Per the Davis talk, just in case you’ve never heard or seen a theremin before:

In high school there was a variety of ways to get involved and help out with the Life Skills students (special education students), with clubs, within the community, etc. I was in DECA which is an international business club focused on sales and marketing. Unlike other schools 50% of our time and energy went into doing programs for and helping out the school and community. Looking back the activities I was a part of would definitly be considered service learning where at the time that was the last thing on anyones mind. We did things from sports captains cleaning up the campus, assemblies on holidays, programs on anti-drugs and anti-drinking and driving, we had a tv station, and many other things that helped the community and our high school of 3,000 people; while it also taught us important lessons.

The variety of activities/service learning projects and programs I was a part of in high school I believe have taught me the impact I can make and the many things I can accomplish which will come in handy during this quarter of service learning.

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Entry Part II – I remembered writing an entry but when looking it at all my blogs I didn’t have one for service learning so I wrote another and then magically the first one decided to reappear so here are both: (first above and second below)

I have many instances of helping out, getting to know, working with and volunteering for activities for the special education students at my high school. I was an officer my junior year and chapter president my senior year of the business club DECA. While 50% of what we worked towards was building business skills etc the other half of our focus was on leadership and campus/community interactions and relationships. So the plethora of things we did- anti-drugs and anti-drinking and driving, Breaking Down the Walls (a school wide program to break stereotypes and cliques), the Life Skills Christmas Party, zoo trip, aquaruim trip, lunch buddies, MP mentors and so much more- were all a lot of fun, very interesting and learning experiences. I also spent much of my time coaching special olympic soccer so I felt that it be very suitable to volunteer at the Wallingford Boys and Girls club because my experience working with special needs kids of all ages and disability types.

Then I decided that I have learned how to work with special needs students for the past four years and while it would be somewhat different working with these kids at the boys and girls club I wouldn’t have to adapt much nor would my experience there be too extremely different than any other I had in high school. So I decided to use my high school volunteer experience as a basis for my volunteering now but stepping outside of my comfort zone of students I am used to working with and trying something new. By this I mean, I decided to volunteer at the North Seattle Boys and Girls Club where there are less disabled special needs students and more high risk students whose lives differ just as greatly from mine as those with disabilities.

I originally thought I could use what I knew to continue my volunteering but I’ve decided instead to take what I have learned in volunteering and apply it with a completely different type of people and completely different situation. So I am excited to get to know the students whose background and hardships are completely different from those I have grown up with and learn how to relate with students who aren’t disabled but who may come from broken homes or poverty.

At first when reading acoustic cyberspace I find myself extremely confused and bored.  My mind seems to wander.  I guess it is because I don’t understand what he is saying.  The wording and the overall point of the text is uncomprehendable to me and hard to read and finish the point of what he is trying to get across.  I feel that if he had written it in laymens(dont know how to spell that) terms I would at least get the point of what he was saying.  Through all that I picked this quote from his text.  “Through resonance in a physical system, a small activity or event can gain a great deal of energy; for example, if I belted out a pitch that resonated with the unique acoustic characteristics of this room, the energy of my voice would be amplified by the environment. That’s why some singers can shatter a glass with their voice: they hit the resonant frequency of the glass (which is a space and contains a space), making it vibrate to the point of shattering. Resonance is a very powerful analogy for understanding how various types of energies and spaces operate.” I chose this quote because it’s really the only thing I really understood and could relate to in the text I managed to read.  It seems to be saying that even small things can have a broader and greater effect.  His word choice is definately understandable to me.  This relates to how sound can be magnified even in a room.  Also how sound at a certin resonant frequency can shatter a glass simply through singing.

Ahoy, Mateys!! My name is Megan Nordstrom and welcome to the tropical oasis of my EnglishI2I Portfolio at the University of Washington. Climb aboard with the crew at our pirate EnglishI2ISLAND and feel free to browse the extraordinary cabin features you find on the port side of the page. “  I chose this quote because I think it’s a great hook, grabber, to pull you into the text that may otherwise be boring and dull.  Who wants to hear about the class in a boring way…like this is what you will be doing….and this……and this…..funstuff….I think not.  Her intro to the class just grabs you and it keeps you long enough to get to the less boring stuff and eventually the end.  The tone is upbeat and excited.  She used a cool comparison with the pirate island and the ship to introduce us.  This can relate to how sounds and the way we preceive words can change how we feel based on the tone and the words used.  Like in this quote it made me feel upbeat and happy.

     Well, i’m going to run with what Jentery said about this blog not being formal and I am just going to be honest.  That talk by Erik Davis was straight confusing and he did not make his case (or is it cases?) very well.  But here our my thoughts on what I think I was supposed to get from this reading:

• So, the Renaissance is what made us such visual people?  And because we are visual we are missing how important sound is in our lives? 
• Resonance is one of the reasons why sound is so important?  Resonance can change a small action like singing into a huge action that breaks glass.  It is not linear.  Sound waves can resonate and hit mountains and bounce back and go all over the place.
• Another reason why sound is so important is because of simultaneity?  I thought that this was very interesting (after I read his wording about a 12 times to comprehend what he was trying to get at) because it is so true.  When you think of something visually or linearly, you only get THAT visual feeling.  But when you hear a sound, maybe a certain song, you can relate it to a special event in which you remember the sounds and tastes and environment and feelings and you get all of this simultaneously. 
• Sound gives an “effect” that visuals can not achieve?  I think that this is sometimes true.  Sound can totally immerse you, when you close your eyes and can practically feel like you are “in” the music.  However, in my opinion, a painting or picture can do the same thing.  I suppose it depends on the type of person you are.

Now for my quote: “This is related to print technologies—and print culture—because, according to McLuhan, these technologies inculcate within us a habit of organizing the world in a linear, atomized, and sequential fashion. Central to this visual space is the axiom or assumption that “different” objects, vectors, or points are not and cannot be superimposed; instead, the world is perceived as a linear grid organized along strictly causal lines.”

-The way in which this quote is written is obviosly directed at a certain audience.  A very intelectual, college educated, amazingly smart person.  “Inculcate,” “Axiom,” “Vector”???  What is this guy thinking trying to use words like that to get a message across?  Anyways, I guess if I was actually spending my time listening to a speech on sound then I would be of the educated sort and actually use those sorts of words in my life too.  However, I suppose that those words do give him credibility, in rhetoric I believe Aristotle called it Ethos.  His word choice obviously shows that he is intelligent and probably knows what he’s talking about (or he has no idea what he is talking about so he is trying to confuse us by stringing together as many syllables as possible). 

-This quote relates to why studying sound is important in that it discusses something that is quite true but one does not readily think about.  We, as a human race, like to have things sequential and linear and that this idea has been brought to us by a culture that supports it.  The print media for example, visually/literally puts things in perfect lines and sequences and things don’t happen simultaneously.  

Now for my thoughts on Megan Nordstrom work:

• Honestly my first thought was: Is she an actual Nordstrom? And if so, did she dress fabulously when she came to class?
• Next I thought that her writing was obviously much easier to read and actually had coherent arguments.  Her arguments seemed to go with what Mr. Davis was trying to articulate, it just seems that she made a better arguement because we could actually understand them.

  The quote that I chose from Megan was one from her Seabiscuit paper.  “I believe that the narrator’s voice and background music are essential in bringing the writer’s intended mind-set to the audience.” 

-I thought that the way that this quote is written is perfectly worded and succinctly tells the audience her argument.  I also think that this quote expressly shows why sound is an important study.  Without the sound, the intended mind-set would not have been achieved, and without the audience in that particular mind-set the movie probably would have been a total flop, and then it wouldn’t have gotten  an academy award or whatever thus proving how important sound is. 

    As I read Erik Davis’ talk, I was initially struck by how vague and wordy he could be. For instance, his sentences and word choice often become confusing and muddled, leaving me with no choice but to guess at what he means by “zone of space-time,” “areas of the bodymind,” or “unfolding para-spaces.” Perhaps these were references to whatever text he was responding to. Anyway, I found this quote interesting:

Quote: “Resonance is just one quality of acoustic space; another one is simultaneity. Where visual space emphasizes linearity, acoustic space emphasizes simultaneity—the possibility that many events that occur in the same zone of space-time. In such a scheme, a subject—a person, maybe—organizes space by synthesizing a variety of different events, points, images, and sources of information into a kind of organic totality. This isn’t true in the strictest sense, but, nonetheless, our thoughts and perceptions can tend towards this simultaneity: we sense many things at once, and combine them into a coherent if fragmentary whole.”

In this quote, Erik stays true to his style of vague word choice, yet he conveys his overall message effectively. Erik fails to provide concrete examples to support his point, but his argument that acoustic space emphasizes simultaneity is clear. I think it was redundant of him to mention that the subject is “a person, maybe,” as it is clear that his audience is human. Erik’s tone shows that he is a big fan of acoustics; he begins the quote by saying, “Resonance is just one quality of acoustic space; another one is simultaneity,” giving the impression that acoustics have many qualities and are thus vastly superior to the “linearity” of visuals. One thing I would have liked him to elaborate on is how acoustic space is used to synthesize events and images. Erik’s warrant for the simultaneity of acoustics seems to be based on the condition that the subject is hearing and processing several different sounds at once, and it isn’t clear whether the acoustics are accompanied by visuals.

Erik’s quote gives two good reasons to study sound and sound technologies. First, the subject’s perception of simultaneity through acoustics would complement a visual display quite well, and proper study and experimentation of sound and art, such as in a movie, would be great for maximizing entertainment. Second, the rapid technological advances in sound technology such as surround sound and noise-cancelling may open new doors in the perception of acoustic space; the perception of simultaneity would be exponentially greater if different sounds seemed to come from different places.

Megan Nordstrom’s E-Portfolio was easy to read and I found it easy to relate to her Response Paper 1.2 because I am familiar with the movie Seabiscuit. I particularly liked her analysis of the movie’s narrated introduction because it fit with what I had just read from Erik Davis’ paper. This is the quote I chose:

Quote: . “Opening with slow, sad sounds of violins and an orchestra, the movie displays slides of black and white photos used as a timeline of history. As the photos of early cars and assembly lines cover the screen, the narrator describes the historic background of the time period. Appropriately chosen for this film, the narrator’s voice is that of an older man, who speaks with experience and knowledge of the time. His words are simple and straightforward, but his slight variance of tone captivates the audience. The narrator generates a picture of the “old fashion American man” in our heads, who could possibly remind us of our grandfather or even FDR. His voice hints of sadness and sorrow which reminds us of the hard times in American’s past. I believe that the narrator’s voice and background music are essential in bringing the writer’s intended mind-set to the audience.”

Megan provides plenty of evidence in this quote to support her claim that the narrator’s voice and background music set the mind-set of the audience. She describes the visual display of car production first, but then she focuses on the narrator’s tone and the “slow, sad sounds of violins.” Megan also describes the narrator’s voice as that of an older man, allowing the reader to imagine the voice without hearing it. The tone used in this quote is straightforward and conversational; it seems like she is describing the movie to a friend by using descriptions such as the “old fashion American man.” Megan’s argument for how the narration and background music instill a specific mindset in the audience provides good reason to study sound and its effects on audiences. Knowledge on how certain background music or tone of voice influences a crowd’s mood would be extremely valuable when a speaker or movie is trying to convey a specific message or provoke a certain reaction.

These two quotes “intertextualize” quite well. Erik Davis’ talk on how acoustic space has a quality of simultaneity was missing evidence and examples; Megan Nordstrom’s quote about Seabiscuit’s introduction is the perfect example for Erik’s argument. As one listens to the old man talking in sad tones about the Great Depression, “simultaneity” is achieved as the listener thinks about the Depression and memories of grandfathers. The narrator’s voice provides information to the listener while setting the listener’s mindset for the rest of the movie as well as triggering memories and reflective thoughts.

Acoustic Cyberspace, Erik Davis 

Is McLuhan saying that an acoustic space can give rise to a certain subjectivity depending on the construction of that acoustic space? I think that’s what I understood from that beginning of the reading. i then follow how he traces some of the chracteristics of acoustic space’s construction such like simultaneity and resonance, and the subjectivity they each produce. However, I get lost at the point where he says that ” we hear things and we see things simultaneously – but accodring to different logics, logics that are culturally defined and change over time.”  What are these logics? From what do the arise? Soon after he mentions “the conditions for experiencing information, consciousness, conception” and I wonder if these are what he refers to when e talks about “logics”. Also, what realm of sound is he considering that lends itself to logic? I don’t think I’m thinking of sound the way he is, and I should be, yet. At this point I understand this logic as something used to perceive sound. However, later on he higlights that “sound and smel carry vectors of mood and affect which change the qualitative organization of space, unfolding a different logic with a space’s range of potentials”, and I become confused as to whether the logic he spoke of precedes the perception of sound or if it is effected and produced by sound instead.

At the middle of the reading I am intereseted to see why he thinks this is of any importance : the “larger implications of sound and acoustics”.

He parallels the “utopian imagination” produced by the invention of the radio with “the rhetoric surrounding information technology”. This “utopian energy”, that uses imagination to dream about the possibility of progress, then dwindles away as the radio spectrum becomes “commodified and consumerized” by the state (“boundaries and rules that defince the commercial radio”)

He claims that radio, and presently the acoustic dimension of electronic media, produced “a different logic”. What is this logic produced my the acoustics of electronic media?

Early on in the text he wrote that “acoustic space isn’t limited to a world of music or sound; the environment of electronic media itself engenders this way of organizing and perceiving the other spaces we intersect”, and I had no idea what he meant by this, however after reading his idea about the logic produced by the acoustic dimension of electronic media I think that it may be possible that what he was saying at first was that this logic, which I still don’t know the mechanism he proposes it is produced by, is used as a way “of organizing and perceiving the other spaces we intersect.” …???

 He proposes that acoustic space can create subjectivities that “can help us feel our way through the spaces we are opening up and moving into”, and I am lost about what spaces he is talking about: information technology, electronic media, and their repercussions? How would these subjectivities do this?

Is his example of 60s and 70s electronic music’s “emphasis on the cosmic, on spatial disorientation, on transport, on affect, on the nonhuman.”, and example of the ability of acoustic space to create modes of subjectivity? The subjectivities it opened, contrasted to pop music, are the less personalized soundscapes and the pyschic spaces (vs the organization of narrative around love and lost)

In the first paragraph of the text he notes sound’s ability to act as a map, and then towards the end he states that electronic music “involves mapping the electronic media spaces that humans find themselves in”. WHAT THE HELL?? What is this “mapping” he is talking about?

Electronic music, dub music create “environments [that] suggest a kind of cyberspace – a spacious electronic orienation of affect and quality rathaer than information and quantity…”

 When he ends with “By pushing the boundaries of electro-acoustic environements, of acoustic cyberspace, we can maintain a line into the open spaces of the unknown”, I hope it is correct that I understand this is possible through the production of subjectivities…??

 Quote:

              “Sound and smell carry vectors of mood and affect which change the qualitative organization of space,     unfolding a different logic with a space’s range of potentials.”

• The words themselves are quite simple, however the ideas he wants to capture with phrases like “qualitative organization of space”, “space’s range of potentials”, along with the word “logic” are difficult to grasp unless one has read the entire text. His claim about the vectors of mood and affect instilled in sound and smell would have to be substantiated by some scientific data in my opinion, although personal experience may seem to support the statement. This quote is establishing the characteristic of sound that gives rise to it’s importance in producing subjectivities, and in turn the roles, he later writes, they play in human experience.
• The fact that the quote states that there are potentials in a space that can be tapped into by sound’s effects on the “qualitative organization of space” hints to the importance of studying sound because it opens new qualitative dimensions in an old space which serve as avenues to new ways of thinking, understanding, etc.

Megan Nordstrom’s Engl121 Portfolio

Well I first read Erik Davis’s text and then when I came to the portfolio I naturally found it boring, since the first reading provided ways of understanding sound to which I had never been introduced before; still, the information in the portfolio is very helpful, detailed, and well organized. It provided hints to what the instructor is looking for in a good paper.

             Quote:

                        ” ‘By setting this background mood with the help of narration and sound, Seabiscuit starts to be transformed into a symbol for success and overcoming hardships’ “

• The reasoning behind the sentence is clear because of its structure, and the choice of words is appropriate for the audience. The writer shows that they have given thought to the role of sound in the context of a movie.
• The quote gives evidence to the role sound holds in the realm of people’s perception and understanding of the world around us, even when this example used film as the object of attention. This role is important if people are interested in widening human experience of the world.

“This is much, much, stronger than a visual experience, which tacitly distances you, places you in a transcendent, removed position, rather than embodying you at the center of a new context. My question here is: why are acoustic spaces so effective in this regard? What is it about sound that is so potentially immersive? I think it has to do with how we register it—how it affects different areas of the body and mind than visuals do. Affect is a tremendously important dimension of experience, and one of the most difficult to achieve in a visual environment.” (Davis, Acoustic Cyberspace)

The word choice throughout the talk is very sophisticated and gives us an extravagant taste of his opinions. This paper was a complicated read and though I didn’t understand all of it he used good evidence to make his point. Throughout the talk he uses various sources of evidence such as the radio, sounds from earlier years to now, and the different meanings of words to emphasize the importance of sound on our generation. This quote also implies the importance of sound over visual experience. Sound is very important to our generation and has become a way of individualizing ourselves. Individuality and uniqueness are two important topics in our world today and I believe music is one of the many solutions we have created to form an identity for ourselves. But I disagree with the fact that visuals aren’t important because I believe they are just as important as sound. First impressions aren’t made by sounds but by looks, and the way we interpret the world around us is a balance between the visual and the acoustic. It says acoustic spaces affect us in the body and mind but so do visuals. I believe that visuals can equally make me a feel an emotion just as a certain sound or song does. At the end of his talk, Davis says, “all popular music functions, particularly for young people, as a way to construct and define a whole worldview.” And I completely agree but what about visuals? The way we perceive this world isn’t clear-cut into acoustics and visuals. Instead it is a combination of the two. Only with a combination between sounds and visuals can we completely understand the world around and make our interpretations of it. Some may argue that those that are blind or deaf can only perceive one way or the other and that they are successful. I agree but when we have both doesn’t it make it a more wholesome experience? God gave us five senses so why not utilize them all to understand ourselves and our surroundings better?

“For example I quoted Chion in the paper when he says, “Sight is generally what we rely on for orientation, because the naming and recognition of forms is vastly more subtle and precise in visual terms than with any other channel of perception.” I used this quote to explain how when watching movies, we focus on the images and characters that we see. This would lead you to conclude that, “The idea that recognition is more precise in visual terms leaves little purpose and reason for using sound and narration in films.” (Nordstrom, First Major Paper)

Megan directs her paper toward other 121 students and her writing was simpler to understand. Once again this author quotes how visual images plays a vital role in our life but here she says that the visual images impair our ability to pay attention and focus on sound. This may be true, but I believe that sound enhances the visual perception and that the visuals enhance the sound perception. I believe that both sounds and visuals and all of our other senses play a vital role in how we perceive the world. Megan gets her point across by using quotes as evidence. The quotes are sophisticated and help get her point across.

 

Relating the 2 quotes:

Both quotes emphasize the importance of either sound or visuals but neither of them emphasizes the importance of both. I believe that both sound and visuals are vital to understanding the world around us.  

Hey, North Seattle volunteers! Are any of you going to the Wednesday volunteer orientation? Want to meet beforehand to take the bus down together (and take the bus back together afterward)? Just to have someone to walk with after dark, especially given that recent assault just off campus…. e-mail me (krystay@u.washington.edu) or comment on my post if you’re interested.

Now, to my real topic. “Acoustic Cyberspace” went several yards over my head, and I suspect I’m not the only one. The trouble is that it’s written for a much different audience. The complex vocabulary, allusions to subjects such as the Renaissance, and difficult ideas are targeted at very mature, educated, intelligent, and intellectual listeners. Certainly I consider myself mature, educated, intelligent, and intellectual, but not quite to the extent or in quite the same way as the conference attendees. These people are all older than I am, perhaps businessmen, presumably with at least a bachelor’s degree for the most part. Notice that in my previous sentence, I not only say “not quite to the extent” but also “not… in quite the same way.” I am an exceptionally left-brained thinker, so I struggle with “abstract ideas” and “open-ended notions” – which Davis explicitly states to be the topic of his speech. I’m intelligent, but I pick up calculus and computer science much more easily than ideas such as those Davis proposes; I’m intellectual, but I’d rather sit down with a logic puzzle than some of the great classics.

McLuhan’s ideas confused me, but perhaps Davis summarized them too concisely to give them justice. I understand the metaphorical differences between acoustic and visual space: acoustic space, unlike visual space, has resonance and simultaneity. I just don’t understand why McLuhan concludes that, given these differences, electronic media are acoustic and print technology is visual. The idea of resonance is that “a small activity or event can gain a great deal of energy.” Ever heard of a book called Harry Potter? (Granted, McLuhan hasn’t – he died in 1980.) Harry Potter is arguably the strongest example of resonance. A woman nobody’s heard of, struggling to make ends meet in a corner of England, writes a humble little story and – poof – she’s launched a worldwide cultural phenomenon of colossal proportions. All thanks to print technology.

Quote: In discussing virtual reality, Davis writes, “Typically, people relegate acoustic dimensions to the ‘background’—a soundtrack or score that ‘accompanies’ a primary visual experience.” He, however, feels that “an immersive acoustic environment . . . is much, much, stronger than a visual experience . . .” Trying to understand why this is, he proposes that sound “affects different areas of the bodymind than visuals do. Affect is a tremendously important dimension of experience, and one of the most difficult to achieve in a visual environment. ‘Atmosphere’ might be a good way to describe this aspect: sound produces atmosphere, almost in the way that incense—which registers with yet another sense—can do. Sound and smell carry vectors of mood and affect . . .”

Davis’s educated audience is evident in these phrases. He uses elevated, professional/scientific diction (“relegate,” “vectors,”) where more accessible words would be sufficient. For instance, he could say “emotion” or “feelings” (thanks, dictionary.com) instead of “affect” when he uses it as a noun. The tone, consequently, is scholarly, intellectual, and perhaps even pompous - he almost seems to try too hard to show off his vocabulary.

In this quote, Davis laments that sound is underrated. Movies and TV push sound to second place, using it as a supplement to humbly enhance the visual. People obsess over video game graphics, yet I’ve never heard gamers get so passionate about the games’ music. And yet, sound is so emotionally powerful – a classmate once commented that the time people break down at funerals is when the music starts. To return to the video game example, when you’re rushing to complete a timed challenge, don’t you get much more worked up if the music is fast and has a “tick-tock” undertone? In Davis’s words, sound creates “affect” or “atmosphere.” The tremendous power of sound and the lack of emphasis it currently receives is one reason sound needs to be studied. Likewise, studying sound technology can help us use sound more effectively, better channeling its power and potential.

Megan Nordstrom’s portfolio, of course, was much more readable. Not only was it directed at 121 students, but it was written by someone at our level – meaning she probably couldn’t have written an argument as over-our-heads as Davis’s if she wanted to.

At one point, Nordstrom says, ” ‘It was obvious that the director wanted the audience’s main focus on the narrator’s voice instead of on the images’ (3). I observed that the visuals played a ‘background role’ to the vocals in the scene.” I thought this was interesting because Davis discusses how sound is unfairly used as the background to visuals. In the movie clip Nordstrom analyzes, the roles are actually reversed.

Quote: Nordstrom writes: ” ‘The narrator generates a picture of the “old fashion American man” in our heads, who could possibly remind us of our grandfather or even FDR’ (1).” Later, she also adds: ” ‘It is not necessarily what the narrator says about the production of car, but how he says it. He uses a slow, knowledgeable approach that helps gives a feeling of “Old America” ‘ (2).”

This quote has a much more familiar, casual tone than the quote from Davis. It doesn’t use elevated diction, instead using accessible wording (“helps gives a feeling of”). The colloquial phrases “old fashion American man” and “Old America” contribute to the informal air, as does the reference to “our grandfather” – inspiring feelings of familarity.

What I like about these quotes is that they show the importance of sound in narration. A major component of narration is the words themselves, which can be written on paper (or shown on the screen as captions) and thus stripped of any relation to sound. Nordstrom could have chosen to focus her analysis on the narration’s words and believed she was discussing sound, since narration is associated with sound. Instead, she cleverly avoids falling into this trap. She notes that in this movie clip, the words are not what matter - what matters is the fact that they are heard, not just seen. Her astute observation strongly demonstrates the importance of sound and, likewise, the importance of studying sound.

Near the end of my junior year of high school, several friends started screenprinting original designs onto t-shirts and donated the profits to an orphanage in Haiti. We made the shirts in my friends basement and sold shirts at a leadership camps, a school craft fair, and a monthly street fair in NE Portland. We did a lot in the summer of 2006 and then all got busy once school started. We sold some shirts last summer, and some of the members still keep the organization alive.

It was positive because we ended up donating $400-500 dollars to the orphanage. That is not very much at all considering how much time each of us put into it though. If we had all spent that time working for minimum wage we probably could have raised $5000. But I am glad we did it, because I know way more about screenprinting then I did beforehand. It was also a lot of fun.

Only looking at how much we helped the orphanage, it was unproductive. Taking into account what all of us got out of it, it was productive.

“We find an emphasis on the cosmic, on spatial disorientation, on transport, on affect, on the nonhuman. The acoustic spaces of electronic music aren’t limited to the organization of affect and narrative that define much popular music, with its highly personalized structures of love and loss.” (Davis, Acoustic Cyberspace)

This quote seems to separate electronic music and popular (regular) music into two very distinct and different entities, which I do not agree with. Davis seems to say throughout the entire paper that electronic music automatically transports the listener to a world of the eerie, and, as is highly emphasized, the nonhuman. Of course, electronic noise is associated with machines, and thus with robots, and such (which humans are very intent on dissociating from themselves), but that does not necessarily mean that all electronic music is about nonhuman things– there are some very good, electronic songs that are about BEING human (e.g. Mr Roboto), and human emotions, such as “love and loss”. After all, humans created machines, and there thus must be an inherent human component to electronic sounds.

“If the voice over had been on a live scene of the movie’s characters, I feel like the audience would have paid less attention to the sound and more to the visuals.” (Norstrom, 1.2)

In contrast, I fully agree with this quote. Although sound is very important in a movie, and adds a lot to it, one of the highest impact uses of sound is when there is no live action, or, at the very least, when the action is not centered on people (e.g. storms, etc.). People tend to focus on people. If the most human element they can find is a voice, that is what they will focus on. By removing all visual traces of people, the director can make the viewer do less viewing and more listening.

 to relate this to the other quote– maybe that is why there is less electronic music than regular music? of course, it is more expensive to make and all, but most people do associate regular music far more with people than something electronic, and perhaps that is why they are drawn to it.