Peggy

Yes it does. listening to Girl Talk without previous knowledge of its referenced songs, I might not praise their talent. I mean, it is just another song with beats… But knowing the fact that it is a mash-up, which sounds just like any other non-mash-up songs, makes me say “wow, interesting”. But Whether I would evaluate their work the same way as something composed from scratch is another discussion.

Girl Talk does mix and match lyrics to highlight words and part of songs that might go unnoticed otherwise, so if their intention is to make new connections, emphasize, and re-contextualize, then it certainly does matter who is speaking, or spoke, because how can one get their points without knowing its original sources and contexts. In this case, it does matter. And if we think about whether people need to be credited for their work being used, then it matters even more who is speaking. Although the finished mash-ups have become their own entities, the songs are still only “matched” together using previous works, with no original lyrics or beats of its own.

On the other hand, if the result is what counts,  then maybe it dosn’t matter who is speaking. Because when appreciating or disliking any piece of music, how much do we consider its process of making or the amount of effort put into it?

Think of it this way: the concept of mashing-up songs and combiningvarious left over ingredients in the fridge to make a dish is the same. Isn’t using a limited amount and already existing ingredients to create a decent meal harder than getting whatever one needs from a market? Now, if the meal turn out to be mad and incoherent, do we really blame the chef? ON the other hand, if the “dish” or the mash-up song end up being harmonious and interesting, or even quite awesome, are we not considering the brilliant outcome as art?

I am not saying that sampling/remixing music is the same as composing. In fact, they are fundamentally different. Using computer software, putting together parts of songs with a couple mouse clicks  cannot be categorized the same as writing notes, but remixing is definitely a type of art. It creates interaction and generates thinking. It is a new twist on the old, something modified yet so familiar.

Since Google’s launch of Google.cn (The Chinese google website) Jan 25, 2006, the serach engine has went against its own beliefs transpirancy and choice. It has been proved that sensitive topics such as “Independence for Taiwan” , “The 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre”, “Falun Gong”, as well as general Chinese human rights and democracy issues are filtered by Google.cn. This web censorship Google has complied to, conducted by the Chinese Communist Party,  is today known as “The Great Red Firewall”.

Should the Chinese internet users, have a different standard of policies applied to them? Google feels this way.

The same technology, with the same slogan stating “At Google, we’re committed to transparency and choice”, is helping users to access the world through mouse clicks, while helping the Chinese Communist government to filter and censor information millions of Chinese people have the rights to know.

However, this phenomenon is not only applicable to Google, Google’s rivals Yahoo and Microsoft have long been using censorship in China.

Money and the abuse of power are essentially the cause of such phenomenon. If freedom is no longer our priority of online technology, what is then the future of Internet?

The concept of “Buffet” originated during mid 17th in France, as a solution for house wives/ladies to serve big groups of people at unexpected hours.  Thanks to the new concept, the ladies no longer needed to call in extra serving staff, and long hours of food preparation process was replaced by the a few minutes of reheating the leftover food. This particular concept saved both time and money, as the meme was very beneficial, it was a winner in the mimetic competition.
Somewhere along the way, people’s perception of it has changed. Maybe the meme has fused with other memes, and evolved from a way of surviving chaotic moments to a major business strategy. Nowadays, it is mostly being referred as “All You Can Eat”.

This meme has spread itself internationally from its origin. Every culture has its own version and reference of “all you can eat. A traditional buffet in Sweden is called “Smörgåsbord”, which means “a table of sandwiches”, but those buffets are now far away from the origin of the name. The Chinese phrase for it can literally be translated into “eat until you pop”, I mean, why and why…

The benefits?

Susan Blackmore mentions of the memetic competition, and why certain meme survive while others don’t.

Memes can succeed in many ways, Some make their living by being true, good, useful, or beautiful. They persuade us to take them on by providing us with some tangible benefit… (section 4)

“All you can eat” benefits the owner for charging a certain amount of money that appeal to the customers, and in return, serving the minimum quality of food for that money. As for the customers, they benefit from the thought of variety of ready made dishes when hunger strikes. While being inside, people’s eyes open up, and suddenly there are many more cravings that “no one realized until seeing and smelling it”. At some point, the varieties of dishes makes people greedy, and stop thinking what, and how much we put on our plates.

To wrap it up, I would like to show a few interesting comics from www.cartoonstock.com:

As illustrated, the purpose of Culture Jamming is to highlight mainstream media in a critical way, and to break up our usual ways of receiving information. However, it mentioned in class that certain major advertisement campaigns have now started to take advantage of culture jamming, by incorporate the same concept as a theme into their own ads.

Any action, tool, concept, or idea that stimulates people to think in alternative ways will catch attention, as our brains seem to be constantly searching for the new and the unusual stimuli. Both Culture Jamming and the concept of imitating culture jam reflect the twists and turns of media. They remind us to be alert when processing information, and not only to bluntly receive or accept.

What is next? Perhaps to just continue with the work done so far. People need to be told and reminded again and again to not forget. Weather it is Culture Jamming, or any other theories and concepts that will induce people to question and be critical, they are welcomed.