Technical problems, Smoke Signals, and Last Blog Posts

1. After today's class, Instructional Media Services came over to CUE 409 so that we could test for possible reasons for the dark picture that prevented the class from watching the movie. We weren't able to find any reason for it, unfortunately.

2. The movie Smoke Signals is available in the library and through Netflix; you can also check with the class bloggers (click on the links at right), who may be able to share a copy with you. Please try to watch this film before next Tuesday's class and fill out the comment sheet that you had today.  We should have some time to discuss the film then.

3. Most of you have a good idea of how many blog posts you've completed and whether you'll want to rely on the blog post grade rather than taking the final; if you're not sure, email me and I'll tell you.

4. Although your last (optional) blog post is due tomorrow night, it does not have to be on Smoke Signals, under the circumstances.  Here are some other possibilities:

• You can write about some other movie that you believe would fit the themes of the course or that would make a good comparison with films we have seen.  
• You can also project your ideas into the future, as we did during one class discussion, by asking yourself this: what features of the 2010s or 2000s will future generations choose to memorialize with nostalgia in the ways that Back to the Future or American Graffiti looked at the 1950s and 1960s? 
• What film trends, especially those dealing with social issues, do you see emerging today?