Thursday, May 8, 2008
Final Blog Portfolio!
to get to my final blog portfolio, its like the fifth post down! Sorry for the inconvenience but I don't know how to move it up to the top.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Please read me.
I thought for hours (literally) about what to write for my last post. The one that is my own creation, my own thoughts, whatever I want it to be, as crazy as I want it to be. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the less I should be thinking about it (make sense?) and the more I should just let my creative juices start oozing out. So I looked around my crowded, chaotic little dorm room at midnight for some sparks and saw my word of the day calendar. Now it's a new word every day as I rip it off, and because I am slightly neurotic I have saved every day until now, and will continue to do so until December 31, 2008. I thought I would use words from some of my favorite random days of the year, and write about war somehow. Crazy? Maybe. Fun? Definitely. I thought maybe 5 words to start? If it's not long enough, more! So the days I choose are...March 18, March 28, October 1, November 21, and December 25 (yes, I love Christmas). So reasons for those days? My favorite days. My moms birthday is the 18th, mine is the 28th, my boyfriend's is October 1st, my dads is the 21st, and the 25th is Christmas!
So here are the words:
March 18: cunctation-n: delay
March 28: preternatural-adj: 1) existing outside of nature 2) exceeding what is natural or regular 3) inexplicable by ordinary means; especially : psychic
October 1: frugal-adj: characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources
November 21: garble-v: to distort the meaning or sound of
December 25: mellifluous-adj:1) having a smooth rich flow 2) filled with something (as honey) that sweetens
When you first think of war in today's world, your mind probably goes immediately to Iraq. We don't immediately think of the little wars that we fight all the time. Wars with ourselves, our friends, with our mothers about when to go to bed. Through mindless garble in everyday conversation, we have lost touch with the severity and truth of what the word war means. War has come to stand for any and every thing, not ever being something that raises the hair on the back of your neck anymore. Whatever questions are raised by the talk of war usually come with cunctation, or after we ask, "So wait what are you wearing tonight?" or "When is the pizza gonna get here?" Then it might hit us, oh wait, what did you say about the war? Any importance is delayed.
Everyday conversation today revolves around each individual and their own selfish thoughts, and not saying we are ALL like this ALL the time, but the idea of fighting war is one I feel we have become more numb to. No matter how frugal we are in our everyday lives and no matter how much we feel we deserve more, there is always someone worse off then yourself. That saying slips out of mind much too much these days; with girls buying thousand dollar purses, then complaining how expensive it is to get their nails done so they are "cutting back" by not doing it one month. Really there are people in our country and the rest of the world who do not even know what Coach or Louis Vuitton even is. So when we think we have a divine privilege or preternatural right to spend money on frivolous things without realizing their triviality, we are fueling war by living in our own little bubbles. This is not to say how we live is wrong, but perhaps we should all just take a moment sometimes to realize how big the world really is. Life will still be mellifluous even if we think a little more about others.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
A sad story of love
A poor young boy fell in love with a girl,
They would play and dance, their lives in a whirl,
He swore to her true,
I'll come back for you,
Not knowing their perfect lives would unfurl.
She waited for him to return,
At war everyday he yearned,
For their love to stay true,
He hoped she would too,
but alas, love would take an ill turn.
A rich man asked for her hand in marriage,
Her love tossed aside, she disparaged,
Her life took a new aim,
Burned out the old flame,
And forgot about her first pledge.
There once was boy off to war,
Who knew nothing but to be poor,
He fought for his country,
Died under an oak tree,
And he was remembered no more.
To the dead
To all the soldiers I never knew,
Hello. I don't know you, you don't know me. I remember you though. This is not a letter to any one person who fell victim to war, but to everyone who fought and died because they believed in peace. I have no family or close close friends in Iraq. I knew of people, but to say my boyfriend was over there? Hasn't happened yet. It would be wrong for me to say I understand how it feels to miss someone in Iraq, or that I know how it feels to watch people I love die or suffer because of a war, but I do know how important it is to remember what all the fighting is for...
Peace.
I'm not writing to cry about those of you who lost lives or anything else to war, or to tell you I have been there or can fix it. Just to say thank you. Not only did you fight for those who loved you, but also for us who didn't even know you. That is admirable. I do not support the war in Iraq, and I wish we could bring all the troops home and everyone could get along. However, I know that is just my fantasy. I do not believe in war, but I believe in you. You all lost your lives for a reason, a cause, and you deserve the utmost respect and admiration for that. No matter what you fought for, why you fought, who you are or who you left behind, you are appreciated and remembered by someone. I believe in peace, and I hope someday we will find it and lives like yours will be saved.
To the 4073 soldiers who have lost their lives to the violence in Iraq, the many more who have not been confirmed, and the countless others from other wars, thank you for fighting. Maybe someday peace will be a reality.
The violin in the war
This photograph caught my eye immediately as I thought, look at the ruins surrounding all those soldiers, and the beauty and tranquility represented by a violin. The oddness of that combination made the scene quickly one I would not forget. I think that was the author's intention, to show two very contrasting scenes combined in one photograph. The angle the photograph is taken at frames the soldier playing the violin, making him the central focus of the photo with the other soldiers watching him. The texture of the photo is also an interesting landscape because it appears very dirty, rocky and old, lending to the composition of the photo that makes the violin even more out of place. The shape also appears organic, with the rocks and natural terrain surrounding the soldiers. The lighting of the photograph adds to the natural setting with rocks and dirt, almost like a makeshift stage for the soldier with the violin. The light behind them all helps shadow the scene helping the focus to be on the violin. This photograph documents an occurrence that would not be worth remembering without the violin, that even in the midst of war, there are moments that can make everyone stand still and witness something uplifting and beautiful. The photograph has depth by showing the different heights in the soldiers with the one with the violin being the tallest, showing him as the main focal point and his violin as the subject of the photo.
Final Blog Portfolio
My Final Blog Project
4 creative posts...
2 letters...
2 photo analyses...
1 other medium...
1 group posting...
This semester has been different, fun and I really did learn a lot (especially about blogging!). Hope to see everyone around! Thanks again for the great experience Matt, keep up the awesome poetry.
lets mosh
This is the link to the lyrics
This is the link to the music video for MOSH
This is one of my favorite songs of all time. I think it also does an amazing job of showing what a powerful combination politics and art can be and how much of an impact something as simple as a song or another form of art can have on our country and people in it.
The song starts with the voices of kids beginning the Pledge of Allegiance together, and as they go on to finish the first line, "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America..." the sound of a plane roaring overheard and then crashing comes in. Immediately after, the beat comes on and the song begins. From the moment the song starts, the listener becomes aware of the political and anti war undertones (which become overt) of the song. I think the use of children's voices and the background sound of the plane crashing was a very effective way to begin because not only does it grab attention, it also causes the listener to consciously or unconsciously think of what happened on 9/11 and the questions that arose about our government after. By putting that picture in the listener's mind from the very beginning, the song makes you think as you listen to the lyrics. In the video especially, the opening scene depicting a cartoon Eminem reading to a class of children from an upside down book clearly parallels what was shown of our President reacting to the news on 9/11. Coincidence? Definitely not.
This song is such a good example of how politics and art can be intertwined to promote awareness and inspire others to come together and work for a better country together. The video of Mosh shows tons of people following Eminem in black sweatshirts to storm the White house (obviously against the President and current cabinet) but more than that to show that people can all come together and make a difference. Eminem is seen as an outspoken, rebel artist, yet he has millions of fans who are influenced by his music everyday. Throughout the song there are obvious jabs at president Bush and other political figures, showing bias, but despite that, the goal is to motivate people to think for themselves and make a difference, no matter what. The video encourages people to vote at the end, showing the goal to get more people to "speak out and be heard" as phrased in the song. This song and it's video clearly demonstrates how much influence celebrities can have through the media and art, and how powerful their messages can really come across. This song was set to release before the election date of November 2, but was pushed back until November 12 perhaps because of the influence he could have had over potential voters.
In looking at this song I saw the combination of politics, government, art and media all combined and because of previous assignments in this class I thought it was a perfect example of how this deadly combination influences all different people to try and bring our country together for one cause, and how it is possible to be the change we hope to see in the world.
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