Sadly EveRytHinG hAs tO cOmE to an eND....

At first, a class I was interested in but didn't know what to expect when I got there the first day of school. "No book", one of the first frases that stayed in my head that very day, from one of the professors I truly enjoyed in my journey through Valencia Community College. I found very interesting the fact that only reading a newspaper would make a difference in the point of view of the class.. After all is a Mass Communications Class... I really liked to be up to date in information regarding communication and also everything on the entertainment. I was so used to reading communication articles, that even on my short vacation to Puerto Rico, I grabbed the paper and read everything communication wise, I even cut the articles to show them in class. Many interesting stories, including the most absurd ones on the very front page. Although those stories were a little wacko, i loved to read them... Made my day.
Ah quizzes.... Each class the first thing, after signing the sheet. Sincerely, I'm not a big fan of those,because of some stuff. First, I don't know why, even if I read the article, there was always a question I never catch and always got it wrong. Second, numbers, numbers, numbers. Always a question with some kind of number to put. And third, I don't like to remember the names of stuff like he asked us always in one of the first 3 questions. But even though some things I didn't like, there were some that i enjoyed. Loved that even if you guess u get a point for creativity (well IF you ARE creative), questions about artists,oh and definitely the Academy Awards guessing,my personal favorite.
Actually, I'm a big procrastinator (sorry its the harsh truth). I liked to read the newspaper, but I always ended up reading the articles the day before or just after the class. I don't think it affected me, because i was so used to read it in a rush, I always looked forward to that Sunday to read them all. In terms of study habits, i learned a lot about communications, especially the subject i like the most, entertainment.
Even thought i liked to have the actual Wall Street Journal paper in my hands, i wont continue subscribing to it. I like better to read it online, and get different opinions on the stories not only the wall street journal point.
Class wise... I don't wanna sound dumb or anything like that but, this was actually my second favorite class this semester (just after film). I wouldn't change it for anything. The teacher is an excellent instructor, and has many innovative ideas on how to not make the class boring. He has to keep up the good work and keep doing what he is doing... Keep your imagination running and be always on the know.
Definitely, Communications is my field. My career plans include, Radio/TV, and this class made me realize I was certainly in the right place. Nothing more I enjoy that being in the know. I never thought I was gonna be persuing a career in this field, since my parents never liked it. But against everything I'm doing what I like, what I enjoy. I certainly hope my next classes are like this one, which i learned more than I expected....

SoCial-Networking...

Finding people in this planet nowadays is more easy than putting butter in a piece of bread. Long lost friends, colleagues, even family are easily find through social sites where everyone connects with everyone. Sincerely, the best invention since the world wide web. People I thought would never see again or even recognize me, have found me through such sites. Since the boom of the social-networking sites raised, trust me, I've been using them. Starting by the famous Myspace, followed by a reformed Facebook and ending (for now) in the text message alike site, Twitter.

I find very interesting how this kind of sites become really popular. Profiles are a mirror of yourself where people that know you or want to know you, can see who you are. I use 3 of the most popular social-networking sites: Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter. I started by using Myspace. I loved how i could put music and pictures of the artists i like. When it became really popular, I started to find people i went to school with back in kinder-garden and throughout my school years. One day, my cousin who lived in New York when I was still living in Puerto Rico, talked to me about a cool new site better than Myspace, more for older people. I started using Facebook even though it was kind of confusing, but i enjoyed how easy was to communicate with people, better than waiting to leave comments in Myspace. I've used both since and I love them.

My career field has always been the entertainment. Anything from music to movies and the artists I need to know. I've followed many blogs from entertainment followers including Perez Hilton's. His celebrity page is filled with up to date news in the industry with his comments. Several days I started to notice that many artists were posting personal stuff on a site called Twitter. Being this my field of interest, i decided to check it out and see what it was. I found more interesting yet the fact that is just answering one simple question "What are you doing?" in form of a text message. Now I've added a new site to my list of favorite social-networking sites.

I usually spend more than 4 hours a day on the social-networking sites, checking up with my friends, figuring out how to put my profile together and watching my artists, in between others. A week easily can be 15 hours of time checking up my pages. Actually is very valuable for me this pages, I think I've become addicted to look at my pages, knowing what everyone else is doing. Each site has a particular use for me. Myspace is for my younger friends back in P.R., Facebook is more of a College/Workers/older person kind of site, and Twitter is more for the entertainment issues on the go. If they put a fee for accessing the sites I don't think I would keep using the services just because I know my friends wont be using the sites, so what's the point on having a social-networking site without the people? I mean, I love the sites but is not that I cant live without them, I know there is always going to be new and free ways to contact with people.

Magic of Film

Movies have always been a form of escaping the reality we live in our daily basis. A fantasy we evolve in our heads to lead our darkest dreams. Placed on a screen, in a room full of people looking to have a place in that other dimension called film. For every person, there's a movie that fits their personality. From musicals to horror, from comedy to drama, movies fit every persons needs like the perfect shoe size on your feet. Technology has changed over the years and it has made the movies more realistic even though they can be set to be formalistic. I enjoy every type of movies but there is one certain movie i can see over and over again and i can never get tired of watching it: Twilight.

A movie based on the first of a series of novels by Stephenie Meyer, Twilight (directed by Cathrine Hardwick, who did an awesome job making it just like the book) is the story of a vampire, living in the small town of Forks,WA, who falls deeply in love with a human. The story may seem like the typical Romeo and Juliet but with a twist of fantasy and adventure, also added new names: Edward and Bella. Edward, played by Robert Pattinson (Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix) being certainly not your average vampire, acts like a human to fit into the society, falls in love with the new girl in town Bella, played by Kristen Stewart (Panic Room). Because this love is certainly forbidden, they have to fight against everything and everyone to live happily ever after.

Because all the different subjects this movie has, Twilight makes the top of my favorites list. Why? First the drama of the movie is quite interesting. I love the way Stephenie Meyer developed this love story that gets stuck in your head and you still wonder why and how a vampire could fall in love with a simple human. Also, the direction of the movie by Catherine Hardwick, makes what you imagined while reading the book come to life in this picture. Characters are an essential piece in this movie. Robert Pattinson makes you fall in love with the "Edward" character. The way he portrays this role is one of a kind, making himself become the sparkly vampire of the tale and making the audience believe he's not just Robert, he IS Edward Cullen. Kristen Stewart also made a good role as "Bella", the quite naive girl making it believable also. Twilight is certainly one of the movies you'll keep wanting more from it.

Since the early movies came out, the first movie theaters were called "Nickelodeons". You might think that has to do something with the kids channel but trust me, it doesn't. They called this "Nickelodeons" this way because they cost only a nickel to get in. In there, they used to play 3 short films, from like 10 minutes long and different genres. Nowadays the movie theatres are not quite same but they have the same purpose: entertain people. I enjoy going to the movies instead of just staying home and watch them from different sources. Going out to the movies makes me forget all that happened throughout the day or the week and just enjoy the drive and the showing, while eating to. Also going out to a theatre to watch a movie is a time to enjoy with family members or long lost friends, something we all consider important. Even though is not free, you get to free your mind and have fun for a little while. However both going out to the movies and/or staying at home have some advantages and disadvantages.

Some advantages for staying at home would be that is certainly cheaper, you have the commodity of your house and you can see movies from any year or any country. Some advantages of going out to the movie theatre are that you can get your mind off from being home, bigger screen, get to see a movie as soon as it comes out and you get to see all the newest previews. Disadvantages are slightly different for both venues. As far as staying at home movie watching is concerned, some of the disadvantages are that you'll have to wait till the newest movie comes out in that venue, if you keep the movie for too long you'll be subject to late fees and you wont have a huge screen to see it. The disadvantages of watching movies at the theatre are that for every time you wanna watch a movie you'll have to pay, the disturbance of the other people sitting around you and you certainly cannot press forward, rewind, stop or play if you didn't get the part. Even though both are reliable sources of entertainment, they still have their advantages and disadvantages.

One of the awards ceremonies most important in the film industry is the Academy Awards, presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This ceremony where awards are given away to recognize the excellence of professionals in the film industry, which includes actors, directors and writers, is also known as " The Oscars". The past Sunday February 22, 2009 the 81st Academy Awards was held with one unique host Hugh Jackman, honoring the best films of 2008. One of the things i often look forward to while watching award ceremonies is the famous Red Carpet. Hollywood stars arrived, some in gorgeous outfits, some in not quite as pretty. Interviews are being held with the hot stars of the moment and nervousness is shown in every step, that's what makes a red carpet, a RED CARPET. The opening act of this years Academy Awards was pretty amazing. Who knew Hugh Jackman could sing and dance the way he did? Also, loved the way Anne Hathaway was pulled from the public, acting like she didn't know what to sing or do, and did a amazing duet with Hugh. Another thing i found very interesting was when the late Heath Ledger won the supporting actor category for the role he played as the Joker in "The Dark Knight". His family accepted the Oscar on his behalf and something that stayed in my mind was one thing thing his sister said: he talked about being there that very day accepting that award. He did such wonderful job as the Joker he definitely deserves that award. Overall the Academy awards was filled with a lot of emotions and winners, that make the film industry and the magic of film one of a kind.

NewsPapErs....

As a little girl my father would buy the newspaper every day before he dropped us off at school. Then, after a long day with the newspaper, my Dad used to place them on the dining table. Because the newspapers were just sitting there, curiosity got the best of me, and I opened the newspaper and read it. That was my first encounter with a newspaper. As the years progressed, I wasn’t as interested in newspapers, but I would read the movie and fashion reviews routinely. When my parents divorced I didn’t have any newspapers to read because he was the only one that use to bring them home. Although I read newspapers less and less during the week I would spend the weekends at my father’s in which the papers were again always left on the table. Yet, my mother eventually moved to Florida, and I moved in with my grandparents. My grandparents read the paper faithfully on Thursdays and Sundays. I believe this was so because those were the days with the longest issues of “El Nuevo Dia.”
I used to love those days when I read the newspaper. Thursdays were when all the film reviews were issued because that was the day that movies were released in Puerto Rico, unlike the usual Friday in the U.S.A. The Sunday paper reflected all the stories from the week, and contained mini-magazines including “Mi Pequeno Dia.” Also, the Sunday paper included an extensive travel section about a new country. Yet above all my personal favorite section of the Sunday paper was “Por Dentro,” because it wrote about beauty, health, fashion and entertainment all at once. Out of all the newspapers in Puerto Rico, “El Nuevo Dia” was the one I truly loved the most. When I finished my senior year everything changed.
After my senior year I moved to Florida with my Mom, and unfortunately she didn’t have newspapers at home. My Thursdays and Sundays no longer were reading days, but rather leisure days for other activities. The first time I saw a newspaper in Florida I thought it was really peculiar. The paper was long and with tiny words I couldn’t read without my glasses on. I used to compare all the newspapers from Florida with the ones in Puerto Rico. Although American papers are fantastic, I still understand Puerto Rican newspapers better because they are shorter in length and in Spanish which is my first language.
Newspapers are the source of information everyone needs in a daily basis. For every person there is a section they would be interested in. Personally I enjoy newspapers because it is where I can learn the latest news; locally and internationally. With all the technology nowadays, people are losing interest in reading the actual paper and resorting to television and radio . I really enjoy reading the paper while eating my breakfast because , that’s where I get informed with all the news the previous day. Even though television and internet are the future of media right now, newspapers still important and useful in our everyday life.
Days are far too hastily flying by in my life and I never thought I would actually return to my reading habits until Iwalked into my mass communications class. When the teacher said we will be reading The Wall Street Journal my first thought that cross my mind was why will we be reading a newspaper about finance in a communications class. When I got the first issue in my hands I realized it is like a common newspaper with all the news even though it has stuff about finance. I think the Wall Street Journal is a great newspaper when it comes to learning about mass communications. The issues I’ve got so far have been filled with news in the area of mass communications and so forth. I think this class is going to be an interesting one, in which I can learn more about the field I’m interested. Most definitely above all, The Wall Street Journal will help us in our journey to gain knowledge in the communications field.
By using a newspaper instead of a book, the class of survey of mass communications will add an amazing twist to the traditional way of having a class. With a newspaper we will be informed to date of the current news circulating on the field. We are used to read and answer questions from a text book which is not currently to date and since this is a class where the primordial thing is the current news, the best source for the class: the Newspaper.