New Blog

So throughout the course of this blog for CLAM, I decided that I'm not the biggest fan of Blogger, and since I still have quite some time left here, I figured I might as well switch this on over to another website that I like better. So, if you still want to read up on what I'm up to across the pond, check out my new-er blog at gtotherace.tumblr.com

That's it!

CLAM: Professional

Here is my professional video. I am having trouble getting these videos onto the Digital Dropbox on Blackboard, I don't know if it is the file size or what, but I'm going to keep trying?

Final Video: Social Issue

Here is the second of my 3 final videos, this one deals with the issue of whether or not Scotland should become independent from the UK.

Final Video: Personal Experience

Here's the first of my 3 final videos: personal experience.

LONG Overdue!

So here is the video on Scottish food that I started a long time agoaldkf (when our first videos were due) and is now on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVeEuPsT51s

And to make up for the lateness, I am throwing in a video of a Storm Trooper dancing on a bridge in London near parliament:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHh3lyzkmAM

Enjoy! Final project videos up tomorrow!

The End?

So I got back to Aberdeen on Monday after being gone for almost 3 straight weeks (I came back for about 16 hours between weeks 2 and 3). I have had really limited internet access lately, and just being back in Aberdeen and getting into classes again has kept me busy. I've completely slacked on the blog and everything, but I promise I'm making up for it.

So even though the CLAM course is ending tomorrow basically, I still have over a month and a half in Aberdeen. I have classes until the 14th of May, and then I have a "revision week" and then exams start. I only have 2, and they are a week apart, and then I leave on June 12th. So these videos, especially the overall experience/personal one, feel premature since I'm only barely halfway done. It's crazy to hear all of my friends from Clemson talk about how their basically done. It's kind of saddening, especially for my friends that are graduating in a matter of weeks!

This isn't exactly an ad, or a "media artifact" but I really like the signs. They are for a protest for the National Union of Teachers. I saw them laying in the street in London, and people had just left them there. I'm not sure if there already was a protest, or if it hadn't started yet, but I liked the slogans on the signs, especially "EDUCATION CUTS NEVER HEAL." I love a good pun (who doesn't?), and it makes it even better when it applies to a real social problem. The signs are simple and effective.

The next two things are photos of a poster in my housing area and a flier handed out this past week by the University of Aberdeen about elections. U of A had their student council elections this week and it was pretty crazy here. Guys dressed up like Braveheart, like bears, had catchy slogans like "Vote Joe, he's not slow" (seriously), and rode around on old time-y bicycles (you know, the kind with one giant wheel and one tiny wheel) shouting about who to vote for. This poster is for one candidate (who didn't win), but I think it shows how much more crazy people can be over here. I know that, at least at Clemson, if someone had a poster like this up, it would probably be taken down. I think that our culture is much more sensitive and censored than the Scottish culture.

The next photo is a flier handed out to students to remind them to vote. It seems normal until you get to the third example that they give of where to vote:

In bed? This isn't shocking at all to students here. They are generally less conservative and more open about sexual issues. When I saw this, I thought "What on earth would happen if Clemson passed this flier out for our elections?" People would freak out, that's what would happen! American culture is so big on being politically correct that this would be a big no-no.

CLAM #10: Interviewing and Sound

So for my videos I plan on doing two interviews. The first I plan on doing with a veterinarian here in Aberdeen. I feel like this will make the presence of my future profession in Scotland more real, and talking to a vet here face-to-face will definitely make it more real to me.
The second will be kind of a more laid back and less professional video. I plan on interviewing my friend Suzanne, who is fairly opinionated, about the Scottish nationality video. I feel like hearing from someone other than myself about the issue would give my video a more unbiased appeal, and ultimately give it more credibility.
I have decided not to include an interview in my personal experience video, because I feel like it is supposed to be about, well, my experience in Scotland.
I definitely like the idea of narrating my videos, and adding music. Unfortunately, I hate my voice, so I've definitely experienced some of this "flop sweat" that Prof Nichols talked about in the CLAM Soup blog this week. I don't mind doing presentations and stuff at all, but it's just hearing my voice over and over again while I'm editing that I am not a fan of.
For the next three weeks I'm off for spring break! I have had a lot of assignments due for my classes here lately. I am leaving tomorrow for 2 weeks, then I'll be back for less than 24 hours, and then off again! I'm really excited, but also really nervous (especially because I haven't packed yet and I am leaving in 8 hours). I found out tonight that a plane ticket that I thought I bought 2 weeks ago didn't actually go through, so I had to quickly buy it again (for $100 more than I originally would have paid). So that was really frustrating. Well I'm off to pack and finish (finally, I know) my video that should have been done long ago!