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.

    Blog Post 1: How free is our culture?
     In our culture to copy an idea or piece of work is prohibited. Although to take an idea or peice of work then try to come up with a new idea is where the line between orginallity and copying gets interesting. When we take ideas and stories then modify them is that still copying or is it a different type of creative freedom. Walt Disney was the master of this, he would take the stories such as the Grimm Brothers tales and change them from dark and twisted to lights and happy portrayls of the tales. This was a simple task do to the fact that the copyrights had expired on the material.
     It had been since 1790 that copyrights would expire after thirty- two years. From the work of others Disney was able to create a new type of master peice and profite from it. Now though it has become far more difficult to use the ideas of other people and change them into diffrent works. Copyrights are being renewed this makes it hard for young artist to work an idea and create a whole new story. When idea are created they do not even belong to the artist themself.
    Large corporations buy up the product the artist creates and makes it impossible for young artist to create anything similar to the work the corporation bought.To use a type of sound or phrase you would need to buy the privileges to use it from them. This can cost you thousands of dollars to do this. This limits the amount of work out there in the public domain. Not allowing new artists to take certain aspects from previous art and turn it into something new in their own art work.