Josh Tolmatsky - Metacognition: Playlists
Josh talks about how he took the time to categorize his iTunes library into different categories. He said that as time passed it became easier and easier to organize his music, and that after he had finished he felt that it was easier to grasp his collection of music better.
My comment:
I feel your pain- over the summer I went through the same experience. Having upwards of 2200 songs, it was an even more rigorous task. I made playlists based on my personal genres similar to yours, and also a favorites and new music playlist. And since I listen to so many genres of music, the playlists I could've created were endless.
But another thing I did was fix up songs. By this I mean correct the artist, add the correct album artwork, and manipulate music so songs by the same artist would group together (many artists feature other artists and so the artist name doesn't group with the album artist). By doing this I actually learned a lot more about the history and basis of my music. I learned that the name of the album/album artwork tells you a lot about the artist. I've noticed a new trend in designing artwork that draws attention and strikes people as abstract. And since my 5-year collection of music only grew bigger, I owned multiple albums of an artist and was able to draw conclusions on the artists influences and ideals. For example, when looking back on my collection of the rapper Eminem's music, I found that all of his albums related to a stage. The Eminem Show, Curtain Call, Relapse, Encore, and Recovery. And his albums represent what he views as the high and lows of his career, as he named his most recent album Recovery in efforts to Recovery from his Relapse album.
Over the years my taste in music has transitioned, and when I had to go back and fix up songs I was astounded at what I found. Music I would now simply laugh at used to occupy my ipod. When I was younger, a lot of my music came from my dad as he was my only real source for music. Car rides featured classic rock such as Led Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, The Police, and Sting. I was shocked at how big of a collection of that genre of music I had, as now I rarely listen to that. My next phase was more mainstream/hip-hop, and as I saw my older music I realized all of it was discovered through the radio. After that I found that my taste in music broadened, as things like Pandora and YouTube sprouted. I was able to find more and more music, and really decide what I liked. And of course, as I made new friends in high school my music taste was influenced by them. I think organizing your music is a project necessary to all, as it helps you determine who you really are.
Ryan Bunny - iMedia: Kayaking with Sharks
Ryan shows a picture of a person kayaking alone in the water with a massive shark trailing behind him. He claims that naturally he assumed that if the picture were true, the person would've been dead by now as the shark would've swallowed the kayak whole. After making a second analysis, he realized that this false perception was solely due to the media, and its representation of sharks as "vicious man-eaters".
My comment:
I was thinking the same thing as I saw this picture- "Please. Can you say photoshop?" I enjoyed this blog because I have the same fear. It's an appreciation for shark's almightiness. The funny thing is, I used to watch many shark shows claiming that almost all sharks are completely harmless as long as you don't provoke them, but yet if I did ever encounter a shark I'd be sure to have a stroke. I always wondered WHY I was so afraid of sharks. Your article makes it clear- it's the media. When I think of a shark, I picture my torso being mercilessly ripped in two. I picture me getting a small cut, and leaving a drop of blood that draws a 2-ton man-eater to my falsely-assumed safe-haven known as the beach. I picture a lifeguard monitoring me, but not able to reach me in time. Classic shark movies have made this stereotype part of society, and so I completely agree with your statement that society should concentrate more on scientific truth. Maybe then I would be less afraid of sharks!
