-=crumb=-'s Journal

9:27AM - things found while sorting random paper.

Marilyn blond moon on azure eye horizon
opal buckle on the violet belt holding up day,
keeping night tucked in.
Or, does the day bear the moon
on skyline's shoulders, supporting the sky,
hemming us in our comfortable pen?
Either eIther, Neither, neIther...I feel tighter
the loops 'round my fingers tying I and the sky
the world is on a string, or two
leading from me to the u-
niverse
the earth, an axis
the cosmos, a kite.

12:50PM - cute

Brownwood booth in the back of the SUB caf
She stares into space - his head rests in her lap
his nose to her belly, back to the world
the storm that engulfs them held back by the curl
of his back's barracade, held fast by the twine
of fingers and flesh and two hearts combined.

9:31PM - Paper Frame

The medium of print magazines in three variations was selected as a base of advertising material for analysis. Magazines belonging to the overarching categories of Business / Financial, Lifestyle / Fashion, and Science / Technology. These categories were chosen in the hopes of surveying 3 different readership audiences. Canadian Business was chosen as it targets individuals with significant business / financial interests, likely a more middle aged and affluent average readership than a magazine such as maxim, targeted largely to late teen and college age men. Wired magazine appeals to an audience ranging between the two other magazines and caters to individuals with a high need for cognition, as it focuses on issues regarding science and technology requiring some degree of cognitive effort to understand and appreciate.

Each advertisement was assessed with both the Yale Attitude Change Approach (YACA) and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) in mind. Both emphasize the importance of the source, the message the audience and the medium. As the mediums have been established it remains to account for the remaining three factors. The credibility, trustworthiness, attractiveness and relevant expertise of the source of the message are proposed to be of consequence according to the YACA. The ELM distinguishes between 2 routes of persuasion, Central and Peripheral as well as assessing the message strength, the speakers credibility and the involvement of the message receiver.

Without advertisements it would be much more difficult for products or services from one location to be gain a foothold in another, and for small businesses to grow quickly as word of mouth without advertising other than point of sale would produce a limited pool of individuals aware of and talking about a given product or service. There would be less demand on the minds of the public in terms of actively processing the nearly constant barrage of advertising present in modern western society, up to 400 advertisements a day (Askers & Myers, 1987; {Ratkanis & Aronson, 1991) It is possible that people might begin to rely more on cognitively based information when making consumer decisions regarding products or services about which they are ambivalent or have a low involvement in the absence of repeated affect based appeals.


The car ad in the Canadian Business Magazine effectively targets the audience of the magazine referring to valets at a country club and associating the concept of a powerful no apologies presence. There is a limited cognitive appeal with the most rudimentary technical specifications and an overwhelming focus on cosmetic and luxury features. They also tie inspiration to the brand-name with their slogan “ Inspiration comes standard”
The car ad in WIRED Magazine makes a similar affect based appeal, associating independent mindedness, thrill seeking, and limit pushing (tenacity) with their vehicle. A small portion of the 2 page advertisement is dedicated to central route persuasion including price details. It is noteworthy that the very final text on the page in barely legible print states that this price is subject to change without notice making the appeal to cognitive persuasion regarding pricing virtually meaningless.
The car ad in Maxim Magazine much as

The credit-card ad in Canadian Business Magazine
The credit-card ad in WIRED Magazine
The credit-card ad in Maxim Magazine

The cell phone ad in Canadian Business Magazine
The cell phone ad in WIRED Magazine
The cell phone ad in Maxim Magazine

The alcohol ad in Canadian Business Magazine
The alcohol ad in WIRED Magazine
The alcohol ad in Maxim Magazine

General trends noticed
Possible reasons for trends

10:31PM

The media article of interest chosen, titled “Brain may still process visual information it can’t see, study suggests” introduces the concept of blindsight. This includes a basic accounting of the specific manifestations of this phenomenon as demonstrated by the scientific experimentation documented in the article “Unconcious processing of orientation and color without primary visual cortex” in the PNAS journal. The journal article discusses the issue of whether or not the brain possesses an alternate route for visual sensory input other than that between the eyes and the primary visual cortex (V1). It is suggested that this proposed route allows visual sensory input be processed in terms of orientation and color despite a lack of conscious awareness of the presented stimuli due to a non-functional V1. Specifically, the article hypothesizes that if a secondary pathway allows visual sensory input to circumvent V1 by traveling a path from the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) to the extrastriate cortex (containing visual areas V2 through V5) allowing the processing of orientation and color without conscious awareness and V1 is non-functional, tests of unconsciously processed orientation and color stimuli should produce above chance results.

Successful unconscious orientation processing is defined as significantly above chance rate of accurate forced choices of the orientation of an presented and undetected vertical or horizontal line-segment measuring 0.25° x 0.05° or 0.05° x 0.25° presented to the right of an established center of fixation while sustaining a TMS application 10% above the established suppression threshold. Successful unconscious color processing is defined as significantly above chance rate of accurate forced choices of the color of a presented and undetected red or green dot measuring 0.25° presented to the right of an established center of fixation while sustaining a TMS application 10% above the established suppression threshold. The suppression threshold is defined as the TMS “intensity at which at least three of five visual stimuli were undetected” indicating effective suppression of V1.

The results indicate that performance in forced-choice of both orientation and color discrimination of stimuli not consciously perceived during TMS induced V1 suppression significantly above chance levels, (Color: mean=75% SD=0.09 / Orientation: mean=81% SD=0.13) this is consistent with the hypothesis.

The study concludes that V1 is necessary for conscious awareness of visual stimuli and that there is a likelihood of the existence of a geniculoextrastriate visual pathway that may be involved with unconsciously coding color and orientation.

10:56AM - FISH

9:18PM

http://www3.telus.net/crumb/viv.jpg

12:00AM - spin.

Turning cartwheels in a grey-matter minefield, bed too soft, mother to bold, what will tomorrow... ? They snore like an avalanche, like the one in my head, on baseless mountain roots spread to convoluded infinity sweeping to deepest gorges, depths never seen but reached in the distance between head and pillow. Rest, the rest, all internal imitation, life imitates TV and TV is in me, all re-reuns, episodes worn till the tape breaks, the the buttons are smooth. Mixed metaphor and simile, coherence ain't worth a thing wired on chamomile turning cartwheels.

8:12PM - yes.

The buzzcocks make everything good. That is all.

10:04PM - still write here

Trees speak to me and I speak with these trees, leaves breathe to me, we drip and dream the same dream of green things and peat and earth and clay, freewheeling rivers and sky lush with passing whims and to the brim with timeless instability. We are these things, those liquid dreams, on spinning rocks - bugs on the back of a bigger bug on the back of a bigger ad nausem. Me, I see me from overhead stuck to earth, from under ice trapped above, and I regret the limitations that are I but we, I and trees, we speak of all these things and free is the only common word.

9:25PM - glory.

The rain is still going, and I'm loving every minute of it though the geologists in the field are less impressed with the weather. It is actually quite picturesque, an ideal summary of life in the northern westcoast rainforest, tonight it is heavy drizzle, coming from almost every direction under a sky so low you feel as though you could extend your arm and touch it. I find the grey blanket of cloud comforting, but I am fall child of the Pacific Northwest. This weather also means the wood stoves in the building are all piping away, adding authenticity to the rustic scene.

Yesterday I sat outside reading Ulysses and listened to Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon from beginning to end. Contentment thy name is...

As much as all this stirs me the city is still looking good right now, along with the 6k I got paid today the 4 days in town will be most welcome. I can't wait to see my bro who just turned 17 yesterday (it's strange seeing him grow up), my friends, my animals, and non temporary structures. I hope people are up for cooking for me, 'cause I have had my fill of that for now I think... although cooking for anything under 20 people will probably be a breeze considering the last month.

9:26PM - soak.

4 more days 'till I get back into Vancity, I can't wait. I am about to go to bed up here and I might actually get some decent sleep thanks to the first good solid rainstorm we have had since I got up here. It is pouring so hard on the tin roofs that it is hard to hear people talk if they are more than 3 feet away. This should keep the heat and mosquitoes at bay tonight. It's absolutely beautiful, no lighting or thunder just torrential downpour for going on 3 hours now. I stood outside shirtless for about half an hour soaking in every drop, the best shower I have ever had.

In other news, we had a big black-bear hanging around our Helipad here, a bit of nature taking some turf back for a while. It must have had brass balls considering it took no heed of a lowflying helo.

We lost a few good workers today, the guys working for Rio, the company contracted to do construction were sent on their way due to their company's inability to complete the work in the timetable set for them, which is really a shame as they were all quite amiable people. I will no doubt see them thanks to the small small world I am increasingly finding we live in. One lives on a boat infront of my summer home, and Jeremy, who went to brentwood around the same time as Rhi, left me his number, promising to hook me up with some people who throw parties on Tuxeda Island.

4 more sleeps till parole.
-m-

8:39PM - Too-dog-gone far

Life here in the Toodoggone is crazy shit sometimes. With this many people in this close quarters for this long, the internal bitching and politics can get pretty intense. The head cook who I have been working with for too long (longer than my job description stated) is a very high stress individual and her crazyness is really starting to get to me at times. It's not like I can really bitch her out about it though because I have to work with her every day and there is no where to go. I can't wait until the fly camps are opened and I get to be my own head cook. Soon soon, or so they keep saying. If I weren't making so much money I would have probably quit by now. The flights in the chopper help keep me happy too. :)

9:42AM - Gooooooooooooooood morning Vietnam!

Last night we watched platoon with our running commentary on the similarities of life in the Nam and life here in the Toodoggone. Cutting lines, heloing out to walk grids on the landscape and just generally traipsing through the middle of nowhere. This morning, and for the past few mornings, Dave Kern, the head Geo up here convinced Wes the chopper pilot to do low level flyovers of the basecamp at quarter past 6 and quarter to 7 in the morning to rouse the students for breakfast. When I say low level, I mean it, the skids of the chopper were no more than 20 feet from the roof of my cabin as he blew past. There is really no comparable alarm clock. One of these mornings I will get a picture so you folks at home can get a feel for it.

I have most of the morning off today anyways, so I am just chilling out, it is crazy sunny out here, so I am going to head down to the river an get in some R&R
For those who care to know, it has been confirmed that I will be coming back into town for 4 days beginning on the 5th of July.

3:50PM - Rolling thunder

Storms in the mountains are unlike anything else, the sky goes suddenly black, and with no rain, thunder booms through the peaks around you. Makes you feel very very small. I was trying to have a nap this afternoon (unsuccessfully i might add thanks to the heat and abundant mosquitoes) when I heard the wind trying to tear the tin roof off of my shack and the sky singing baritone bursts from every direction. To me this indicates an excellent time to get outside, I have no fan here so the rushing wind is the next best thing. One looks up and see everything dwarfed by a deep grey blanket, just above your head at this altitude, and stays that way, neck craned wind driving sweat from your face. As I am writing this the floor is shaking under my feet from the force of the blasts. I wish i didn't have to go back to work in 5 minutes, being a potential lightening rod wouldn't stop me from standing prone in a clearing soaking the coming rain in.

2:08PM - Where I am.

8 Hours from nowhere, feeding too many mouths to name, being eaten alive and making huge financial gains.

I have gotten in a bunch of writing including a long overdue attempt at a short story. I am bone tired most of the time but the area is amazingly beautiful and I feel quite at home. I truly do miss being home, and all that entails but I will back to visit soon enough I suppose. It is worth the heat and the bugs and the crazy co-workers to look forward to not having to work this year.

Inspiration abounds, bound with madness and joy.

6:38PM

It surges like a wave as I speed by
tsunami, in the tempest, in the teapot,
under the chipped china sky.
A perfect setting
for self seeded storms.
The pungent steam seethes from our stirred seas
saturates me from soul to skin
my senses filled
(smell is always strongest)
filled to the brim with all of it
so have some mercy babe
and pour me out.

6:36PM - Restoration

History bites back
and I like the sting
of its teeth teasing my skin
tracing old tracks once on the wane.
The flicking tounge of the faded past
feels more familar with every pass
and I feel like home.

1:22PM - singularity

it draws you in
irresistably closer,
darkness visible,
twisting in-
to infinite mass
and takes you with it
back though everything
past our event horizon
to the moment of conception
when I am whole
and everything
and void
and one.

1:20PM - ode to a stoic

it is a river;
a force to be reckoned with
post winter torrents
and midsummer trickles
carving its way
beginnings to endings
sky to sea.
-=-
here rests the river rock
a passive resistance
unyeilding in torrents
diverging the trickles
resting relentless
beginnings to endings
stone to sand.

1:44AM - (de)construction

My heart goes out to you
stumbles down the front steps
tangles in the garden hose
stumbles blind in your direction
eyes, eager, ever fixing,
regardless of the rising ground.

My heart goes up to you
laying on the dewy grass
bathing in the morning's tears
soaking in the infant sun.
Rises with the dissapearing,
beads vacating every blade.

My heart abides in you
scampers up the front steps
smiles in the porch lights
lightly swings the unbarred door
feet, ever, treading surefoot
comfort in a home secure.