what would marshall mcluhan say?
keeping things afresh and afloat
well, i have a bit of a problem these days. There seems to be a bit of a gap between my descriptions/explanations of my australian life so far, and the way that it's being perceived. i feel like the more i tell everyone "what im up to" the more the "freshness" of the trip is wearing out. this worries me, because so far, everything is still very fresh and exciting. i think i have to find new ways to articulate the experience in order to keep it afresh. not quite sure just how to do that yet, but my ears are open if anyone has ideas. ultimately, this blog is my creation, and i knew this was going to be a problem that i would have upon creating the blog. (this is the reason that i havent updated for 10 days, because surely i've had the time...) so i think it's just a matter of catching a breeze, finding a direction, and staying with it until the steam runs out. i've got my thinking cap on, and it's time to be creative. this is where i shine.
some details of my week
i've moved into my new flat. living with diane - a girl from the philipines and kate- a girl from alaska. both very nice people. still waiting on one more person to move in. last monday (feb 13th), jeff and i went to a place in the valley called "ric's bar". this place was very interesting, and will be a night i remember for a long time. (i was home by midnight due to having school the next day and bus restrictions, so im saying a lot by calling it a night i'll remember). the venue and band we saw were awesome. the venue had seom very interesting artwork on the walls, it was very "kris weinmannesque". the band consisted of 2 guitarists and then for the last track they were joined by a girl who played bass cello. it sounded absolutely amazing. the pics are posted below. on top of this, the people at the bar made the night even better. they were all hippys.. dreads, flip flops, hemp gear, etc. it was awesome, i caught a buzz from just being at the place. it reminded me of a van morrison song, "and it stoned me". this song has been running around my head for two weeks, and it's about van's experience one day as he was walking home from a day of fishing. he came across a shack with a lonely and dirty old man inside. the man shared some water with the young van morrison and the song is about the natural high that van got from the man sharing his water. the most amazing feeling inspired by the simplest jesture. "ric's bar" gave me a similar feeling. gotta find out where those hippys are hanging out next time.
the mcluhan bit
i'm sure you've heard it a million times before, and i have too, but i've never really felt it until recently. we really do live in a global village. more so than when mcluhan first coined the term. here i am in my corner of australia with amazing powers of media at my disposal. here i am, texting my friend 10kms away on my cell phone about where to party; talking to my mom about recipes on a phone line into canada; chattin on msn with my friends about my recent experiences; reading newspapers about whats going on in iraq and indonesia; blogging to the world about whats on my mind; emailing my family pictures of spiders and birds to offices in toronto and tampa, and faxing important documents from continent to continent. we really have amazing abilities. i was prompted to think about this after putting a meter on my blog site. i saw that there were people from all over canada and even some random spotsin the USA that had checked out my blog site. well, i also wanted to talk about the drawbacks of having such amazing powers of communication. it really puts our planet at risk. the end of the world is never farther than one command away. all it takes is one "push the button" command to end our life as we know it. what happens if there is a miscommunication error. due to the quickness of communication, a miscommunication error could be the end of us. it could be too late to reverse a command. this all makes me very paranoid from time to time. too bad our earth doesnt come with an "undo" button. what would mcluhan say if he were to see the positive and negative aspects of our modern world- more specifically the global village? would he be ecstatic or would he shudder?
conversations:
i'd like to hear some comments. from those all over the world if possible. so if you happen to come across this blog and are reading this i want to know what you think? and to my friends.. ahh yes, what are you saying?? i want to hear about team canada and the snow and everything else that im missing. i hope you guys are reading all this crap i have to say, i know you guys would rather that i just shut up and posted pictures, but too bad!! you couldnt silence me when i was there, and you wont be able to silence me now, especially you stoggy, i know you're reading this (had to isolate someone, might as well be stoggy).. the only way to silence me is if you simply stop comin here.. ohh crap, dont do that!!! haha, talk to you guys soon! let me know what you think of the pics and maybe even some of the writing. talk to ya soon!
well, i have a bit of a problem these days. There seems to be a bit of a gap between my descriptions/explanations of my australian life so far, and the way that it's being perceived. i feel like the more i tell everyone "what im up to" the more the "freshness" of the trip is wearing out. this worries me, because so far, everything is still very fresh and exciting. i think i have to find new ways to articulate the experience in order to keep it afresh. not quite sure just how to do that yet, but my ears are open if anyone has ideas. ultimately, this blog is my creation, and i knew this was going to be a problem that i would have upon creating the blog. (this is the reason that i havent updated for 10 days, because surely i've had the time...) so i think it's just a matter of catching a breeze, finding a direction, and staying with it until the steam runs out. i've got my thinking cap on, and it's time to be creative. this is where i shine.
some details of my week
i've moved into my new flat. living with diane - a girl from the philipines and kate- a girl from alaska. both very nice people. still waiting on one more person to move in. last monday (feb 13th), jeff and i went to a place in the valley called "ric's bar". this place was very interesting, and will be a night i remember for a long time. (i was home by midnight due to having school the next day and bus restrictions, so im saying a lot by calling it a night i'll remember). the venue and band we saw were awesome. the venue had seom very interesting artwork on the walls, it was very "kris weinmannesque". the band consisted of 2 guitarists and then for the last track they were joined by a girl who played bass cello. it sounded absolutely amazing. the pics are posted below. on top of this, the people at the bar made the night even better. they were all hippys.. dreads, flip flops, hemp gear, etc. it was awesome, i caught a buzz from just being at the place. it reminded me of a van morrison song, "and it stoned me". this song has been running around my head for two weeks, and it's about van's experience one day as he was walking home from a day of fishing. he came across a shack with a lonely and dirty old man inside. the man shared some water with the young van morrison and the song is about the natural high that van got from the man sharing his water. the most amazing feeling inspired by the simplest jesture. "ric's bar" gave me a similar feeling. gotta find out where those hippys are hanging out next time.
the mcluhan bit
i'm sure you've heard it a million times before, and i have too, but i've never really felt it until recently. we really do live in a global village. more so than when mcluhan first coined the term. here i am in my corner of australia with amazing powers of media at my disposal. here i am, texting my friend 10kms away on my cell phone about where to party; talking to my mom about recipes on a phone line into canada; chattin on msn with my friends about my recent experiences; reading newspapers about whats going on in iraq and indonesia; blogging to the world about whats on my mind; emailing my family pictures of spiders and birds to offices in toronto and tampa, and faxing important documents from continent to continent. we really have amazing abilities. i was prompted to think about this after putting a meter on my blog site. i saw that there were people from all over canada and even some random spotsin the USA that had checked out my blog site. well, i also wanted to talk about the drawbacks of having such amazing powers of communication. it really puts our planet at risk. the end of the world is never farther than one command away. all it takes is one "push the button" command to end our life as we know it. what happens if there is a miscommunication error. due to the quickness of communication, a miscommunication error could be the end of us. it could be too late to reverse a command. this all makes me very paranoid from time to time. too bad our earth doesnt come with an "undo" button. what would mcluhan say if he were to see the positive and negative aspects of our modern world- more specifically the global village? would he be ecstatic or would he shudder?
conversations:
i'd like to hear some comments. from those all over the world if possible. so if you happen to come across this blog and are reading this i want to know what you think? and to my friends.. ahh yes, what are you saying?? i want to hear about team canada and the snow and everything else that im missing. i hope you guys are reading all this crap i have to say, i know you guys would rather that i just shut up and posted pictures, but too bad!! you couldnt silence me when i was there, and you wont be able to silence me now, especially you stoggy, i know you're reading this (had to isolate someone, might as well be stoggy).. the only way to silence me is if you simply stop comin here.. ohh crap, dont do that!!! haha, talk to you guys soon! let me know what you think of the pics and maybe even some of the writing. talk to ya soon!
posted by zubin at 6:33 PM
3 Comments:
Geez, you write a lot! :-)
I hope to update my journal soon. www.toanotheradventure.blogspot.com
Don't worry about not writing in your blog too much. There's a lot going on and you'll get around to... maybe try writing less. Incomplete sentences I found work well sometimes.
Yo Zubin.... and all the rest of the Brampton krew....
This is a great fourum not only for you (zubin) to express what's going on over there in the land down under, but also a way for everyone to keep in touch; although you brampton boyz probably all see each other all the time, now at leat I can communicate with all you kracks!!!
Sheets mate, Auzzie-Land sounds like a trip, and you seem to be in an awsome part, lotsa kool ppls and places, not to mention the toilet water spinning the other way...trippy!! Oh ya, not to mention the studies as well eh.
Actually, this fourum seems like a dish of some soul food, you know, the type that takes you back to things which bring you that comfortable feeling....talking to Zubin and saying 'sup to all the pakis (literally and figuratively) back in Brampton. Aight, imma end this now before it sounds any more like a 5 paragraph essay. Shanti.
MitulFL.
Hey Mr. Gandhi,
Didn't know you had a blog XD as Kate said you do write too much but well that's what English teachers do, haha.
The pictures are amazing; I can really see how you've grown into who you are today. It was truly a pleasure to have you as a teacher!
Sincerely,
Your student '13
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