Leadership Troll Attack!

This one might be a tough one...

One of the most intriguing memes on the internet is the "Trollquote" which involves:

• A clearly recognizable person or character
• A clearly recognizable quote or statement
• A clearly recognizable name that the quote is attributed for

As a ds106 assignment that Darth Ba'al submitted, tells us to:

"The assignment is to take a photo, a quote from a different character than the one in the picture, and a name from a third character different from the other two, place the quote in the picture, and "sign" it with the third person's name. The three characters are to be from three different, but similar in genre, series."

As I kept on seeing Troll quotes with Capt. Picard all over the internet, I kept on associating his leadership character with others. He is my favorite Star Trek captain, and he reminds me a lot of my First Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, First Sgt. Carson.

This guy was a real Clint Eastwood, come to life! He was a bad ass in every way, but most importantly, a fatherly role model for "Suicide Charley," C. Company of 1st Battalion 7th Marines. He motivated us through every misery during training and in combat. He had some damn motivational speeches, as though we were in a movie. Imagine watching a bunch of warriors ready for war after one of his speeches.

Anyways, he always used to say "Don't think you are, know you are," Which is a famous quote from a movie featuring a leader motivating his team. Can you guess the movie quote?
Here's the finished work:

The picture is a well-known mentor/master from a well-known movie series.

What all these three guys have in common is that they are all fictional Leaders and Mentors in their universes. I think the quote will be the hardest one to figure out.

My Spubble! - I look DRUNK!

Your very own Spubble is a ds106 assignment in which you take a picture of yourself with an eccentric body expression and add a speech bubble to it. The assignment was submitted by Jim Groom, as he states:

"Learn to love yourself, grab a picture of yourself in which your body language, actions, gestures, etc. suggest one thing and then play off that using a speech bubble. Ideally the result would make people laugh..."

So I found one of the silliest of my pictures, and added a bubble and quote accordingly:

When I first saw this picture after the party I cracked the hell up! I looked so drunk and ridiculous, when in fact I was the sober one! I was the bartender for my friend's party. I hadn't drank at all when they called me over to take a group picture. Every body looks so decent, yet I look like a drunk retard! It's freaking hilarious!


It was easy work. I downloaded this picture from my friend's Facebook, then I uploaded it on Picnik. Picnik is quick and extremely easy to use. There I added the frame for effect, and spubble. Justin warned me to first add the text bubble, and afterwards the text. That's all it took!

I hope you guys found it entertaining!

English Teacher in Tokyo - Blackout Poetry

For Native English Speakers Teaching in Japan.

Black out Poems are a contemporary form of  poetry, lead by Austin Kleon who is the creator, I'm sure. I fell in love with the work I've seen at ds106 and their creative Blackout poetry assignments. I just had to do one!
I ran a quick Google search hoping to find a detailed Wikipedia entry, which to my demise wasn't there. However, shortly after Austin Kleon's search result, I found Kevin Harrell's work: Creative Destruction which deserves a good look! I love the power in his words. He's at the tip of the spear in Blackout Poetry.

The ds106 assignment was submitted by Tim Owens and states to:

"Grab a marker and today's morning edition and start blacking out sections to create a new story. It could be a poem, a picture, or a novella, all drawn from the words of the latest news." 

I work at the Temple University Japan Campus library, so it was easy to grab a copy of the Daily Yomiuri. I found an article by Takamasa Sakurai, in which he describes his newly published book: Let's Talk in English! (Eigo de hanso! 英語で話そう！ )　He tells how Japan is connected to the world through social media. It was a great article!


After taking joy in reading it, I decided to make a Blackout Poem about this, conveying my feelings as an English Teacher in Japan; I think any English teaching foreigner will agree. However the words didn't come out quite right. Following Otto Paertz's advice on linking words; I put some digital art to work. Good ol' Paint helped me guide my thoughts. Here it is:
 

Not having the artistic capabilities held by Giulia Forsythe--who drew out images in her digital black out poem, or Stephanie Hughes who made some hand-drawn interpretations of her dream--All I did was circle the picture of two Japanese high school students in the cover of Sakurai's book. This is the second reason why I included his name in my work, the first being that I really liked his article. 

 

Sans the lack of eloquence, my poem conveys the feeling of being an English teacher in Japan. We come here because we really like Japan, the young Asian students are the most zealous about learning English, and we both form friendships while doing it. It's an immensely delightful feeling.

As for the work, it was far more appealing to do the Blackout by hand. It was relatively simple.

 

And here's the original work by Takamasa Sakurai. As I said, it's most interesting. Please notice the last paragraph, where he mentions keeping worldly relationships with from Japan through social media.

I've taught this last semester of preparatory English to Japanese high school students through the AEP program at my school, Temple University Japan. As the curriculum involves English conversation, we chat for the first 30 minutes of class. I find myself constantly telling them that phrase in both in Japanese and English "Let's Talk in English!" As they soon start chatting in Japanese.


Here in Japan, teaching English is were the money is at. Straight talk, but for my American readers who haven't lived in Japan before, my following words might be enigmatic. 


As soon as I came to Japan I was working as a freelance conversation partner. I'm also a Chat Host at Com'Inn English Cafe (sorry, only Japanese page for this one!) Where I get paid to drink coffee and talk to people, and drink and Party! As an extroverted American, this comes naturally and I do it all the time back home, but here I'm getting paid for it!

I've learned so much about Japanese people there. Demographics range from Businessmen and Office Ladies, to International artists and doctors. I love my work at Com'Inn, and the owner and co-workers are my distant family. It was featured in a Japanese show (sorry, no English subtitles):



I love working there SO MUCH, but I've found the greatest joy in working with Japanese high school students.