I hope you enjoyed this exciting stop--motion film about composting at UVM! The video features Norah Carlos and myself showing the compost cycle in the residence halls.
1. Residents chose to put their food waste in a compost pail
2. The UVM Eco-Reps pick up the compost and put it in a communal compost bin outside
4. The compost is used to increase nutrients in the soil at the Intervale Center. This soil is used for farming
Making the video was both rewarding and challenging. The biggest challenge I thought we faced was timing. Putting all of the content that I wanted to put in the video was difficult when working with only 1 minute. It was also difficult to chose which scenes to emphasize and which scenes to sneak by quickly. In addition to timing, it was hard to accurately portray the exact compost process, so we were forced to use some creative license. The most rewarding part of making the video was seeing the finished product. All of the hard work coming together to make a video that actually sends a message in a rather cute way. It was also really fun taking the pictures to make the video!
Vermonters join hands and sing to gather strength before the rally begins:
"There is power in our voices,
there is power in our hands,
say yes to the Earth,
say no to tar sands"
On November 6, 2011 I had the honor and pleasure of riding the bus down to Washington, DC with Vermonters and Vermont students who care deeply about the future of our planet. Organized by the Vermont Chapter of 350.org, about 130 Vermonters traveled 11 hours to join almost 12,000 individuals in encouraging President Obama to deny the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. More blog posts to come about the events, experience and reasoning behind this action against the Keystone XL Pipeline.
In honor of Halloween's fast approach here is a hershey's chocolate advertisement which I found on Youtube:
Thesis:Hershey’s chocolate is special, brings people together and will make your life better.
Facts/Claims:
1.Hershey’s chocolate makes a s'more special
2. Hershey’s chocolate brings people together
3.Hershey’s chocolate helps to make your life special
4. If you eat Hershey's chocolate, you will have fun
5. Hershey's chocolate is pure chocolate
Personal Claim: If you eat a s'more with Hershey's Chocolate it will cause you to put on a wide-brimmed hat and become a gangster.
Triune Brain Observations:
Limbic Brain: The happy, upbeat music playing in the background stimulates the emotional part of the brain by making the viewer also feel comfortable. The lyrics of the song also encourage excitement and joy.
Limbic Brain: The comforting voice of the female narrator engages the emotional part of the brain.
Limbic Brain: Visual images of the ocean waves and of people having a fun time make the viewer recall times when he/she was having fun at the beach or wish that they were also the beach with a s'more.
Trends/Shifts
1.Pacing: the commercial is very fast paced and switches from scene to scene very rapidly.
3. Emotional Transfer: Obviously, If an individual is at the beach enjoying Hershey's chocolate, he or she will feel emotional bliss and happiness.
General Principles
1.Epistemological Shift from Word to Image: The advertisement uses no words (until the very end) and all images to convey a message. Also Hershey's uses a video full of images rather than a print advertisement filled with text.
2.Personal Shift from Mass to Personal/Participatory: This advertisement is on Youtube and therefore can be paused, replayed and taken from the original site to be posted on personal blogs and other sites.
3.Aesthetic Shift from Discrete to Convergence: This advertisement is accessible via youtube, which means it can be seen and shared on a smart phone rather than only television or a computer.
Persuasive Techniques
1.Flattery: “Hershey’s makes it a smore, you make it special”
2.Symbol: The s’more (made with Hershey’s) as a symbol of summer, campfires on the beach and having a good time.
3.Plain Folks: The commercial shows mom’s, dad’s children and young adults all having a great time eating Hershey’s chocolate. Everyone can enjoy Hershey’s products.
S'more Graphic found on Google
Photo of girls eating s'mores provided by Anna Bassford
My friend's and I celebrating the release of the last Harry Potter movie. A completely media driven fantasy which we whole heartedly wish was reality. Photo by Tom Meyer.
My family has always loved to travel. Whether we’re skiing in Canada, sailing in the British Virgin Islands or spending a summer week in the Michigan woods, family vacations have made up some of the best moments in my life. One of the things that I find interesting about traveling is the anticipation and anxiety that occurs on they way to your destination. As children, my brother Scott, and I would get super worked up about getting to our vacation spot and almost always hound our parents with that wonderful question: are we there yet? My poor parents struggled to keep us entertained and fights over radio Disney versus the oldies station always broke out in the car. These countless hours were always spent in misery, as you can see in the photo I took of Scott in the car, until my parents discovered books on tape.
Books on tape not only revolutionized the family car tip dynamic, but also turned me into a major Harry Potter fan. My parents bought “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” on tape for our road trip to North Carolina and thus the Harry Potter obsession began. Instead of wishing we could get out of the car as soon we parked at a rest stop, Scott and I would refuse to even unbuckle our seatbelts at a gas station and would raise our voices in protest anytime my parents turned off the book on tape. While literally traveling through reality on the highway, my mind was completely immersed in the wizarding world. The sound of Jim Dale’s enchanting voice enticing my imagination to expand beyond the billboards and cornfields that flew by around me.
My family continued buying the books on tape for the rest of the series even as the technology changed from tape to CD. Bonding over the tales of Harry Potter on the way to vacation was just as highly anticipated as the actual vacation due to this alternate reality, which we could escape to as a family. Once we actually reached our destination, the media experience did not stop. I have been taking an annual winter ski vacation the week after Christmas since I was three years old. Along with all of the amazing skiing, the time spent with with my family and friends and the celebration of the New Year, I also always associate these vacations with football.
Unless you happen to be an avid football fan, you probably don’t realize exactly how many bowl games there really are during the holiday season. Last year there were thirty-five bowl games in total. When I was younger, my post skiing routine went something like this: sit in a steaming hot tub, take a shower, snuggle up with my family, a blanket, popcorn, hot chocolate and the television. The television was our portal to the football world. Any commentary, score or game we wanted to watch could instantly be found by flipping the channel. Even the games I didn’t particularly care about had me glued to the television.
When I was too young to have a cell phone I remember my Dad texting his friends throughout the game. Watching him yell at some player, or in reality the T.V. for making a stupid play and then immediately grab is phone to see what his friends back home thought about it made me want to enter the world of the cell phone even more. When I was old enough, at the beginning of eighth grade, my parents gave me a cell phone for my Birthday. I remember using it for completely different reasons while lying on the couch and watching football with my family. Instead of using it to connect to others about the various games, I used it to escape the boredom of commercials. Texting friends randomly or playing games usually did the trick seeing as the smart phone, facebook and twitter were ideas that were only just taking off.
From books on tape (CD) leading to my obsession with Harry Potter to my very first cell phone interactions during a bowl game, different media have definitely played a major role in shaping my life.
You may be wondering why I titled this post "Neon Angels". The neon is pretty self explanitory. The massive amounts of halos seen in the pictures, can be explained by the fact that the unofficial symbol of Pi Beta Phi is the angel!
Kelsea Peace's photo shows PiBetaPhi greeting new members with energy and thundersticks!
Want to know more about Pi Beta Phi?! This adorable video made by Brooke McCallion will give you a little taste of the chapter that I love!
Hello Blogosphere! My name is Maggie Galka and I have to be honest with you, I’m not really from Chicago as my blog description claims. I’m actually from a LaGrange, IL (a western suburb of Chicago). LaGrange is about fifteen minutes outside of the city and, as is the habit of most suburbanites, I like to tell people I’m from Chicago.
Photo from Sherman-Ave.com demonstrating the tendency of those from suburbs claiming to be from Chicago.
While I’m not technically from the city, I do like to spend a lot of time there! One of the highlights of my summer was taking the train downtown every Monday night to see the weekly free concert put on in Millennium Park. I also had a great time showing off the gorgeous city to some friends from the University of Vermont, who visited to attend Lollapalooza. Lollapalooza is a three-day musical festival, which takes place in downtown Chicago at Grant Park. This year’s festival featured Deadmau5, Coldplay, Eminem, Pretty Lights, Flogging Molly, Foster the People, Young the Giant, Skrillex and many, many more.
Huge crowd at Lollapalooza taken by Natalie Shea
As you may have guessed, I’m very passionate about Chicago and music in general. I should also probably mention that I have an odd obsession with Canada. No, I am not Canadian but I can pretty much guarantee that at some point in my life I will live in Canada and gain dual citizenship. I love to travel and I have been to Canada eight times. The aspects of Canada I love also do a pretty good job of describing me. The first time I went to Canada, I traveled to Whistler, British Columbia for a ski vacation. I love to ski and Whistler Mountain, one of the sites of the 2010 Winter Olympics, is one of my favorite mountains. I also adore everything about hockey, and yes, I did cheer for the Canadian Hockey team in the gold medal game versus the United States. Please don’t hate me. My favorite hockey player is Jonathan Toews, a Canadian, who plays for my favorite team the Chicago Blackhawks. Last fall, when a Blackhawks staff member brought the cup to Burlington, I nearly had a panic attack. In a good way, obviously.
This entertaining Nike commercial, which aired right before the 2010 Olympics, features both male and female Team Canada Hockey players. I have the video's audio track on my ipod and listen to it when I need last minute inspiration for things such as doing my laundry, going for a run, finishing that big paper, eating an apple...
Weird obsessions aside, a big part of my life has to do with my major, environmental studies. While I don’t know specifically what I want to do in the future, I do know that I want to advocate for the environment. Right now, I’m especially interested in the concept of environmental justice and helping people whose lives are especially affected by the negative impacts of environmental destruction, contaminated resources, biodiversity loss and climate change. Currently, I am attempting to foster environmental responsibility in the residence halls through University of Vermont’s Eco-Rep program.
