Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things by George Lakoff

The author has a point when he says that "Every time we see something as a kind of thing, for example, a tree, we are categorizing" (5). I think the reason for this is to create an understanding of something we are not familiar with. It's like if we saw some sort of unfamiliar species, we may try to understand what it is by comparing it to something we do know. That is why categorizing is a great thing to do sometimes. Categorizing is probably even a subconscious thing we do because we categorize something everyday according to how we categorize things. But I think categorizing can be hard sometimes when it is defining music. Some music have elements of many genres and its hard to categorize them in just one word because they may be defined by more than one genre.

Practices of Looking 265-279

In the book it talks about the different advertisements to catch peoples attention that may or may not pay attention to their tactics in selling their product (266). For example the book talks about Quaker Oats and when I go to Walmart I see this brand but I also see a brand called Great Value that also sells oats. This seems to me like advertising method to promote this brand of slightly cheaper goods which appeals to some, or to others it may be a cheap knock off of the original. If someone is under a tight budget they may be more drawn to get the food that says Great Value and this probably what the marketers want to accomplish. Marketing products properly will ensure that companies make money because companies are competing for their products to be sold. I once even thought is it possible for a company to market their items twice, first as a brand and then possibly something like a Great Value brand?

Practices of Looking 223-260

In the book the authors talk about Television and that its a medium of distraction (230). I partially agree with this statement, but what I learned in a cinema class was that many people watch movies to escape the realities of this world. For example people during the Great Depression watched movies to escape the reality of the hard times they lived in. The book also talks about the theater experience being different than it is during a home experience (230). I remember watching the movie "Marvels The Avengers" when it premiered in theaters and to me it was a very epic movie. As soon as it came out on Blu-Ray I bought it expecting a very similar experience. Unfortunately the experience wasn't the same but I still enjoyed the movie. The authors also mention Cultural Theorist Raymond Williams and his commentary about Television's pace and how they incorporate commercials (230). Nowadays with things Netflix's ad free experience and Dish's DVR where someone can record Television and bypass the commercials. Either way, people have ways of avoiding commercials which is changing our viewing experience to a more straightforward approach to viewing content.

Practices of Looking 200-220

The book talks about images and how they are used and copied by others like in the case with Art Rogers and his piece called Puppies (210). This reminds me a little about the copying of not necessarily an image but a symbol known as the Swastika. The Swastika symbol was used by many religious groups and was taken by the Nazis in Germany and for me the symbol brings bad connotations because of how it represented the Nazi group. Also in the book it talks about Cuban revolutionary icon Che and how his image was used, and by simply putting words next to an image can alter its meaning like it also did with Che (201, 203). Images have so many different meanings, and just by altering an image or making it represent something else can drastically change its meaning to the viewer depending on what how and why its used.
                                     Che Smirnoff Vodka Ad                                            Portrait of Che

Practices of Looking 183-200

In the book it talks about how cuts were used to blend a motion picture together by using short shot to shots segments and combining them (189). This technique is something I learned back at CBC, in which I took a intro to Cinema class and we learned a lot of information about film and especially cuts. I didn't notice cuts until the professor pointed them out and ever since I notice them more frequently in movies t.v shows etc. Cuts are prevalent in the film industry but I notice them more during commercials since they are trying to get there advertisement out as fast as possible usually 30 seconds or less depending on the commercial. I also seen a clip of video (which I can't remember the title of the film) where there was no cuts involved and it felt a little awkward because we are so use to seeing cuts in visual media.  

Free Culture-Lessig 53-79

Lessig mentions that his friends have bought pirated DVD's that they well could have afforded (64). There are some places that sell pirated or bootlegged copies of music, movies, and countless knock off items based from the originals at a very cheap price. that call themselves flea markets. Like I told my friend where did he get that CD from and he said at the flea market. Also I have seen people watching movies that barely hit theater and there they are watching the movie on their own TV was shocking. Also it was interesting how controversial Sony's introduction of the VCR with the record button which infuriated big Companies like Disney (75). Back then VCR's and their recording capabilities is rivaled by today's use of Dish DVR's that have recording capabilities as well.

Practices of Looking 49-62

In the book it talks about how images have different meanings to the viewer depending on many factors and basically a image can mean something totally different to someone else (50). This reminds me of hand gestures like for example a thumbs up can mean something totally different to someone else's culture. Not only is our culture involved in us determining an images meaning but also mentions aesthetics and taste. Sometimes images are considered by some to be in good taste and some are not (56). If someone says that a piece of art is in bad taste, its all biased because we all have different tastes in art and different opinions. and to someone an ugly piece of art could be seen by someone else as a beautiful piece. The lava lamp is example of what was considered an ugly thing in Europe and considered a wonderful thing in America during the 60's (57).