Blogs and Remixes

Like many of you, I read blogs more for enjoyment than for research or education. Therefore, two out of the three blogs are guilty pleasures; websites I visit ways to read and relax. I do, however, think that they are all well written for their genre.

Paul Krugman's blog on The New York Times website is an interesting read for a couple of reasons. Despite my best efforts as as undergraduate in my introductory Macroeconomics class, I am very ignorant of most economic principles. Paul Krugman is a nobel winning economist but he takes the time to explain simple principles without patronizing his readers. He acknowledges his political bias (which is far more than most pundits today) but he does not hesitate to criticize those with whom he aligns politically. When he sees hypocrisy or ignorance, he points it out but always offers a solution.

A lighter read is a fashion blog that I follow, GoFugYourself. The writers of this blog show their voices in their writing. After reading a few posts of this blog, any reader can begin to imagine Heather and Jessica. Also, they follow celebrities as individuals, rather than just a template for their wardrobe. They highlight both great fashion choices and negative ones. While their title is a bit harsh, they play with words and the whole blog is light-hearted. Finally, when I read this blog, I got the impression
that they really want all the celebrities to look their best.

The last blog is not only one blog, but a compilation of blogs from beginning teachers. I became a teacher through Teach for America in NYC, but I am no longer teaching in the city. Some posts are insightful, some are preachy, some are intriguing, and some are depressing, but all offer me the connection to where I was a few years ago. I am aware that all of these blogs are supported by Teach for America, but I am often surprised by the honesty of these writers. I often visit this blog after a successful or not so successful day of teaching, just to remind myself that I am progressing as a teacher.

The first video remix is a trailer that sets "You've Got Mail" as a horror film. I saw a connection to the class (emergence of a new technology that is now obsolete in AOL). Also, the idea of Tom Hanks as anything but the quintessential good guy was hilarious to me. There are many videos like this on the web and I like to think they satirize the trailer industry. So many of them use the same music and audio tracks to indicate genre.



My final video remix is more of a mash-up. The clip begins with a clip of Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin during her Katie Couric interview and ends with the clip of the real Sarah Palin during her Katio Couric interview. While I think Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin is a remix in its own right, I loved the way the creator of this video showed the similarities between the copy and the original. It shows that the impersonation was more real than I ever thought, and the alignment reveals absurdity of one answer during the original interview.