Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Cat In The Freaking Hat



A video of the best teacher in the world, bitchez! :)

Friday, May 29, 2009

Persepolis Blog Two.

The rules in Iran are very unfair.
There are many restrictions on what they are allowed to have.
There is also a very high double standard going on.
The men are allowed to wear what they want.
And many many men are killed as virgins.
Whereas women must be completely covered. They cannot show any skin or hair.
And it is illegal to kill a women that is a virgin.
Which would imply rape and then murder. Which is...legal?
As opposed to music & alcohol which are...illegal?
Yeahhh. Something is really wrong with that picture.
LITERALLY. (Cause it's a graphic novel, get it? haha. I know that one was lame.)
With so many things illegal, and so many people dying, people feel the need to rebel.
(Who wouldn't?)
Marji wears Nike shoes, and a denim jacket. She listens to illegal music tapes.
Instead of buying drugs she buys music.
And the sad thing is when she went to buy the tape, it was equivalent to buying drugs.
In that time era in Iran that was just as illegal as most drugs are now.
I would have been doing the same things as Marji if I were in her postition, and yes I am very thankful that I am not.
Because the acts of rebellion I can get away with now, would have easily killed me if I were in her position.
Since I am a teen now, my acts of rebellion consist of the usual. (You can guess, I am sure.)
But to summarize it, basically partying, having fun, sneaking around...etc. Mixed with other stuff as well. And that's the way it goes. There is a point when everyone feels the need to rebel. At any age. And the more freedom people have, they rebel in different ways. For Marji, all she had to do was wear tight jeans, and keep her head scarf up to high and that was considered rebelling. Now, people drink or do drugs to rebel. The only thing that stays consistent would be the acts of violence.
No matter what time era or what country, there is always violence.
I am not saying this is a good thing, but it seems that the world cannot live without violence.
If there were world peace would that be equivalent to Utopia? Or would there be other problems?
Most likely. There always seems to be problems. And half the time it seems that a problem can't be solved without first fighting it out.

Persepolis Blog One

I think that Persepolis is more powerful as a memoir. The fact that it is an autobiography is what makes the story real. If the author had made a fictional story I don't think I personally would have found it as powerful.
The reason a memoir is more powerful is because it's real. It actually happened. And the author had been through a lot. I also think that making it a graphic novel shows how she sees things, and it shows us what her life looked like.
Graphic novels can show the details that need not be explained, but are vital to the story.
Honestly, I did not think I was going to like Persepolis at all. I didn't want to read it. And, I'm not going to say it's extremely captivating, or that I can't put it down. Because be that as it may, I still have a hard time picking it up to read it. But honestly, it's not bad. Right now I want to try and find a copy of Persepolis 2, so that I can continue with the story.
I have not read Maus, or any other graphic memoir for that matter. So I cannot compare this to anything other than a regular written book. I think that making a biography as a graphic novel is a good idea, but a lot of work.
I am going to start the drawing of my own graphic novel this weekend, and I know it will take a very long time, because not only do I suck at drawing, but I don't have the patience to add in all of that extreme detail. I give the author Kudos because she managed to do such a tedious task of drawing out her whole life.
Knowing me, it would take longer to draw it than it would to live it.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Visual Essay







Okay, I get it. This is almost a week late, I suck. Yeah. Well, I can't find the rubric either, so I'm just going to have to interpret the "Visual Essay" on my own.

So I had this health project to do, and it was really time consuming and such. And then there was some more stuff, and I had like a chemistry and math test last week that I had to prepare for...BUT ENOUGH WITH THE EXCUSES! I promised I would get this essay done this weekend! Seriously.
So, I feel like the image above, yes the flattened world, is kinda my world right now. Not in a bad way, but like whoa, what the hell just happened?

And as I'm writing I've been using a million comma's. (Did you notice?)
But, anyway.
Throughout Feed I noticed that all the feed was, was mind control. It told you what you wanted. Doesn't that seem weird? Something to tell you what you want.
It's like, can't I think for myself anymore?!
Life is full of consumerism. It's true. We consume & die. Depressing and cynical, maybe. But hey, what else can I say? We buy more and more as we get older! Like, when I was little I didn't buy half of the stuff I do now. (Of course I didn't have to worry about gas prices when I was little, but still.) I didn't NEED a pair of headphones. (Which I do now)
And there are many things on the list of stuff we consume. It just keeps increasing as we get older.
Do we actually think about what we're buying and why we're buying it, or do we just buy it?

So, last Sunday while I was at the mall, I went into Abercrombie & Fitch. (I had never been in there before then) And as I was looking around, there was a picture of a half naked man with his hand down his pants.
I was so confused as to how that related to ANYTHING OTHER THAN SEX. I mean, it was pretty straightforward.
My observation:
1. Loud music.
2. Strong perfume/cologne scent.
3. It's dark as hell so people don't see what they're buying that well.
4. SEX! SEX! SEX!
5. Most of the clothes say Abercrombie & Fitch on them. Like I'm going to walk around in those clothes like a walking billboard advertising that store, SORRY, ain't gonna happen.
It is seriously ridiculous.
I did go into Hollister too, which is pretty much the same as A & F.
It's alllll a mind control conspiracy.
Just wait until they DO come out with a computer chip for your brain.









Monday, May 4, 2009

Feed - Blog Two.


MISSING THE FEED!?

OH NO! THE WORLD HAS COME TO AN END!

Now tell me, what is so horrible about actually talking to people, and finding something to do?

We do it everyday. (Because the feed does not exist...yet.)
So, okay. In this specific chapter, the Feed has been hacked. The computer inside their brain has been hacked. Now the picture to the left is one of a person with a computer as a head. Now this isn't exactly what the Feed is, because the Feed is inside of your head. But hey, IT'S CALLED SYMBOLISM!
Okay, so as I was reading the chapter that the Feed was hacked, I was thinking about how crazy it was.
First, they are in a hospital. The went to a hospital, but yet they are perfectly healthy. To me, that shows how big of a deal this feed corporation is.
Second, they have to be reuploaded. Just like a computer, they have to be restarted.
This showed the symbolism between humans and computers.
Does this mean we are going to become computers in the future?
Cause that doesn't sound all that great. It's kind of scary thinking that if Global Warming doesn't destroy our planet first, that our second option is becoming robots, basically.
Doesn't it make you look forward to the future?
(I know this one is late!!!)

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Feed - Blog One.

"We Enter A Time Of Calamity."

As I was reading, this quote came up quite a few times. (It was started by The Hacker.)
And I was reading this quote over, and over again. I had to keep repeating it in my head. So what does this mean?
It means we are headed for disaster. What I have read of this book so far has hardly made any sense. So why talk about this one little quote when I could talk about the bigger picture?
Well, I believe this quote IS the bigger picture.
I have been led to understand that the Feed is a computer inside your head. Instead of typing on a computer, or looking things up on google, people can do all of this inside their own head. Whenever they want. They can know the definition of a word, they can watch videos and do almost anything that a computer does, inside their head.
Does this sound convenient? Yeah, sure.
But is this the future we want? Not me.
If there is a computer in your brain, then someone has to be monitoring it, yes?
Your memories aren't your own. They can be taken, and monitored.
Do you want other people knowing what your thinking at every moment? No. That's crazy. Which is exactly what that quote is getting into.
The hacker is against the feed, obviously. When he says that quote, he believes that this is disaster. Humans aren't thinking for themselves, nor do they own what they think. So who wants to live in a world like that?
If everything is going to be a computer, what is the point of humans?
If people can be programmed, then yes, we have entered a time of calamity.
I think that within that one quote it shows a lot about how the author is portraying our future as humans. We will be brain dead robots. Influenced by the media. Not able to think for ourselves.
And this future isn't that far away, because we are already influenced by the media.
A lot of the time we don't necessarily think for ourselves, and that is a scary reality.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

I have a headache.

I have a headache, and so the last thing I want to do is sit here and think of things to say about myself.
I get headaches a lot. I bet that's something you didn't know about me.
I just got back from my end of winter band concert. It was nice, but I ended up with a headache.
And it refuses to go away.
Which means I need to go sleep.
I had planned to study for finals and whatnot, but due to the fact that I have a headache, I just cannot.
I absolutely cannot do any work with a headache. I can't even do the stuff I enjoy. Like listen to music, or use the computer.
But aside from my headache, I am also sneezing almost every other word because I am sick. Fun, I know.
This isn't a very exciting first post, and I don't really care, because I have a headache.
Yes, it ALL comes down to that.
That's because I get really bad headaches. (And migraines)
I have been frequently getting headaches since I was eight. Bet ya didn't know that either.
But, as of which, my head IS in an intense amount of pain and I want to go lay down.
Cause when I have a headache that basically means solitary confinement in cooler climate and dark room. Until it goes away. Otherwise I get nauseous. And I don't want to be by my computer if I get nauseous.