Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Art Journal 8-31-11: "The Runaway" by Norman Rockwell (1958)
Norman Rockwell's "The Runaway" isn't just simply a police officer and a child (runaway) sitting on stools at a diner counter. It was more about a change in the culture between generations. Sure, the painting may look as if the child and policeman are friends. However, this piece symbolizes something much different. This is the last time these cultures of youth and old would ever be this close. Through the countless wars and political controversy, the youthful generations became more and more rebellious and started to conflict with their elder counterparts. Rockwell’s “The Runaway” overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the late 1950s – an emerging counter culture that was not concerned with how things were in America, but rather how they are.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Listening Journal 8-30-11 "Across the Universe" by The Beatles
3 Images:
-dark waves washing against a barren shore
-clouds swirling in the dark skies
-millions of people staring at me
The dark waves and dark skies could be symbols because they represent the artist's world that is never going to change. Nothing positive or uplifting can change his world.
My personal symbol: Palm Trees
Whenever I see them, my mind always traces back to my home in California. They were so common there that whenever I see one now, I reflect on my hometown. The palm tree is part of my own little world, providing me the longed for comfort of home.
-dark waves washing against a barren shore
-clouds swirling in the dark skies
-millions of people staring at me
The dark waves and dark skies could be symbols because they represent the artist's world that is never going to change. Nothing positive or uplifting can change his world.
My personal symbol: Palm Trees
Whenever I see them, my mind always traces back to my home in California. They were so common there that whenever I see one now, I reflect on my hometown. The palm tree is part of my own little world, providing me the longed for comfort of home.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
"Inspiration Information" by Shuggie Otis (1974)
Overall Feel: Soft, Smooth, Light (makes you feel good)
Musical Elements: The group's vocals were very light and the instrumentation was not very strong (especially the keyboard and guitar).
Choices:
1. High over low-pitched vocals
2. A slowly building instrumentational group over a full force instrumentation group from start to finish
The high-pitched vocals worked because they complimented the slowly building instrumentation and vice versa. Together, they brought a nice "feel good" atmosphere to the song.
Musical Elements: The group's vocals were very light and the instrumentation was not very strong (especially the keyboard and guitar).
Choices:
1. High over low-pitched vocals
2. A slowly building instrumentational group over a full force instrumentation group from start to finish
The high-pitched vocals worked because they complimented the slowly building instrumentation and vice versa. Together, they brought a nice "feel good" atmosphere to the song.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Art Journal 8-25-11 "Semeadores" by Diego Rivera
S-Labor
O-1950's and 1960's increase in cheap strenuous labor
A- those involved in industries relying on cheap labor
P-to convince people that physical labor should not be so cheap
S-Diego Rivera, Nationality- Mexican (communist supporter)
Tone- Sad, Depressing
Main Point: Physical Labor should be more expensive due to the straining effect it has on the workers.
Artistic Elements:
1. Positioning- The person in the right of the piece is in bending forward position. The line of his back is made to look as if it were a twig about to snap.
2. Subject- The two workers seem to blend into the landscape and their work. They don't stand out as much.
O-1950's and 1960's increase in cheap strenuous labor
A- those involved in industries relying on cheap labor
P-to convince people that physical labor should not be so cheap
S-Diego Rivera, Nationality- Mexican (communist supporter)
Tone- Sad, Depressing
Main Point: Physical Labor should be more expensive due to the straining effect it has on the workers.
Artistic Elements:
1. Positioning- The person in the right of the piece is in bending forward position. The line of his back is made to look as if it were a twig about to snap.
2. Subject- The two workers seem to blend into the landscape and their work. They don't stand out as much.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Video Journal 8-22-11: Wilco
Wilco's approach to creating a song:
-Get all the instruments and musicians together
-Create a basic vision for the song
-Choose from an unlimited number of possible directions in which to guide the song.
-Add, Mold, and Destroy certain parts of the song
My creative writing process:
-Choose a topic and focus on one main idea
-Find 3-5 major points and utilize those as subjects for individual paragraphs
-Strengthen paragraphs by adding details, facts, scenarios, and data
-Use the concluding paragraph to connect all of the major points back to the maain idea
-Proofread for punctuation and sanity
-Edit to improve the paper's quality
-Proofread again for accidental punctuation errors during editing
-Turn in paper
-Further editing and revising
-Publish
-Get all the instruments and musicians together
-Create a basic vision for the song
-Choose from an unlimited number of possible directions in which to guide the song.
-Add, Mold, and Destroy certain parts of the song
My creative writing process:
-Choose a topic and focus on one main idea
-Find 3-5 major points and utilize those as subjects for individual paragraphs
-Strengthen paragraphs by adding details, facts, scenarios, and data
-Use the concluding paragraph to connect all of the major points back to the maain idea
-Proofread for punctuation and sanity
-Edit to improve the paper's quality
-Proofread again for accidental punctuation errors during editing
-Turn in paper
-Further editing and revising
-Publish
Friday, August 19, 2011
Listening 8-18-11: Nostalgia
Nostalgia- the feeling one experiences when he or she encounters positive references of their childhood or past.
Images from the song- crowded dance halls, a swing/jazz band, a plain elegant white birthday cake, a record machine
Images of my childhood (with senses):
-childhood cartoons and tv shows (the sounds of weird cartoon characters)
- running towards the ice cream truck (the sound of the ice cream truck jingle and the smell/taste of chocolate ice cream)
-learning to ride my bike as a child in California (the feeling of my hands on the handlebars and the sounds of other children playing in the park)
Images from the song- crowded dance halls, a swing/jazz band, a plain elegant white birthday cake, a record machine
Images of my childhood (with senses):
-childhood cartoons and tv shows (the sounds of weird cartoon characters)
- running towards the ice cream truck (the sound of the ice cream truck jingle and the smell/taste of chocolate ice cream)
-learning to ride my bike as a child in California (the feeling of my hands on the handlebars and the sounds of other children playing in the park)
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
When your birthday's on a school day...
Tomorrow is my birthday. Everyone keeps saying "Happy 16th Birthday!" when I'm only turning 15. Maybe it's because I'm 6' 2" and smarter than 95% (low-balling) of the entire student body, including all the seniors in my Pre-Cal class. Plus, tomorrow is a school day. If only it were one day later, then I could get my homework totally done and have a day of relaxing since we don't have school on Friday this week. I guess I don't have much to complain about since I get an extra day added to the weekend. Also, I'm going to Buffalo Wild Wings tomorrow with the family and get to have a fun night out instead of studying or, in this case, blogging until my fingers hurt.
Lastly, Mr. Behler, if you're reading this, I'd really appreciate it if you don't have any plans of giving some random pop quiz on my birthday. Please pass this along to Mr. Ratliff.
Lastly, Mr. Behler, if you're reading this, I'd really appreciate it if you don't have any plans of giving some random pop quiz on my birthday. Please pass this along to Mr. Ratliff.
Art Journal for 8-17-11
Major factors contributing to poverty: income, environment, behavior, laziness, lack of opportunities, drug abuse, mental health issues.
Artist's portrayal of poverty: He shows poverty as a negative, gloomy, and say way to live life.
Artist's message: Poverty is a hard lifestyle to maintain physically, socially, mentally, and emotionally.
2 Artistic Elements:
Contrast in Color: The artist uses the bright colors of the flowers to show that they are one of the few ways this family can make ends meet.
Perspective/Space: The rest of the public is far away from the impoverished family. This gives the piece a sense of social isolation and neglect.
these elements both emphasize once again that poverty is an extremely difficult way to live life.
Artist's portrayal of poverty: He shows poverty as a negative, gloomy, and say way to live life.
Artist's message: Poverty is a hard lifestyle to maintain physically, socially, mentally, and emotionally.
2 Artistic Elements:
Contrast in Color: The artist uses the bright colors of the flowers to show that they are one of the few ways this family can make ends meet.
Perspective/Space: The rest of the public is far away from the impoverished family. This gives the piece a sense of social isolation and neglect.
these elements both emphasize once again that poverty is an extremely difficult way to live life.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Live Free and Starve vs The Singer Solution to World Poverty
In my Academy English 2 class, I was assigned to read two passages dealing with the subject of poverty: Live Free and Starve by Chitra Divakaruni and The Singer Solution to World Poverty by Peter Singer.
Compare/Contrast:
Live Free and Starve focused more on the aspect of need-based poverty abuse while The Singer Solution to World Poverty contained tales where people who wanted more were willing to take advantage of others with less.
Divakaruni highlights an instance where kids have been sold to factory owners by their parents, but don't pay off there indentures because they wouldn't be able to survive on their own in the outside world. So, because they aren't meeting their Physiological needs (Maslow's Hierarchy, also mentioned), they can't worry about what is right and wrong. Their number one priority is having food to eat and water to drink. Everything else hardly even matters.
On the other hand, Singer examines the other side of poverty abuse. This passage is more about ordinary (to some extent) people taking advantage of those in poverty for their own personal benefit. Whether it was upgrading or their TV or protecting their investment in an automobile, Singer is able to highlight the blemish in human sympathy. Believe it or not, folks, there are people in this world without a conscience that will kill others just for personal benefit. It's cruel, it's mean, but it's a part of our world.
Opinion: Although Divakaruni makes some interesting points, Singer's points on poverty abuse have the greater potential to be life threatening and are not decided upon by those in poverty, but by those slightly better off. That child in the train tracks is at the mercy of the Bugatti car owner. However, in the end, the car owner protects his car before a human being, an example of an unhuman lack of sacrifice. This was able to resonate stronger with me than Divakaruni's passage did.
Reader Bias: I definitely felt a bias about the whole aspect of killing/destroying/harming others to better yourself. From my point of view, never in any circumstance is that okay unless your life is on the same line as the other person. If it gets to that point, you gotta(intentional) do what you gotta do.
In the end, I feel my predisposed reader bias made it easier for me to connect with Singer's passage better because of it's complete inhumanity and contrast with my character and beliefs.
Compare/Contrast:
Live Free and Starve focused more on the aspect of need-based poverty abuse while The Singer Solution to World Poverty contained tales where people who wanted more were willing to take advantage of others with less.
Divakaruni highlights an instance where kids have been sold to factory owners by their parents, but don't pay off there indentures because they wouldn't be able to survive on their own in the outside world. So, because they aren't meeting their Physiological needs (Maslow's Hierarchy, also mentioned), they can't worry about what is right and wrong. Their number one priority is having food to eat and water to drink. Everything else hardly even matters.
On the other hand, Singer examines the other side of poverty abuse. This passage is more about ordinary (to some extent) people taking advantage of those in poverty for their own personal benefit. Whether it was upgrading or their TV or protecting their investment in an automobile, Singer is able to highlight the blemish in human sympathy. Believe it or not, folks, there are people in this world without a conscience that will kill others just for personal benefit. It's cruel, it's mean, but it's a part of our world.
Opinion: Although Divakaruni makes some interesting points, Singer's points on poverty abuse have the greater potential to be life threatening and are not decided upon by those in poverty, but by those slightly better off. That child in the train tracks is at the mercy of the Bugatti car owner. However, in the end, the car owner protects his car before a human being, an example of an unhuman lack of sacrifice. This was able to resonate stronger with me than Divakaruni's passage did.
Reader Bias: I definitely felt a bias about the whole aspect of killing/destroying/harming others to better yourself. From my point of view, never in any circumstance is that okay unless your life is on the same line as the other person. If it gets to that point, you gotta(intentional) do what you gotta do.
In the end, I feel my predisposed reader bias made it easier for me to connect with Singer's passage better because of it's complete inhumanity and contrast with my character and beliefs.
Monday, August 15, 2011
"Round + Round" by Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti
My personal opinion of this song was that it lacked a consistency in the vocals from start to finish. In the beginning, the voices are very weak and don't really appeal to me as much as other listener. Then, about midway into the song, the vocalists completely change up their tones and start increasing their volume tremendously in order to compensate for a lack of tempo and pace in the earlier part of the song. It really threw me off as a listener.
One fact from the song I found was that the drum was used as the main beat for the song in complementation with the guitar and keyboard. This didn't make a whole lot of sense for me when the song started out very weak and soft. I thought maybe a acoustic guitar or classic piano would have been a better choice. Also, the high tempo chorus was repeated multiple times as the song wound down, a huge contrast from the softer introduction.
One fact from the song I found was that the drum was used as the main beat for the song in complementation with the guitar and keyboard. This didn't make a whole lot of sense for me when the song started out very weak and soft. I thought maybe a acoustic guitar or classic piano would have been a better choice. Also, the high tempo chorus was repeated multiple times as the song wound down, a huge contrast from the softer introduction.