It was... my last blog post.

So, it was a mess. The clashing sparks of several clans which lead themselves towards identical goals yet in vastly different manners, differences which were significant enough to draw these social lines between them.

The way we live now is, fundamentally, indiscernible from the way we lived before. Fixated on some superficial changes which we obsess with we seem to ignore that we haven't really changed. So we rattle on about political change when really, perhaps, redefining the idea of politics would be the best way to solve our problems. But that is far too scary a leap for people to make.

I hope that everyone is like me in their little upsets. Nobody follows any set of rules completely, and those that do are hardly alive at all. I always strive to break all the guidelines I could simply for the sake of breaking them. That's really just how i have fun.

However, no matter what I do I seem to think about the future and whether I'll regret or be disgusted by my own past actions or thoughts. Well, we all have our regretted years right?

I intentionally wrote this without erasing anything just to see what comes to mind first. Nothing really has any tangible meaning though I'll admit I definitely love breaking the rules. Really, each "stanza" is a small bit based on something I heard from the room of people around me that inspired me to write it, albeit, a little bit more obscured than the original conversation was.

See if you can figure it out I guess. The first was political, the second was philosophical (Walt Whitman inspired me there), the third is me hating on rules for no reason, and the fourth is based on someone I know who could stand to take a little more small risks in life.

Goodbye Blogger, I really hate your interface. Google, make this screen a little more night-friendly, its not like people are writing these in the middle of the day.

Walter Whiteman and Jessica Poem

Taking a look at Whitman's notebook
Looking at this scan of Whitman's notebook (maybe its just because of my terrible eye) but i can make out almost none of the writing. What i can seems to meaningless broken sentences only Whitman could put into context. What i did notice, and that i liked, was Whitman's doodles. His drawings were pretty good. I didn't really expect a writer to be a rather talented artist too. His portrayal of form and shading is pretty great. So what i gained from this scan of his notebook was actually a more encompassing view of Whitman as a person. I'm literally twenty minutes from his old home in Huntington Long Island and i still only just now learned that Whitman both, kept a journal, and was a fairly decent artist. While a cant make out much if any of his writings, i can certainly appreciate the talent he had with a pen.

Reading a "transcript" of Whitman's notebook
Well that certainly cleared a lot up for me. I really think i like Walt Whitman as a person but some of ideas were incredibly progressive for a notebook he wrote in at the end of the 19th century. I should specify, his religious ideas where he proposes simply imposing "new, third religions" are progressive even for today. I like that Whitman was so open minded and sought to answer even fundamental issues like the approach of religious views and how they impacted the politics he was also so invested in. His writing about his close encounter with Lincoln during his campaign trail and the proceeding fictional exchanges he wrote with Lincoln really showed what Whitman valued. Not just his fundamental interest in "Libertad" but also his respect for leaders and the fact that Liberty was an aspect that had outlived any political body or empire. For his casual notebook Whitman's writings were incredibly enjoyable to read. Certainly more comprehensive in his personal ideas then i expected when i tried to read through myself.

P.S. Wow, what are the chances that I finally get around to watching Breaking Bad, while were reading Walt Whitman, and I take a trip up to Long Island within a few minutes of Whitman's old home? Its kind of got my interest in him peaked.

The American Dreamed

What is the American Dream?

My definition of the American Dream, though i don't fully know where i got it, was a pretty simple cycle of life that we all aspire to fulfill as Americans. Grow up, get educated, get a job, get married, get a house and car, have kids, retire, and die. Essentially its a "fit the system" and "love this role" ideology that really serves to inspire normalcy in people. I never agreed with it since its such a hollow way to live, not changing your aspirations to defer from the norm in any way. I'm not sure where i got this notion though I'm sure it was through the media at some point in my life.

A lot of people define the American Dream as an aspiration to build from rags to riches and acquire "wealth" almost always being monetary wealth. Personally this is my definition of wealth as it is the American definition of wealth as well. Now there are many different ways to define wealth but in regards to the American Dream and its economic focus, this is how i would define it.

While i disagree with the economic notion of wealth it is apparent that American's view wealth as something to admire. Poverty is, while supported like a pitiful bottom to society through donations, seen as something undesirable and normally embarrassing. This is the whole of American society's view on poverty and wealth and doesn't necessarily reflect my own. Poverty is not something many people can control, most are likely born into it, while wealth is an equivalent birth-rite (this obviously has exceptions for both poverty and wealth). I honestly hate the divide between people that forms as a result of fiscal inequality and hate to label people based on their monetary ability. Though i do aspire to find myself economically sound in the future, i wouldn't be heartbroken if i had to move away and live my life in poverty, finding wealth in other forms.

How does translation change a text?

Translations: 
#1:As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

#2:Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.

#3:When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.

#4:One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.

Original: Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt.

My Analysis:

1)

• In this translation the diction worth noting the description of his dreams as uneasy, he found himself transformed, and he was a gigantic insect.
• The translator describes the scene "as" Samsa awoke, rather than in a chronological order.The translator also includes "in his bed" before stating giant insect.
• "gigantic""uneasy""transformed"
• nothing much other than word order in syntax
• none

2)

• diction worth noting change in: the author still uses the phrase uneasy dreams, uses the world giant bug.Uses the world changed instead of transformed.
• The shortest of all the translations, this one puts his awakening before the uneasy dreams.
• "uneasy""changed""giant""bug"
• shortest sentence of translation. Puts waking before uneasy dreams. 
• very to the point compared to others.

3)

• "Troubled dreams" "transformed in his bed into an enormous bug"
• The order of the events is like the first with his awakening from troubled dreams to find he had been transformed in his bed.
• "Troubled""Transformed""Enormous bug"
• longest translation, really explains each scene with rather powerful diction and the order of the scene is really captivating.
• none

4)

• "One morning" "agitated Dreams""transformed""monstrous vermin" very different and gruesome diction compared to the others.
• The most uniquely ordered of the translations, this one changes the order in which the scene is established to first establish both Sasma's dream awakening and his agitating dreams before actually  introducing Sasma himself.
• "Agitated""Transformed""Monstrous Vermin"
• Order of scene construction
• none.

How does the word choice, syntax, punctuation, and imagery shift in each affect meaning? Is one more effective than another? Why? What does this exercise bring up about the difficulty of reading translated texts? How do different translations effect the tone of the sentence?

In the given translations, the diction, imagery, and syntax have very profound effects on the way the author seems to portray the scene. The tone completely changes when describing Sasma's transformation as a vermin rather than a bug, or, as gigantic rather than enormous. In the case of  bug or insect vs vermin, the connotation the reader gets from both is rather obvious. While bugs arent something you want to become normally, they dont necessarily carry such a negative connotation to the extent that vermin does. The reader assumes here that Sasma has become some terrible or grotesque rat versus the potential fly or cockroach the other translations apply. For this reason a translation like the 4th would certainly accomplish a more negative conveying of the scene than the other three. The same principle applies the authors use of diction when describing the dreams that Sasma awoke from. Whether uneasy, troubled, or agitated, the meaning changes in all 3 translations. 

This exercise is rather revealing in regards to difficult with understanding translated texts. All 4 of the translations gave a varying image in my head as the reader , and thus, would likely change how i percieved the rest of the scenes to follow as well. While some were more negative, others seemed to be purely more terrifying. For example, while the 1st translation seems to be a simply unfortunate incident in a childrens book, the 4 carries a horrible meaning of crisis as if  Sasma may be in real trouble as a monstrous vermin. This completely changes the way the reader is imagining Sasma's transformation in their head and thus any following scenes involving this transformation would be percieved differencly as well.

Wow, the power of "lost in translation" i guess? Or atleast completely altered in translation.

(Thanks for reading ;)

My OC

Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9qyQw2cs8Vqb0hXVnlpbUJaOTg/view?usp=sharing
My annotations:
 https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0x2tMjhFdvZSW5yNFczSHRYVEV2UFJ2MzJ1aGM0Q2ZpbzJN/view?usp=sharing
Passage analyzed: 
BANQUO That, trusted home, might yet enkindle

   You unto the crown, besides the Thane of Cawdor.

  But ‘tis strange. And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,

  The instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with

  Honest trifles, to betray ’s          5

   In deepest consequence –         

  Cousins, a word, I pray you. [They step aside.]

MACBETH   [aside] Two truths are told as happy prologues to the

  Swelling act of the imperial theme. – I thank you, gentlemen.

  [Aside.] This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill,        10

  Cannot be good. If ill, why hath it given me earnest of

  Success commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor.

  If good, why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid

  Image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart

  Knock at my ribs against the use of nature? Present fears        15

  Are less than horrible imaginings. My thought, whose

  Murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of

  Man that function is smothered in surmise, and nothing is

  But what is not.

BANQUO   Look how our partner’s rapt.        20

MACBETH [aside] If chance will have me king, why, chance may

  Crown me

  Without my stir.

BANQUO    New honors come upon him, like our strange

  New garments, cleave not to their mold but with the aid of use.        25

MACBETH [aside] Come what come may, time and the hour runs

  Through the roughest day.

BANQUO   Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure.

MACBETH    Give me your favor. My dull brain was wrought with things

   Forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains are registered where        30

   Every day I turn the leaf to read them. Let us toward the king.

  [Aside to Banquo] Think upon what hath chanced, and at more time,

  The interim having weighed it, let us speak our free hearts each

  To other.

BANQUO   Very gladly.        35

MACBETH   Till then enough. – Come, friends.        

They exit.

How does the structure of this text provide clarity and context for the reader?

What major themes does this extract reveal, and how does it do so?

Criterion:

A -Knowledge and Understanding of the Text and Extract:7

B -Understanding of the Use and Effects of Literary Features:6

C -Organization:4

D -Language:3

Criterion Reasoning:
A- While i was rather knowledgeable of Macbeth as a whole, i was shaky of many details regarding the context within which Shakespeare wrote Macbeth. I think i developed the surrounding context within which Shakespeare wrote relatively well but nowhere near the extent i would desire.
B- While i understood and had many literary features to use in the development of Shakespeare's themes, I failed to connect them to how the audience would receive them.
C- My paper was well organized, though sometimes i faltered. Overall i stayed in line with what i had planned in the 20 minutes.
D- My language wasn't particularly diverse and i stuttered a lot with what i was saying. While coherent it had numerous flaws.

A freebie for Semester 2.

Might as well use it while i have it.

Slow TV: Why it's hilariously addictive.

https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_hellum_the_world_s_most_boring_television_and_why_it_s_hilariously_addictive

Analysis of Thomas Hellum's Slow TV TED Talk:


      In this TED talk, Thomas Hellum presents a current TV fad in Norway in which he played a role. He explains to his audience why Slow TV is interesting/addictive. Hellum starts by explaining how a D-Day invasion special that would last the whole of the invasions anniversary, transformed in a 7 hours long train ride broadcasted across Normandy. He explains how the idea was presented to the station and finally the set-up of this first Slow TV broadcast. The train ride lasted a whole of 7 hours and attracted an incredibly spike in viewers during the broadcast time. Hellum shows how social media played a role in bringing people together in their discussion of the train ride.
      After the train ride Hellum moves on to the main focus of his presentation where he explains why he believes Slow TV is so popular with the people in Norway. He begins to speak of the boat ride which would go from one end of Norway to the other. The course had been done countless times before and have even have the same Norway broadcasting channel on it in the past, however, this time would be a full viewing experience of over 1080 hours. Hellum showcases the setup behind this giant endeavor before he begins to break down why people gathered in such mass to view and see this ship sail across Normandy in a slow, and uneventful process.
On the Boat:
  1)  Hellum talks about how, with such a long and boring ride, people make their own stories. Theres an national appeal to seeing your own country and its people broadcasted across Normandy for 1080 hours. People came out to see themselves on TV and wave their Norwegian flag. The whole of the experience was nationally unifying, pulling over 20% of the Norwegian population to view the program at some point of its airing.
  2)  The emotional appeal of Slow TV was apparent too in Hellum's talk. He discusses how people would watch the coastal camera on board the boat, pointing out the concern showed on social media by some people when they witnessed a certain man on horseback fall off during the broadcast. Hellum also presents that Slow TV is emotionally calming because of its lack of story. No characters or plot, only calm and consistent images which allow the viewer to create their own stories at their own paces. "When people smile, it might be a good idea"  -Thomas Hellum (in this TED Talk)
     Soon Hellum moves on to discuss the other broadcasts done as Slow TV. From additional train rides during the 4 seasons, a knitting channel, and even the hours spent watching men in the woods cutting logs and then burning them for hours to follow. Overall, Hellum presents the experience of Slow TV being one that is driven by the viewer while maintaining emotionally calming an atmosphere.

One Final Point on Hellum's Talk: The scene of a barn on the coast and a cow on the shore.
In his final minutes Hellum shows a clip from the summer in which a coast line barn is shown for around half an hour. He discusses step by step how the viewer processes this rather boring image. He explains how it is emotionally soothing yet soon lets you make your own story. Aside from the national connection Slow TV brought to Norway, though both social media and social gatherings, Hellum explains how things like this scene allow the viewer to make their own personal perception of the video.

Over the course of his talk, Hellum explains the appeal of Slow TV with reference to its ability to bring together people, sooth emotions, and allow the viewer to create their own stories without being forced to watch a definitive story. He shows a variety of social media posts and TV coverage which support his conclusions on why Slow TV is so interesting yet so boring for its viewers. The variety of evidence he provides supports his emotional explanation (is the man who fell off the horse ok?).


     Personally, I've enjoyed things like Hellums Slow TV. While i cant think of any apparent examples on American TV. I can think of things like this that I'll put on for hours just to pass time and relax. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI__53kBBKM
I really ejoyed just the short clips Hellum showed and would honestly watch this channel given the opportunity. Even though he constantly refers to his Slow TV as boring I personally felt it would be incredibly interesting to watch or at the very least leave on for hours in a room while you work on something else. My favorite kind of entertainment is the kind that can be enjoyed in ambiance.