When Mark and I met to go over a few ideas we had about the Remix video project, Mark described the idea to piece together movie clips that included dialogue in which the character said the name of the movie.  He showed me what he meant by this, and my skepticism quickly disappeared.  I found myself laughing as Jim Carey ran down the hallway yelling, “CAABBLLEEE GUYYY,” and giving myself a pat on the back for recognizing the characters and lines that Mark showed me.  We pieced the project together and the final product made me feel nostalgic for these classic movies and proud that I felt a connection to each of these films and characters–I knew them.  I think my reaction to this final project has to do with the phenomenon of fan recognition–everyone will give themselves a pat on the back when they recognize a movie line.  The humor in this video comes from the irony of Matt Damon saying “the Departed” and when Christopher Llyod shouts, “Back to the Future!”  This video is a comment on fan culture and the satisfaction of recognition and also the poignant magic of Hollywood.

I just want to observe how common it is for people to read emails on their smart phones, decide to respond later from their computer, and never do.  There is a black hole between phone and computer email servers.  This seems to be the newest excuse, equivalent to “it was filtered to my junk folder by accident,” only putting slightly more fault on the flaky correspondent.

I’m not sure how I feel about the post office limiting their delivery days to five…one the one hand, this makes sense as a practical money-saving solution, as supposedly “Ending mail delivery on Saturday — when the volume is 17 percent lower than on weekdays — would save $40 billion over the next decade.”  We’ve spoken a bit in class about how with every new wave of technology comes a wave of panic for every other medium, whose life inevitably seems threatened by the powers of the new form.  We spoke a bit about mail when we discussed our paper assignments–will the wedding invitation be replaced by the evite?  I’m willing to bet that there will always be some demand for mail.  The Times points out, “Even with the Internet, Americans will need mail services for packages, legal documents and, yes, letters for years to come.”  Aparantly, the USPS stopped turning a profit after 2006, and now the question is whether or not they should run like a business (ie regulating their own supply based on demand, a model that would suggest a five day delivery plan) or be subsidized.  I’d like to think that a five day delivery service would not be the beginning of the end for USPS, but rather, a transformative and life-saving step, even one that would signify that the relevance of this industry is not threatened, just slightly more limited.

I am trying to respond to Professor Mittell’s question about Chat Roulette, and just went to post my reply and it was lost somehow…one of those times when “technology” is not a time-saver.

My point was twofold, first, I don’t think that Chat Roulette will be nearly as popular next year as it is now.   If we look at sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace as models for sustainable social networking sites, they all offer something like the oportunity to share information, join groups, sustain or build relationships, etc.  Chat Roulette doesn’t offer its users the oportunity to do any of that, and I also don’t see much room for the site to be used for any purpose outside of its original design/intention, which is to provide a way for strangers to have momentary online interactions.

I do, think, however, that the site responds to teen culture in a way that is worth examining.  Boyd makes the point that teenagers are often restricted by transportation issues, curfews, and the drinking age, and have little opportunity to “hang out” in public without facing these restrictions.  Boyd says, “Youth have very little access to public spaces.  The spaces they can hang out in are heavily controlled and/or under surveillance.”  Chat Roulette is a perfect example of a public “space” that is not restricted by adult involvement.  Kids can easily access this space, and once they are there, they can have unregulated social interactions, which is a rare opportunity for today’s youth.  I wonder how the generation who becomes used to this kind of social interaction will respond to “live” interactions once they reach adulthood and are relieved from the restrictions that caused them to take advantage of these digital social experiences.