Assignment 5

Part 1

For the final task of this semester, assignment 5 we were to choose a topic or return to a previous one we did at the end of semester 1 and review it. The next part is to develop a short proposal of how we could use one of the methods we carried out and developed from the four previous assignments.

The topic I have decided to go with for this assignment is the one I did last semester. For that I chose two journals that looked into the area of sexually transmitted diseases and just how much people are aware of them.

What the two journals discussed were the results of observations and tests carried out to see how affective advertising is and how much knowledge people have on STI’s.

The next thing I will do, will be propose what techniques I could use and what possible results I would gain from them.

For the journal ‘Internet treatment of sexually transmitted infections – a public health hazard?’ the article discussed the stigma that is normally associated with sexually transmitted infections as people who have been infected by any of theses diseases prefer to keep it private and would rather seek information and advice from the Internet than from a one to one from their doctor, as this is less embarrassing. It is though quite dangerous to seek out remedies from the Internet, as those who sell them do not always provide the correct information.

The second journal ‘Teenagers and the risks of sexually transmitted diseases: a need for the provision of balanced information’ is an evaluation of teenager's knowledge and understanding about sexually transmitted disease, conception and contraception. It goes on to explain how teenagers may underestimate their risk of contracting a STD after the promotion of information about HIV/Aids. It says that simple messages about them in mass media advertising programs may have unwanted results and need to be targeted and easy to understand for teenagers to take in the effect.

Both my chosen journals are trying to increase the message of how high a risk people are at contracting STI’s and how little information is actually available.

So what could I do? Well a technique I could use would be to carry out interviews with those who have experience with treating and studying STI’s. Who would I ask though; well the most obvious people to ask are nurses and doctors. The first thing I would do when beginning this research would be to first email or phone a doctors surgery or a clinic that specializes in treatments with STI’s asking if I could spare an hour of one of their colleagues time giving them a brief overview of what the topic will be about. I believe that asking doctors and nurses would be beneficial into the research as it would allow me insight into the opinions of those who deal with these sort of thing all the time. What do they think of the information that is available to people today? Do they think it is helpful enough and do they think it making the issues of how dangerous they can be effectively? I do think that it would be more appropriate to interview school students.

Results from both groups would slightly differ, as I would get the opinions of those who deal with this all the time and already have experience of how young people are made aware of them and how affective the current information is to them. Is the information working or do people need to be made aware of them at an earlier age?

Another technique I could possibly pursue would be to observe how people react in a clinic, what is their behavior like? Do they seem comfortable or nervous? Are they keeping to themselves? Even looking at posters and advertising in these places. How are the displayed and where? Are they more commonly seen in clinics and surgeries and how many of them are there? This could help show just how available the information is and how helpful clinics can be. Looking at the leaflets available I can even see for myself what information is out there and can compare with others what there opinions on this can would be. I think it would be more beneficial to do an observation in a clinic rather than a surgery.

Out of both of these techniques I think the interview would be the more successful as I would get a variety of answers and results form those with different points of view and ask what their own personal opinions are.

Yet another way to find out information would be to ask, how much do young people actually know about sex in general? Do they actually understand the consequences? Do they read the back of condom packets? Do they use condoms or do they rely on the pill, coil or injection? Looking at contraception packets and information about them could allow me to see if the company’s that provide these are giving out enough information.

Once I collect all my results I would compare my results with others and discuss in detail our own opinions and differences. A major problem with that I may find with this is that the people who I would be discussing this with may be the wrong people to talk to. They may not have the same understanding as nurses, doctors and patients. A way that I could possibly get around this problem would be to discuss my findings with someone also a nurse, doctor or patient who I have previously talked to.

A discussion with people who have never had an STI or who are above a certain age may be a bit useless as they would not know themselves enough about how much young people know about STI’s. They may just say that young people do not know a lot and have nothing to back up these answers, also because it is not only young people who contract them. This is also why I think having a discussion with someone or a group of people who have dealt with this my notes is a better idea, because they themselves know and understand. People who have at one point in their lives contracted an STI may not be so willing to answer any questions let alone take part as they would most likely be to shy and embarrassed to talk about it. This is a problem I see with this technique as finding and talking to someone may be quite difficult.

Another way to compare my notes is with past articles and journals that have carried out similar research into the same area. This is good as it would be easy to do and find out the results of those like me. I do however think that may not be as affective as searching on the Internet may be a bit more difficult to do. The question would be where to look for the more appropriate sites to find and how long would it actually take. The only way I think I could solve this would be to look in libraries, books, magazines and appropriate newspapers.

So now to conclude this part and go over the key points of what I have gone over. I have quickly reviewed two journals I had carried out in a previous assignment; both went over what this essay is based on. I then went over what techniques I would and believe to be the most effective use to carry out research on gain an understanding of just how much information is available to schools and the public. From here I talked about doing observations, and from this seeing what treatment is available and how comfortable are clinics made for patients.

The final part was talking about who I would find more beneficial to carry out a final discussion going over my notes and results with them expressing their own opinions and saying what they thought of the things I had collected.

Part 2

For the next part I will be going into detail of how I would apply both primary and secondary research into a project that I have done this year. The most suitable project that comes to mind would be a project we did to produce a broadsheet and 3D typography piece for a design exhibition. In this project I was given a particular food (Potato) to thoroughly research and produce these final outcomes. This project was based on the food science centre SCRI who carry out research and produce healthier and more nutritious food.

A research technique I could carry out for this would be to do a cross search on the potato. This would allow me to see if there have been any previous articles on the life and health of a potato. Even just carrying out research from books, any magazines where I happen to come across any information. Also looking at SCRI’s research on the food would be very beneficial for what I am doing. I would then break up all my information into the form of a mind map. I could map out all the different areas I have covered. I think would be a good technique to use, as I would get a clearer picture of what it is exactly that I have done. Everything would be highlighted, each part colour coded.

Another research technique I may use to further this could be to again carry out an interview. This may be both a good and bad thing because I might not be able to find a lot of people who know a lot about potatoes. The main people that would be the most obvious to interview would be those who work at SCRI. They would be able to tell me anything I wanted to know about them.

During my research I discovered a disease known as Black Dot. If you want to know more about this, I have previously blogged about this and is simple to access. I discovered that supermarkets have a high demand for a perfect looking potato. They believe looking good is a lot better than being nutritious. So this is where the interviews could be affective again. If I managed to interview a manager at a store such as Sainsbury’s I could subtly find out what their actual views are without me telling them what my actual research is about. That way they cannot lie about it.

Another interview I would do is to question members of the public. We all do shopping so questioning them would be perfect. With another set of questions, subtly asking them how much they know and what would they do etc. without giving away the actual purpose of the topic. From this I would have the opinion of the researcher, provider and the consumer and not just the one view that could be biased. Also finding out what they all think of each other as well. What the consumer thinks of the provider. What the provider thinks of the researcher and so on.

Even getting in touch with potato farmers and hearing their thoughts and opinions would help. This would help see how much they lose, such as profit, time, labour and crops. Something I think not a lot of people would think about.

To conclude this I find that carrying out interviews would be the most effective technique to carry out. I also find that because of the project I chose for this I feel that interviews are the only effective technique to use. I also find that the mind mapping would be most efficient just because of how it would make the process as a whole a lot easier. It would also allow me to understand what people from all sort of views think of each other and what they think of not just potatoes, but food in general as well as the consumerism within supermarket, but that is another topic that can be further explored from this.

Bibliography

Vivancos, S. (2007) 'Internet treatment of sexually transmitted infections - a public health hazard? BMC Public Health. 7, 333.

Cooper, RG. (2007) 'Sexually transmitted disease/HIV health-care policy and service provision in Britain' INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STD & AIDS 18 (10) 655-661.

Type on Blogger

I have been having a few problems getting all the text size on my blog all the same size. Whenever I set them to this for some reason the site changes some of it to a smaller size. Wonder what that is all about.

Working in Sainsbury's

I have been for the past three years now worked in Sainsbury's supermarket, and I can tell you it is not the greatest job about. The only reason I have not left is because the pay is good and is only a few minutes away from my home. Sainsbury's advertises to the public that it is a good, fun place to work where all the employees are happy to work there and all have a laugh with each other. I can tell you this is a lie, as is the same in any other supermarket.

When I first started my first job was to order in stock for the fresh, produce, counter and bakery departments, this was more of a nightmare as I only had 3 hours to do it in. It was during my second week I had badly hurt my arm, and with a doctors note was told not to lift heavy objects and to take it easy for a few weeks. I took this into work and by sudden coincidence the store manager at the time told me to work some stock, not part of my job and on a completely different department. So I had to tell him and get Personal to show him the note, they suggested that if I had to work kit then crisps, sweets etc would be best to do, but no what did he have me work, heavy crates of booze, ON THE TOP SHELF. So obviously I could barely do any of it and after being told to work seven cages of them I had only managed to get three done. The response I got from the manager was very loud shouting at in the middle of the shop floor and a threat that he was going to sack me by the end of the week. Luckily another manager was there and complained against him.

There have been a number of times where I have had problems like this, such as being moved department without being told and a job I can clearly not do. this was working on warehouse, bringing all of the deliveries in and having to split each cage up for each isle fir the Night shift to come in. This was when the Night shift manager decided to single me out and do whatever he could to embarrass me in front of his team, only this time another 4 managers had complained against saying that this was a form of bullying, eventually both him and the store manager left for other jobs. HOORAY.

So now once I had moved department yet again after being put in for shifts I could not do, getting phone calls at 10 in the morning for not coming in, I was in college and they knew this, you had to work around their time. My contract at this point was 25 hours a week, they had me doing over time at 39 hours, I could not go in for all of this as I am a student, I complained myself this time and was completely ignored. You see in the place most of the managers stick together and won't bother telling off their friends.

So now on fresh doing my old job again but for only one department and with an pretty good manager that did whatever he could to help you out with any problems, well he also left for a better job leaving us with some one who did no work at all and kept putting you off your work just so she could either complain about her life or put you on another department to help someone out leaving me no time to get any of my work done and get in trouble from our current store manager, who also does not believe anything I say. The problem with this department manager was that she was very lazy, she picked out her favourites and they also did no work and they got away with it, leaving all the work for those who work on the evening shift.

Gladly I can say now that I do like working there, at times, because our last two department managers have done anything they could for you, they have tried to do whatever they could to make everyone on the department happy and keep up moral etc, everyone now pitches in to help each other because of this. There are still a few problems we have, especially with the funding as our store manager will not spend money on equipment unless it benefits him. We are constantly on the hunt for handsets that work as they are nearly all broken and no one can order in any stock because of it, but will waste money on plastic guards at the bottom of the shelves where anyone who is of an average height cannot reach up to the top shelf to get anything without falling. It does not make any sense in any of the other staffs opinions.

My point in all this is that those who have worked in places like this think that they are the big man, the head honcho. All employees under the age of 25 are not really treated with respect, we are considered a joke by one or two of the managers and speak to us as though we are six, seven years old. There have been times where the managers have caused so much bad things on a department they have blamed it on the younger ones, which has resulted in a few investigations and have left a few students without jobs because the managers didn't believe them over their pal, even though their friend has caused the problem.

This is not just happening in Sainsbury's but in places like Asda and Tesco, I am sure other will agree with me, with more likely worse stories than the ones I have described. These are places where just because we are young means we do not know anything and they know better than us and they can treat us however they want just because we are young. I will admit that I am no model employee but neither are the managers who are the majority are very lazy just because they think they can be.

Crazy Heart

I began this weekend by going to see the film Crazy Heart, this is a film I have wanted to see for months ever since I first saw the trailer. It has recently won a number of awards such as Golden Globes, BAFTA's and Oscars, mainly for the lead performance of Jeff Bridges.

Bridges who plays the part of Otis "Bad" Blake, an aged country western musician who's career has been getting worse and worse over the years due to a back story of him teaching his ways onto someone younger and them becoming more successful. It is that bad he tours around America even playing in bowling alleys. It is not long that he is introduced to Maggie Gyllenhaal, and there is an immediate attraction between the two, (rather typical of Hollywood in my opinion). She is a single mother who's trust in men has gotten worse and worse with every guy she has gone out with but begins to think that "Bad" Blake may be different. The trouble is he's and alcoholic in denial, and a very bad one at that. This is the beginning of his troubles where it affects his life so much he finally begins to realize just how much help he needs.

This is a movie that uses no special affects but simply a good, strong story line that relies on nothing but just as strong and brilliant acting, especially from Jeff Bridges who completely deserved to win the Best Actor Award. You really do feel for him when he realizes he has to get rid of his problem, even when he does terrible and stupid things. The rest of the cast as well give strong performances, surprisingly even from Colin Farrell, who as we all know is not exactly a talented actor but I would say that with the exception of In Bruges this is his best film by far.

Another thing I would have to praise is the fact that all the singing done came actually from the actors, and what is even more surprising was that it was actually good, and there wasn't even any miming, it just added to the realism of the plot. The music in it was also really good and am about to download the album after I have finished this blog.

So I would recommend that you see this film, I really enjoyed it and would gladly buy it when it is released on DVD. This film may not be for everyone but I think that even people who do not really like the type of music in the film will enjoy it as much as me when they see it.

Assignment 4c

For the final part of assignment 4 we were to get together in a group and have a discussion on our findings from our interviews comparing on what we gained. The interviews we had all carried out were all quite varied but there were a few of us who had carried similar interviews.

When talking about why people would buy a magazine we talked about peoples interests, is it something they would look at for themselves or because other they know buy them? Such a topic we discussed was health awareness and how people would look at this to keep in shape and healthy. This is the type of magazine that would influence people to keep their bodies healthy. By looking at pictures of the models in this and the affect of what can happen to your body if you do not look after it can greatly influence people to do whatever they can to stay in shape. In these such magazine or tips on what to and what not to eat as well as exercises that people can do. They can look as someone and say I want to look like that.

It all generally depends on what peoples interests are that makes a person buy a magazine. Some buy it for the clothes, for the celebs, the models or the real life stories.

A major influence we all thought in advertising in general was fashion. If a man or women sees something in a magazine that is the fashion of the season such as stripes, they could see this and later when out and about could buy something with stripes just to be in the current style, even if it is not the exact dress or shirt the saw in the magazine, it has at this point influenced them to buy this.

We also talked about how celebrities are used in magazines to influence people. From this point we discussed how the public all want a better life, we all want to be something greater than what we are and think we can do this by looking through the life of a celebrity. People can look at a celebrities life and see that they look good and better off than them and they want what they have. If they see and item of clothing, a car, or if there is an image of the inside of their home, can see an item in it and think that something like that would look good in their home. The point is that it may not be the exact same item but something similar can make a person feel good about themselves. This is sort of what we as a group got or at least what I got out of the discussion.

Another topic we went over was the design of a company, such as Top Shop and New Look, they look the same and as we discussed the stores are all are most likely designed by influence of another designer from another popular store and try to base theirs on them. This is more copying their sort of style. Someone then mentioned that clothing from Gap and Tesco and a few other company's all use the same supplier and that the only difference between them were the pricing depending on the company.

Another thing we quickly went over was the fact that people are also influenced by the majority. They see what everyone else around them is wearing and doing. I even know this from personal experience as I have even done this myself, where I have bought an item of clothing because I have been influenced by someone or have seen it in something.

From this I have learned that everyone is influenced by advertising in one way or another, more are than others but are still influenced all the same. We cannot avoid it not matter how much we try, or how much we would deny it.

Assignment 4a and b

For assignment four we were to chooses a topic and interview about three to four people about it. This was to help us gain experience on interviewing people. From this we were to either choose a topic given or to make our own up. I decided to go with asking people 'How does advertising influence a person's own personal style?'.

Part of this task was to not ask this question directly as they would most likely deny that they are affected by them. We were to instead ask a series of questions that would allow me to see why a person would buy something? Where would they buy etc. I was also studying them, their behaviour and their style. The people I have interviewed signed my permission slips but will not be using their names on this blog.

The people we were interviewing first had to consent to me talking to them and were to be people that we do not know. This to me was a bit nerve racking and wasn't too sure of how to find someone to interview as I felt that I did not have enough time to speak to some random member of the public on the street. In the end when I was speaking to my girlfriend about this assignment she said she would get in touch with one of her friends and her boyfriend I had not met, saying they wouldn't mind at all with helping me out. So we arranged to meet later on when we all finished work and uni up at my girlfriends place. This was a bit awkward for me as I would rather have met them under different circumstances instead of uni work. I found out straight away that they were very willing to help out and came in laughing and joking with me. I first said it was nice to meet them and asked how they were doing and they did the same back.

I did not start the interview straight away as we all got settled first and got to know a little bit about each other first so we could all just sit back and relax without it having to be an awkward time.

Below are the questions I had prepared before to ask them:

• Can I ask you what the last thing you bought was?
• Do you remember where you bought it from?
• Do you often buy something because you saw it in the shop passing by or saw it somewhere and at another time bought it?
• How much do you tend to spend on a shopping spree?
• What sort of shops interest you?
• Do you prefer to actually go to the shops or shop on the Internet?
• What it is you mainly prefer to buy? Clothes, films, ornaments etc?
• What magazines and t.v shows do you normally read and watch?
• Do you watch the adverts between the breaks or do you tend to ignore them?
• If you see something advertised does it make you think I'd like to see that or I'll look good in that?
• Can I ask what make of shoes you're wearing?
• What about your top and trousers?
• Where did you buy them?
• What made you go there to buy them?
• Do you remember hearing about this place through friends or family or was it by anything else?
• What or who would you say influenced you style of clothes you buy or the films you see?

These were the questions I had scripted but did go during the course of the interview asked a few more questions as we all felt a bit more comfortable and relaxed.

The male when I first asked him this questioned joked at how he bought some kinky underwear for her from Ann Summers last week to which she turned round jokingly hitting his shoulder calling him a cheeky sod saying it wasn't true while laughing. He kept on joking about it saying its all true is a very dirty girl. I could tell she was a bit embarrassed about this but is probably used to this sort of thing from him.

I asked them both the questions at the same time to see who would answer first, as it were questions on shopping the female was answering the first mostly, she seemed to be more into it than her boyfriend who was mainly agreeing with some of her answers or saying well it depends if your a guy, if she sees something she'll want to go out and buy it but if i see something then ill buy it. He did say that he looked at sites on the Internet to see what was new and that.

When I asked them what they were wearing they were wearing quite trendy clothing, such as Nike trainers which he had bought from Archive and her top was from TK Max. The reason for her buying it form here was that you get a lot of really good stuff cheaper than what you would get in a bigger name place. From the way she was speaking and reacting I got the indication that she was quite sensible with money and would of wasted it as much, but he said she tends to buy something every week, implying, typical woman which his girlfriend took as a joke. I do have to agree that if you are making a really big bargain from it then why not.

I also asked them about films and music and how they choose to see them. The boyfriend said that he frequently bought Empire magazine and Total film to see the new upcoming movies. From this he would tell what were the best films to see were but would end up making his own judgement on what others would say about the film or depending if the trailer in the cinema or TV spots looked good.

The next interview I did was with another female, she was similar to the previous girl I had interviewed whereas she read magazines such as Cosmopolitan but also read Empire and she made judgements about things from the magazine whereas she said her boyfriend would read FHM and GQ and she would read some of the actual articles in them after he had been through it. When it came to films she said her boyfriend didn't buy film magazines but would see a advert for it then search for reviews of it online and decide from that.

I would say that all three of the people I interviewed were all influenced by advertising in magazines and TV programs but I would say the girl I interviewed on her own wouldn't fully admit to be influenced as much. An example of this was when she said that if her friends didn't want to see a film with a bad review she would want to see it anyway to make up her own mind but when I asked about a film with a good review she said she would go and see it, but on her "own free will".

Tea and Coffee Packaging

The other day when I was showing off my portfolio to a friend who asked me to design an album cover for his band I was looking at a packaging project I had done for my Graded Unit back in HND at college. The Graded Unit was built up of four different projects made simply out of a title that we all had to choose one from. The one I chose was "Commitment to Grow" and with this we could do anything that we wanted to do. What I decided to do was create tea and coffee packages for a new company who grow organic foods.

Why did I do this? simply because I had never done this before and thought I could have a lot of fun with it. The idea was originally a brochure for a baby trust fund package for the bank or a package for a nursery. I had even come up with an idea with something to do with plants before I came up with the tea and coffee idea.

This got me onto thinking about packaging and went back onto the DieLine website which I have used as a great influence ever since HNC as I find that all of most of the packaging very interesting and unique and even looks that the people who designed them even had fun coming up with the design. It was now from this that I was looking at more tea and coffee packaging on the site.

When I was looking at the various forms of packaging I came across a very fun and clever design that was made for coffee. The name of this was called Rise and is in my opinion aimed at young teenager starting to drink coffee as it has been designed using a comic style with a comic character that is a zombie. It even has a coffee flavoured chewing gum with it. Again I would say this is for it being aimed at a young audience. I think this is all very clever and would actually like to see this on the supermarket shelves.

The very top image is the packages I did for the Graded Unit and the other two are for the coffee Rise.

That's So Graven

Yesterday we were given a lecture from a women (Emma Murphy if I remember correctly) who works at Graven Images based in Glasgow. This talk was very different from others we have had before as we were listening to someone who has plenty experience with design and is still in the market working in a studio and with actual clients. The sort of things she told us about were what has to go into the process of an entire brief, how should it begin? What research should be included? There were many aspects that I thought were quite interesting and helpful.

The lecture was broken up into two parts, the first I thought being the more interesting and I thought that how she explained what research and how those who work in Graven work as a team could be helpful to me for doing future projects at university and hopefully even in an actual design studio.

There were many project that she had worked on that I thought WOW! they really worked on that and gave me an insight into just how many areas a design company can cover and how everyone works together to come up with something that each area all harmonizes together with the final outcome. What I also enjoyed hearing about was how they all think how can we make this a place to remember? What can we bring to it that is unique, stylish but can make people who stay in it or work in it comfortable and enjoy the experience. Other thing she mentioned were can it be sustainable? and this was something I think a lot of companies do not really think about and could possibly benefit the environment if more took an attitude like this.

There was a topic she also went over about how can we help attract people to come to this place and she had used and example of Tesco and Sainsbury's and how they tend to use the next celeb of the moment kind of thing, Such as Jamie Oliver in the Sainbury's ads. I think this is a good example as this is a man who has never really been out of the papers, he is a famous cook and family man, has done so much to try and get healthier meals for school canteens and appears to be someone who can be an influence to a young generation. This is probably why he is used in the advertising to show that this is a store if Jamie Oliver can come to it then so can you.

This also got me onto thinking of the past Sainsbury's advertisements which used to feature John Cleese. This was brought to our attention by our lecturer who mentioned a failed advert he was in which brought down the sales of the company. It was this that got me thinking about the Jamie Oliver adverts and made me think that they realized that the older ads were no longer successful and needed to come up with something new and fresh. This was more of an away with the old bring in the new, younger, more popular person.

All in all I did enjoy yesterdays lecture and will try to use some of the techniques that she explained and use them myself to see if they can help me.

The Shipping Forecast

Well we yet again had to do one of our famous lucky dips for the next project we are doing this semester, only this time we had to pick out areas around the British Isles that are on the shipping forecast. The area I picked out was Fastnet. At first I thought this was going to be a bit of a boring project but once we looked at the brief I thought it became a bit more interesting.

There are a few things that I have found very interesting about the area I have. Well number one is that well it is just south of Ireland. There is small island known as Fastnet Rock which is the home of the tallest Lighthouse around Ireland watch company Rolex organize a yacht race that starts off at the Isle of White goes all the way around Fastnet Rock before heading back to Plymouth. Even though this has gone on ever since the early 1900's, Rolex took over about 2000, 2001 and have done it ever since.

I also discovered that during the 1979 race a thick patch of fog had covered the entire area making it difficult for anyone on the boats to see. Eventually in the race a large majority of the capsized killing almost everyone on each vessel, which resulted in a massive search where not only the coast guard but fisherman and volunteers from all over did what they could to help search for survivors. There is a stone monument with all the deceased's name carved into it.

There was also another incident about 20 years before round about 1959 where too Royal Air Force Avro Shackleton MR.2 were involved in a mid air collision killing about thirteen men. So from looking at events and tragedies around Fastnet I have noticed it is a place I would personally avoid.

So now I have to come up with ideas in my sketchbook on what I could end up doing. So far the idea I have right now is a paranormal research center than is looking as paranormal activity from all the deaths that have occurred. I would also be thinking of doing this as Ireland has a very famous name for folklore with all the wonderful myths and legends they have. Even a few UFO sightings have been seen during the night but this is most likely just aircraft flying by.

I have only just begun this new project and have not decided what the final outcome will be, but will blog later on with what I will eventually do, so make sure you keep looking to see when it will be up.

Bingo Pics

Pictures from our time at the bingo.

Assignment 3A and B

For our third assignment this semester we were to continue reading through the module handbook where we were to choose a location to go to to observe people in the place we went to on their behaviours and attitudes. we were also to do this in groups so that we could discuss what we all thought and compare our findings. The place that we decided to go was the Mecca Bingo in the town center.

I will admit that I was a bit nervous about going at first as normally you associate this sort of activity for women as this is who its target audience is aimed at in advertising, but when we got there I saw that plenty of men were heading in on their own. When we went inside at the reception we all had to register and become members to actually play and thought that all of us that were becoming new members were sort of pushed aside while those who were already members were getting the main priority of getting in first. I noticed that once some of us had got our membership cards that the guy at the desk was looking at every ones cards then calling them by their first name. This was probably to create a friendly sense of atmosphere. Another thing I thought was peculiar was when one of the regular members came up to the desk and asked for some glasses and the man brought out a whole box of specs to let her choose from.

Once we had bought our numbers for the first few games ( I just followed what everyone else was getting and got the 80p game and got a dabber to mark the numbers with) we walked through a small gambling area filled with puggy machines then into the main hall which was pretty silent at first because everyone was listening to the number caller calling out the numbers.

Now we were all seated and had to wait for the game to begin and just before it started the caller gave out a welcoming hello then announced which game was to be played next. I was very nervous at this point as I had no idea of how to play bingo and did not realize that the number were all in columns so after six or seven numbers had been called I was actually given tips on how it was done. Still this was not enough as because I was so far behind with the rules compared to everyone else and when I got a line I called out 'house' then another 'HOUSE' just to be heard but sadly my winnings were taken from me as I had already missed not only the first line but the second and everyone was waiting for the whole set of numbers to be filled in.

It was at this point I realized I was never going to win at this game.

Once we had finished this game we all either got a drink or something to eat, me being on the irn bru as I had the car with me. We then had to wait what felt like a long time as the girls had bought another few rounds to play, I think this was another six games they had left.

I think at this point because me and some of the other guys had not bought anything for the next games we were getting a little boards but those who did buy them were getting well into the spirit of things, especially when Karen won her two games and everyone screamed with excitement. Then it was time for us to go and wait till the next day to discuss what we had all noted.

Most of the things we talked about in our discussion were more or less the same. What we all talked about was that there was a varied age range in the bingo hall. Not the stereotyped retired cranky old women who's life lives, breathes and eat bingo but their were young, middle aged and elderly men and women their either on their own to pass the time and have a bit of fun or in a pair or small group to spend time with friends and family members.

There was a very tense atmosphere with a lot of concentration on the numbers, everyone hoping to win ready to shout out 'HOUSE', everyone was silent, but when someone did call it out suddenly the room was full of talk. Most people seemed to be of working class and came to the bingo to also let off some steam and relax a bit and win some money for a bit of fun.

There was a women who sat at a table next to us who was paying the game a reading a magazine at the same time. Something that we all couldn't believe because we all had to concentrate so hard and she was doing with such ease.

Everyone was dressed in casual clothes as well such as jean, jogger, t-shirts and shirts, nothing fancy. The staff all wore their matching uniforms to it was easy to identify who they were, even if some of them didn't know their on name or the fact they had a name badge after a very funny incident.

Someone had mentioned that the whole experience of being at the bingo made them feel like they were at a caravan holiday park, most likely due to the atmosphere and the look of the bingo hall, which was pretty bright and colourful. Someone else had also mentioned that they thought even in the bingo the whole place was aimed at women, this bright attractive colours, the posters on the walls, even in the men's toilets they used more advertising aimed at women. This is probably why bingo is so stereotyped.

The hall was a bit spaced out, not a lot of people sat near anyone, probably to get some peace to play, and we noticed that when the advertise it to be a place were you have fun socializing with your friends we saw that no one was really speaking to each other, but maybe people prefer to do this in their own way.

We all got very confused as no of us had any idea of what game was currently being played at that time, as the speakers were talking very fast. We also noticed that the rules weren't explained at all which is quite difficult if you are someone playing for the first time like all of us were. Even in the pack we all received there was no information on the rules. I think they should do something to improve upon this.

I think that the behavior of people is kept to a strict guideline, where you need to keep focus, quiet and ignore others around you. I would say this could be uncomfortable for someone like me but when observing others, well they must like it and it appeared that there would be no other way to play the game, as I think this could ruin the experience of the game.

All in all I thought it was not too bad a night. I am not too sure if I would go back personally, but if I did, it would be in a group about the size we went in last night as I wouldn't go back if it were me and a couple of friends. I would however recommend others going but not during a week night, as when I walked past thing bingo on Saturday night I saw that it was a lot more busy than the night we all went. What advise I would give them would be to learn the rules before hand, and do not have any alcoholic drink before hand as they would need to keep their brains about them.

Inglourious Basterds Poster

Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France...........

For this blog I will be quickly going over a poster I found made by a fan of the film Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino. First of all what a name, wish mine was as good as that. Second I have seen this film and think it was one of the best films of 2009, I went to see it on the opening night at the cinema and bought it the day it came out as I loved it so much.

The plot of the film takes place in an alternative version of World War II in Nazi occupied France, where a team of American Jews led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) are to go behind enemy lines and kill as many Nazi's as the can, with some quite humorous and sickening scenes, but all in cause to entertain the audience.

This poster is very different from the designs made for the actual promotion of the film where each has the members of the cast in the usual tacky poses in their costumes for the film. This poster however has not used photography like films posters usually tend to use but uses vector images with a texture. This one is also centred around a very pivotal and the most exciting scene in the film where the Bastereds are meeting up with a double agent and one of them blows their cover by a very simple mistake where he says three glasses with his fingers but does this by using the way Brits and Americans would say this where the Germans use another version of this.

I think this is a really good, simple and very affective poster and is one of the best I have scene. It makes people who have not seen the film think about it and want to see it whereas people who have already scene it think it is very clever and think that it goes very well with the film.

T in the Park 2010

Its that time of the year again where people were booking their T in the Park tickets last Friday, getting up early to book it on the net or by phone, queuing up outside Groucho's all day and night just for one ticket. It is crazy what people will do for a ticket and also quite funny.

The line-up for this years event is sounding really good. Kasabian, Madness, Muse, Florence and the Machine are to name but a few and should out do last years festival, which would be pretty hard to top. I am glad to say I was not one of the people getting up early or queuing outside places selling tickets but had already bought my ticket just after the last T in the Park, so I am glad to say I am already well prepared. I have even bought a new tent with more room and space to store mu stuff and move about in.

What is so good about not only T in the Park but any music festival is the atmosphere and the people you go with. Everyone is there for the music and to just simply have an experience we will never forget by obviously seeing bands and musicians we love but to meet new people and have fun with your friends, and YES even the camping is quite fun. As long as you don't camp next to any of the toilets, to which thankfully I have yet again booked a camping site just a few minutes away where I can get a proper breakfast and even walk to the local swimming pool and have a swim and shower and feel all nice and refreshed for the day to come. I can even use the toilet without having to hold my breath or have to pay for it and actually has a proper flushing system, which we are ever so grateful for.

Hopefully this years weather is as good as last year, apart from the few hours of rain we had on the Sunday the weather was brilliant and is where I got most of my tan for the entire summer. It makes the experience as a whole more enjoyable and you can just let loose.

In the actual arena I will mainly be eating at the healthy T as this place had really good food at a fair price. One thing my girlfriend said she will never forget was when we first walked through this food area and I saw a stall selling Arbroath smokies and I went crazy as I had been craving one for months, she thought this was very amusing.

The two main things I am so glad about this year are that both Razor Light and Snow Patrol are not playing, as I was made to go and see them and just thought they were some of the worst things that I have ever seen. Sometimes they forgot the words and were mumbling through half of their songs. Both groups were just too full of themselves and seemed really arrogant. Was RUBBISH. Admittedly am not too keen on Jay-Z so will avoid that at all costs.

The highlight of the whole weekend for me last year was going to see Seasick Steve. His music I just absolutely love and would go and see him over and over again. He was that good that when he came down to the crowd to pick out a girl to take up on stage and sing to I was offering my girlfriend as a sacrifice, but sadly we were not close enough, but just thought the way he played and acted with the crowd was what made the whole weekend worth it. This was the only time during the whole weekend where you actually forgot about anything else in the world and just felt free and alive more than you ever have before.

Even the pricing is reasonably fair. It has gone up in price so much over the years but when you think about it you pay between £170 - £200 to see as many musicians as you want over the three day period where when you go to see someone like Lady Ga Ga who cost £150 for a few hours on the one night. And she played at last years T and wasn't even that good so was well not worth all that money but is good for T in the Park where you can just walk away to go and see someone else.

So now I really can't wait for T in the Park 2010.