This semester of English class has been quite different than what I am used to expecting from my English classes. The idea of using blogs was something that I had never done before. There were many benefits from using a blog. The main benefit was that is was quick and easy to access. The minute I wanted to make a correction I was able to. Also the ideas we spoke about in class on copy right. I had never given any thought to what extent this went to and now I posse a better understanding of it. This semester has been very educational.

A Fistful of Dead Roses

     Art, music, and books are the way that people have always expressed their ideas and thoughts. Now think if it was all gone just one day. There was no more art to appreciate, no more music to lose your self in, no more books to create new worlds for you. The only art known are government posters, the music is a military anthem, the only written words are "Strength through purity,Purity through faith".  This is the world that Alan Moore created in V for Vendetta a world with no more inspiration. Allen Moore created a character, V, who would not stand for this type of world with no more beauty in it. He had begun to fight back far before he plotted to destroy the government. The Shadow Gallery was more than just a place for V to live in it was where culture had taken refuge. When Evey sees the Gallery she stunned by the immense amount of culture the world once had "You couldn't be expected to know.They have eradicated culture...tossed it away like a fistful of dead roses" (Moore 18). The Shadow Gallery is the  home of lost knowledge, of rebellion and revenge, and the hidden hope for a world to once again express itself without restraint, V protected culture through the shadow gallery by storing it away so that one day we could have culture once again.
     When the new government took over in V for Vendetta they eliminated knowledge that could destroy the government. Art, music, and books are a way to learn and fight. They express the lives of
different people, the way they think and see the world. This knowledge inspires you to look at the world through the eyes of the artist and in turn take your own perspective on the world. Artist do not create great
 works just to create, it has a purpose to show the world a different side, idea, or way. This is so that people can make their own decisions in life. This fascist government in the graphic novel on the other hand wanted people to be controlled. They watched  people twenty-four hours a day telling them that it was for their protection. They took away knowledge so that  people could not fight back. The words and thoughts of people before them that were once controlled just as they are was taken away, their voices silenced. So that people never even thought about a revolution to stop the tyranny that took place. In the shadow gallery there were books, classics, one of them was the french revolution. How different would it have been if people had that book in their hands. To read the fights and a victories of people that fought against their government. Even paintings that depicted wars and victories would have been taken from this world. Music that  only inspired obedience was played to citizens. What about music that said I could do anything, that I was free. There were different works created that even depicted what their government was doing, such as Fahrenheit 451which was a novel that talked about the burning of books. To silence the ideas that were written and for people to only learn from what the government produced. In Lessig's Free Culture he explains that  "At the beginning of our history, and for just about the whole of our tradition, noncommercial culture was essentially unregulated. Of course, if your stories were lewd, or if your song disturbed the peace, then the law might intervene. But the law was never directly concerned with the creation or spread of this form of culture, and it left this culture“free”"(Lessig 8). Culture was spread by word of mouth, but in this fascist society spreading your words was impossible. The eyes of the government were everywhere ready to send officials down and lock you away.  People had lost this form of knowledge if they had it they would have fought back years ago. V was inspired by these great works and new that he could fight back he kept the knowledge hidden in the shadow gallery until the day when he could use them.
      The Shadow Gallery in itself was a form of rebellion. The government had forbidden or destroyed these works and V had run off and found them. It was a protest to the government that you can not silence expression. That no matter what their will be someone that will rise against its oppressor. They tried to destroy culture, but right under their noses was a place full of culture. All the works in the Gallery, V used them to learn from. He read and studied them coming to the conclusion that he had to wake the people up. The works inspired him to fight back and never quite. Lessig explains how culture can be used to make a difference  "Or think about the amazing things your community could facilitate with digital technology—a wiki, a barn raising, activism to change something"(Lessig 305). Culture influences us to find different ways to stand up to oppressors. Finding ways for our voices to ring out and be heard over the millions of other people. The shadow Gallery was a place for V to teach people lessons. Lewis Prothero also known as the voice of fate had been one of V's torturer's . V had created the Gallery to become the Resettlement camp he was prisoner in making Prothero a prisoner as well, not only in the Gallery but in his mind. Just as V is lost in his own head so now Prothero is as well, by torturing him through burning his most prized possessions. The gallery is also where V brought Evey and tortured her until she became free like him. It was where Evey's own want to fight back and rebel was born.The shadow gallery is the base of operations where V's revenge takes place.
     Hidden away from the eyes of the world the Shadow Gallery remains waiting for society. There is a hope with its very existence, that one day culture will rise again. The gallery represents the world that civilization lost and that one day it would return again. That people would be free to express themselves without fear of being punished. That being different would not be a crime. Culture is a fundamental part of the human spirit. It allows us to express our inner thoughts, desires, or ideas. Creativity is the bases of culture were humans are able to take an idea and turn it into a masterpiece. If culture is restricted or disapproved of it demolishes the very essence of the human soul. Great works are then forgotten and the voices of generations before us are silenced. Not many people realize the value that culture has, it is its own language. "Otherwise only a very few people can write with this language, and all the rest of us are reduced to being read-only"(Lessig 37). If culture is kept away from humanity it creates a rift in our ability to write as Lessig states, but soon it will also affect are ability to read. Once the government puts a stop on creativity it will try to limit it more and more only allowing what they think is suitable to exist.
     The shadow Gallery is more than just the home of V it is the home of culture. Just as V is more that a man with a Vendetta he is the protector of culture. Many people are to focused on how V is fighting against the government due to what was done to him but not how he keeps culture alive. V has stored away the culture that was ripped away from society. Keeping the the knowledge that is found in culture safe, using it to rebel, and waiting for the day that culture would  once again be free. Culture is what sets us apart and allows us to see the world as it is. As V states in the graphic novel "No, Evey,no more blindfolds"(Moore 171). 


work cited

http://moodle.csun.edu/file.php/30286/freeculture.pdf
Moore, Alan V for Vendetta, DC Comics, 1990.

Artistic Market

     The use of space is never ending. There is always a want and need for space. The purpose of each piece of space is different according to its use. The Glendale Market Place is located on Brand Blvd, this street is the most popular part of the Glendale district.The Market Place is near the Glendale Galleria and the Americana. The Market Place has a pleasant atmosphere and youthful exuberance to it. Its interesting architectural design, social groups, and artistic stand points make it a space worth visiting; along with the intriguing idea of how this space is a power structure that can run itself.

    When seeing the market place from a far it automatically captures the eye. The design of the upstairs dining area is a circular balcony that looks over to what is now the Americana. During the night there are musical performances taking place hired by the restaurant. To get to the top one could use the stairs that wind up going to the restaurant or the escalator that places you right in front of the Mann Theaters. The theater is located right next to the restaurant, blue neon lights shine brightly at the entrance welcoming you to the movies. Beneath the restaurant there is a department store to shop at. Next to the department store their are two unique fountains located that give the place a cool atmosphere in the summer heat. Around the fountains the are little cart owners selling their merchandise. When walking past this front half you enter a small ally way that is lined with tables to sit at in-front of their respective fast food stores. The ally is lined with places to eat such as Panda or Baja fresh. Also there are shops such as cold stone so that one could treat them selves in the summer. The stores are all separated from one another once entering the store the outside world seems to disappear. Jeremy Bentham's panopticon idea is seen here "These cells are divided from one another, and the prisoners by that means secluded from all communication with each other"(Bentham 1). That once entering in a cell or in this case store the people you had just seen outside you no longer have communication with until leaving. Before entering the Marketplace on the side their is the ticket booth for you to purchase movie tickets for the Mann Theaters. Michel Foucault explains that a Panopticon is the "self-motivation of many power structures that discipline both small and large bodies of people, meaning that certain power structures operate without actual control by another person"(Leach 1). This describes the operation going on at the Glendale Market Place. No one person controls this very public area. That the structure draws people in its self so that they may come and go as they please without being told so. The basic idea of Foucault is that the market place runs its self without the need for promotion, it itself can capture an audience.

    When I was a child I wold walk with my parents to the market place. We would buy tickets for a movie and I would go running up the stairs excited. Most of the people that would be at the market place were teenagers and parents with their children. Most of the children would be running under the fountain while the structure would spit out water making a game out of it running back and forth. There would be people sitting and eating their meals. Teenagers would be standing around in the corners waiting for a movie to start playing or more friends to show up. A lot of people in the summer would have ice cream that they just brought from cold stone in their hands walking around, especially the kids would be covered in ice cream. The market place is a place to just come and have a good time with people that you enjoy being around. The atmosphere is full of life and energy. In front of the entrance there might be street performers playing their own music. Many people like to listen to the unknown artist playing on street corners and throw a few dollars into their open guitar cases. This space brings people together to enjoy their day or night out; with friends and family.

    The design of the Market Place with its strange architecture blends in with the artistic elements and coloring done by its creators. At the entrance of the building the fountain is the main attraction of the place. There are three large green frogs climbing up a pole and each take a turn spiting into the pond, the structure also has a waterfall to its back. The pond is a open space of water that is artfully designed with brown rocks encasing the pond. In front of fountain there are palm trees encircling the front half of the Marketplace, then curving into and leading you to the alleyway. The ground is made to look like cobblestones. While the store buildings a brownish gold on the outside with the doorways having a arch to them or a high rectangular doorway. The stores face each other with there doors made of glass in order to see the outside and let in day light. In Bentham's design "Each cell has in the outward circumference, a window, large enough, not only to light the cell, but, through the cell, to afford light enough to the correspondent part of the lodge" (Bentham 1).   In the middle of the ally way their are lamp post lining the middle. Some of the have pots of flowers hanging from their sides. Foucault believed that there was "organization of power in terms of space" (Leach 1). The way that this fits into Foucault's idea is not only the way the market is set up or designed, but also it very location. The Market Place is in a very well known part of Glendale. The street is full of little shops and is located near the mall. Its location makes it accessible for many people for it is not a store, but an open air space that one could enter then leave from the other side, taking them to the next street. So the way they set up the market place is very important right down to the very street its set on. After all the first rule in real estate is "location, location, location"(Dillard 1).

    The Glendale Market Place is spectacular in its simplicity. For years it had been the hot spot in the eyes of Glendale residents. The peculiar nature of the architecture makes it an interesting building to walk through, the social atmosphere welcomes all ages, and its decor makes the place feel as if for a moment you have entered another world. The Market Place has a eccentric appeal for the city of Glendale.

work cited
http://www.amst.umd.edu/Research/cultland/annotations/Foucaul2.html 
http://quotationsbook.com/quote/5107/ 
http://cartome.org/panopticon2.htm

Atwater libary space

    The Atwater Public Library is on the street corner of Glendale Blvd. This place is made to be a place of resource. There are many schools close to the library. Although not many students come here. Some come after school to spend the time doing their homework until their parents arrive to pick them up. Other than that people come to get the  books of their choice. The library is a great place to find information about projects or essays that a person may have.  The use of this space is to give people a place of silence to learn and exceed in their intelligence.
    The exterior walls are dreary and stiff. The library's bricks are a sold gray reminding someone of storm clouds on a bleak day. The only color is the red trimmings around the sliding doors and windows in the front of the building. The library has a few visitors during the day that come to do work. Many of the people that visit are the same people that are seen everyday. It is a small library that many people do not even know about though and would be easy to over look.
    If rebuilt I would change the shape of it into one that was circular. There would be windows all around the building and not just the front to let in light from the outside. The inside of the library now does not get much sunlight, but use electricity to give light to its visitors. The middle of the library I would leave a small court yard open.  In the middle of the courtyard their would be a fountain and tables around it for people to sit and do work. The building exterior would be made of stones, the colors would be near gold. This would make the library stand out as a powerful sight. A place that should be seen in more of a bright light. Than the solitary place that it is now. The library would have more than one floor as it does now. Three floors would be ideal. One floor for books, one for the computers , and one that is only group study rooms.The library is a place that is not looked at very much as a place of importance. It is more of an undesirable place to be. That needs to change in order to make people want to learn. If the place also had someplace for people to sit and talk it would be better which is what the courtyard is created for. Also their would be a place to buy snacks in the courtyard, for people that are studying for a long time and need a pick me up. This would be my ideal look for a library.

The Cyber Fix

   
    Everyone in this world has a hobby. There are a range of activities that people enjoy to do, that gets their mind off of a problem and puts them in a pleasant state.Every now and then these hobbies become far too constant and soon they become a problem for everyone including yourself. Hobbies are addicting and sometimes they become dangerous for your life.This happens when your hobby becomes the center of your life. When a person can not even spend one day without doing the activity they love. The internet gives people the temporary high they want in but in the virtual version. Addictions are hard to deal with, no matter what, trying to stop your self from doing something that gives you joy is always going to be hard. Sometimes it is easy to quit and other times not so much. Addictions such as shopping, gambling, and gaming have affected the lives of many people and not for the better. Dori yang states in her article Craving your next Web Fix "As millions more go online, people are increasingly engaging in risky behavior, playing havoc with their work, relationships, and lives"(Yang 1). The internet is everywhere making it harder for people with such addictions to quit  the very thing that is destroying their lives. The internet has the same addicting factors such as any other physically tangible addiction.
    Shopping is a past time that many people enjoy. When a person buys something new they get this feeling that is both fun and excited that is the high that shopaholics are after. That is enough to make anyone want to go shopping; to look at different clothes, accessories, or other items that will give them that wonderful feeling. Shopping online can give you that same high. All it takes is a few clicks of a button and you could have anything you want delivered to your house. Many people spend more time doing this than actually working. "30 percent of businesses in the United States have fired employees because of excessive Internet use during work hours, especially for gambling and shopping"(Reed 1). The addiction to shopping can harm a persons life not just by getting them fired, but also through the fact that after they are fired they still want to shop. Using credit cards to buy these items, but without any means to pay for them. This causes them to have low credit scores and have a hard time purchasing items that may actually be important to them. These addictions can become ridiculous as well. A mother who was addicted to shopping for her little girl was not only at the sale shopping herself but had her mother and best friend shop for her at different locations. She bought the same coat for her daughter in every color the sale ended up costing her $800. She would wake up at 3a.m and start to shop and talk with other mothers that loved to buy items from Gymboree.In the article confessions of a Compulsive Shopper it states that  "Maxed-out credit cards, more than $50,000 in shopping-related debt and the slow realization that she chatted more with other Gymboree-obsessed moms than she did with her own family finally convinced Rogers that she needed to kick her habit"(Caplin 1). These obsessions with shopping can take many forms they can focus on a certain brand, buy for a certain person, or just buy what ever sparks their interest. "Compulsive shopping affects up to 8% of the U.S. population, and 90% of those shopaholics are women" (Caplin 1). This type of addiction effects your bank account and your social life where the shopaholic would rather be online shopping away then talking to their friends or family. It is recommended that people who suffer from Shopoholism seek professional counseling or a self help group to help them with their problem. There are now credit counseling centers in many communities. "Shop till you drop" has a whole new meaning for these women that spend hours shopping away online.
   Gambling is an activity that is very addicting. It is a game of luck, chance, and hope. When people go to casinos they can spend hours in their and never realizes it. It could be morning when they walk in and almost night when they finally walk out. The sounds, lights, and excitement all block out any other thought.  The emotional excitement and the hope of winning are the two strongest reasons why gambling is so addicting. Why would gambling on the internet be any different? Their are more than 1,800 gambling websites where people only need to log on and try their luck. They use their credit card to pay for each bet if they lose the money is then deducted straight from their cards. John Kennedy states in"Addiction a click away" "Experts estimate that 5.5 million Americans (2 percent of the U.S. population) are compulsive or problem gamblers"(Kennedy 1). Addictions to gambling can cause bankruptcy, divorce, and suicide. Some such as Chris Anderson believe that the internet is far more addicting "Internet gambling stakes are higher than those at casinos, according to Chris Anderson, director of the Gambling Recovery Center in Chicago. "Every state with gambling has a regulatory body because of vice and sin that happens if it's not regulated," Anderson said" (Kennedy 1). There is no one out there to regulate the internet. As much as the law tries to ban online gambling it is not that easy to regulate. Gambling hurts in real life when use lose everything you came with to the casino, but to play with a credit card that has a higher limit to it is just crushing. 

    Who does not love to play video games? They are so much more fun now then ever before. The pictures are clear and easy to see with thousands of options to what game you would like to play.  Before to play video games a person would have to go down to their local arcade and play each game for a quarter. Now though its becoming harder to drop the controller.Video games now exist in your computer. This type of addiction is very mind consuming. Many people lock themselves in their room for hours and stare at the screen playing games. They talk to their online friends for hours avoiding everyone else in the house. Gamers show the classic signs of addictions which Leung discuses in Cyberphycology and Behavior "They become preoccupied with gaming, lie about their gaming use, lose interest in other activities just to game, withdrawal from family and friends to game, and use gaming as a means of psychological escape"(Leung, 2004). A thirty one year old man spent fifty two hours playing the online game Everquest because of his addiction his fiancee ended up leaving him. His addiction to online games was so strong that he would rather be with his online friends then his fiancee. Video games addiction are especially high with teens and pre-teens where they would rather play video games  than hang out with friends, play sports, or watch television.In Video Games Addicttions "Studies estimate that 10 percent to 15 percent of gamers exhibit signs that meet the World Health Organization’s criteria for addiction" (CRC Health group 1). These people with gaming addictions show the same responses as any other addict. When the source of their addiction is taken away from them the addict then becomes violent, angry, or depressed. Gaming has come a long way from what is was before, your local arcade now lives in your computer.

    The internet is a type of monster. It coaxes people, draws them in and once it has got its claws in them it does not want to let go. It is an easy way for people with per-existing addictions to carry on without actually ever having to step out the door. These activities such as shopping, gambling, and gaming trap people in their house staring at a screen. Like any addiction the internet gives people the aspect that they can escape and feel good for however long they please. The consequences though is that they lose touch with the people around them and fall into a pitiful state of addiction. The internet is their daily fix and it is becoming harder to quit the habit.






work cited
http://library.csun.edu/xerxes/metasearch/record?group=009977&resultSet=094718&startRecord=6
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=eb84d607-a3b6-43f7-ae3c-1f2c87332772%40sessionmgr11&vid=1&hid=107&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ofm&AN=503628235
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=4c26962d-8cc6-4be1-9273-105aba827c75%40sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=107&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ofm&AN=504071517
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=36c64ae5-5b26-4401-8436-0d4d73774e08%40sessionmgr4&vid=1&hid=107&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ofm&AN=503999721
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01926180902942191
http://www.video-game-addiction.org/
http://www.indiana.edu/~engs/hints/shop.html

When Edison came up with the a way to make movies he patented his invention. Making it impossible for others to use his invention without his consent. When this occurred directors and creators fled to California to what is now Hollywood. They pirated Edison's creation  by using it and making a profit off of it. When people figured out how to take the movies that the movie industries created the producers and others in the industry went insane.This is hypocritical of the movie industry. They started out as pirates stealing Edison's idea so that they can profit of it. Now when people steal from them they want to stop it putting people in jail or sue them.
When cable T.V. and VCRS came out the film industry argued that this was bad for business. Cable TV would take films and broadcast them to the population without the consent of the owners. Completely ignoring the copyright's placed on the material. This being the case movie industry took the cable companies to court. the court did nothing but place a fixed price on the movies that the cable companies broadcast. When VCRS hit the scene it made it so easy to record movies. Copying and distrubuting movies could not have been simpler. When they took this to court again the courts did nothing. Allowing the new technology to continue. 

Thesis statement

Topic:How the internet promotes addictions

Thesis: The internet is a wonderful tool where all the information you want is straight at your finger tips,but the internet can be used for many different reason such as shopping, gambling, and gaming where these activities that are already hard to resist doing can become just as addicting as the real thing.

 This essay will talk about the different types of addictions that people can get from using the internet. The ways this interferes with their life and if it is just as addicting as the real thing. Also if it makes it easier for people who have shopping addictions and gambling addictions to stay at home and shop or gamble. Also if it is harder to have a computer around if your do have one of those addictions.