For this week's blog, I want you to think about one medium that you experience with all parts of you: mind, senses, emotion. Then I want you to narrow it down to one piece. What one piece affects every aspect of you? You may think this weird or overly sentimental. But, when we encounter the world with only one aspect of ourselves our interpretation is diminished.
This may be hard for some of you to narrow your choices down. I have been trying to narrow my own down for the last several hours.
Once you have narrowed down your focus, provide us with the following information:
- Describe it for us so we have a context.
- If there is a link, attach it so we may view or listen.
- Tell us why it matters to you using specific references from it to reinforce your statements.
As this is a school site, keep it within the context of school expectations.
As soon as I read the preface for this blog, a work that came to my mind is a piece of music called “Pines of Rome” composed by Ottorino Respighi. Each movement of this work is meant to depict a different scene in Rome and the pine trees that are located there. For some people, it can be hard to take such a non-visual art such as music and create a picture, but this whole work is one of my favorites because I can see so clearly when I close my eyes. This larger work is a total of 4 movements long, but for the sake of character count, I will only share 2.
ReplyDeleteThe 3rd movement is entitled “Pines of the Janiculum.” When I hear this, I see a beautiful night sky lit up with an abundance of stars and a huge, bright moon. To give a reference, the Janiculum refers to the temple of Janus, Roman god of doors, gates, and the new year. This temple is seated on a hill and I imagine laying on this hill being surrounded by the comfort of the trees and just looking at the sky. There are beautiful solo melodies from the clarinet, oboe, and violin that just make me smile. I love this movement because it makes me feel blissful, peaceful, and calm, which are things I often am not (as Logan continually reminds me). I imagine the stars and planets dancing around the Roman night sky and Janus smiling down upon all who sleep. The melodies sound very whimsical, which I feel represent sweet dreams. I also think it’s important that this movement is about Janus because doors and gates represent new opportunities which may be presented with the new day. In the closing measures of this movement, a recorded nightingale sings. When Respighi displayed this, the recording caused much controversy, but when I hear it, I see the bird’s silhouette flutter across the background of the moon.
The 4th movement is entitled “Pines of the Via Appia” (Appian Way). This one is my favorite. In the Orchestra at Baldwin Wallace that I am a part of, we played this movement and it was incredible. In the opening, there are quiet chords coming from the organ that represents footsteps of the Roman soldiers. When I hear this, I see rows of soldiers marching in sync and making the ground tremble beneath their boots. The barely-audible rumbling begs you to lean in a little closer to strain and hear the organ and bass clarinet. Then enters the english horn. The melody is mysterious and haunting but so beautiful. After the horn enters the noble brass section, announcing the triumphant arrival of the troops on the legendary road. The ensemble crescendos to a glorious fortissimo. When I hear the progression of this movement, I feel as though I am on the Via Appia, standing on tiptoes straining to see the troops from a distance and watching the beautiful sunrise through the branches of the enormous pine trees. Then, as the legion nears, the sun is in full bloom and they finally come over the crest of the hill, adorned in medals of victory and chests out in pride. There is cheering and children are running to follow the men as they continue marching. I feel pride and triumph. Having played this amazing work, I hold this movement near to my heart. Listening to music and having a reaction from it is one thing, but being able to produce the music that gives people a reaction is inexplicable. I remember getting goosebumps and smiling as our conductor gave the final cutoff, holding his arms still to signal to us to freeze. We all hold our breath in fear of disrupting the resonance of the final chord. The conductor puts his arms down. We relax. We breathe.
Music can mean different things to different people. What I see and what I interpret from the sounds in this piece (or any other) may be very different from what any of you experience. Often times, composers do not even intend a certain visual, they just write. “Music is an art, not a science,” as Mr. Wardeska would say. This is what makes music so special. It can mean literally anything and that is why I love listening to music with an open mind.
Movement 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4k45YTpnx4
DeleteMovement 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQwGTe_MueM
One scene that has always stuck with me is the “Yawp” Scene from “Dead Poets Society”. Here is the link to the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6xyHna-NuM .
ReplyDeleteIn the scene, Mr. Keatings(Robin Williams) encourages the student Todd Anderson to explore his mind and create poetry from a picture. At first, Anderson is embarrassed to speak his mind because he is afraid that the class with laugh and make fun of him for what he says. But Keating pushes him to see and picture the “sweaty-toothed madman” and describe what is happening. This scene from “Dead Poets Society” matters to me because it shows how simple poetry can be, yet it has depth. Anderson’s description is, “I close my eyes and this image floats beside me/ A sweaty-toothed madman, with a stare that pounds my brain/ His hands reach out and choke me/ And all the time he’s mumbling/ ‘Truth’/Truth is like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold/ You push it, stretch it, it’ll never be enough/ You kick at it, beat it, it’ll never cover any of us/ From the moment we enter crying to the moment we leave dying/ It will just cover your face as you wail, and cry, and scream”. Although the poem was made on the spot, it still creates depth and meaning that affects the viewer. The description of the man and the blanket are impactful through Anderson’s words that he uses to describe it. The way Keating encourages his students to open their minds and express themselves through words is truly inspiring. He teaches his students to play with the words and have them move across the page as if it’s a song. His way of teaching and his effect on the students is what inspired me to want to be a teacher. I was impacted and moved by “Dead Poets Society” and the lessons it taught and I want my students in the future to understand poetry and read poetry and write poetry at a deeper level.
Upon reading the preface, I was brought to my comfort of music. I am drawn to the rhythm of music; just the complex and exuberant layering that takes place astounds me, hence the reason I thought of “A Mad Russian’s Christmas” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The piece sounds like a mix of variations from Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker”. Something about “The Nutcracker”, whether it be that first performance in ninth grade or the constant urge to see the ballet, makes me happy. I feel as if I am at Clara and Fritz’s parents party on Christmas Eve and watch as my, and their, houses transform into a beautiful scenery of snow, ice, bows, and holly.
ReplyDeleteThe opening slows down the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies” and alters some of the chords to a lower degree, creating an eerie feeling mirrored in the “Arabian Coffee Dance”. The trepak comes, and whoosh!, there’s a faster tempo and an exciting introduction. The tension, the heat of war, and an accelerando lead to an increased march of men running and scurrying towards the Mouse King contribute to a glorious resolution to the last phrase.
Music and Christmas go together for me. When I close my eyes, I’m either in the Land of Sweets or seeing the world through a nutcracker’s eyes. The effort, the work, and the time all come together to create a whimsical and spectacular array of dazzling lights and caroling bells. It is serene when it turns out right. Like with a piece of music. The composer has his intention, and the conductor has his own, but by some miracle, they compromise that joy and feeling of excitement as the scenes change and tempos change and emotions change. Music becomes an unparalleled world where satisfaction comes at the end of a breath mark, and the night’s festivities reside to a gentle and peaceful rest.
Link to "A Mad Russian's Christmas": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P9xxJ4V7no
DeleteAmong literature and poetry, music and theatre, the halls of art museums and sculptures in public squares do I find film. Often is it an underappreciated medium, accepted as a pacifier and taken lightly. I think film to be as just as complicated as any book we’ve read in this or any class. The problem lies both on the side of the consumer for accepting mediocre movies and filling theatres for what they know will be bad, and on the side of the producer for assuming audiences to be so complacently stupid. I digress.
ReplyDeleteThe film medium is unlike music or art in that it stimulates both the visual and auditory senses at the same time. Directors can experiment with lighting (see Stanley Kubrick), cinematography or the design of shots (see Gordon Willis), not to mention the performance they elicit from the actors themselves. The symbols that are planted throughout films are just as substantial as those Foster described in his “How To Read Literature Like A Professor”.
An example of a film that I come at with all of me would be Don Hertzfeldt’s “It’s Such a Beautiful Day” (2012), which is available on Netflix or across the internet if you look hard enough.
The film matters to me because it is a primary example of good cinema. This animated picture, clocking in at just over an hour, is minimalist in design and as a result has no excess fat. Much of modern cinema has excess garbage that detracts from the meaning, whether this be in the visual shooting of the film, the soundtrack using popular music to earn emotion from the audience, or just poor writing, there’s a lot of elements that are embellished or lazily ignored in some films (See Star Wars: The Phantom Menace for examples of movies filled with zero plot, but lots of lovely CGI, there are thirty minute intervals that I caught myself begging to have any idea what the hell the point was, all the while being barraged with a constant flow of visuals, this is NOT what you want in your movie). By animating “It’s Such a Beautiful Day” in on 35mm film, entirely by hand without any computers Hertzfeldt avoided clutter and only employed what was necessary to get his point across.
The film is absurd in theme, comparable to Godot in that regard. “Beautiful Day” is important to me because it is layered, one can view it twenty times without becoming bored. There is an incredible amount of investment in every scene, especially when noting that everything in the film was done by hand, all by one man.
I’d encourage you to watch it.
(PART ONE)
ReplyDeleteThis prompt, for me, is an easy one: music makes my life divine, not only a reason to live but something that provides an element of reason and understanding to the altogether difficult and confusing construct of life itself. Recently, I have had to write a lot of college essays about music and why it’s important to me, and honestly, as much as you analyze it, the only conclusion I can come to is that it makes me feel good; when I participate in it, I feel my passions excited and the most integral parts of my being aroused, and when I am not participating in it, a residual bliss and joy permeates the rest of my life and what I do. It makes me feel like things are worthwhile.
On Tuesday evening, at my first concert with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, we were performing a runout at the Lorain County Community College, and I immediately thought it fitting for this prompt; my 80-year-old grandfather had just had an eye injection that day and could see hardly at all, yet still showed up and was awestruck by what we had performed. The building itself was altogether terrible; not only was the auditorium dry, but the ambience of decades past was eminent, with purple carpeting and orange tiling abound. The stage was rickety and many of us forced to use wire stands, and the changing rooms and green rooms excessively crowded. Yet when we played Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony, everything else went dark, and it seemed, despite all of the conditions around us, that all one hundred of us were no longer seeing the adversity we faced in that performance, but rather purely feeling one another’s heartbeats and anticipating our neighbor’s breaths. See, Jeremiah was the weeping poet, and the piece a testament to the fall of Jerusalem, a part of a larger concert series called Violins of Hope in which restored violins from concentration camps are played by our musicians. In honor not only of the Holocaust, but also the very recent tragedies in France and other places such as Lebanon and Nigeria, our hearts were all on our sleeves, with each and every one of us giving every bit of ourselves, the more intrinsic parts of our beings, up to the music and to the heavens in prayer.
(PART TWO)
ReplyDeleteUltimately, the performance was extraordinarily moving, and afterwards a strange woman I did not know was profusely thanking me, the principal oboist, for uplifting her spirits in spite of personal tragedy in addition to the international tragedies which so deeply saddened her. Our vocalist, the perfect and wonderful Katie Leemhuis Scholten (https://www.facebook.com/katie.leemhuis?pnref=story), posted on Facebook the day after our performance about how moved she was: “I've only ever been moved to *actual* tears onstage twice in my performing career: once during my first run of Suzuki, and tonight in performance of Bernstein's "Jeremiah" Symphony with the EXCEPTIONALLY talented members of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and Maestro Brett Mitchell. I'm honored to be performing this particular piece with them this week, especially in light of recent world events. Bernstein once wrote, ‘The work I have been writing all my life is about the struggle that is born of the crisis of our century, a crisis of faith.’ How relevant.” The music is not about the prestige of playing in Severance, or the wonderment that we feel in presence of each others’ musical genius or accolades. The performance is about the moment, the impact it has on ourselves and the harrowing effect it has on the most integral parts of our souls, and that is the reason for which we brag about being a member of the group. It is important to us because it affects us, touching something nothing else can reach. As Bernstein also once stated, after the death of his dear friend JFK and prior to a frenzied Cleveland Orchestra performance, “We musicians, like everyone else, are numb with sorrow at this murder, and with rage at the senselessness of the crime. But this sorrow and rage will not inflame us to seek retribution; rather they will inflame our art. Our music will never again be quite the same. This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” And that is exactly what we did and will continue to do.
Bernstein Conducts Bernstein, ca. 1945 -
Movement I, "Prophecy" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQJxlCaTt8Y
Movement II, "Profanation" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQvBc7jq55g
Movement III, "Lamentation" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEz9JYQq7mE
One medium that I experience wholly is a particular movie. The film that comes to my mind is The Help. This movie describes the life of a young writer growing up in Mississippi in the 1960s. She interviews local black women who have spent their lives as maids, taking care of wealthy white families. The film brings to light issues these women faced and portrays empowering scenes where the maids stick up for their individual rights. Although the lifestyle of the characters is drastically opposed to that of a teenger growing up in Brunswick, I still feel a profound connection to the piece.
ReplyDeleteI am the type of person who needs reinforcement and a positive atmosphere in order to achieve a goal. I often lack motivation and confidence when I am stuck in a negative mindset. This applies to my everyday life in the classroom and at practice, whether it be swimming or running. The most touching scene in The Help is when the Aibileen, a head maid and nanny, comforts a child in which she looks after. The child is neglected by her trophy wife mother and finds safety in the arms of her caregiver. Aibileen assures her: “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” This scene connects closely with my daily life. We must learn to shut out negative thoughts and feelings. We also should not rely on the approval of others in order to feel satisfaction. No one can completely fix or cure us emotionally so we must delve deeper and acknowledge self-doubt, guilt, or disappointment that often plagues our daily life. Aibileen demonstrates an thoroughly optimistic attitude throughout the film which contributes to gaining respect of the other woman.
The film as a whole encompasses all aspects of the experience of self through life lessons, emotional messages, and empowering language.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H50llsHm3k
I have seen a lot of musicals. For the past two years I have been a part of the STARS programs at Playhouse Square, which lets me usher shows and in turn see them for free. Before that, my family was season ticket holders for the Broadway series at Playhouse. The one musical that stands out to me is “Into the Woods”. I regret that I’ve never actually seen the musical live, only the movie version, but I still experience it with every part of me. The musical is about fairytale characters that many are familiar with (Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, etc.), whose stories all become intertwined. Before intermission, their stories are carried out and their goals are completed. However, in Act II everything falls apart. The meaning behind the musical means a lot to me, and I think that’s why I engage with it so much. The idea behind the musical is that once you get your happy ending, you still have to work for it. When your dreams come true, the story isn’t over, life doesn’t stop moving. We have to work at our dreams our entire lives. Singing and acting have always had impacts on me as well. The voices of talented singers give me chills, and the acting allows me to put myself into the story. Sometimes I just listen to the soundtrack, and it still has the ability to transport me. It makes me believe in hope, and that we can work for our happy ending. My favorite songs from the musical are “On the Steps of the Palace” and “No one is Alone”. The first because it is sung by Cinderella, and that is my dream role. The second because the harmonies layer beautifully, and I like to believe that no one is ever alone. Emotionally, I become so attached to the characters that I can’t help but cheer for them as they struggle to make their dreams come true, and cry for them when everything fall apart.
ReplyDeleteMy introduction to this musical was at a Baldwin-Wallace music theatre camp a few years ago. We did a monologue as a group, one that was actually cut out of the movie version. After hearing of the musical, I fell in love with the idea of it, and I knew I had to see it. I came in contact with “Into the Woods” again while I was taking voice lessons at the Beck Center for the Arts. My voice teacher had me sing “On the Steps of the Palace”, and it remains one of my favorite songs to sing. Cinderella became my dream role because I love that song, and I played a Cinderella character in “Cinders” at our school two years ago. Finally, I saw the movie. I took my little sister with me, and we both loved it. We still act out the musical as a two-person show. Those memories and the musical will always be meaningful to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Byk9Is3TjY
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ReplyDeleteGiovanni Hidalgo and Friends performing "Tropical", is one of my favorite pieces. Five old pro's just having fun is the fastest means to describe this piece. It begins with lonley hand drums cutting through silence with rhythmic precision and gusto. Slowly dying out into the soft introduction of guitar, the drums fade and the rest of the ensemble comes in. The groove moves in hesitantly at first than all at once. With each instrument getting its own solo and introduction, we get to know the ensemble. Finally the master Hidalgo reemerges and flaunts his skills, both in style and intricacies. I like this piece because I can get lost in the movement of everything. I am a slave to its intricacies and I am happy. This pieces matters to me because I simply can not be in a bad mood while I'm listening to it. It is one of my favorite pieces of music of all time. Giovanni Hidalgo is a master of his craft and someone who’s music stive to replicate. Without listening to Giovanni Hidalgo I would not have found my love for hand percussion.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne3oSLlRiZU
There are many things that affect my life but the one thing that I can point it that affects me in every way are movies. If a movie can pull me into the world and get me invested into the characters then I will experience the movie emotionally, and thoughtfully. I will experience the film with my full being. One movie series that I can point to that had me really invested was the harry potter series. One scene both in the book and the movie that shocked me was when Harry Potter poured Snape's memories into the pensieve. What occurred was shocking and changed my viewpoint on Snape through the whole series. Snape had just ben killed by Voldemort when he gave Harry a tear with his last breath. Harry then poured this tear into the pensieve later to view his memories. What it revealed was that Snape had always been helping Harry and supporting him throughout the entire series when the audience really thought that he was a traitor through the whole series. It added a whole new dimension to Snape's character and added a whole new layer to the series. This scene affected me in all ways possible and engaged me in every way. Even after the movie was I over I took my time to think over how this memory changed the context of every book and movie in the series. These are the moments in films that I love to see because they engage me and make me think. That is why this one moment from film that will always stay with me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHolRZeQNG4
ReplyDeleteMy parents have made it their mission for my siblings and me to see the country. Every year they start around January, booking hotels, finding the best locations to experience the grand sights of of America. Through these vacations I have visited 43 out of the 50 states so far and I have experience much in all of them. We’ve been to Florida many times to visit family, and we have felt the blistering heat of July and the blissful break from Ohio in the mild temperatures of December. I have seen packs of Buffalo, geysers shooting out of the ground, beheld beautiful clear skies at night filled with the most starry constellations I have ever seen. I have gazed upon the mountains surrounding Seattle, smelled the smell of many fish at their fish market, and felt the fear of running into a bear or an elk while hiking through the woods. I have felt awe while gazing at the Grand Canyon. It’s a long drive out west, and driving through Texas and the desert of California, I have seen the barrenness and heard the complete quiet that comes with it. I have climbed on the rocky shores of Maine with my brother and felt tired but invigorated. Walking through New York City I have heard the many languages spoken there, and throughout the rest of my travels I have heard the different accents to be found in all the different regions of the country. Maybe one day my travels will extend past the borders of the United States, but still I’m filled with the wonder of everything I have seen thus far in our own country. I have felt small, I have felt tiny, and I have felt ginormous. I have felt alone and I have felt overwhelmed. In just one country there is so much to see, from mountains to rivers to canyons to oceans to deserts. I have felt the greatest amazement I have ever felt as I have gazed upon all there is to see.
ReplyDeleteI love country music. I know that many people (especially those my age) do not like it, and I don’t care. I have grown up with country music and many songs have left an impression on me. However, there is one song in particular that manages to make me listen and think differently than other songs do. “You’re Gonna Miss This” by Trace Adkins follows a girl as she grows up. The first verse of the is about the girl being dropped off at school and telling her mother that she cannot wait to turn eighteen and be independent. The chorus following that verse is the mom telling her daughter that she needs to stop getting ahead of herself; the girl is too focused on growing up and what she’s going to do that she is ignoring what is going on around her. The mother tries to tell her daughter that she is going to miss what she’s experiencing at that moment, what her life is like, and she is going to want that part of her life back. The song follows a similar pattern as the girl grows up, becoming a bride, buying a house, becoming a mother herself, etc. All throughout the song this girl is told to slow down and just look around her, take in the little moments, yet she keeps on moving full speed ahead until the last verse with her as a mother when she seems to realize how she will (and does) miss all of the little moments in life that have passed or that she is speeding through at that moment. Here is a link to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igm2iGvo-us
ReplyDeleteTo be completely honest, whenever I hear this song I cry. Too often I become so focused on my future what I want to do with my life, how I plan on getting to where I want to be when I grow up, and so on. When I am so focused on my future, I forget to take time to enjoy my life at the moment. Right now I’m the girl at the beginning of the song. As I finish off high school, I can’t wait to go to college, live on my own, be independent, but I feel as if I have sped through high school (this year in particular) with only the future in mind. I have spent all of my time keeping my grades up, working hard at swim practice, and filling out applications, so I haven’t taken the time to enjoy being a senior. I am just trying to get through this school year, I even have a countdown until graduation (which is only 182 days away, and just letting you know, only 103 of those are school days). Listening to this song really opens my eyes. I need to stop getting through parts of my life, working hard just to get to the next stage. I know that I am going to miss the stage if my life that I am in, but if I don’t take the time to make memories and enjoy this stage of life I won’t simply miss it, I will regret not making more of it, after all, there is only so much life for me to live, and I don’t want to waste it.
Every year, my entire family and I pack up our rented mini vans and make a twelve hour drive to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Our time there consists of packing up beach chairs, umbrellas, towels, and coolers in the morning, heading to the beach, and staying until the sun goes down. We all then head back to our beach house, eat dinner, then end the night with a walk down the water. For some, this may sound like a boring and uneventful waste of time. For me, this is the greatest week out of the year as it rejuvenates and brings my family closer than ever. I feel as if I belong on the beach...the salt water, the sunshine, and the sand is all I really need. So, I decided to interpret this blog a little differently.
ReplyDeleteThe beach is my medium. I experience the beach with my entire being; my mind, senses, and emotions are enhanced but also put at ease. One piece of the beach that really affects me is the ocean. The cool saltwater brings me relief after I have fallen asleep in the hot sun to the calming sounds of crashing waves. My little cousin and I sit at the water’s edge and compete who can build the tallest sandcastle before a wave comes and knocks it down. My uncle and I grab boogie boards and wade in the water until a wave tall enough to carry us back to shore comes. Until then, we talk about college, careers, and just life in general. My dad and I take a kayak out into the ocean and admire the dolphins and other sea creatures. Sometimes, a dolphin will swim up close enough for us to see their blowhole, and it is truly breathtaking. At night, my cousins (who also double as my best friends) Nick, Olivia, and I lose our sense of time as we walk up and down the water and talk about anything and everything.
Every aspect of the beach brings me such a calming and peaceful feeling. There is truly a piece of me at the beach; the saltwater, the waves, and the life inside of the ocean make me cherish the beauty our world contains.
I love playing french horn, but playing Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony horn solo always makes me emotional. It was one of the first solos my horn tutor gave to me to practice and it was the first piece that made me appreciate the music I could make with my instrument. The Tchaikovsky's 5th solo is very popular for horns and it's gorgeous to everyone who hears it. Playing the horn requires that I focus on it and I cannot let my mind wander, or else my tone and precision will suffer. It's important for me to make sure I'm continually listening to make sue my tone is good, that I'm in tune with my section and the band, and that I'm balanced. Music has always been a way for people to express their emotions and my case is no different. The 5th symphony is emotional because of its beauty, sentimental value, and the emotions I feel coming from the music. This horn solo helped me learn what I could sound like if I were dedicated to my music, and it inspires me every time I play it.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-XKKlLhS2g (solo starts at 50 seconds)
Reading has been, and still is, one of my favorite things to do. I used to spend hours upon hours reading stories of every (fiction) genre: sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, et cetera. Over the years, it’s been a method of entertainment, and absorbing information. It’s also, on occasion, inspired me to create; just yesterday I did a rough sketch of the Devil - (almost) as described in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “Bon Bon”. It didn’t turn out as creepy as I would have liked, but given that I drew going off of a written description rather than an object or picture, I guess it’s alright.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing to read at present is the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy...Earth Edition. It’s basically the Hitchhiker’s Guide (an encyclopedia of sorts, but not to be confused with the ‘Encyclopedia Galactica’) except in real life. It’s kind of like Wikipedia but easier to understand and a heck of a lot funnier, with entries ranging from neutrinos to the history of potatoes, Mike the headless chicken to the fracture mechanics of raw spaghetti, the many types of steam to bizarre Australian competitions (yes, I have read about all of these). The Hitchhiker’s Guide: Earth Edition is extremely informative while funny at the same time - take this excerpt from the neutrino entry, for instance:
“The neutrino would fit into modern politics extremely well: it is lightweight, neither attractive nor repulsive (electrically speaking), of virtually no substance, and its only real strength is spin. Neutrinos, like spin-doctors, are not very good at interaction with their own kind. In fact, they do so little of note that it's very hard to tell when they're there at all - you can only tell by looking at what information is missing.”
A good portion of my current knowledge can be attributed to the Guide. It’s introduced me to so many topics - like those previously mentioned, as well as neutron decay, the Ig Nobel prizes, color addition, prions (disease-causing proteins), and so on.
I love to read not just for soaking up information - practical or not - but also for entertainment value. The Guide is one of the few sources that accomplishes both. After all, where else can you find an easy-to-follow recipe with instructions to “bung the whole shaboodle into a hot oven”?
“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition” can be found at: h2g2.com
Read more about Mike the Headless Chicken (you should - I laughed aloud) at: http://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A2309627
Note to Ms. Perrin:
DeleteI'm not a fan of emotions (especially those of the mushy variety). Please excuse my post for not being as sentimental as those of my less-unemotional classmates.
Please accept this as my apology: ~( •ε • ~)
You do not have to be emotional:)
Delete
ReplyDeleteFilm, specifically documentaries have always had a great impression upon me. From when I was young, perhaps around the age of eight, I developed a peculiar curiosity when it came to the twentieth century. The horrors of the First and Second World War left a profound mark on my view of the world and how easily it was to ignore and destroy, such as an old film reel of an entire company of cavalry evaporated with one simple artillery shell. No longer where the problems of old simply the conflicts of a dead age because they represented something about society in general. What society could do, produce, and what it could survive. The documentaries used survivors or their diaries along with veterans to help tell stories, and I got to see their reactions as they spoke about their past to humanize it. When I experience historical documentaries I try to emotionally humanize those within while learning about what they experienced and or committed as if it were through my own eyes.
The documentary BBC2’s Stalin Inside the Terror forced me to think in contrast to popular opinion about the famous, mass murderer, name changer, and former priest in training, Joseph Stalin. The documentary follows Stalin from his birth in a small village near Baghdad in the Russian empire to his unceremonious death in 1953. As a son to a drunk, brutal father Stalin’s life would be dictated by his misfortune and, as history loves to depict, the horrors he inflicted upon others. Wrecking crimes upon the many while at the same time seemingly loving only towards his daughter, Stalin appears almost a complete, one sided villain. Stalin was abused as a child, lost his first love to childbirth, and exiled to Siberia. Through his suffering I started to see Joseph Stalin more as a human rather than the personification of evil I learned first, but nonetheless his identity as a prime example of a vile amalgamation remained. This documentary would not bring me to tears or utterly searing rage, but as with reading literature I gained a grasp of viewing as well as feeling the world through someone else’s perspective, even if it was a perspective I vehemently decry, as I often imagined what if I were in his position. I was able to learn the history of a so called madman, see the conditions he was thrusted into, and understand how damaging one man’s emotions could be on the world, besides Hitler. Joseph Stalin may be a madman but a madman is still a man.
Link? Seeing as the documentary has some very harsh language and touches upon some sickening topics, I will not be putting it up unless asked so by the teacher.
Music is the means through which I express the feelings I lack the words for. There are days when I am overflowing with energy and need a pumped-up song to sing along with and channel myself into, lest I risk driving the people around me crazy by my being annoying. There are days when I can barely pull myself together to get out of bed in the morning and I need an artist who knows what I’m going through to listen to, so that I know I’m not alone. Because I use music to connect myself to so many different areas of my life, it was difficult to narrow it down to one piece. However, I thought I’d use a piece that matches the current state I’m in, and so, I present to you “The Phoenix” by Fall Out Boy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKOlBZJ7Izs)
ReplyDeleteI listen to this song when I need to speed through my chores, dance around my bedroom, or finish up an essay that’s due in an hour. Driven by the band’s guitars and constant drum line, “The Phoenix” is the perfect song to spur that get-up-and-go feeling in my heart. Staying true to most of Fall Out Boy’s other songs, it is difficult to understand most of the lyrics in the piece, apart from the chorus and the repeating line “put on your war paint”. I remember once reading a post on tumblr in which this person talked about how need to carry certain items (i.e. a necklace, bracelet, good-luck charm in a sense) was more than just routine, it was armor. They took the idea of battling the world with a brave face and mindset and put it into an object; it’s easier to have faith in an object than in yourself. To me, the line “put on your war paint” represents this concept: it’s time to head into reality and face what’s out there, so you’ve got to get ready for this war, gather your weapons and yourself.
On June 16th, 2015, I broke my rock concert virginity by going to see Fall Out Boy with a few friends (shout out to Callista for inviting me in the first place). The day of the concert, I almost didn’t end up coming along because I felt so suicidal and all I wanted to do was lie in bed and think about how much easier everything would be if I was dead. Needless to say, I was quite happy that I got myself out of my room and to that concert. “The Phoenix” was one of the starting songs they performed but it was the first one that woke me up. In the bridge of the song, where the guitars cut out and the vocals are more exposed, I remember thinking No. This is it- how could I think of killing myself without feeling this? I don’t want to die. Oh my god, I don’t want to die. Screaming what I thought were the right words to the song, step-touching and swaying my arms back and forth, and getting so gross and sweaty with my best friends- I felt so alive. So many other songs can perpetuate the depression I’m in, but very few can break it, “The Phoenix” being one of them.
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ReplyDeleteAs I have talked about in my past few blogs, art is my greatest passion and a medium which I experience with my mind, senses, and emotions. When walking through an art museum or an art exhibit, my mind is racing to discover the meaning behind the painting. To do this, I analyze the contents of the work, the style of the artist, and even the history of the artist and the time era they lived in. Once I have done this, my emotions and senses are then stimulated. Art pieces from the Renaissance Age especially have an impact on me because it blows my mind how a person is capable of creating such a realistic and beautiful masterpiece. Over the years, I have grown to love many artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Salvador Dali, and Francisco Goya because they all have unique styles and create astonishing pieces.
ReplyDeleteIt was difficult for me to narrow it down to one painting to analyze but The Face of War, which was painted by Salvador Dali in 1941, is one that I am fond of (Below I attached a link of the painting). This painting by Dali is mesmerizing to me because it captures the horrors of war through the infinite faces of death and the brown tonalities that dominate the atmosphere of the painting. Dali also brilliantly uses serpents that surround the faces to symbolize the evil in war.
Although this masterpiece was inspired by the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), it is still extremely relevant with our current society, especially with all that has happened (e.g. the attacks on Paris) these past few weeks.
Art is an exquisite form of expression that reflects on the beauty and tragedy in society. The Face of War by Salvador Dali is a piece of art that I greatly admire because it encapsulates the tragedies of war, a tragedy which is especially relevant today.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a9/The_Face_of_War.jpg
I am not nearly as involved with music as some of my AP classmates, but it has caught my attention recently how profoundly someone close to me is effected by it & it’s such a joy to watch that I’m trying to expand my horizons a little. So obviously I chose music as my medium. One piece I am infatuated with right now is the ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ cover by 21 pilots. (for your enjoyment- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ThQkrXHdh4) I wouldn’t say this assignment is overtly sentimental by any means, because I fell in love with this song over the summer, after I watched a close friend dance her daddy/daughter dance at her wedding to Ingrid Michaelson’s version. I sobbed because it was so beautiful. I choose to listen to the 21 pilots cover (on repeat) because the male singer’s voice is unique and makes me feel so romantic. It appeals to my mind because the juxtaposition of the somewhat raspy voice to the very tender words is so colorful. My senses go crazy when it opens with a minimal ukulele and the singer’s voice fills up the whole rest of the scene so adequately. I can daydream with this in the background and sometimes wonder about my own wedding and the wonderful things that will come when I begin to share my life with someone else. Even though it’s not the original, 21 pilots does a very good job of instilling these feelings and I feel I can really experience the piece in a multitude of ways.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I have always enjoyed was music, especially music that has a lot of meaning behind it. The majority of my life has been spent with music flowing in my ears, and honestly I can not live without it. But more recently, as weird as it may be, I have taken an interest in music from other countries. I listen to music in Swedish, Danish, Japanese, German, and many more languages. I really enjoy listening to songs in different languages because they allow you to learn about the country’s culture and language, but a lot of times I have found that the songs are more meaningful than what is produced in America nowadays. For the purpose of this blog I am going to mainly focus on a song from Korea. Music from Korea is usually very upbeat and its main purpose is for dancing, thus the reason all of the songs have choreographed dances to them, however the song that I am choosing to talk about is a powerful duet that speaks about a lost love and the hiding of one’s true emotions. The song is called Beautiful Liar by VIXX LR. Once again for the purpose of the prompt I am going to focus on describing the music video because it describes what the song is about. In the video there are the two idols, symbolically they are the same person, one playing the part of the outer mask that has given up and is accepting the fact that the love is over, and the other one is playing the inside emotions that are trying to reach out and get their love back. Within the video the two are at a constant fight with each other and in the end the emotions are held back and ultimately overpowered by the outer facade. This song and music video has really stood out to me because there have been many situations in life where I have been forced to hide my true emotions for the sake of someone else or just because in general I am not an emotional person. I am constantly hiding my emotions and sometimes it becomes overbearing. I am a person who will not say a word or show any emotion just because I see no point in it. A quote from the song is “I have to kill myself inside. Swallow my tears. And put on a smiling mask”. Though this quote is really depressive I can really connect to it. I have seen friends and family that have all smiled to hide their sadness and I think in life everyone does this. There are times where you smile when you are upset or angry so that you do not burden the people around you with your problems. It can also go the other way as well, where you are really happy about something but someone close to you is upset so you hide your happiness for their sake. This seems to be a problem that I have noticed within society today. I will be looking through my social media and at least once I will see a post about how people are hiding their emotions away. However the song also discusses how they regret not speaking out, which again I can relate to because there are many time where I wish I had spoken up but hadn’t out of fear. That is really why the song speaks out to me. I find that it is very relatable for everyone even though there is a language barrier.
ReplyDeleteI know that this may have sounded really upsetting and kind of preachy but I really connect emotionally with this song and I have ever since I first stumbled across it. Normally though I am not this depressing of a person and music usually makes me feel happy but this one is the one that I really could connect to in life.
This is the URL for the music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKTaIsFkCcY
And here is the one for the english translation: http://www.kpoplyrics.net/vixx-lr-beautiful-liar-lyrics-english-romanized.html
The Walking Dead. This television series will be my medium. I know many will find this show to be disinteresting or over rated. However what this show is for me is more than just a television series. This show is artfully a masterpiece. I have dealt with a great deal of emotion throughout the 6 seasons of this show and so have it's characters. This show has forced me to bring about emotions and thoughts that have brought about to me new ways to look at our current life that we have now. Fear, love, and trust, all laid out through a beautiful timeline. I evolved with this show. With this show I have experience a great deal of heartache, loss, grief,and remorse. Survival is more than a motive, it is a way of life. They strive to keep humanity alive. The effect and skill that the actors put into the filming of the show is extraordinary. Many do not believe that a tv show can be all of these things, how ever those who do underestimate it. Loyalty is a trait that has been fanned out as one of the bases for this show and for that is why I watch. This show has taught me more about who we are as humans and why we must go to extraordinary lengths to save such race. The Walking Dead is not just a television series for me, it's more.
ReplyDeleteThis clip is from season 5 episode 10. I remember my reaction when I first watched this episode, it moved me to finally hear the words that I had been waiting for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kCxN6o4ymA
The Walking Dead. Sunday Nights @ 9. Start Watching...it's on Netflix :)
GLEN IS ALIVE (currently crying actual tears)
Music is definitely the medium that affects me the most. I can picture scenes and emotions much better when listening than when reading, especially when a song or album feels complete. Sometimes sounds can say so much more than words, and thats how music speaks to me more than anything.
ReplyDeleteOne album that always surprises me in a good way is "Faces" by Pittsburgh emcee Mac Miller (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH7oi8ChJfA). It is an insane piece, nearly an hour and a half, fully laced with drug induced lyrics, but past the vulgar lies witty wordplay and hard hitting themes. More importantly is how even though everything is abstract, there is a constant dark commentary that hits hard with reality. The intro does a great job in summarizing the entire album. The first words the audience hears are "I shoulda died already." Mac says he should have already been dead, and not in a regretful way, but without emotion, highlighting how life can feel so insignificant. He goes on to rap, "Everybody wanna be God
/ Beside God, he wanna be like us." On the other hand of being insignificant are those who blow their egos up to compare themselves with deities, believing the world revolves around them. The irony is that he describes God as wanting to be more in connection with humans, so striving to be like God would just make you more human. This equality again lowers the value of a person. The last lines of the intro follow as, "On the inside, I'm outside, all the time / Tryna stay away from that electric shock / That electric shock, I'm outside." The accumulation here shows how that to avoid an existential crisis, or to escape the feeling of insignificance, one must be out of their mind, crazy. To be absurd is a way to cope with it all, and Mac avoids the "electric shock" of death because if he were to die he feels like his life would have been meaningless.
The jokes and ad-libs in between the lyrics make this a real treat to sit through, it really makes you feel insane. For me I can take this as face value and enjoy the music or dive into it and see what I can learn from it. Its one of my favorite albums for sure, and for me it is timeless.
Reason dictates that I choose music, since it is my second-best skill, but I choose to rebel against reason and instead choose the spoken word.
ReplyDeleteThe spoken word is one of the most powerful mediums of all because not only does it involve a language, which with its pseudo-infinite vocabulary can communicate an equally wide-encompassing range of ideas and emotions, but it also involves manipulation of the human voice, which our brains closely (and subconsciously) associate with emotion.
Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1 monologue “To be, or not to be” as performed by Kenneth Branagh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjuZq-8PUw0
In this monologue, the character Hamlet contemplates suicide, what he will leave behind in life, and what he will have in afterlife. He expresses the ideas that suicide is the ultimate weapon in the war against fortune and life, that suicide is the simple solution to all problems - to corruption, unrequited love, and a lack of justice or fairness. But the idea of an afterlife makes us hesitate. We would rather face the problems we know, rather than face problems of which we know nothing.
These ideas are stimulating in a logical sense - suicide really is an easy solution to an individual’s problems - but the vocal delivery of these ideas invokes a visceral response. At 0:57 in Branagh’s performance, the words “‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished” are delivered in such a deliberate manner that we can feel his slow and thoughtful, yet burning curiosity. Immediately afterwards, the phrases “To die, to sleep--To sleep--” are uttered with a downwards inflection of finality, but his quivering breath makes us breathless, as well. We can feel his hesitant excitement, his doubt at trying something he can never come back from, his exhilaration at the thought. Branagh’s masterful control of his voice strikes our hearts and easily twists our innards, almost forcibly communicating his state of mind and feelings.
The spoken word is perhaps the most powerful of communication tools, even more powerful than the written word. Although both involve the nearly universal ability to interpret language, the spoken word has the advantage of the human voice - something which humans interpret innately and automatically, and which adds a direct, visceral element to words, capturing our attention and getting the point across more accurately than the written word is capable of.
Just like many others, I feel that music is the medium that affects me the most. Most of the time I feel like I can see a story play out much better in my head while listening to a song rather than reading or watching it on film. I think music is so important because each one can be interpreted differently depending on each person who listens to it. I also find that i turn to music when I can’t collect my own thoughts to put into my own words how I am feeling so I turn to someone else’s lyrics to express that emotion. To be honest when I first read this prompt my mind immediately drifted to a song that 9 time out of 10 always makes me cry. I don’t consider myself to be a very emotional person, but some songs just take you back to a certain moment in time and make every feeling come flooding back and take over your memory. As cliche as this probably seems, I’m talking about a Taylor Swift song. Taylor Swift isn’t my go to artist when I’m feeling emotional, but sometimes the girl just knows what she’s talking about. Anyway, the piece is called “Dear John” and it talks about a relationship that was so utterly emotionally and physically draining that she lost herself trying to become the perfect person her partner wanted. For me this song hits hard emotionally right off the bat with the line, “ Long were the nights when my days once revolved around you, counting my footsteps praying the floor won’t fall through...again / And my mother accused me of losing my mind, but I swore i was fine.” (These are not even the best lines, you should really listen to it.) In my mind at this point I’m already picturing how the scene plays out and taking on the same emotions as Swift as I think about the way that her words directly connect to my life. I can relate this song back to a past, unhealthy relationship, but more importantly i think this song can be relatable to everyone in the way that sometimes no matter how hard you try, your best isn’t good enough for some people. And sometimes you give your all to people who really didn’t even deserve your time in the first place, but you can’t always see that until after everything is all said and done. This song taught me that it’s perfectly okay to be angry and that it is important to take care of yourself, rather than always bending over backwards to please someone else. This piece really builds. In the beginning the singing starts out quiet and soft, but as swift gets angrier as the story goes on the music and her voice crescendo becoming much more powerful. I think that the building of emotions is why I enjoy this song so much because listening to it always feels very cathartic and it reminds me that there’s something so beautiful about being independent and having the courage to remove yourself from something that you once brought you such happiness, but has become so toxic.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.metrolyrics.com/dear-john-taylor-swift-ml-video-v3s.html
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