"I don’t have to tell you things are bad"...

"And all I know is the sun is shining, yet we fight all through the night," (Bliss N Eso, 2008).

 Bliss N Eso, an Australian hip hop group would lead you to believe that the world where it stands is currently in a critical place- "things are bad".  One such example provided from the song, 'The Sea is Rising' states,"Yeah, why are they refusing to listen, why are these troops on a mission, Why are they shooting these victims, over their view of religion,"(Bliss N Eso, 2008). The first few lines of the first stanza, takes the audience into the world of war- They ask why? Why does it matter what people believe? Have we not progressed as a society, far enough, to come to a place where the individual will not be persecuted for their religious beliefs? They believe not.

"And all I know is the sun is shining, yet we fight all thought the night," (Bliss N Eso, 2008).

 'The Sea is Rising'- takes the audience on a journey around the world, and offers a disturbing perspective on what humanity has become. The chorus tells us that" the sun is shining", an Australian colloquialism for a great day/ time. Yet here we are "fighting, all through the night". The darker side of the fight is alluded to here. For example there are still some Australian politicians who refuse to believe  in global warming, "yet all I know, is the sea is rising," (Bliss N Eso, 2008) and this scientifically proven fact which political leaders  continue to refuse to acknowledge, means that the environment becomes less of a priority and more of resource to be consumed.

"And all I know is the sun is shining, yet we fight all thought the night," (Bliss N Eso, 2008).

Adams, in his work, "Phenomenologically Investigating Mediated “Nature”- provides a sensational analogy, he states;"These media alter our interactions with the world and these alterations become more complex as media mix. For instance, the light bulb blurs the distinction between day and night, but it also serves as an extension of the eye in that it extends our vision into previously concealed realms," (Adams, 2005, pp.513). Hence we have politicians telling us one thing, the media spin machines vying for  our "consumerist" dollars and freestanding artists such as Bliss N Eso demanding that we start  paying attention to the world at large and refuse to let humanity repeat the mistakes of the past.

~

 Journeying Into Nature- a quick verse.

  

She wondered down the street near day break,

The trees gently swaying to the melody of the universe.

No sooner had she turn the corner, it was like a sign from heaven,

The sun appeared through the whispering trees, bespoken of another time.

She stopped to day dream and to ponder, what glorious path is mine?

This magnificent sight of the sun, the leaves, the fence - all combined.

Left her wondering about her life and what  priorities were hers,

For she new that the fence was a part of societies expectations;

house, husband, children and career.

Today however she kept on walking just for that brief moment in time,

The sun was her master and the trees her guide; to a different path in life.

Referenced Work:

Adams T.E. 2005. Phenomenologically Investigating Mediated “Nature”. The Qualitative Report 10(3): September, 512-532, http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR10-3/adams.pdf

Bliss N Eso. 2008. The Sea is Rising. YouTube. Accessed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmYz-RE9YmA



Is there ever such a thing as too much branding?

Connecting… … … … … ...

I wondered around "The Wheel" one night,

Pondering if my love was in sight.

I looked for answers in the sky above,

Could Christian connection find me love?

Internet dating sites are all the rage,

Why not find someone who is on the same page?

Perhaps this new online era was just the trick?

Could online dating give my doldrums the flick?

The web paged looked promising, with all the usual flare,

Though their little fish logo made me a little too aware.

So before I pressed join, I sat down in prayer,

And decided that this wasn’t the time to fulfil this particular dare.

More information can be found at:

http://www.christianconnection.com.au/

The smart phone generation.

  

Creating a product that not only was the first of its kind, but also-easy to use, easy on the eye and 'cool' contributed to Apples success in the mobile phone market. Campbell and Pastina in their article, "How the IPhone became divine," state that 'the case of the iPhone as the ‘Jesus phone’ illustrates how new media objects can possess multiple layers of meaning, which can shape how they are perceived by the public' [2010, Pp1194]. This easy to use phone, was related to the second coming of Jesus, because never before had something like this been developed. The IPhone revolutionised the telecommunications industry and now several years after the launch of the original IPhone one can not imagine living with out a 'smart phone'.  The irony of this topic is found in an event that occurred several weeks ago, whilst organising an interview time with my interview subject; Fr Gerry Kalinowski. Fr Gerry was seen to reach into his robes after mass and pull out an IPhone. This tech wiz priest, went straight to his calendar, typed in the time, my phone number then offered his hand before greeting other members of his congregation.

Standing for a few moments to take in the significance of what had just occurred, one has to laugh at the naivety of our society. There is no one who can remain untouched by the reach of mass marketing and consumerism, the busy priest of the 21st century is called on to reply to emails, to oversee webpages and as was seen later in our scheduled interview, be at a loss as to how a few of his appshad disappeared. In today's society commercial branding is everywhere, if priests carry IPhones, giant ferris wheels are labelled with television stations; what next- nuns endorsing blackberry?

Referenced work:

Campbell H. and A. La Pastina. 2010.How the iPhone Became Divine: New Media, Religion and the Intertextual Circulation of Meaning. New Media and Society, 12(7): 1191-1207.





Can Hollywood take my blues away??

Music, religion and the consumer...

To engage and interest a congregation the church uses music and musical response as one of its main devices to, "keep the congregation on its toes" and engaged in the ritual of religious service. Today for example we see however what was once a small all boys cathedral choir, who sings every Sunday at mass; tour the world to great acclaim. Music has thus become an integral part of our life, whether it be a boys choir, rhythmic chanting during yoga or mediation or even the 'club victory song after a football match'; music can not be separated from the day to day ritual of life. 

In, 'The Culture Industry'- Horkheimer, it is discussed that, "the whole world is made to pass  through the filter of the culture industry. The old experience of the movie- goer. Who sees the world outside as an extension of the film he has just left ( because the latter is intent upon reproducing the world of everyday perceptions), is now the producers guideline,"[Horkheimer, 1993, Pp.126]. Like the Sherwood Uniting Church, who interestingly this week have chosen the slogan, " Jesus is my rock and he rolls my blues away"… religious institutions are now making choices based on popular culture and the mainstream experience. The question remains however, if what we take home from a religious service, is as powerful as the consumer focused  'Hollywood' message of the 21st Century...

References:

Adorno T. and M. Horkheimer. 1993. The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception. In Dialectic of Enlightenment. New York: Continuum