Consumption Log: Media Much Lately?

It almost seems appropriate to comment that the notion "we are immersed in media" is an understatement. Creating this log reminds me and makes me realize more deeply, how the media does not necessarily fill a void in communication it makes life outside the media the void, these days its hard to find an uninfluenced minute. Here's a slice of my consumption:

Tuesday February 10, 2009
8:00 am Rise and shine.
Open computer to music playing on Pandora.com, my Miles Davis station. I change the station to Medeski Martin and Wood. I log into fortlewis.edu and check my e-mail, I also log into wellsfargo.com and check my account information. The Wells Fargo website is filled with advertisements in favor of their bank.
The TV is on in the living room, I do not recognize the movie, my roommates are half-transfixed, half-asleep. I proceed to breakfast. The fridge is filled with media in the form of labels. I make Nest Fresh eggs, drink Diet Coke, and toast Ezekial bread.
My shower falls in the same category, many labels. Suave, Dove, Dr. Bronner's, Kiehl's etc. Old Spice, Burt's Bees, and Tom's follows. My clothing dresser is an advertisement in the form of stickers for Durango Brewing Co. beer, Poppy's and NOLS.

9:00-10:10 am
Drive my Jeep to school, an advertising tool in itself. Stickers include: Musical artist-based stickers, restaurant advertisements, an Estes Park sticker, etc. The ride to the Fort is filled with radio messages and music, a small amount of radio news, signs in windows, more sticker-bearing cars, business signs such as Subway, Diamond Shamrock, the Ebay store, Wendy's etc. Pick up hitchhiker driving up the hill who resembles trends across the cover of a magazine, her clothes and mine are unfortunately products of the media.

10:10-12:10 pm
Walls at FLC advertise Nappy Roots and Bassnectar. Education class revolves around the text book Effective Instructional Strategies by Kenneth Moore. Made progress on a group presentation where I am utilizing the media The Education of Little Tree the book and film in order to teach a lesson on environmental education. On the way out of class, I grabbed The Independent with the article “Sex” advertised on the cover.

12:10-3:00 pm
Listened to car radio, mainly classic rock Big Dog 106.7. The commercials streamed between music consist mainly of credit ads and ways to reduce miscellaneous costs. I drove to Wal Mart to buy cat supplies. Wal Mart is completely covered in media images and advertisements. Choosing a litter box and food for my cat was much more difficult than it would be with the absence of so many slogans and logos pushing different options. Driving home I listened to a friend’s ipod which played Railroad Earth, and Hot Buttered Rum. Obama stickers are everywhere on the road.

3:00-5:00 pm
Teacher education practicum work at Needham elementary tutoring a second grader. I utilized media in the form of a second grade class-produced book “Bee Mine” and drawings to aid in pronunciation and rhyming.

5:00-8:00
For homework read beginning of John Milton’s "Paradise Lost" which as a type of media has served as an accepted archetype for the story of Adam and Eve. Continued to read for pleasure Kerouac and Burrough’s And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks. I wrote in my journal, creating personal media and proceeded to converse on my cell phone about upcoming music in Durango.

8:00-10:00 pm
Played board game Labyrinth with friends. Drank Mickey’s brand beer with media under the caps in the form of picture riddles. Listened to Ani Difranco and The Rolling Stones. In light of friend’s birthday, drank Captain Morgan rum. Periodically friends mimicked the captain’s pose, media in action.

10:00-12:30 am
Went to the bar the Roadhouse to celebrate. Football game screening over the bar area however in background. Main focus pool tables and music. Display of liquor bottles in specific designs and colors along with displayed cigarettes for purchase indicative of media. The Roadhouse is one of few bars where smoking is still permitted due to grandfathered-in tradition. U2 was first playing on the jukebox. We played David Bowie’s “Fame” and The Band “Ophelia”. The bar crowd has a certain feel and even my friends take on a different persona that can perhaps be attributed to the esteemed look of smoking cigarettes in bars illustrated in many Hollywood productions.