Lambchop - Gone Tomorrow Critique

Gone Tomorrow







This particular music video by Lambchop is filmed at a genuine amateur wrestling night at a hotel called the Stadium Inn in Tennessee with peeling walls, wandering dogs and lino floors. Lambchop are the long-standing alt-country group fronted by Kurt Wagner, are often portrayed as thinking-hicks. The wrestlers in the video are Jocephus Brody and Woflie D, real stars of the amateur wrestling world in the US. As chalk dust fills the air and the lights scream luridly, the wrestling match becomes pure theater. Kurt Wagner appears to be a trainer, watching his boy nervously on the screen in a back room.

This particular music video has various similarities to that of a wrestling documentary that we had watched previously in class with a guy called Louis Theroux about wrestling and finding out how they train, what is real and fake, etc in the USA. I can't help but feel that the incredibly consistent singer/songwriter, now a cancer survivor in his mid 50's, has never gotten his due despite receiving plenty of critical praise over the years although this particular song has helped him reach a well earned wider audience, if not a bit of the late career glory.

Lambchop - Gone Tomorrow

Health & Safety (Dark Room)

Health & Safety in the Dark Room.

Toxicity

The chemicals in which are used in the dark room when dish processing are all extremely toxic if ingested and potentially harmful if they come into contact with your skin. You should not be dipping your hands into the print trays or in any way touching the solutions - some of these can be absorbed into your skin and may cause skin allergies or health problems later in life.
Having said that, you may occasionally, for whatever reason, you may have to grab a print with your bare hands whilst it is still covered in chemicals, or you may spill some of the solution accidentally on your skin. Accidental contact isn't too much to worry about but never make a habit of it.

Cleaning Up

Upon completion of processing sessions, always thoroughly rinse your print trays, tongs, beakers, etc with clean running water. The plastic trays will stain over time but will not affect any future processing sessions as long as remaining chemicals are removed from the surface during washing.

Ventilation

Proper ventilation is extremely important - after an hour or so, there will be enough chemical vapors in the confines of the darkroom that you may be able to taste the chemicals which are not very pleasant.

Lighting

During the processing session, under no circumstance should there be any lighting except for the dark room lights which are needed. Unnecessary lighting will lead to your photographic paper being fogged which will then not be able to be used.

All items such as bags, coats and other things should always be placed under the tables and out of the way so nothing leads to falling over and causing accidents or damage to equipment, etc. 

Louis Theroux Wrestling Critique

"Weird Weekends - Wrestling"



Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends is a television documentary series in which he gives the viewers the chance to get brief glimpses into the worlds of individuals and groups that they would not normally come into contact with or experience up close. In most cases this means interviewing people with extreme beliefs of some kind. 

Louis Theroux explores what it takes to be a professional wrestler, interviewing male wrestlers, a referee, and Randy Savage's wrestling valet Stephanie Bellars. Louis takes some practice training at the WCW Powerplant.

I found this particular episode very enjoyable and quite shocking in some parts. I was never really a fan of all the wrestling hype but knew quite a bit about WWE and how it was all staged so I thought this wrestling episode would prove to be just the same. Having said that, this episode turns out to be a little different, although some parts are staged, some of the wounds that the wrestlers receive are indeed real.

Supersize Me Critique

Super-size Me



This documentary is very interesting and thought provoking. It tells the story of a very healthy middle aged man named Morgan Spurlock, who decided to find out how bad fast food really is for the human body. He guessed that the reason America was so obese is because of the amount of fast food that they consume. In order to see if this belief was correct, he decided that he would eat at McDonald's three times a day for an entire month. The new diet did not make much of a difference to him at first but, after about a week or so he started to feel a change in his physical and mental health. He felt tired, irritable, and depressed with quick mood swings. He acquired stomach aches and got worn out very quickly with physical activities. When he visited the doctors, he learned that he was gaining a pound a day and his cholesterol and blood pressure were rising. By the end of the month he had gained 25 pounds and 13% of his original body mass. Fourteen months after the experiment had finished he managed to lose all of the extra weight but doctors had warned him that he done irreversible damage to his liver.
The documentary also showed the relationship between advertisements and peoples reactions to them. Facts show that most children see thousands of advertisements for fast food alone each year making it more tempting to eat there then cook a healthy meal at home.

An Idiot Abroad Critique

Signs

Semiotics/Signs

Today Jamie had taught us about semiotics and signs and their meanings. Semiotics meaning when you see a certain sign you instantly know what it is. We were required to get a camera out in pairs and take various pictures of different signs around the college, thus creating our very own semiotics.

Semiotics

Semiotics

Semiotics, also called semiotic studies is the study of signs and sign processes, indication, designation, likeness, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication.

For example. The Batman sign as shown in the picture above would indicate a super hero, crime, in need. We all know what this sign indicates as we have seen it in and on various different things such as accessories, films and clothes, thus the definition of Semiotics.