In the Medieval period, creative options, let alone space, were limited due to the medium used. Manuscripts including several seemingly unrelated stories have been compiled together - the "first mash-ups." There are complications as to if these compilations are narratives as a whole, or only as separated. This depends on if cohesion is a necessary characteristic of narrative, and what is considered cohesion: the same story, or the same theme.
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The difference of reaction from these political mash-ups really seems to depend a lot on presentation - more so than I thought it would. The more the compilation cuts to different clips, the more up-beat the music, the less seriously it is taken. As we saw in our last class with Whalen, videos can be de-legitamized just by adding something silly, like the gnome with the glowing red eyes at the end of a video we watched. After that element of silliness, no one gave the claim of the entire video any real weight.
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When the birth of your baby girl was announced, there was a simultaneous "awww" from the majority of the females in the class. And I know the males were mushy on the inside. Hope you enjoy your new family member and your break with her!

I found the concept of cognitive recognition described in Chapter 1 to be very interesting. The idea that the reader of a piece has more of a say in whether it is a narrative or not than the creator of that piece, that the definition lies more in perception than intent, opens up new doors. This theory explains much of the discrepancy over which mediums are narratives and which aren't. For example, in certain pieces of music or dance, many people find narrative qualities, and therefore, they consider them narratives. Others, at the same time, do not see or agree with those qualities.
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I really enjoyed a lot of these strips, and I've been trying to figure out what the difference was between the ones I enjoyed and the ones I didn't. Often, what I think that kept me from enjoying them was the fact that I had no idea what was going on. I could follow some general story lines in the run of the comic, dancing, thoughts, suspense, and that whole 3-person-mystery thing in the beginning... but in a good deal of individual panels, my reaction was often, "...what? Oookay, moving on..."
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I love watching the progression of characters, in all media (not just comic books). It's interesting to wonder why the creator changes his characters like he does, to what end? What audience is he trying to appeal to through them? That sort of thing.

Some other things that I had noticed or had questions about, on specific pages...
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I stumbled upon this earlier today, and realized that, as far as I can see, if fits the definition of "comic" that one of the readings laid out. So, I guess this would be a comic referencing a comic.

Also, I just thought it was funny.

So the comic was... well, it had some cute parts. I enjoyed accents portrayed by the variational spelling of the dialogue. I always tend to get a little frustrated with things in which people are being hard-headed or unfair, and I think Donald often qualifies as that. If it weren't for the Smokey-the-Bear-like fire safety input, he would have served no other purpose than to get that damned deer. That kind of slapstick comedy where the character continuously hits and misses doesn't really throw me at all, but I take into account that I am not within the targeted audience of this comic.
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