gnitsop evitaerc

I close my eyes. I open my eyes. 

I close my eyes again. My head pounding in my skull, I know it is only five minutes away from happening again. I fight the same fight every week day, from August to May. The cell phone whirrs with vibration again so loud I feel it down the sheet, through my pillow and into my body and I know I can only hit snooze one more time. I sit up. The first battle of the day has been won.

My mind wanders first thing in the morning, wondering where the first cup of coffee is going to come from or how long I can stand to sit in that class listening to the voice in my head say “Starbucks, Starbucks, Starbucks”, who sounds like the Genie when he’s a bee in Aladdin (clip attached below to give you the full effect, wait until he says “Be yourself”). Soon the need for caffeine becomes too strong to ignore the little voice in my head, he begins screaming "Staaaaaaaarbuuuuuucks" and I have to indulge.

My internal war is with desire. The amount time before I need caffeine varies from day to day, and each day it's like a ticking bomb waiting to explode when that voice gets out of hand. It takes more of my willpower to go without coffee than to not eat that second candy bar, write an essay or go to bed on time. The willpower needed to overcome cravings and longings is an ongoing battle that changes from person to person. I don't think there is anyone who can deny fighting a desire.

Aladdin

Strawberries

Strawberry Fields Forever

With little background information, the song "Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles seems to have little to do with war. In fact, the song's title simply comes from the Strawberry Field Salvation Army Children's Home, which was just around the corner from where John Lennon grew up in Liverpool. This song was first released on the album Magical Mystery Tour, and is seen one of The Beatles greatest hits. This song is filled with nonsensical lyrics that are organized in a stream of consciousness style. The listener is presented with lines such as, "No one I think is in my tree, I mean it must be high or low that is you can't, you know, tune in…" Not surprisingly, this song is associated with The Beatles' heavy LSD use. Drugs influenced many of their songs and melodies as the band sought to create beautiful music out of the fear and hostility of the Vietnam War.

Much analysis of this song is often centered around the Strawberry Field Salvation Army Children's Home. This orphanage obviously played a huge role in John Lennon's childhood as he grew up in Liverpool. During his youth, Liverpool was very much home to the working class. Industrialization was taking hold in the old slave port city and the difficulties of life were very much a reality for its workers. Through lyrics such as "living is easy" and "nothing is real and nothing to get hung about," Lennon references the hardships of this city in this particular song.

Additionally, this scene from "Across the Universe" depicts dripping strawberry juice, an extremely significant symbol in terms of conveying this song's meaning. While strawberries are normally associated with springtime, sweetness, and life, this scene uses the sugary fruit for a much different purpose. In complete contrast, the strawberry juice arguably symbolizes blood. Symbolically, the video depicts fields filled not with delicious fruit, but instead with the blood of thousands of soldiers in Vietnam. Another striking image from this scene occurs as the film's main character, Jude, nails multiple rows of strawberries on a board. After clips of soldiers in Vietnam are flashed on the screen, the camera pans down the rows of strawberries, revealing that they have begun to excrete red juice. As each strawberry begins to give off its juice, a new solider has been killed in war. Then, in perhaps an even more direct approach to this symbolism, the strawberries are depicted as bombs falling towards earth, ready to indiscriminately cause mayhem and destruction.
Without the context provided by the images in "Across the Universe," this song may lack meaning in terms of protesting war. However, when coupled with the striking images of smashed strawberries, dying soldiers, and combat zones, "Strawberry Fields Forever" develops into a much more significant piece of musical art.

Joey and Mia's cool post about war

A rolling pig feels no pain

when it rolls in beautiful fields

filled with the sadness 

of those lost long ago.

The green grass surrounds the pig

as he senses the blood

that once covered the ground 

he stood on.

He remembers...

he remembers, and he weeps.

He weeps for the lives that were lost

in wars that did not have to be fought.

He weeps for the boys to young to understand

what was happening,

too young to say good bye

The devastation of war takes a toll 

on everyone...men, women and children alike...

My response to Battlestar Galactica

I have never really paid attention to sci-fi shows. I have never watched Smallville, the 4400 or this battleship intergalactic show my friend Joey has talked about in his blog with such knowledge and understanding, drawing parallels to real life from what sounds like an interesting show. As my choice of a song and Joey's choice of a tv show demonstrate, we are both influenced by pop culture, as are many people our age who may or may not admit it. I think this actually supports what I tried to claim in my previous post (even though I think the message was slightly cloudy and entangled in my musings) that pop culture is a good way to influence and provide messages to people today. Whether or not everyone realizes it, pop culture influences each individual in some way. Although I have never seen Joey's show, or any of the things he mentioned, I can see the parallels he draws with battlestar galactic car and the real life war that is going on today. Although I have made it sound comical, the issues that sometimes fuel pop culture are less than funny most of the time. I just thought of another show that I actually do watch that relates real life stories and situations through pop culture; SOUTH PARK. This is a show I watch, similar to Joey watching his sci-fi shows, in that both try to relate real world situations and messages to the public, although in very different manners I would think. I don't know much about Battling Galactic Stars, but South Park takes real world things and stories, makes fun of it and then presents a deep, meaningful message at the end. The effects real life has on either show adds greatly to the shows content and meaning. I know South Park would not be the show it is without the events that occur in our day to day lives to make it funny. As I have run off on quite a tangent here I will cease after one final attempt to drive home my point. From songs to tv shows and even more, there are many different types of pop culture that draw on real life. I think the point of including metaphors, allegories and other things in media is to promote communication and understanding. No matter what show you watch, the importance is that you become informed. If it's funny, if it's sad, if it is totally off the wall and you have to dig so deep to even find the relationship to a real world issue, it still makes you think.

The War

"and the houses, 

laid out like targets, 

with the deafening sound, 

we watched them all go down, 

and the families, 

now useless bodies, 

they lay still black and blue, 

a gift from us to you..."  -The War, Angels & Airwaves

This is the link to the actual song on youtube...

Since i have been experiencing a writer's block for the past few days, I was kind of at a loss with what to write about. However, I heard a song when I had iTunes playing on random and realized it had some relation to what we have been talking about in class. Once I looked up the lyrics, one verse (above) stood out to me, and I felt like I could write a little about it and what I think of it. This song is clearly an antiwar statement, with images of war throughout the song and the chorus chanting, "why won't you tell me that it's almost over?" I feel like this song makes a strong statement not only about war itself, but about how widespread war has become as an issue to address. We wrote letters on our blogs a few days ago about how communication about war can be improved and I hadn't thought about using culture (like music) to communicate, but now I see it is an effective way to get out  information and feelings about war. This verse struck me for some reason and the picture it painted sticks in my mind. The sarcastic last line, "a gift from us to you," reminds listeners that we are killing people and leaving them there almost like reminders of what we are doing. Now thinking about it, I feel like through music and other cultural activities that bring people together, the message can be spread about war and the destruction we are causing in today's war. Through different types of music, different people can be brought together to create more understanding of war through a common interest. This song, and I'm sure there are many others out there that are against war, is a way to bring people together over a difficult topic.

Einstein said, "killing under the cloak of war is no different than murder." The more people who realize that can make a difference in what is going on today. No matter how the message is spread, the importance is that it is. Culture of today's youth is a really good way to get the message out. Just some thoughts...

in class assignment- group caption

The Silver Iguanas

A minor chord can only go so far as to compliment the soldier's broken soul

Civil War photo analysis

I chose this photo to analyze because in looking at the section entitled, "Lincoln's Assassination," it stood out to me as a picture that captured the scene of that tragedy. Not that I had forgotten the assassination, but seeing the photographs reminded me of the magnitude of that event, and the great loss our country suffered. I felt moved by this particular picture because it depicts a place that should be remembered and it compelled me to stop and think about Lincoln's assassination and what has become of the Ford Theatre since then. This photo captures Ford Theatre in its originality, before restorations and tourism of today's world. The image is shot at a far off angle, capturing the beauty of the architecture of Ford Theatre as well as the scene that encompasses it. This seems to be a form of documentary photography, working to capture the building as it is in that time to be remembered. The photographer shot the building with a direct approach, slightly from the right to show more than just the theatre. The vertical lines repeated in the image through the buildings and windows direct the viewer to scan the whole picture, up and down, not focusing on any one subject. This is one instance I think the photograph is still very powerful without a central focus because the whole thing works together to create a vivid image of a memory. From the clear sky above the buildings to the pitch black windows, the contrast from light to dark gives the photo an eerie feel, adding to it's documentary feel. The expressive landscape also helps convey a spectral feeling, which might have been part of the author's intention. The whole photo works together to create an image of long ago when an important event occurred.

This is the link to the article I read in relation to this photo.

August 29, 2007-photograph

This photograph expresses a sense of hope in a time where the majority of things heard about the war are negative, depressing and sad. The focus is on the little boy in the center who appears to be shrouded in light in comparison to the burned cars on either side of him. As the photo pans out from the boy it loses its focus, and allows shadows to creep into the scene. The shadowing in the photograph appears to represent the destruction that had been occurring, and the little boy walking through might represent the hope of the cease-fire. The photo is balanced by the cars on either side of the boy, and the center is empty except for the sole subject walking away from the artist. The boy seems to be symbolically walking away from the violence of the war and towards peace and calmness, which could be represented by the stained glass. The lines in the photograph seem to draw the eye towards the center of the photograph and the boy walking. The tire treads on the ground lead up towards the edges of the stained glass windows. The artist framed the photo perfectly to include burned cars on each side of the boy, almost like a border, to show the destruction around him. The value of the darker edges of the photograph to the light that seems to shine on the little boy seems to add to the picture's theme that all hope is not lost, despite the chaos and devastation caused by war.

Here is the link to the photo we analyzed 

Analyzing a photograph

This photograph caught my eye immediately when I was browsing all options for this assignment. This photo combines many elements to evoke emotion from the viewer. The photograph appears to be expressive, showing the living and the dead in the same shot. The photo has both a landscape because of the clouds captured in the shot and subjects, being both the people standing and the people on the ground. The focus of the photograph is not clearly on one person or object, but on the scene as a whole. The angle and depth drew my eye first to the old woman leaning over the body at the far right of the scene. The clouds are also interesting in this picture because they were captured showing shadows, making the photograph ominous and adding contour. The light is natural, and soft, giving a realistic, raw look to the photo. The photo does a good job of portraying the emotion of the scene, and the woman in the foregrounds outstretched arms capture the pain and sadness of the situation. The puddle of water that shows the reflection of a man crouched over is another area of the photo that draws focus. The rough contour of the man's reflection also depicts the grief and anguish that the living are feeling as they wander among dead bodies. The artist's intention appears to evoke the powerful emotions that only comes with witnessing death, and through this image, he accomplishes that.

Dearest America

Dearest America,

The subject of war is usually a sore one to bring up in conversation, both with strangers and with friends. It is something bitter and sad, easy to disagree on, or awkward. Although at sticky subject, war is a perpetually occurring thing that can and should be talked about... because it is always there. Wars have happened, war is happening and war will happen. The hardest part about talking about it may be just getting started, but the more it is talked about, the more can be done about it. Communication is the best way to start. 

There are many ways to communicate, all of them being better than not talking at all. I think a really good way to talk about war is through blogs and the internet. I feel like the use of the internet eases the tension that face to face discussion of war usually generates. With a chat room, or posting on websites you can be honest, not attacked, and just get your feelings out. Through technology, we are able to have more types of interaction rather than just face to face conversations or even phone calls. If we use the internet to post ideas, questions and problems we have with war, it makes it easier for others to answer and bounce ideas off each other. The internet has already proved to be a good way to keep in touch with old friends, make new friends, find people who agree or disagree with you on any subject, and I think the subject of war is no different. The limits of the internet can be pushed so far and the subject of war is a great way to encourage communication. 

Martin Luther King Jr. said in his speech, Beyond Vietnam, "We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation. We must move past indecision to action," and today that statement still applies. The action he speaks of stems from communication and understanding, which is promoted by talking to each other. Citizens need to work together to better understand each other's views and be able to come together about war and the feelings it provokes. Martin Luther King Jr. presented a good idea in his speech, Beyond Vietnam, in saying that war concerns all citizens, even if you are not directly involved, everyone needs to work together to promote awareness when it comes to war. One of the best ways to promote awareness is through conversation, which needs to be started about war. The start of change is through communication, and it is time for us who live in and make up the country of America to start fueling change.

Matt Rotando's 104 blog

www.104aboutwar.blogspot.com

104 article assignment

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/08/seal.medal/index.html

This assignment came at a perfect time, as earlier in the day I had come across an article about the war in Iraq on CNN.com that interested me. It concerned a Navy SEAL, Michael Monsoor, who had given his life in Iraq to save his comrades. He was the first Navy SEAL  who received a Medal of Honor due to his actions in Iraq, although it was awarded to him after he died. He selflessly threw himself on a grenade that could have killed him and the other two soldiers he was with, but he took the full blast himself to save the lives of others. President Bush presented his parents with the Medal of Honor. The article caught my eye because the title was, "Navy SEAL paid ultimate price to save buddies," and I wondered what is the ultimate price to save your buddies? I read on to find out. Death.

This article makes a point to show the bravery and selflessness Michael Monsoor showed in Iraq. The author repeatedly reminds the reader that in a split second decision, he gave his life for the lives of his comrades. The tone of the article seems to be very respectful and honoring. Also, towards the end of the article, the author says, "Until this month, [...] few people knew of his story," which leads me to think the author wants this story and others like it to be known and appreciated more. The author describes Monsoor as "selfless" more than once, reiterating the fact that his instinct was to protect the lives of others, not his own. Perhaps the author would like to see more people with the mentality Michael Monsoor died with? I definitely would. 

I don't remember (oxymoron?)

I don't remember a lot of things. I don't remember stuff from when I was really young and we lived in places other than Flagstaff. I don't remember Oregon, or Kentucky. I don't remember all the crazy Texas Chainsaw Massacre people we moved away from. I don't remember being born! Haha...it's hard to remember what you don't remember, because if you remembered it then it wouldn't fall under the category of "don't remember" anyway. Very complicated. I don't remember life before cell phones and laptops and digital cameras. I don't remember what life was like without all that stuff. I couldn't imagine life without my phone now, which is permanently attached to my body. I don't remember details. Ever. I also don't remember birthdays. I know the birthdays, like if you asked me a few months ahead, I could probably tell you the date, but when it actually roles around, I'll forget. I don't remember my keys a lot. I always try to remember to do something; call someone, email someone, do something, but I usually don't remember it. I don't remember how I did all the homework I used to do in high school, or how I went to so many classes without blowing my head off. I don't remember how I paid attention and took in information, because now I suck at it. I don't remember a time where school didn't matter. That's actually interesting. My life has involved school for so long I don't remember the time where I wasn't going to school or going to go to school. I don't remember so much. 

I Remember

I remember when it was my birthday last week. I remember when I was in Spain with Kat and Kara and Katie, and we went out to Swing the very first night we were there, even though we were exhausted from a day of traveling. Swing doesn't open until 3 am, and they had never made it before. But we made it. And it wasn't that great. I remember dancing. For so many years of my life, in so many shows, with so many different costumes. We spent hours in the dressing rooms at Audrey Auditorium, playing with make up, eating food in the halls so Bonnie Matthews wouldn't yell at us, putting fake eyelashes on each other. Then the call over the intercom would say come up for warm up, and we would drag ourselves up for class, then run back down excitedly. Elizabeth would give us her motivational speech which would actually motivate us instead of just being something annoying. I remember when my mom got sick. Not the actual sickness, but the time we were in Las Vegas and she fell. We were upstairs....I don't remember what hotel it was now, but I remember what it looks life. We were upstairs with Uncle Don for his coin show. There were ugly bright green carpets with palm leaves and bold, tropical flowers, that you only see in Vegas. She fell, and everyone began going in slow motion. Paramedics came, and I was confused. Uncle Don was with me because my dad was busy with my mom. He was telling me it would be okay. I remember when Uncle Don died. I was still a kid, but when he died my only memory of him was from that time in Vegas with my mom. I remember happy things too. I remember Disneyland when I was eleven. And Seaworld. And all the trips to the Honolulu zoo as a child with my parents. I remember when my parents got divorced. That's not a happy memory, but there are some funny parts with it. I remember when my dad first moved out into the apartment and I went with him. I remember my little bedroom that had my own bathroom. We would watch 50 Cent rapping "In Da Club" every morning on MTV with breakfast before we went to school. We would throw fruit across the long living room almost every night, occasionally smashing an apple or orange. We would throw socks up and get them stuck on the fan and whoever got the most stuck would win. I don't know if he would like me broadcasting this story. I remember the snow. All the snow days, and when I was really little before the divorce, how my dad and I would go outside and play in it for hours. My mom would be inside and would bundle me up and my dad would only wear his jeans and his woolly hat. We would play for hours then come inside and my mom would yell at us for being out too long that we were both going to get sick. We would laugh and then probably do something else she didn't like. No wonder they got divorced huh?  

Lentil

Ten is key.

less crackers, rugs daily, my trail sniffle. toot. leisure, parliament do seal blue key. Carl ate over pressed doohickey, less rally. Crouton less bat at lions in mass dance. leaf you.

Ten is cool. fall elephants boy E.T. fate, descent, millions do hum a tad. Futon. Pokey warts. Dance late, dance to herbie, dance to join a tour, o pookie, ficus, homie, saint, men. 

Illest undo key write ax naps damn I see

Dismantle all incense

ax

grants call. ices door key

dance beserk. dispose anna's end or-

It say reveal wand this mirrors, hennessey, dance angrily. Eat plural soup via bunny noise, whodunnit ungross soup lie dance lemur munchkin.