Jim Groom – ELS Autoblog

New Media empowering the silenced

Jim Groom — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:06:32 +0000

A washingtonpost.com article, Giving Voice to Chinese, explains how Chinese environmentalists were able to muster people together to protest the construction of a new factory by communicating with cell phones.
It was a dramatic illustration of the potential of technology — particularly cellphones and the Internet — to challenge the rigorous censorship and political controls…

That is awesome. The Chinese government has earned itself a bad reputation for censorship. For a thorough exampe, read this excerpt from Esse est indicato in Google on the Chinese internet censorship:
Email appears to be filtered at the service provider level, not at the backbone level, and increasingly sophisticated anti-spam filtering software can also be modified for use in political filtering. Blog provides are carefully monitored through keyword filtering, and politically incorrect bloggers are typically removed quickly from the servers. Within China, when one looks for Google, one often reaches alternative search engines such […]

Original post by humanisticmystic

A Blog for all Occasions

Jim Groom — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 04:32:46 +0000

So…when it comes to blogging I am rather like my sister. I’m still pretty new to this whole “write down your thoughts for everyone to see” thing. I’ve got a myspace account which allows me to blog as well, but so far in the last 3 years that I’ve had my account I’ve written probably six blogs. Most of my writing style revolves around being sarcastic, so most of what I have to say is a running commentary of whatever annoys me enough to write.
Class was interesting last night. I was afraid for a while that the course would be lecture based, which boded poorly for me as I am known to stealth nap in such classes. Fortunately, it turned out to be very discussion based….nay, engaging discussion based, so I’m thinking that this will be a better month than I mapped it out to be.
In particular, I liked our […]

Original post by georgestreet

Shahrazad’s Magic

Jim Groom — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 04:27:06 +0000

You have to hand it to Shahrazad. She tells one very compelling story. And she does this by telling a story within a story within a story. Think about it. The main story of The Arabian Nights, is her own. She reminds us of this with some small word or phrase found within the text. She then goes on to tell stories to King Shahryar. And in her stories, she had her characters tell stories to each other. And so the stories and storytellers come full circle.
The stories themselves deal with magic and things that would be outside the experiance of the average Muslim of the time period. Now they most likely believed in things like magic and jinnis. This was so that they would have something or someone to blame when the unexpected happened.
One of my favorite stories so far is “The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince.” Which is told […]

Original post by kathryn

Another look at the Glass Key

Jim Groom — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 04:20:44 +0000

After today’s class, my view of the book “The Glass Key” has changed completely. I have never been able to analyze a book the way we did in class today, and it was interesting to break down the true meaning behind every word that Hammett writes. The scenes came to life, more than a film ever has done. I feel that the words Hammett uses in the book are so full of imagery, so full of meaning. The play between red and white in the room where Janet and Ned Beaumont are talking, their play on words, the furniture descriptions, really got to me.
The fact that Hammett never lets us as readers get into the character’s thoughts is a great way to tell the story, because the story is pretty much based on what everyone is thinking about everyone else. We are left on the outside, making us characters in the […]

Original post by khusband

Charlie Rainbolt Presents: After Thoughts on the Hays Code

Jim Groom — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 03:09:24 +0000

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you my Magnum Opus: After Thoughts on the Hays Code.
Now, some readers might be temped to ask: “Wait a minute, didn’t you just add some stupid youtube clip to a post you stole word-for-word from a better blogger? ”
Well, it’s an honest question, and I’ll try my best to give it an honest answer. First off, did I mention it’s a clip of the Dramatic Chipmunk?

Note the clip’s Hammett-esque nature… we see the chipmunk’s expression, but do we know what he’s thinking?
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Original post by crain2mn

The Symbolism of the Open Door

Jim Groom — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 01:59:32 +0000

We didn’t have time to delve too deeply into it in class, so I wanted to write my thoughts on The Glass Key’s ending here. Given its open-ended nature, there are numerous plausible interpretations. Here’s what I came away with:
It seems to me that the “open door” at the end of the book is a reference to Janet’s nightmare about the snakes in the cabin. If you recall, Janet tells Ned about a dream/nightmare she had about the two of them at a snake-filled cabin in the woods. In her initial account, she said that she and Ned were able to lure the snakes out of the cabin and take refuge in it. Ned accuses her of making it up. Janet tells him that he’s only partially right.
Finally, at the beginning of the final section of the book, Janet tells Ned what really happened in her dream: having shattered the glass key while unlocking the door, they were unable to keep the snakes inside and they slithered out all over them.
How does this relate […]

Original post by crain2mn

Here I Go…

Jim Groom — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 23:17:40 +0000

I confess I have never “blogged” before nor have I ever considered doing so. I know I’m a greenie, but I figure that with everything I’ve learned to accomplish in my life (which in reality isn’t much) this should be cake.
So here I go…The Glass Key. I had never heard of the book or the movie before this class and whenever I tried to tell anybody what book I was reading they thoughtfully corrected me and said, “menagerie. You mean the glass menagerie”. Nope, I didn’t and they were wrong. Alas, The Glass Key was a very interesting find. I’m a nerd so I had read the book before we started class. I am glad though because I believe it made me appreciate the book more than I would have otherwise. The book took some getting used to, but before I knew it I cared about the messed up lives of Ned, Janet, and Paul. I have […]

Original post by kcannon

First Post

Jim Groom — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:21:46 +0000

Welcome to blogs.elsweb.org. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Original post by crain2mn

after thoughts on The Hays Code

Jim Groom — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:51:54 +0000

Ok, so after class I thought I’d investigate more into the “Hays” or “Production Code” set by the MPAA back in 1930. Anyway, incase this interests anyone else, I’ll just post the principles and my thoughts on some of them.
Principles:
1. No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.
-I can’t help but think of the SNL skit featuring Tina Fey discussing Georgians changing the text books from “dinosaurs” to “jesus horses.”
2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented.
3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.
These principles are set to the “particular applications” such as vulgarity, sex, obsenity, religion, ‘dances’, and I even think “national feelings” […]

Original post by elizabethomas

Tommy Want Wingy.

Jim Groom — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 04:51:31 +0000

Well let me preface this a little bit by stating that I am not much of a blogger. I have only written two blogs in my entire life time *gasp* ! Since I am in a sense, a n00b at this blogging business I am not entirely sure what I should be writing about, and how to go about writing it. I imagine my blogs will be tangenty, and scattered, so there.

While sitting in my New Media class, immersed in a deeply thrilling discussion, multiple thoughts raced through my head along the lines of ‘ohhh remember this for later, it would be good to reflect on in your blog”. Alas, I am not a memex and therefore I can only remember my most recent thoughts which have nothing to do with my new media class. My most recent thoughts long for my next day off from work where I […]

Original post by sarallah27