Xi’an is my favorite city in China, hands down. The most appealing part of the city is undoubtedly the night market right by the Great Mosque. Granted, I didn’t see much of the city, but the market was so amazing and offered so many interesting foods and drinks I could hardly leave the place.
My favorite dish, aside from the last chuar (roasted meat on a stick) was this strange orange bun-cake sort of thing. We assumed it was sweet potato, for its color and texture, but when I reached the middle, it was filled with some sort of gooey sugary substance. I couldn’t eat enough of these hot little cakes. I wish there was some way to bring them back to the United States with me.
Xi’an has a lot of Muslims, so naan is very popular, and many of the dried fruits I found in Turkey were sold on the streets for very cheap. I bought some and brought it with me on the train. It was amazing.
VIA: realvsable / ORIG: manyreservations
Xi’ning, though beautiful, was perhaps the city I enjoyed the least on the trip. It was very cold, and there wasn’t as much to do as say, Xi’an. The altitude of the city was somewhere around what I am accustomed to, so that was nice, but it was cold and not nearly as populated as anywhere else we’d been. However, the Ta’er Temple was beautiful and the cold air gave us some motivation to keep moving. We only stayed one night, and then we hopped on a train to Tibet.
Poster created for Sarah Menke-Fish’s Cross Cultural Video and Production film screening, 2012.
Samples GIFs made for Nature’s Voice Our Choice.
Peanut Butter and Jelly GIF - A How To
A sample corner bug.
Created in Adobe Photoshop.
The Hyperreality of Disney, and What It Hides
The far-reaching influence of Disney has long been a major part of American life. With two theme parks in the United States and several channels own by Disney, the company’s influence spans beyond the big screen and unites fantasy with the real world. Jean Baudrillard maintains that Disney has created a hyperreal world within Disneyland, and uses this hyperreality as a refuge from reality. Though Disney may provide a seemingly innocent world to the viewers, Henry Giroux argues that the worlds portrayed feature blatant stereotypes and push desired character traits onto young girls.
Regarding Racism in Dragon Ball [Z]
The TV shows that children watch leave a great impression on the people that they grow up to be. For those who watched the selection of shows available after school on Toonami, a plethora of Japanese cartoons were available, the most prominent being Dragon Ball [Z]. When I say Dragon Ball [Z], I am actually referring to two shows (the first being Dragon Ball, the second, Dragon Ball Z), both of which are based off of the long running comic Dragon Ball, created by Akira Toriyama. The show was often classified as violent, loud, sexual, and now, racist. Not only does “Dragon Ball [Z]” feature the stereotypical 1940’s Disneyesque black Mr. Popo, who sports his large red lips and literally black skin, and portrayal of the Chinese as inferior, but also the race-changing “super saiyans” littered throughout the show. These “super-saiyans” change from typical Asians, dark hair and tan skin, to fair skinned Aryans.
This Little Piggy Designed
Contextualizing Essay for Professor Angelica Das’ Social Documentary class.
This Little Piggy was born from concern over American meat consumption practices, namely the extremely wide availability of factory-farmed meats. Given that we, the filmmakers, are extremely passionate about this subject, success is essential. This film was intended to be entertaining and engaging for young adults. As such, it is not what Pat Aufderheide would call a “regular documentary,” filled with b-roll an monologues.
Episode 3 of Party Animals DC.
Host - Molly Carkeet.
