Why I Feel the AR-15 Needs to Find Its Way Out of the News.

          If guns are not your thing, they are not your thing. Guns are my thing. I have sold them, built them, trained people to use them, lobbied federal laws at the capitol for them, and of course shot them. They are my thing.
          There is a certain gun though that seems to be brought into the news ever so often. I will not try to state the legitimacy of why people should be able to own one. I will not try to say anything that has already been repeated to death.
          I have heard many of my peers in St. Louis and here at HU describe the AR-15. If they hate it and think that it is morally wrong to own one or want one, they demonize it. If they love guns and support everything gun they cling to their morals and say that everyone should have one. I can stand these conversations even though I find myself pestered by both. What I can not stand though is when either side of the media describes this rifle. The media is quick to talk about their "expertise" concerning it. In reality, it is one of the things they are misinforming people of the most. Because of this, I think that none of them have the right to talk about it. This would apply to something like the weather or a car accident or any other news story. If you are going to continually pass information off about something that is incorrect, get it out of the news. I know this is nothing new with the news, but I wanted to say why.

(on the left is what people think an AR-15 is, on the right is an actual one.)
(also, common a common myth is that the "AR" in AR-15 stands for "assault-rifle-15". this is untrue. it sands for "Armalite Rifle -15", the original company that designed it.)

The Bee Movie and MEMEs

         Oh wow... I really went into this kinda as a joke. However, I found an important truth about how memes can destroy stories and their morals. Really, when we joke about something in excess we lose touch with the gravity of what it may have been. The Bee Movie came out in 2007. With in the last year or so it became a YouTube and Facebook meme. All kinds of stuff that really tore the film to shreds. It has gotten to the point where there are now t-shirts with the entire script on them. It has also gotten to the point now, that people have forgotten how this is a film about how the consequence of the characters actions was the destruction of some natural beauty in the world. Instead, it is now a film that you watch in seven minutes because it speeds up every time they say the word bee. In the same way, the more we joke about things that are not trivial or quizzical, the less impacting the subject of the joke becomes. An example being that when we make race jokes, we first have to remove our empathy for the subject race to some degree.

In Response to the Unlucky 82 Situation...

           In my last blog I touched on what I knew about the situation in forester, but denied myself the opportunity to rank about the situation. SO, here is the deal, stuff happened in Forester Village with alcohol. This is not new and every one knows this. People have been drinking over there since some smarty thought, "Damn, they never check here. Let's see what we can get away with." I am sure that this is not the first time that the school has tried to crack down more on it, but it is the first time in my one and half years here. I gotta say though, if people were going to get caught, THIS WAS THE WAY TO DO IT!!! I mean, WOW, eighty two students! This will forever define to me what it means to "go out with a bang". My only concern with the situation lies with the students well being. It sucks that not everyone drank, but will be prosecuted. It sucks that there were (supposedly) so many athletes involved. Granted, the athletes should have none better since the NAIA forbids alcohol. However, still a shame. Final thoughts on the issue though, if you all would have gotten away with it, it would have been fantastic thing to say you have done. Makes you wonder what has already been gotten away with of a similar proportion...

The Unlucky 82

           Recently in campus news, or it may really be just campus drama, there was a party or two that took place in forester village. These parties ended up involving a total of eighty two students. To my knowledge of what I have heard, there were students who were drinking and are now facing penalties for such. I also have heard from a couple of students there were involved that not every student who attended these events where consuming or in possession of alcohol, yet they are still facing penalties. The punishments that these students are supposedly facing I can see as somewhat earned because they are considered guilty by association. Also, since they did not immediately call campus police when they saw other students drink, they were technically, according to the handbook, "inhibiting campus authorities in their work". Where as it was unfortunate that those who were drinking were caught, it is more unfortunate that those who where fully sober are now facing consequences as well. To the readers of this blog, I apologize for the long winded and vague sentences. I am simply speaking to my experiences of the matter, which sadly are limited. To any of the eighty two who might be reading this, better luck next time.

Kubo: Late Blog, Worth the Wait Film!

           Ever since I heard my animator friends talk about Kubo and the Two Strings and how excited they were to see it, I have wanted to watch it. I could not afford to go to the theater when it was still in theaters, so I did not get to see it right away. However, my friend finally got it on DVD and we were able to watch it! I was blown away by the imagery!!! It was all so beautiful and breath taking. The real kicker is when my friend told me that it was a stop-motion film. I had never seen a stop-motion film that looked so fluid. Besides the incredible talent that was involved in telling the story, the story itself was so engaging. The focus on family, good overcoming evil, and defending our values was very evident and worth watching. It was also really neat watching there be a build up of the story talking about the three pieces of armor, and then none of the pieces be involved in the climax of the film. It really came down to Kubo relying on his family in the most original way! Over all, it was a joy visually and story wise. I regret not being able to see it earlier.

Rise of the Iphone as a Camera Part 3

          In part 2 of this topic, I brought up some areas where the Iphone out performed the GH4. As great as it was, the point of this series of blogs is to talk about how the two are COMPARABLE. The reason I draw attention to this is because the Iphone is not better, it is only comparable... so far. The areas it falls short in where the before mentioned lack of adjustable shutter speed and ISO, but it also falls short in the quantified apeture settings, limited choice in lenses, and (one that I forgot to mention) the inability to white-balance. There are ways to white-balance Iphone images, but only in post. The Iphone does have the ability to auto adjust its white-balance some, but its limited. In addition, to have a manual white-balance feature would be nice because you would then be able to change the appearance of the image. The Iphone can white-balance only in post. The choice of lenses is limited to a few clip on lenses of questionable quality. In my opinion, I very strongly believe that if the Iphone had adjustable shutter speed, quantifiable aperture, and a higher quality selection of lenses Iphones would be able to replace most of the current professional gear.

Rise of the Iphone as a Camera Part 2

          In part one of this blog I very blankly said that I thought that cell phone cameras were becoming comparable with the film equipment that film students use. In this blog I would like to, using my limited knowledge, describe the comparisons. Some of the key things I have learned about cameras is the importance of shutter speed, aperture, ISO, frame rate, resolution, and lenses. The newer Iphones have made great work at improving their use of aperture, frame rate, resolution, and (to an extent) different lenses. They still lack settings for ISO and shutter speed though. The Iphone and the GH4 have the ability to adjust the aperture, however, the Iphone does not have the ability to quantify its adjustments (in other words, you cant measure the apeture). The GH4 can shoot between 24-96 frames persecond. The iphone though can shoot between 2-240 frames persecond. Whenever my friend Aaron was making a music video, he recorded a scene at 94 fps with 720p (the resolution). This was the best the GH4 could do in that area. My Iphone though was able to capture the same scene at 120fps with 1080p. This is another point of comparison, the GH4's max resolution is 1080p, and at higher frame rates only 720. The iphone can shoot in 4k, and at higher frame rates between 1080p and 720p (720 at 240 fps). As Aaron and I talked about this, we were both shocked that in these areas the Iphone outperformed the GH4.

Rise of the Iphone as a Camera Part 1

          Lately I have had a fascination with photography. I have been learning more about it, practicing and talking to sophomore and junior film majors about DSLRs and GH4s and REDs and the list goes on. Listening to them talk about things like frame rate, aperture, and different lenses has been amazing! However, the more that I use my Iphone camera (iphone6s-plus) to practice photography and some little films, I see that it has the potential to work almost as well as the cameras the film students use. Now, it is important to give credit where it is do before I praise the Iphone. HU film majors armed with their GH4s and Cannons far surpass the amateur work that I produce with a cell phone. The thing that I find interesting though is that the capabilities of the Iphone seem comparable to the GH4s and Cannons. I was talking with my close friend Aaron about the GH4 he had rented. We were comparing the capabilities of our cameras and they seemed similar. I will discuss in part two of this blog the comparisons. The main point that I am trying to discuss though is that cell phone cameras (in particular the Iphone) are becoming comparable to professional film equipment.

How My White Privilege Influenced My Vote.

         The fortunate truth is that many of my white peers in class may have never felt in danger because of their race. I say "may have never" because I do not know, it is only likely. As for me though, I have. For those of you who do not know, I grew up in two towns. I grew up in Imperial, Missouri (where my home was) and Ferguson, Missouri (where my extended family lives). In Imperial, it is a largely white, rural community. While I lived there, I hardly ever encountered many people of other racial backgrounds. In the past two years though, Ferguson has been a race-war-zone since Michael Brown was shot. Many angered and hurt people of another race than my own became violent as they took to the streets. They burned buildings, killed elderly and young white people, and caused mass chaos in the surrounding area. While there, I have personally been attacked, had bricks and rocks thrown at me, and been spat at by protesters simply because I am a white guy who happened to be in a place I was not welcomed. On a less violent note, if I would take my aunt out for lunch near her home in Ferguson we were often refused service. This even occurred at a McDonald's where the workers told us that our kind was not welcome and that we, as white pigs, needed to all die. So for two years of my life I have experienced the opposite of white privilege. With this experience,  I found my vote unchanged in this election. I voted for President Trump both opportunities there were. I even celebrated unashamed at his victory. I had a clear conscious each time I voted because he was the candidate that met my world view and values the best. Where as I do not respect some of the things he has said, his political policies and ideals are to me superior to that of Clinton or Bernie. I am aware that I titled this "How My White Privilege Influenced My Vote." but the simple truth is that it did not. I would comfortably say that I have decently experienced both sides of racial treatment in my life, and that NEITHER side has really influenced my vote in the slightest.

Small Hands, Perfect Expression of Loss, Great Lesson in Discomfort.-benblizz

     This blog is a little late coming. The reason being that, yes I was a little busy, but more so that I was trying to wrestle with the discomfort from the films we watched Tuesday. The film Small Hands was a great expression of sorrow, loss and longing. I will not share my experience with the loss of my loved one for it would be unenjoyed by the addience, but for the sake of perspective please understand I've lost someone most dear to my heart. This film accurately described the emotions that we deal with as well as the brokenness, the hurting, the furry, and the crippling turmoil. The way that the colors turn almost immediately from vibrant oranges and greens and the other colors that made the forest, into a drowning gray, purple and overall bleakness shows the immediate change that a person feels. You see a broken heart and spirit in all of the hurting animals. When your physical heart fails to work, it halts the body with death. As your metaphysical heart breaks (emotions, thoughts, etc.), you feel the same paralyzed grip come over you, only now you have to live through it. The puppeteer flawlessly captured this with his animals. The image that is burned into me is the frog. This crippled frog is completely still and motionless as the stream carries him away on his lily pad. This was the most accurate depiction; someone crippled by hurt as life doesn't stop moving for them. This film very well displays grieving. I feel that it is a perfect lesson for feeling comfortable with discomfort, because it taught us what the  discomfort of loss looks like.

Howdy Yall,

   
     My name is Ben Blizzard (I'm in the middle). Sorry this is so late, I had computer problems.I prefer to go by Blizz because there are a million people named Ben, however I'll respond to whatever I'm called. I am currently a missions major with a TESOL minor seeking to go to North Korea. Out side of class, I greatly enjoy talking with people. People are my passion. I love to get them talking about themselves. If just from a conversion someone can feel loved, appreciated, and happy that would be fantastic. Other than that, I spend my learning. Whether its on YouTube, or articles, or documentaries. My fields I to learn about are ones that I can use the most. So that has largely consisted of psychology, philosophy, law and politics, and mostly firearms since I'm an ex-competitive shooter and firearms salesmen. However, more than anything I love to build things and to fix things. This summer I built a coffee table, a skateboard, and a rifle. So, that's me in a tiny nutshell. The reason I'm taking this class is because with a ton a of DMA friends, I would love to understand more about the things they like... and an art credit. Than you for reading about me.