THE UPPER CRUSTER

It’s time for a little shameless self-promotion… 

But is it really self-promotion if I'm not selling anything? Probably not, no matter... 

As a part of studies in the Creative Communications program at Red River College, students are required to complete a magazine assignment. In groups of three or four, we have to come up with a magazine concept, write the articles, take pictures, and work on the magazine's layout.

Going into the magazine project I heard horror stories about how difficult and irritating the project could be. Luckily, I had the good fortune of working with a great team consisting of Michelle Choy, 
Dylan Hughes, and Andrew Parker. We quickly came up with a unique (pardon the cliché), innovative, entertaining and funny (in our opinion anyways) satirical magazine.

The concept we came up with was a satirical magazine that makes fun of the wealthy, or in other words, the upper crust of society. We though a fitting name for the publication would be The Upper Cruster.

Although this magazine concept will never see the light of day on store shelves anywhere, I think I can speak for everyone in the group when I say that we’re proud of the work we’ve accomplished.

One reason I think the magazine project was so much fun was because of all the stuff our group did over and above the requirements. Each member took on a fake persona: Michelle was the wealthy socialite Duchess Beatrice; Dylan took on the role of Reginald Tort the ageing war hero who fights against the poor; Andrew was Charles Charleston Fairweather, the wealthy playboy; and I took on the role of Stone Chambers, the no-nonsense businessman. Essentially each persona embodied an aspect of high-class culture and allowed us to write articles with a skewed, upper class view of the world.

Stone Chambers - looks a lot like me doesn't he... 

We also had some fun promoting it online. Andrew took the initiative and created The Upper Cruster Blog. The articles are funny, and definitely worth a read. Furthermore, we created a Facebook page for The Upper Cruster, and each fictitious character has their very own Facebook profile.

The most enjoyable part of our project was when we produced short promotional videos for the magazine. We didn’t really know how they would turn out, or how well they would be received, however so far we’ve had positive feedback from some individuals who have seen the videos.

So far, the videos have been viewed over 400 times since they were posted to YouTube a little over a week ago. If you haven’t had the opportunity to check them out, visit Kenton Larsen’s blog, YouTube, or watch them here.   

The magazine is printed, and handed in. There’s only one thing that remains: the Magazine Trade Fair, in which we will be promoting The Upper Cruster. Feel free to come visit our booth in the atrium and learn more about The Upper Cruster at The Roblin Centre – formerly known as Red River College’s Princess Street Campus – on Thursday, March 31 from noon to 4pm.

Here are The Upper Cruster videos for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy (I hope)!

THERE'S A BLUE DOOR, THERE'S A RED DOOR

Is there a window I could use to bypass both doors, Iggy?

As a political studies graduate, I revel in electoral campaigns. I find them fascinating and entertaining. During elections, I'm usually glued to my TV and reading every newspaper article I can get my hands on in order to keep up to date on the latest developments.

Frankly, I must confess, if a federal election is triggered in the next couple days - which to my chagrin will likely occur - I will for the first time ever join the chorus of Canadians who are suffering from electoral fatigue.

I'm also a card-carrying member of political parties at the provincial and federal level - though I won't say which ones, I'm sure one can figure out my political leanings based on previous posts - I am not compelled to participate in the upcoming election by voting. In fact, I'm going to sit the next one out.

No blue door, no red door, no orange door, no green door. This election campaign, I'll be staying indoors.