How much would you pay for a movie ticket?

So it looks like the push toward 3D films is going to end up costing . . . you. At least that’s this blogger’s prediction. There is no way a movie theatre or Hollywood studio will absorb a $5-10 million expense without asking you to chip in your share.  Sony announced it’s not going to pay for 3D glasses any more and the expectation is that other studios will follow suit. (Read more here).

What are movie prices like in your city? Right here in Toronto, movie, snacks, and a babysitter for the night ends up being a $100 night. And they wonder why people watch stuff illegally online.

This one is for my mom.

Sigh. Oh the internet. What a wily beast you are, eh? All those adds and viruses and spyware and mean things and rude things all masked in packaging that makes it look so benign. My mom is constantly in a state of “getting her laptop fixed” because she keeps clicking on things that claim her anti-virus is expired or her computer is at risk and needs to be scanned. I think that kind of deceit is just so mean spirited. Leave her alone, she just wants to look at her kids’ pictures on Facebook and read the news on Yahoo!

This kind of blending between real and not-as-real seeps through all our media. I got this neat link – Ads disguised as TV news promt FCC to propose rule – from Jean (thanks!), about advertisement on TV that looks and sounds and feels like news. I totally get that anyone who wants to advertise anything these days is going to have to be clever (seriously, does anyone sit through commercials any more?), but I think you kinda have to be a bit of a jerk to say “Hey! I know what we can do! We can make it look like TV news so that people may not realize their watching a paid spot. Instant credibility!”

Have you ever been caught thinking something was legit and it ended up being not so much?

Will you be in Chicago in March? WACC NA hopes so!

ROUNDTABLE ON WOMEN AND THE MEDIA SET FOR CHICAGO

Noted journalists and media and gender specialists will be part of the panel at the roundtable “Who Makes the News: A Global Review” to take place at Columbia College Chicago on March 6, 2012, at 6:00 p.m.

The event is being co-sponsored by the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC)-North America, and Columbia College Chicago. It’s an opportunity for journalism students to consider issues of women and the media from a global perspective.

The roundtable will help journalists of the future explore the global realities of gender and media, from the journalists and newsmakers and their bosses, to the content and sources in news stories. It will highlight the results of WACC’s 2010 report of the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP)–the world’s most extensive research on gender in news media in the U.S. and around the world.

Roundtable panellists include:

Manya Brachear, religion reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Brachear also has written for Time magazine, The Dallas Morning News, Beliefnet.com and the News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C.

Sarah Macharia, WACC Global staff, coordinator of the GMMP, and editor of Media and Gender Monitor.

June Nicholson, director of graduate studies and associate Professor in the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, and lead editor forThe Edge of Change: Women in the 21st Century Press.

The panel will be moderated by Norma Green, who is a professor in the journalism faculty at Columbia College Chicago and director of the graduate program there. A representative from the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) will also participate on the panel. The Foundation has published the findings of a major study on the topic in its “Global Report on the Status of Women in the News Media.”

Working journalists and members of the public are also welcome to attend the roundtable. It will take place at Stage Two, 618 S. Michigan Ave., 2nd floor (building SE).

WACC is an international organization that promotes communication for social change. For more information on the roundtable, please contact WACC North America President Sheila George at sheilageorge100@hotmail.com.

Mindful Social Media

Is mindful social media an oxymoron? Kinda seems that way a lot of the time. It’s so reactionary, fleeting, thoughtless, often crass and frivolous . . . hardly evokes the image of the Buddha under a Bodhi tree, eh? Well, Ten Mindful Ways to Use Social Media popped up in my FB feed this AM and I thought it was worth sharing. Namaste, Communicators.

Image credit, thanks!

He has a dream.

This came through our email today. A photo and message by long time WACC member & supporter, George Conklin.  He wrote:

I took it at the San Francisco Cow Palace at a civil rights rally in 1964.  It is my most published photo.  The beam of light is natural, the result of several thousand people in a vast warm auditorium.  I was on the sponsoring committee, sitting far stage right on the platform and free to roam with my camera.
George

Time for an intervention?

This blogging kid is really in the mood to unplug, go offline, knit, stare at the ceiling, talk to the cat. Anything analogue. Anything oldfashioned. Anything without a screen. I’ve always felt the pull between Luddite & Technophile, but it seems that my old soul is really shining through at the start of 2012.

How are you guys feeling about your online selves these days? Do you ever feel stressed out and out of control? How long can you go without checking your phone or email?

If you want to kill a few more minutes online it might be worth checking out this article that suggest that the pathology of internet addiction is the same as any other run of the mill addiction (you know, like heroin and alcohol).  Oh the things we do to ourselves, eh?

I speak English, French, and HTML

My friend & colleague Ali fired me this very cool link. It’s called Code Year and it’s all about getting you to code by sending you interactive programming lessons on a weekly basis. If you sign up for this be sure to let us know how you’re making out! Last year was my year to finally break down and learn to code (a tiny bit) and it has really changed my life & opened up lots of creative venues and chances for paid employment! Rock on.

haPPy N3w y3ar!#

I celebrated the start of 2012 by changing all my passwords. It had been a year since I adopted my latest and greatest NORAD worthy password for Facebook, so I thought it time to change things up again.

Here’s a groovy site from Paul E-S of WACC North America fame. It’s Global Voices, a neat-o group that focusses on the form of blogging and citizen media. It’s available in dozens of languages, and features all kinds of neat stories across different platforms (e.g., images, posts, podcasts) on this distinctly 21st century form of communication. Read up, Good Communicators!

Feliz Navidad!

I have the sad, sad duty of being the ‘good kid’ in my family and therefore I’m heading about 2000 clicks due south to visit my momma in Miami for Christmas. I know, I know. You can all feel sorry for me now. It’ll just be me, beaches, snorkelling, cheap beer, shopping with my mommy, and hot steamy climes. I’m excited to hit up some museums and collect a few freckles and deals at Target. What more could this pasty Canadian city kid ask for?

So I’ll bid you & this blog adieu until 2012. Stay tuned for new posts starting in early January. Here’s wishing you all joyous & stress-free holidays, with safe travels & favourite foods and people. It is truly a pleasure to serve with WACC North America and create this little bit of cyberspace for theological reflection on communications. I am blessed.

Merry Christmas & Tidings of Comfort and Joy!

Erin!