iMedia: Beirut "Nantes"

La Blogotheque is a really cool site that films take-away-shows on the streets of cities of some of the best bands. Below is an example of one of these shows. The song is "Nates" by Beirut-

Personally, I believe bands like this create a beautiful sound with the various instruments seen in the video. It shows that each person has musical talent. They challenge the status quo of todays music because much of the popular music today is altered by electronics in a studio whereas bands like Beirut, Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, The Morning Benders, Noah And The Whale, etc. are able to create a great organic sound.

I think it is important, that in order to keep music alive, we need to apprecaite the talent that is needed to create a song like this. Not only are the lyrics beautiful, but also each and ever musician has an incredible amount of knowlege in their field rather than having a voice that is altered by auto-tuning and such.

An Inconvenient Truth: The American Plutocracy

Last night, I watched the Michael Moore documentary, "Capitalism: A Love Story." This film really opened my eyes to the problems of our government and on Wall Street. At one point in the movie, our government is referred to as a "Plutocracy."  I looked up the definition because before watching the movie, I had never even heard the word. According to dictionary.com a plutocracy is:

"1. The rule or power of wealth or of the wealthy
2. A government or state in which the wealthy class rules.
3. A class or group ruling, or exercising power of influence by virtue of its wealth."

In the documentary, plutocracy is brought up when the bank, Citigroup's, international memo is leaked and they discuss how this method of governing is taking over and soon everyone else will not matter, as seen in the link below.

Citigroup International Memo

I know to really have an opinion on this I need to be more informed but I feel that a plutocracy cannot be a good way to form a government. What really bothers means that we are represented by a class that only takes up about 1% of our population. And this class is known for it's selfishness and greed. The rich will keep getting richer and the poor getting poorer. This is not an okay way to run the whole country.

The only way for me to comes to terms with this problem is by having the people revolt or have a revolution. The people need to know that this is not fair. I hope to continue to do more research on what is truly going on in this country.

Around Blogging

In the first blog I responded to Sammy B. discussed Sarah's Ted video topic of dissecting you fears. She did this in such a great way that people could really connect with her expirience. The next post I commented on, Duncan Q. writes about how thoughts and imagined expiriences can be just as emotional and stimulating as real life expiriences. Here are my comments to both:

"Sammy,
Remember when we were friends in the same second grade class with Mr. B? I like thinking about that.

But anyways, i know EXACTLY what you mean about a critical family. I can't watch T.V. with my mom anymore becuase of her comments...ugh..i dont even want to think about it.

This blog makes me so proud of you! I have heard that you are an amazing singer!! So dont be afraid please! Also, sing for me one day.

I'm in the same boat as you too. I am in choir, so in that sense, i have preformed in front of people, but Jamnesty was my first real preformance in front of people by myself and it was probably the best i've ever felt. I hope you felt the same way after conquering your fear at hip hop coffee house! dfjksfgd I'm really excited for you even if you dont preform in the future (but i hope you do).

Thanks for sharing Sammy, I enjoyed this."



"Yoyoyooo Dunk,
This is cool. I like this post. In issues today we even talked about how a great portion of our time is spent in other "worlds" in our mind and how our minds and bodies may not even know eachother very well because of how much time they spend apart. I dont know if i explained that well, but i hope you get it the gist (jist?).

There have been many times where imagining an expience has been more influencial in my life than "real" expiriences. I used to imagine scenerios of hanging out with people who are off in college where it was vertually impossible for me to communicate with them. By imagining expiriences, I would feel just as happy as if i had actually been with them.

I think this is a really cool idea. You should write a book on it."

Best of The Week: Life Before The Internet

One of the Do You Mind questions from this week asked us what we remembered about our lives before the internet. What I really enjoyed about this question was that instead of my mind traveling to the crazy, scary, super technological advanced future, it made me remember a calmer, happier time of my life.

I have this problem where I either block out or don't take time to remember my past. It's bad and I know I shouldn't block things out but it's become a habit. So anyways, this question brought me back to my very first house, living with just my dad, eating mac n' cheese in our living room, watching Happy Days. It's weird how many different emotions just this one question gives me.

In class I talked about Kid Pix, a computer game from my childhood, here's a little preview-

So what? Maybe it a little weird. But it was literally my life.

But even though all I talked about was Kid Pix, this question has made me remember some great times that I took for granted. Not only have I realized how important it is to appreciate the people around you and even the interests you have, but also, to remember the past.  

Best of the Week: The Mountain

So, I know the week isn't over yet and I apologize for jumping the gun a bit, but I'm worried that I won't have to to get this blog done so I'm doing it while I have time. I'm already assuming that my favorite thing this week will be "The Mountain" video.

I saw that this video is now on the homework page!! Yayyy! But, I'm upset because my computer is old and cant process the greatness of this video without staggering. So, I'm going to have to go to a friend's house soon (one who has a nice computer) and force them to watch it because I loved it so much.

I realize that although this it not really something that was "planned" for our class and some may say it served no purpose but I thought it was beautiful. All of these lanscapes forced me to appreciate the world we live in and love and cherish Earth so much. Not only were the lanscapes stunning, but so was the music. This piano piece was perfect for this video and really enhanced the expirience for me.

The internet is such a cool thing because it's nice to know that not only our class has taken the time to watch this video but also that billions of people have access to this.

The lanscapes that I ejoyed the most were the ones with all the stars in the sky. I know a lot of people who  have visited rural places and they always say things like, "I've never in my life seen so many stars!!!" and I always just assume its just like when I'm up at my lakehouse and I can see a decent amount of stars but those pictures where unbelievable. This video has inspired me to travel to places like Alaska, or the middle of Nevada, where I will be out in the open with the stars.

Anyways, it just made me happy. I needed something like this.

Bloggin' 'Round

I responded to Alex Friedrich's and Benjy Wax's posts. Alex talks about the movie Once and how it made her realize how many different individual lives and stories there are in the world. Benjy talks about meeting kids in gym class that you might never meet otherwise.

"Hey Alex! I'm happy that you listen to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova! Did I tell you that I went to one of their concerts last summer?

As for individual stories, I know exactly what you're talking about! Remember when we talked about this in the car the other day?! I didn't know you wrote a blog about it! haha, but anyways, I have been thinking about this a lot lately too, especially when i see airplanes. I get to windering where the people are going, coming from, what they're planning to do, and what they have done. It's fun to imagine and also mind-blowing to realize that there are sooo many different stories out there.

Also! When i get letters from Bradley University they talk about this too! I've gotten post cards with people's little "Bradley Stories." It's cute but its also cool to know that we can synthesize ideas from Once, your life, my life, Kairos, public transportation, college and much much more!"


"Benjy, I dont think i tell you enough how great you are. This is cool. And i agree. And it's interesting that even though gym is mandatory, you DO still get choices as to which type of gym you're in BUT even through that we situations that youre describing take pla ce. Last year, I took adventure ed 1 and 2 and weirdly, both classes became really close so i knew and talked to some of the kids i never would have even met otherwise. This year, first semester, i took aerobics, which was full of a bunch of girls that were too overwhelming for me to handle but nonetheless, I still met new people. Then i was in your weights class for two weeks. which i hates. and finally I'm in lifetime, which i would argue is the definition of what youre describing. It's just regular ol' gym class. And you meet the weirdest, coolest, funniest bunch of kids. I guess basically I'm just re-telling what you said in your blog but i just want you to know that i agree and it's really cool that you thought of this. You should write a book about it. or song. and we can do it for spring fling. see ya tomorrow benj."

Final Blog

I read Thinking In Pictures: My life With Autism by Temple Grandin.

After reading Marlee's entry about Where Good Ideas Come From, I have learned much about serendipidous ideas.

This can relate very well to Temple's life in many ways. The relation I thought of first was when people with autism hear something, they automatically think of a picture. They don't have to search through thier mind for a memory of some sort, but immediately an image appears. This, in many ways, could lead to a serendipidous idea. By seeing one image, it could lead to another, thus leading to a new idea. As Marlee quoted, “[Serendipity] completes a hunch, or opens up a door in the adjacent possible that you had overlooked.”  The door that Grandin may have opened could've been included in her work with the cattle.

Marlee also talks about Google requiring time for them to spend on their own projects. I think Grandin has spent time on her own, helping her think of new an innovating things. Granding talks about spending time alone working on her designs and drawings. Throughout her life, Temple Grandin and other autisic people have been the source of many good ideas.

LIT Circle Response

Hana Becker

Thinking In Pictures: My Life With Autism

Meeting 3/Pages 116-203

Summary:

In this section of our reading we learn much more about Grandin’s life with Autism. She tells us about the types of medications are available for people with autism as well as the types she took for her specific situation. Grandin also shared with us how people with autism have trouble handing social situations. Finally, we learn how Grandin, and many others with autism, can easily relate to animals.

Major Claim:

“I learned that I am what I do instead of what I feel. In my life I have replaced emotional complexity with intellectual complexity” (Grandin 162).

Response:

I have noticed that there is an underlying theme of emotions vs. logic in Thinking In Pictures. The quote above is one of many that emphasize it. Grandin says when she does not comprehend why people act on emotion rather than logic she must find a friend to act as a “translator” so she can fully understand (155). It is interesting for someone without autism to think about why this may be confusing. Grandin says she is “very attached to [her] projects and to certain places” rather than “relationships with certain people” (161).  This challenges the status quo because her and other autistics are thinking in very different ways than most people.

Captured Thought:

 

Last semester I had friends who took issues and answers. They would always talk about the quote, "There is no spoon"  from The Matrix but they never told me it was from The Matrix. All they would say is, "There is no Spoon!!" and move on.

This semester I'm taking issues and answers with the same teacher they had and we recently watched the scene from The Matrix that they were talking about (as seen below).

Because my friends had been talking about this seen for a while, I had a greater understanding of what it means. We finally discussed in class the difference between perceptions and reality. I had thought back to some moments when my friends had said "There is no spoon" and I could understand their humor.

 

It Matters: Gay Rights (Don't Ask, Don't Tell)

Third quarter is focused on challenging the status quo. One real world application that fits with this idea is the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy in the military. Gay Rights are something that I care deaply about and I was very happy to hear when this policy was appealed.

President Obama challenged the status quo when removing this policy. Gay people were not allowed to openly talk about their sexual orientation at all in the military and others were not allowed to ask if someone was gay. Hence, treating the gays unfairly even though they are willing/are doing the things that the other people are doing.

A change like this could help others become more tolerant of people who are different, especially gay people. As we have talked about in class, there have been homosexual and bisexual people forever. It is rediculous that they have been treated differently, or not given the same rights, as everyone else. Hopefully others will realize this and help create change.


http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dont-ask-dont-tell-senate-advances-repeal-ban-gays-military/story?id=12429640&page=2