What &Why – Music/Recordings

Artist: Alex Ubago
Album Name: Que pides tu? (What do you ask for?)
Popular Songs Included: A Gritos de Esperanza - Sabes? - Ahora Que No Estas - Vuelves A Pensar - Sin Miedo a Nada (con Amaia Montero) - Por esta ciudad – No te rindas
Record Label: Warner Music Latina
Year It Was Released: April 1, 2003
Genre: Spanish Pop-Rock


Q&A

Alex Ubago is a pop/rock Spanish singer who came alive and made up one of 2003's best Latin popular music releases.

The first time that I heard his music was when my brother bought his CD and also on TV because he became a great hit all over Europe and Latin America.

The songs in all of his CD’s are very personal and have amazing lyrics that can reach human emotions. He also wrote every single song of this CD becoming one of the best and most preferred singer-songwriters in Spain and Latin America.

My taste in music I think is very diverse especially because of the different cultural influences that I have had during my life; basically, I appreciate hearing very different musical styles, but still I have my own parameters about what I like. Some of the genres that I frequently hear are: Pop, Rock, Reggaeton, Salsa, Bachata, Ballenato and Flamenco. I also love traditional/pop Greek music (Sarbel) and Pop artists such as David Bustamante, Alejandro Sanz, Reik, Luis Miguel, and Ricardo Arjona. My favorite Reggaeton artist is Daddy Yankee; my favorite bachata artist is Aventura. Salsa is a genre I love to dance all the time and I usually listen to artists like Jerry Rivera and Juan Luis Guerra. Ballenato is also a great genre to dance to especially when listening to Fonseca. I also enjoy listening to American music (JoJo, Fergie, Beyonce, Rihanna, One Republic, Lifehouse, 3 Doors Down, etc).

Usually, I hear my music using a CD or MP3 player.

I regularly get my music from iTunes because it’s convenient and easy.

What & Why Post – Movies

Movie Title: PAN’S LABYRINTH (El Laberinto del Fauno)
Movie Studio: PicturehouseOther Movies Made by that Studio: A Dog Year (2007) – Amusement (2008) – As You Like It (2006) – El Cantante (2007) – The Fox & The Child (2008)
Producer (s): Javier Mateos Morillo, Luis Maria Reyes, Belen Atienza
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro
Stars: Maribel Verdu, Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones, Sergi Lopez, Adriadna Gil, Alex Angulo, Roger Cosamajor, Sebastian Haro, Mina Lira, Federico Luppi, Ivan Massague, Chema Ruiz, Manolo Solo, Milo Taboada.



Q&A

Pan’s Labyrinth is a very interesting and imaginative epic, represented as a very unique fairy tale set in Spain of the 1940’s during the postwar repression of Franco’s Spain.
The fairy tale centers on Ofelia, a 10-year-old girl with a lot of imagination and many dreams. The plot begins when Ofelia moves to Navarra with her delicate pregnant mother to meet her stepfather, Capitan Vidal, a very cruel military leader, who controls the area of rebels. She becomes very lonely in that place of suffering and cruelty, so she creates her “own world” with great fantasy and innocence. Until one night, her fantasy world becomes a reality as she is led to an underground labyrinth ruled by a pan, who believes that Ofelia is a princess. She must complete three tasks, all of which are very terrifying. The labyrinth has many magical creatures who lead her through this story. This place becomes a refuge for Ofelia to escape from the terrifying reality in which she leaves.

I saw this movie on DVD and I became interested in watching it because of all the amazing reviews that it received all around the world.

I think this movie has many aspects that I like especially the very thoughtful representation between good and evil; this battle of good and evil is represented through the eyes of this young girl.

I definitely would recommend this movie especially because it has a stellar production with a great realism in a mystical place that makes us believe in the fantasies and see the cruelty of society.

Magazines Controversies: The impact of Images

How much can an image in a magazine affect our vision or the perception of ourselves?

Nowadays, magazines have a very important and valuable place in our societies and especially in our personal lives. Magazines have the advantage of producing a major impact by the images that they show through their pages. I think this is one of the beauties of media today, because we are able to express our thoughts and even illustrate them for better understanding.

Unfortunately, magazines can also impact us in a negative and less productive way; in many cases this occurs because of the images that are shown. One of the main groups of magazine consumers are women, the ones that want to be in touch with trends, beauty products, etc. We have many magazines that base their content on the woman’s image, but in most of the cases they expose women like a "plastic doll" creating a superficial image beyond everything else. This is something very harmful to any woman because are susceptible targets, taking and using a woman’s insecurities as an advantage to sell their articles by putting images of perfect and unrealistic body types, it can affect and depress a woman's emotions and especially her physical health. It’s shown that most of the women that view fashion magazines prefer to weigh less; they are more preoccupied with the desire to be thin.

With this statement I don't whish to say that all of them are the same but I'm explaining how magazines can affect us and impact our ideas.
I think it’s important to have a real vision and not only a false image of our self, but find the real meaning behind every picture.
Helping us to be inspired by them and believe in our own beauty by not judging our physical appearance.

What & Why - Magazines

Magazine Name: VANIDADES (Vanities)
Publisher: Editorial Televisa Internacional
Type of Magazine: Consumer Magazine
Subscription: Yes

Q&A

I had the chance to read this magazine for the first time when I was 12 years old because my mom used to have a big collection of women magazines. She just loves VANIDADES so that is how I stared to interact more with all the entertaining information that this magazine has, especially because Vanidades has become like a guide for every woman’s life. It has the right articles and ideas informing us about everything that is going on in every aspect of our life.

Vanidades (Vanities in English) is one of the most popular Spanish magazines for women today. Vanidades fits into the Consumer Magazine Category because it features the interests and beliefs of the contemporary Latin women, covering beauty products, focusing in the latest trends and methods to make us feel and be seen as how we want to be seen.

Vanidades targets the necessities and beliefs of every woman’s life informing and helping us to be in touch with all the things that we need and we are interested in knowing like: art, culture, fashion trends, beauty, home decor, entertainment (movies, actors, music, etc.). This magazine regularly features articles about traveling and tourism, about the latest movies, nutrition and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

I strongly believe that I'm the target reader because I love being in touch with every aspect of being a women.
In the cover of Vanidades, they always have the best known Latin artist or world personalities that make us more interested about its content.
I would definitely recommend this magazine because is very complete and thoughtful to a woman’s life.

Professor Julie Beard (Guest Speaker)

Professor Julie Beard was our guest speaker this week and it was very interesting and inspiring for me as a Mass Communication student. She introduced us to the importance and impact that Media has in our society. We talked about some controversies and situations in the media today,like the diversity in technology and the importance of being prepared for this career.
One of the main topics that we had the chance to listen to and practice was the news values and how important it is to have in mind all the aspects that make good stories or good news; the impact that it makes in peoples lives, the importance of informative and fresh news, the proximity with the community, being able to get to the human emotion by presenting touching stories; being prepared for the conflicts that could come from the different opinions that people have about certain topics in our society and even include bizarre or unusual situations which can make more entertaining news. All of those are known as the events that we have to be noticing and have in mind in our communication careers.
As a class we also had the chance to decide three top stories as a gatekeeper, which is something interesting. It also showed me the importance of being prepared and taking into account the situations and evens that are going to interest, mpact and inform the public.
I think for me was very interesting the information and the advices that Profesor Julie gave to us, because it make me have a more clear idea bout how the media works.

What & Why Books

Title: The Knight in Rusty Armor
Author: Robert Fisher
Publisher: Wilshire Book Co



This is a trade Book. I’m a casual reader.

Summary:

This awesome story is about a knight who had a much exciting life in battles, rescuing people and fighting dragons. He loved his armor so much that he starts wearing it all the time, until his family forgets how he looked without his beloved armor. Until one day, he decides to take it off but he finds out that he was stuck in it. That is how this story begins with the adventures that he goes through while he rediscovers the real meaning of life and his true self.

Q&A:

I read this book for the first time when I was in high school and one of my professors recommended it to me because it has so much good advice and ideas about life.
This book impacts me because everybody can relate themselves with the story. The book is inspired by the metaphor of how society can affect us, until the point that we start forgetting who we are and begin focusing on our personal gain, ultimately forgetting the real importance of life.
I definitely would recommend this book because of all the lessons and reflections that it has; it touches every core of our hearts.
In my opinion, the author of this book, Robert Fisher, explains his ideas in a very interesting way, helping us understand his point of view.
I think The Knight in Rusty Armor has many messages that makes us realize the important things that we should we focus on, especially because this book is a life-learning experience.

American Media's Influence on Panamanian Media

I am Arlinda and I come from Panama.
In Panama, the media industry is very similar to the United States especially because of all the media influences that come from the U.S. My description and opinions about Panamanian media are based on the fact that every year forms of media are getting better and better, by producing more TV shows, music videos, radio programs, new and entertaining channels and so much more.
The principal thing that I noticed the most about American media is that it is very powerful and commercial. In the one we can find a variety of ideas, characters, many unique and fresh thoughts. Furthermore, most of the media is reflected in everyday life, making the movies and shows produced worldwide best sellers, because almost everybody can get in touch with the stories and see themselves in the characters.
The freedom of the press is very important especially for so many countries that don’t have it, but I think here the freedom of the press is sometimes taken for granted. This is why I think all of us should open our vision and appreciate the liberty of expressing one’s ideas in freedom.