Sonic the Hedgehog 4

I would like to talk about a downloadable game coming this summer to three three home consoles because there's quite a bit for me to discover. For years, 3D control in the Sonic games was practically complicated, so the creators have gone back to their roots (for real) in hopes of giving the fans what they wanted after games for the Sega Genesis were discontinued. What's interesting is the return of several enemies, or 'Badniks,' from the previous classic games. And the style of the music is similar to that of the early games' music. All that should be open for the user to experience on this Web site: www.sonicthehedgehog4.com. The last time I visited this site (3/20/2010), the layout of the site looked spiffy and neat. A good way to organize information, too.

Renegade Animation

From Glendale, California, Renegade animation is a place where animation, voice acting, and creativity takes place. Founded by Darrell Van Citters and Ashley Postlewaite, it's known for animating 'Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi' (a Cartoon Network show I've never watched), and 'The Mr. Men Show' (a show that happens to be my favorite but never airs on Cartoon Network anymore). Speaking of the latter, I could never find any more episodes of season 2, and 'Garages' and 'Eyeglasses' are currently the only ones to be uploaded in high quality. What's the surfers of the net coming to, anyway? Back to Renegade, I've learned about an 'upcoming' one-minute-per-short series called 'Funny Face.' Not the film from the '50s or the name of Sandy Duncan's show, though, the show about the fruit characters from the drink product. There are eight characters plus two exclusive ones. Check it out at www.funnyface.com. There's a presentation that shows a possible future for Funny Face, too. Too bad most people are unaware of its existence. Wikipedia doesn't have an article on it yet.
Last visit: 4/10/2010
Funny Face: 4/20/2010

The Audacity of Races and Genders

First seen on Thursday, April 8th, at 5:30 PM, The Audacity of Races and Genders is a lecture given by Zillah Eisenstein. With her relentlessly anti-racist feminist narrative, she engages the 2008 election of Barack Obama as a key historical moment. She uncovers the shiftings and changes surrounding race, gender, and class to look for the "newly new" political configurations that can create a politics of and for the globe. With quite a hullabaloo going on in every race, gender, and class, I can see why this topic had to be researched. Good thing I decided to focus on family values so we can get a load of how life in America is supposed to be.

Kyle A. Carrozza

He's a cartoonist whose work can be found on his own Web site (www.tvskyle.com, last visit: 5/4/10) and his deviantART section. Some of his works are quite humorous, and whatever he puts up never ceases to impress other Internet users. His works include "MooBeard the Cow Pirate," a traditionally animated series whose pilot episode aired on Random! Cartoons on Nicktoons Network, "Weird Eddie," another series that's supposedly 'in the works' (an animatic of "Luck of the Oafish" can be watched, by the way), and "Frog Raccoon Strawberry," a series that gets an updated once a week at DummComics. Kyle truly proves anything is possible if you put your mind to it, and that's what I did when I created my Web site. He also created a bit of fan art by himself, even some characters from the Super Mario series. What I don't understand is why Nickelodeon picked up only one cartoon from Random! Cartoons (which was Fanboy and Chum Chum by Eric Robles) instead of the seemingly interesting MooBeard cartoon. What good is F & CC anyway? I can't even find its pilot episode online!

"DaBurninator"

Now here's a certain fanboy who knows how to make digital pictures that put the Homestar Runner body of work and Nintendo together. He calls himself 'DaBurninator,' taken from the infamous "Trogdor the Burninator," a dragon first drawn in sbemail #58 on January 13, 2003. Only a true Homestar Runner fan, which I am, can get whatever is shown in the works (and said in the artist notes), but a fan of both parts would fall to pieces after looking at said works. They're practically similar to the tribute/parady works we've done. Unfortunately, he only uploads a new piece of work whenever he's on break. Once summer vacation commences, I'll bet he'll have at least one picture uploaded. I wonder if the Brothers Chaps are aware of his existence, because they're also Nintendo fans. And if they ever get back to uploading, they ought to get his permission to show his (yet to be complete) gallery under 'Weekly Fanstuff.' That hasn't been updated since Halloween!
http://daburnitator.deviantart.com
5/7/2010

Free Land

This film is a personal historical documentary that examines what it means to be constantly looking for opportunity in America. Using family history of homelessness and displacement, Minda Martin examines the unfulfilled promise of "The Land of The Free" and reveals how the search for free land has geographically and psychically uprooted people created social inequalities and left legacies of emptiness. I felt this could also have been made into a Web site similar to those done my me and the students. Then we could look more carefully into the issue she's describing.
This came out on Monday, May 3rd at 7 PM in Arts 240.

DeviantArt

Known as the place "where art meets application," DeviantArt is a Web site in which users can submit their artistic work and style. The works submitted consist of just about anything, photographs, digital drawings, you name it. The Web site is also a place where one can find awesome fan art and clever fan fiction. But then there are amateurs whose works appear to be a cop-out or a drag. One of the only drawbacks of the Web site, however, is the sighting of strong profanity within a few comments posted under certain works posted by their user. Just when you at least expect, it'll come get you, even in the form of the work itself. I must be surrounded by thoughtless jerks. On the plus side, there's a user who goes by the name, "DaBurninator," who sometimes puts up work that combines the elements of Nintendo games and the Homestar Runner universe in very, very, clever ways. I'll talk about him in another entry. Some of the works people will come across may become inspired to create works of their own, I know I have.
http://www.deviantart.com
Viewed on the 6th of May

Homestar Runner

I recently realized the blog was for fulfilling the Art Events Requirement, and it had to include 2 on-campus events from the visiting Mediamakers Series and/or Arts and Lectures at CSUSM and 8 entries including my encounters with art on the Internet. With that in mind, I thought I could talk about this once source of Internet entertainment: Homestar Runner. There was a lot I learned from getting this up as a Web site, and it came from the use of Dreamweaver. Created and run by Mike and Matt, the Bros. Chaps, this Web site used to get updated at least once every week. I'm into this Web site because it's not offensive, the humor is always clever, and 'crap' is the only bit of vulgarity used. The brothers are the only people to create the cartoons and Strong Bad E-mails (sbemails). They even provide the music, have no time for storyboarding, and are one of the biggest sources of pop culture. Matt is a man of more than a hundred voices (with a few exceptions, of course), and Missy, Mike's wife, provides the voice for Marzipan, "the only girl." Since November 2009, however, it's been on hiatus. My last visits were on April 1st and 26th, when "Xeriouxly Forxe" and its main page were put up, respectively.
Here's a link to it if you wanna know more: http://www.homestarrunner.com
And an H*R Wiki if you wanna get more information more quickly: http://www.hrwiki.org

Felix J. Bonomo

5 weeks ago, on April Fool's Day, I checked out his gallery inside the library on campus. The pictures of Chinese culture he took were rather interesting. In his description, he talks about his reason for taking this approach. His exhibit is called "Women Hold Up Half the Sky." If you go to Deborah Small's blog on WordPress and find my section in Digital Arts 2010, you should be able to find information about the photographer. I learned that if you go out more, you might become inspired even more, like I did as I created my montage.

Expanding my thoughts

I'm basically one of those people with a better, extensive vocabulary. I always thought it'd be best for foul-mouthed people to use SUBSTITUTE WORDS, because the words that frequently appear online are pointless, uninteresting, and cliched. They can also shock other people, cost someone some friends, and make a bad impresson of people introducing themselves.

On a somewhat unrelated topic, my brother, who had a friend over, talked about a person with a tattoo on "Bats Day." He said the words that were on it, and they included "Dripping ****ing blood." What's gotten into him, anyway? I don't want him to be hated. I'm loved because I never say R-rated words.

I know this is a country where there's freedom of speech, but there are better, cleaner words that outnumber the bad words a trillion to one! So why not use substitute words that make more sense, like 'screw,' 'flippin'/freakin',' 'mess,' anything that's family-friendly. Did anyone in the 1930s ever drop the s-bomb in the media? No! Was I ever prone to the most common swears when I was little? Of course not! The thing is, every child must avoid bad influences at all costs so as to not follow their example.

And by the way, my brother frequently listens to hip-hop music whose songs are labeled 'Explicit.' I found out that MC Hammer is one of the 'clean' rappers, so why doesn't he listen to him? Speaking of MCs, there's also the highly-underrated, animated feline rapper, MC Skat Kat. His album, "The Adventures of MC Skat Kat and the Stray Mob," was released in 1991, and even though it didn't sell very well, the lyrics were very, very clean. Of course, because of mild words, it's rated PG. I had to write down the lyrics I heard on Word Pad because no one else in the Internet world was willing to do so. What I can't believe is the fact that there are no sources of the intro lyrics of On the Prowl being sung by the one and only Paula Abdul. The album's not available on iTunes yet, but it is in the Zune Marketplace if anyone's willing to obtain the tracks. There's even an unreleased music video for the song Big Time, but only 3/5 of it can be seen. There's some grade-A animation in there if anyone's interested. I want the animated cat to get a second chance because I want people to see how sublime cartoony animation is, and I'm a fan of that kind of animation. I think I've said too much.

So if you're a fan of anything appropriate, like I Love Lucy, The Cosby Show, and anything that's rated G and/or PG, any good-natured family member won't mind. Now I say, let's make this world feel more like the 1920s, in which expletives never existed in the media.

Done!

I may have finally outdone myself. The Web site's all finished! Check it out here: http://public.csusm.edu/signo001/index.html
If there are any corrections I need to make, I don't mind at all.

MTV

If you've seen my montage, you've probably noticed I included MTV being more like RTV. The reason I threw that in there is that when I was younger, I only saw good music videos on that channel. Today, we get nothing but shows that have NOTHING to do with music. And because most of the shows are rated TV-14, children today should never come across the channel. I mean, look at these shows. My Super Sweet 16? 16 and Pregnant? Did someone retire and leave the uneducated losers from the sewer in charge? Music Television, my eye. Fellows today wouldn't know family-friendliness if it bit them on the nose. As one of several people of the 1990s-2010s generation, I think it'd be best for channel to go back to the way it used to be and not be more like the anti-Discovery channel.

Grammar Continued

I come back to grammar because it's one of the things I always watch out for when I type my research papers. This morning, I noticed a student typing a sentence containing the word 'it's' before the word 'foundation.' I told him that word is a contraction and he should use the possessive form, 'its.' He thanked me for it. My family, on the other hand, should keep their cool when I point out errors. Whenever I correct them even with the subtlest hint, I get scolded. They would be fine with being corrected... if I was an ENGLISH TEACHER! Man, I feel like one of the few people in the nation who are always belittled for their skills.

Web Site's Status

My Web site for the class is practically finished! I just need to put up a couple of research papers with the use of CSS. When I do that, I'll be required to include a header, a navigator, and titles for my paragraphs. I know one of them has a grade of 90/100, but I think my grandmother would be pleased to see how it turned out in online form. Then there's the history research paper. I reckon there'll be only a little bit of material for me to handle, considering it's shorter than the issue paper.

Research Paper Grade

I just got back my research paper on my social issue and got 90/100 = A-. That's pretty good, but do you want to know why I lost 10 points? Here's the answer:

"Did you consider researching how many college graduates and successful professionals come from a single parent families? You have attempted to uphold your opinions without considering other possibilities,giving a biased spin on stats provided. You've attempted to link teen suicide rates and instances of violent death with lack of family values. Correlation (not equal to) causation"
-Dorothy Chance

I guess I should have gotten better sources, but I pulled it all of nicely.

Grammar

I know I can be a bit picky about whatever I hear, but I'm only trying to spread awareness of grammatical errors. The following is a list of bits of which I wish to remind people:
*All right must be two words, all right? Because saying it as a seven-letter word is all wrong.
*Prepositions at the end of sentences are unnecessary in sentences beginning with "where" unless you're using "from." Unless you're from the South, try not to throw in an "at."
*Lie is to lay as rise is to raise. Same thing with sit and set.
*AT what time did you read this? At (see clock). You could also say "WHEN" if the need arises.

There may be more later.

My grandpappy's turn

So, my grandma has just e-mailed me a message about my grandpa/grampa's past, to which the childhood of most children would dare to be compared.

""I grew up with 2 sisters, one younger and one older. My Dad was in construction, he built the house I grew up in." My Mom was a nurse, she worked in labor and delivery.

As a young boy, I was always interested in most sports, especially baseball. I belonged to several baseball teams, my Dad was the coach for many years. As I got older, I spent my summers at the beach, getting there by bus, or sometimes hitchhiking. Once in a while, my Dad would take me to work with him and he would have me doing odd jobs around the work site.

I delivered newspapers to make a little extra money. I probably had a closer relationship with my Mother, she was easier to talk to!! My Dad was very strict.

Because of my parents' work schedules, we didn't always have dinner together every day. My Dad had alot of brothers and sisters living in the area, so they would visit frequently. Most of the brothers were also in construction. His oldest brother was an engineer for the railroad for over 50 years."

I didn't spend alot of time watching tv....I much rather preferred to be outside playing, very often, making our own toys. One that comes to mind is using an orange crate and putting roller skate wheels on the front and back, and nailing a 2 by 4 on the bottom of the crate, and this became a "scooter," (maybe this is how skateboards were born?!)"

Shorter than my grandma's, but it's worth it.

Be careful with what you're saying

Because on the Internet, there are people who'll drop an f-bomb and/or s-bomb, which I cannot stand at all. They never think about the people who might find their comments offensive. And let's not forget the home-made videos they make and post online. The nerve of those jerks! There's a younger generation prone to expletives and I, for one, draw the line at people responsible for the problem because I cannot stand for it.

Of course, there are words that don't bother me very much (and are uncensored on TV). I only accept "dam," "sux," "shell-s," and "krap."

So, the reason I've been posting posts is that I can't find a way to post a comment.

My grandma's thoughts

Here's a little something my grandma gave me not too long ago, and I'm sure it'll be useful.

"My brother, parents and I lived with my Grandmother (after my Grandfather passed away) from the time was I was about 3 years old until I was 16. We lived in a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom house (which is considered very small by today's standards). We did move to another home when I was 12 years old. This home was huge in comparison! It was 2 stories, with all the bedrooms (3) upstairs, plus a full basement. My parents made the dining room into a bedroom for my Grandma since she was unable to get upstairs. My mother didn't work outside the home as she took care of my Grandma who had suffered a stroke and was unable to care for herself. My father worked as a molder in an iron manufacturing company.

We were a very close knit family; always had visits from aunts and uncles every Sunday. My mother would have home-made cookies, breads, or cakes to go with the coffee she would serve our company. We had dinner around 5:00 pm every day, not long after my dad would get home from work. We didn't have fast-food restaurants in those days, so eating out was a rare occasion.

We were among the first in our neighborhood to get a television. I was in the 3rd grade, and I remember neighborhood children sitting on our fronch porch watching tv through the screen door. We didn't have computers, cell phones, or other electronic "gadgets" by which to be entertained. There was one telephone in the house and you had to talk to a telephone operator and she connected you to the person you were calling.

We didn't spend alot of time watching tv, but I do remember liking to watch "I Love Lucy" and the "Mickey Mouse Club." On Saturday mornings, I would watch cartoons, "Sky King" and a couple of other shows whose names escape me. We spent most of our time outside riding bicycles, roller skating (in the summer) or ice skating (in the winter). There was an ample supply of friends in the neighborhood and we would use our imagination to make up games; sometimes we would stage a play, don't ever remember a time when "there was nothing to do!" We knew to go home when the street lights came on.

Those were days when we didn't have to worry about "stranger danger," we felt safe leaving our doors unlocked if we went away. We had respect for authority - didn't ever dare to talk back to a teacher or parents!

Life was simpler then; we didn't have alot of choices for many things, I am so fortunate to have been able to grow up during that time."

Links

Here are at least three web sites relevant to my social issue. If you come across anymore, be sure to add them - I need to save them for my links page by tomorrow!

*http://www.overindulgence.info/WhatDeterminesFamilyValuesToday.htm

*http://www.afa.net/

*http://republicansforfamilyvalues.com/

*http://www.defendthefamily.com/

*http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showplatforms.php?platindex=D2004

Hello, folks. As you can tell, this is my first time getting into the blogging business. I have to do this for my Web Graphic Design class. In this one, I'm doing some research on a social issue, which deals with family values of today compared to those in the mid-1900s (because the apostrophe is unnecessary). These values may include abstinence education, traditional marriage, etc. You know where I'm going with this, right?

So if you have any thoughts about these ideas, feel free to share them.

Mr. Sig

Proposal:
Today, American family values are practically different compared to those during the mid-1900s. Unlike families in the 20th century, families in the 21st century consist of parents who always work and seldom spend time with their children. Today's children are usually left alone after school, spend time watching TV, and surf the Internet every day. Back in the earlier days, many families had a lot of quality time together, discussing the problems that were occurring and the days the family members had. They also never dealt with situations some of today's families are facing, such as selecting unhealthy food. What I'm about to discuss is the comparision between family values of today and those of yesteryear and come up with a solution to remedy the families' problems that earlier families never had before.