We are Big Brother.

Who remembers this Apple ad? It's a great ad. Who wouldn't want to be that lady with the hammer, smashing that horrible image on the screen? She saved all the sheep from conformity with the power of the Macintosh computer. What a pioneer!

This ad was released in January of 1984, and bears a striking resemblance to George Orwell's dystopian world that was created in the book "1984". Looking at this ad through a modern lens, I think it's probably the most ironic thing to happen since hipsters.

BUT WHY, YOU ASK!? Because the immense proliferation of smartphones (largely provided thanks to Apple) we are living in a society that's constantly under surveillance.

I recently re-read the book 1984 again, because it is my favorite book of all. Read it now! Don't have a library card? Get one! Or read it here. After finishing the last great sentence and exiting the display window, I had come to the conclusion that WE ARE BIG BROTHER, BIG BROTHER IS US.

Subtlety was not his strong suit.

In Orwell’s dystopian future/present, the world is full of “telescreens” that are constantly watching what the citizens are up to. There is no way of turning them off. The info that the telescreens collect is used to“vaporize” citizens if they transgress any of the Party's doctrines. Essentially, they are wiped out and never to be spoken of again.

In a totally diluted way, a "telescreen" kind of mirrors how I feel about the new Iphone upgrade. My smartphone now has a new feature for text messaging that enables the sender to see exactly what time the reader saw their text. Though it can be disabled, I think this is taking things way too far.

(Also it will obviously spur a hundred million teenage bfsgf fights, probably containing a text like: “OMG U DIDN’T WRITE LOL BACK! U SAW MY TXT!)

WTF!

Then I got to thinking – in our society we have an unrelenting need to catalogue what we’re doing, exactly when we’re doing it. I had an experience a while back where someone on my Facebook feed “checked me in” to a place I was at when I was there. It made me super uneasy that this power was out of my hands and in the hands of someone else.

But also that this kind of thing is considered normalized. What would our dear old Marshall MMcLuhan think of this madness. Where is this information going? Who (or what) cares where I am? And why?

I can’t help but think of Big Bro. He's all-knowing, so he’s like the internet. He's also omnipresent, just like our pockets full of smartphones. We can add things to the internet as they’re happening, and therefore Big Bro/Internet has a constant stream of what’s going on in every connected person’s life.

I can’t help but wonder through all of this who exactly is benefitting from knowing where I am at all times? Is it strictly used by advertisers and marketers? There is probably wayyy too much information available for any advertising firm to handle. Could the FBI or CSIS be using it too? Or is that venturing into the realm of conspiracy theory?

iPhones are not hiding from us the fact that they are constantly tracking where you go. The “Use My Location” feature (which can also be disabled) pops up even when you do anything including playing a cheap game. A new app that was promped with my upgrade called “Find My Friends” enables the user to do just that – find their friends' phones through a GPS tracking system. WTF APPLE!?!!

Computers are just a pieces of technology, but there is no doubt about the huge impact they've had on our society. Blogs are the new journals, Facebook is the new resume, and when was the last time you got a picture developed?

Anyone can take a picture or video of you when you go out in public and post it on the net. There are countless examples in which this has led to arrests (like in the Vancouver Riots) divorces (link) and who knows what else.

All that being said,

I’ll be sure to link this article on my FB page and my Twitter feed.

Hallowhen Will it Be Halloween?!

 

 

 

 Anna Hurley - Childcare Worker

Shoes - Vintage Glory

Skirt - Paramix

Shirt - Wild Planet

Ring - Folklorama (India Pavillion)

Bracelet - Club Monaco 

 

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OMGOMGOMG

SO..

Halloween is next weekend! (yay!)

You checklist for this weekend should include:

• Carving a pumpkin and eating the seeds
•  Putting the finishing touches on your costume
•  Buying tons of alcohol

That is all.

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I'm going to a Halloween social this weekend. This year I'm going as my favorite horror flick of 2009: The Human Centipede (First Sequence)

 I'm going to try my best to drunkenly remember to take pictures of all the costumes for a super dooper photo-heavy post next week. To me, there is no greater joy in life then looking at people in costumes. Also, the winner for best costume at the social is going to get an $100 gift card for the LC, so there's a lot on the line here.

Me in the Future.

 So stay tuned, reader!

Halfway Till Halloween - Girl Costumes Edition

Hello Boils and Ghouls,

It's that time of the year again... The best holiday of all time, forever:

 HALLOWEEN!

T'is the wonderful time when you can dress up like anyone, or anything, you like. 

Do you have a penchant for farming? Go as a farm! 

  

You got a thing for douching? Easy!

  Hate your dog? Shove it in a costume!

The life of the party.

 But, fellow readers, do you notice a pattern here?

All of the costumes pictured before you are worn by dudes. (Not sure if the dog is a dude but just go with it)

When it comes to lady costumes, for SOME UNKNOWN REASON we are shafted to wearing the stupidest, sluttiest, cheapest excuses of poorly made plastic crap. I feel bad for the slaves in  whichever country these articles are mass-produced, but also for the ladies out there who buy 'em. And I know you're out there, because every year every store is chock-full of these plastic abominations. You've seen 'em, they look like this:

I guarantee, no matter where you go, you'll see a sexy referee.

 The worst part is that these costumes are selling like hotcakes at Party Stuff for $60+

It chills me to the core.

For $60, you can go insane at Dollarama and come up with the greatest costume the world has ever seen. H-Ween in the one time a year where you can dress up like a metaphor and only get guffaws in return, and yet time and time again the clubs are bursting at the seams with 

"sexy Big Bird" 

I wish I was making this up. 

Or even "sexy baby"

Leave my infancy alone, sluts!

 So ladies, this year I beg you. Ignore the "Slut Rule" that exists only on Halloween, whereby a lady can venture out and about in the chilly October winds wearing only lingerie and bunny ears, but it flies because t'is the season.

SO if you are gonna go the whorey route, do it with style and pizzaz! 

Go as a hilarious pregnant nun

It shows everyone how funny and daring you are,

OR you can go the slutty/nerdy route. If you combine a whorey costume with a nerdy theme, the whoreyness is instantly reduced tenfold! 

 

 Just think about it.

You've still got time ladies.

Happy Halloweenin! 

Election Interjection

G'day mates.

Before we get to the fun stuff, here's some obligatory fashion stuff for the material girls in all of us:

Très cute, and the shoes?

Super dooper cute.

This prairie gals' name is Kyla Roma, and her too-sweet blog can be found Here

She solidifies my need to get a sleeve tattoo, as it can still look feminine with the right touches.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Winnipeg was abuzz these past few days. I used to think that nothing went on here, now I realize that I just wasn't looking hard enough. Some fun things that you should have checked out, and if you didn't, should keep in mind for next year.

NUIT BLANCHE

Here are some great pics of the art-vent that I pulled off the Facebook page Here

You probably checked it out. Most people I talked to took in at least one venue. This year marks the second year in a row that I was denied at the door for the WAG... They should call that place Nuit of Pretentious Doormen/Assholes.

But fear not! As the night was not wasted. My friends and I took in the Mad Men Party that went on at the Manitoba Museum.

It was pretty dope, and I wish I woulda taken more pics of the crowd as their outfits were off the chain.

She was particularly compliant.

HOWEVER! It was a dry party. No booze to be found.

Umm.. hello? Has anyone there even watched Mad Men? They pretty much only drink.

So, we moved on to the Jellyfish Party, where DJs spun all night long in an alley way in the Exchange. Super nifty idea, whomever thought of that! Kudos to you!

Also, MANITOBA ELECTIONS 2011!

Last night I partied at NDP Headquarters at the Convention Centre and it was also off the chain. Who'da thunk that politics could be fun? I was there on an assignment, but ended up interviewing several NDP winners, some other journalists (p.s. I'm considering myself to be a journalist now), and also Greg Selinger's super nice Campaign Manager.

I ended up in the front row as he made his beautiful victory speech to the ecstatic crowd.

Here is the video that I took, sorry about all the "woo"ing, but I was caught up in the spirit

At one point he even waved at me! Did I mention that I was in the front row?

Look! We could have high-fived!

Don't believe me? Check the Winnipeg Free Press' slide show of the MB Election Here

See that fashionable girl LiveTweeting in the black and white striped shirt? That's me!

Being there made me want to run for something... anything.

So with that, Coco for President of the Parent-Teacher Committee in 2017!

New York Times - They Are a-Changin'

Hello loyal reader,

 Emma Mikuska-Tinman - Student

 Sweater - Forever 21

Jeans - Levis

Boots - H&M

Necklace - H&M

Sunglasses - gojane.com

If you're not into reading a review for Page One: Inside the New York Times then stop reading NOW!

So essentially, by the act of blogging right now, I may play a fraction of a fraction of a part in shutting down the New York Times(NYT).It's c-c-crazy! But it's not my fault, journalists of the world, it's simply an assignment. By the act of assigning us these blogs, our professors are indirectly participating in the downfall of printed media. For shame.

The movie Page One: Inside the New York Times reminded me of the scene in Titanic shortly after the iceberg hit, when not everyone was aware of the looming chaos and devastation that would inevitably be their downfall. The New York Times is kind of like the Titanic of newspapers. Basically it's just so massive that no one thought it could ever sink, but just look at where that kind of hubris got ‘em. 

From the way Page One makes it seem over at NYT HQ, there’s only one guy on staff who appears to know what a Twitter account is, and in fact he managed to "social media" himself on to the NYT staff. In one scene, Brian Stelter is mocked by the more old-fashioned staff for consistently staring at his IPhone or one of his several Macbooks. It’s kind of okay when it happens though, because he gives off the impression of a rotund, smarmy, but “connected” young person of this era. He pretty much embodies the archetype the rest of us are trying to distance ourselves from as much as possible.

Pictured: me in the future.

Besides this unlikeable minor character, who is probably meant to represent me and my peers, it was super interesting to see how the Newspaper machine works on a physical level. The building, located- very obviously- in New York, was probably the most major character in the documentary, as it appeared in almost every shot. Occasionally, there would be glimpses of how the building used to be set up, and it gave off a very Mad Men vibe. It was almost bittersweet, as the hustle and bustle seemed more lively and less loom-ey. 

On the whole, I felt as though the major conflicts in the film could have been better flushed out. They all boil down to the recent proliferation of social media tools. Many readers are now attempting to go as paperless as possible, and as such are getting their news from free electronic sources. The problem here is that the news has to be generated from somewhere before it hits the web, but with ever-declining readership the New York Times is probably going to, one day soon, be going out of business.

Before this film I had never considered that it actually costs money to bring people the news, I had just naively assumed that it was always around. 

As the years go on and newspapers go out of style, it’ll be interesting to see how the market evolves. Perhaps in the near future mobile devices will be so prevalent that everyone will just report their own news as it happens.

A major drawback that I considered was the film's many brief and gratuitous shots of employees. You’d see ‘em once and then.. poof! they were gone. Perhaps they were laid off as the film was being filmed? Also, are there no female journalists at the NYT?!

If I was directing this movie, I would scrap just about everything and remake it all. My version, however, would focus only on following David Carr around; the crotchety, foul-mouthed former crack head turned journalist; who is arguably the only entertaining factor of this film. 

Carr is like a gravelly-voiced, cooler version of Simon Cowell.  This hunching waif of a guy ripped everyone in his path a new asshole, including several Vice magazine editors; and who hasn’t, at some point, dreamed of doing that?

*sigh*

  

Tall Order

Hello apathetic youth!

A colleague of mine recently asked me a question that plays on the minds of basketball players and non-basketball-playing tall people everywhere. He writes:

 What is a fashionable place to shop for elongated gentlemen such as myself? Value Village is a fine haunt but pants and anything with long sleeves are often too short in their respective limbs.

So! What to do with those unsightly wrists and ankles?

Well colleague, since I am neither a guy nor a tall person, I've crafted the perfect solution for you after minutes of careful deliberation.

All you have to do is take some fabric from anything that you have lying around the house and sew, glue or tape it to the missing chunk.

Confused? You shouldn't be! But I've created some visuals for you just in case:

Make it exactly like this.

 But why stop there?

Have some old towels lying around?

 

Or an old bed sheet you're no longer using?

Classy and casual!

  

 But why stop at these ridiculous lengths?

Let's go further.

Fashion!

....Hope this helps.