Extra Credit - Ben Marcus

“Adulthood looks like an exhaustion farm. Who would willingly purchase a ticket to that?” Who indeed? Ben Marcus’ convoluted and experimental brand of writing initially left me a bit confused. The interview he read first lacked the contextual structure I think I needed to understand it a bit better. The entire piece was littered with references that I either didn’t catch fast enough or didn’t catch at all. Once I found his rhythm, however, I found him highly entertaining and more than a little mind-blowing. Take the above quotation, for example. Marcus flies straight in the face of every societal convention that says that we must grow up. While I missed much of the point of the interview from which this came, this idea stuck with me. The older I become (though, granted, I’m not that old), the more I become disillusioned with life and responsibilities. Adulthood is exhausting. I believe Marcus was referring both to the physical and emotional states of adulthood. Some people reach it sooner than others. I have a friend who’s been an emotional adult since high school whereas others are still working toward it. Still others will never reach emotional adulthood though they may be adults on the outside. But why should we have to grow up? Personally, I’m not sure that remaining a child my whole life is something I want to do. While I certainly had no idea that I was going to live years at a time undernourished and sleep deprived, I might have chosen to forgo college. I certainly don’t intend to live many more years exhausted like I am. I just hope that I can find something to do with my life that I’ll enjoy. Don’t we all? I just wish I knew what that might be.

Commercial

Here we have another excellent commercial from Geico. As with the other “testimonial” commercials, the scene is one long shot of a “real person” and a celebrity. The real person and the celebrity, Steve O’Dell and Joan Rivers, respectively are sitting in front of what the viewer is lead to assume is Steve’s garage in a pair of run of the mill lawn chairs. It’s a little messy and one can see a grill and a bike, complete with training wheels. Steve is dressed in a grey t-shirt and jeans and what might be a class ring. Joan Rivers, on the other hand, is dressed glamorously and well made-up. Steve tells the story of his father’s hijacking at knifepoint and how impressed he was with Geico’s sensitive handling of the situation. Joan Rivers adds commentary aping herself and the criticisms of her numerous plastic surgeries. The only sounds in the commercial are the voiceover that starts begins and ends the segment, Steve’s narrative, Joan’s commentary and outdoor ambient noises like birds and wind. One of the most interesting parts of this commercial is that Steve O’Dell is probably telling the true story of his father’s carjacking and how he switched to Geico and saved more than 600 dollars. However, what the view is most taken with is Joan Rivers and her particular brand of comedy and Steve’s story falls to the wayside. The commercial is finished with the slogan, “Geico: real service, real savings”. What I think is particularly appropriate about Joan Rivers taking part in this commercial is that the viewer contrasts Steve, who looks like anybody’s father, and Joan, who is quite possibly one of the least “real” people around, thanks to all the plastic surgery she’s had. She’s well dressed, talking about Benihana, nicely juxtaposed with Steve and his garage while he looks like he’s going to mow the lawn before grilling some hamburgers for dinner for the family.

Zaireeka reflected

I have one word to succinctly describe this experience: cacophony, but I'd like to have none of the negative connotations associated with it. Never having really listened to the Flaming Lips, this was my first extended introduction and it was amazing. Right away, I started to feel those familiar physical symptoms of liking something. A ball in the pit of my stomach, the feeling of my eyes becoming unfocused, a weight on my chest and the belated knowledge that I wasn’t breathing all signaled that there was some good stuff going on here. I knew more than ever that I should have accompanied my friend Lauren to the Flaming Lips show in high school. Experiencing Zaireeka was like being at a concert, but being inside the music. The surround sound effect was interesting, having the ability to fill the room with barking dogs, plunge one into the center of an orchestra, or make one feel like they were sitting with just a friend and an acoustic guitar. Not only that, but it’s refreshing to encounter a group who knows how to have fun with their music. One thing that really sealed the deal for me was the very Beatles-esque feel to the whole thing. The very best part of the whole experience was the knowledge that this was something completely ephemeral that could never be exactly duplicated. It was that lack of synch when CD 4, like Seabiscuit, pulled ahead of the rest that made this particular listen special. Furthermore, each of us has a similar, but ultimately distinct feeling about the experience. I know that what I heard is completely different from what the people across the room heard. What reminded me of Sgt. Pepper probably reminded someone else of a wholly different album. It was a personal and, at the same time, collective experience.