The Usual Suspects

For this blog, I watched The Usual Suspects, a very unusual and edgy film that came out in 1995.(This post will contain spoilers.)

The movie focuses on five criminals who were all brought in as suspects in a drug and murder case. They were all cleared, but while waiting in the holding cell, they decided to work together to pull of heists in order to get revenge on the police. They start with the "taxi cab" system, which actually is just corrupt cops doing what they can for extra money, but then they start getting more work. Keyser Soze, a legendary conman who terrifies even the baddest of criminals, makes his presence known to the group, and this pressures them into high stake situations that ends in some getting killed. After a massive boat explosion that killed many and had the possibility of drug carrying, the only survivor of the group, Verbal Kint, is brought in for questioning. In the end, it is revealed that Kind was actually Soze all along, and orchestrated the whole thing.

Now time for my thoughts:

Maybe I've read too many books or watched too many films, but this story was just so predictable to me! As soon as I was able to get past the super annoying non-linear story line, I was able to figure it out. Kint's crippled leg and arm were too obvious, and the way he acted in the police station totally tipped me off. I did like how the "big secret" was revealed, but since I was expecting it, I think most of the big ending was lost on me.

Let's talk about that non-linear storytelling. Although I hated it, it did give another layer to the story. I just found it annoying that for the first about half hour of the movie, I was unable to comprehend what was happening at what time. It served as a major distraction from the plot; I feel like I never fully got used to the switching back and forth. Like I've mentioned, I have read a lot of books. It is not uncommon to see non-linear storytelling in novels, but I think that medium allows for it do be done better and clearer.

I do think that the way this story was told added to its suspense and obscurity. The narrator was unreliable, and the story line was, too. The layering in the story definitely left me disoriented and suspicious of everyone and everything, so maybe this was a success of the film. Just because I figured it out, does not mean that everyone did.

I think the film still would have been enjoyable even if it were told in chronological order. I think this  absolutely would have made me care about the characters more. This was actually one of my biggest annoyances with the movie: the fact that I could not remember every characters name. If the earlier part of the plot, the sequence of the con-men meeting and finishing those jobs, would have been more fleshed out, maybe I would have felt more affected by their deaths and by the ending. The jumping back and forth kept me distanced from the story, so I think keeping it linear would have actually immersed me more.

I didn't absolutely hate the film, I just think it was predictable and hard to get into. I wanted characters to care about, and a story that would blow me out of my seat. I didn't get either of those things with this movie. Therefore I give the movie a C. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't a complete success in my opinion.

New at Starbucks: The Cosmic Latte

Listen up, all you ladies and gentlemen out there clutching your beloved pumpkin spice lattes (or is it late enough to start getting peppermint mochas?). I learned today that there is something that is simply "out of this world" that you must hear about!

Apparently, the universe has an average color, which appears to be a light beige-ish white shade. Astronomers Karl Glazebrook and Ivan Baldry from Johns Hopkins University discovered the color while "examining spectral analysis of different galaxies and star systems" in 2002. They had first thought the universe to be a shade of greenish white, but then corrected themselves in their analysis. They realized that the color of the universe is obviously going to change over time as stars mature and shift from bright white and blue to burning yellow and red. However, because the light that is currently hitting the earth is still relatively young, the color is a milky white hue. Also, they were able to provide the exact color coordinates of the shade (in case you were wondering how you could make this stunning color your background). Its Hex triplet is #FFF8E7.

Once Glazebrook and Baldry had come across the color, they wanted to officially assign it with a name. The color was published in the Washington Post, and Glazebrook mentioned as a joke that they were accepting suggestions for a name for the new shade. Many people actually took him up on that, and some cool and creative names were sent in. Some of my favorites include, Astronomer Almond, Big Bang Beige, Skyvory, Cosmic Khaki, and Primordial Clam Chowder. Peter Drum submitted two names, Cosmic Latte and Cappuccino Cosmico, and you might be thinking, "Boy, did he have coffee on the brain or what." That's actually true! Drum came up with the idea while sitting in a Starbucks cafe, drinking a latte, and reading the Washington Post!

All of the Johns Hopkins University astronomers voted on their favorite, but Cosmic Latte wasn't even close to winning the vote. Drum's other suggestion, Cappuccino Cosmico won overwhelmingly with 17 votes. Big Bang Buff/Blush/Beige came close with 13 votes, and Cosmic Latte barely got any love with only 6 votes. However, Glazebrook and Baldry preferred the more milky title, and it stuck. The name went viral, and the rest is history.

This was my first time ever hearing about this universal color. I didn't even know it was possible that hundreds of thousands of galaxies could overlap and produce just one shade. I was interested as soon as I opened the article in a new tab. I don't think this information was particularly useful for my everyday life, but I can't wait to share this unique fact with my peers over lunch. It's amusing enough to have people be intrigued by it. I also found it comical how invested the astronomers were in picking the correct shade name and how they indulged in the goofy suggestions. It shows that even serious scientists can share some laughs during their work!

Cosmic Latte anyone?

I think this definitely deserved its own wikipedia page. It is a real scientific discovery, and even though it is a little quirky, it needed to be documented for average readers.Maybe with some googling, one could find another webpage summarizing the existence of Cosmic Latte, but most average web users just want a quick, succinct article to give them what they want to know. And most of them know to check wikipedia just for that. The wiki does cite an Associated Press publication that was published when it was revealed that the universe was beige instead of turquoise. It also links The Cosmic Spectrum, which is a basic html webpage created by Glazebrook and Baldry that further explains the science behind the discovery. So yes, there are other places to find this information, but Wikipedia trimmed it down to a short interesting entry for those who stumble upon it.

There were many other entries included in the Wikipedia Unusual Articles page that I thought were either underdeveloped or unworthy of being thought of as "unusual." Choosing a topic that not only peaked my interest but was substantial enough to further read and explore proved to be more difficult than I had expected. Thankfully Cosmic Latte grabbed my attention.

Anyway, all this talk about existential coffee drinks has me craving a peppermint mocha of my own. Maybe I'll go share my new found knowledge with the ladies working the Starbucks cafe on campus!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_latte
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,50930,00.html
http://www.pha.jhu.edu/~kgb/cosspec/

Sitcom Product Placement

I decided to watch a half hour episode of The Big Bang Theory and look for moments of product placement. I have heard in the past that the show often has obvious product placement, and I wanted to see it for myself.

I watched episode 5 of season 3, The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary, that premiered in October 2009. I had already seen the episode prior to this viewing, so I was able to focus on the set up and potential product placements. In this episode, Sheldon uses his photographic memory to attempt to beat his enemy, Wil Wheaton, in an enchanted card game. In the meantime, Howard asks Penny to set him up on a date with one of her friends.

Much of the plot development took place through conversations over a meal. This allowed for multiple drink brands to be showcased during these scenes.

In the very first shot of the episode, the screen zoomed out from a Sierra Mist can sitting on the coffee table, where they were playing the card game. The brand name was constantly facing the camera, even when the angle changed. All other cans or bottles on the table were either turned away from the camera or did not have a label. This keeps the emphasis on the Sierra Mist brand.

The Sierra Mist can showed up again in the next scene when the characters were talking over lunch. Two of the cans sat on the edge of the table so that no matter which character the camera was focused on, the brand would be seen. Once again, all other drinks were either turned or brand-less.

Sierra Mist was a very obvious product placement in this episode. I have no doubt that the cans were set purposefully. However, there were other products that were identifiable but not as obvious or reoccurring.

In the first scene where they were playing the card game on the coffee table, there was also a large pile of discarded food cartons on the kitchen counter that could be seen in the background and some other angles. I noticed two brands sitting on either edge of the counter: a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies and a large bottle of Sriracha hot sauce. These were definitely not a focus of the set, and I think I only picked them out because I am familiar with both brands. They were both set with their labels facing outward, though, and they were also surrounded by other anonymous food packages so they stood out.

A similar situation happened in the final scenes of the card game competition. All of the competitors had tall colorful cans either in their hands or on the table in front of them. At first I could not identify the cans since they were turned away from the camera, but as the scenes went on I spotted the labels of Izze Beverages and RedBull. I'm not entirely sure if this is an example of product placement or not. The brands were hard to pick out, but there were at least four or five cans in each shot. It did not seem like a random set decision.

There was only one scene where there was no product placement in the shot, and almost half of the scenes included the most obvious Sierra Mist placement. Now that I've truly paid attention to an episode of The Big Bang Theory, I can clearly understand why viewers have become aware and sometimes annoyed by the blatant product placement.

Welcome and Response

Hi there! I'm Gigi, a junior professional writing major from Kutztown University. I hope to one day be in the book editing and publishing industry. I absolutely adore reading; books are one of my many passions. Also, I enjoy colorguard, fashion, and beauty. I compete with colorguards year round and am constantly refining my skills. People tend to love me for my awesome sense of humor and warm personality.

Now I'm going to jump right in with a quick response to my professor's blog post, "Shifts and Changes."

This post is insightful and well written; however, nothing is really said. I appreciate the inspirational quote and how it is used as an overlying theme, but other than some short rambling about the validity/invalidity of social media in society, there is not much of a point. The post is easily organized and focused; the content is just lacking something more.

In addition, I don't agree with the premise of the post. I believe that many forms of social media have acted as a catalyst for sharing information and inspiring discussion. One is forced into social parameters in everyday life, but with use of social media anyone can talk about anything with anyone else in an instant. I do not think there is a need to "resurrect the ghosts of critical thinking," because I do not believe that it was ever dead. The technological generation is constantly making spit-fire, educated decisions in a complicated world, and we are constantly gaining more knowledge, not pushing it away due to too much "noise."