When is too mcuh not enough?

Play this while you read!!!


Government and Betrayal. These two words seperately form the themes for thousands of books, films, songs, and various other forms of storytelling and together form themes for thousands more. Although perhpas the idea of a government not being entirely honest or upstanding with its populace is not perhaps the most original idea to spark protests or even fictional tales, to me it seems within recent history the people have been demonstrating against or flat out demanding truth from thier leaders, elected or otherwise.
However, when I think about this particular idea in the context of the United States and our history it tryly makes me chuckle. As the man states in the above video, we have been relegated to simply choosing between two puppets with their strings tied to the same controlling hand. At the core of today's politics there is little to no TRUE difference between liberal or conservative, rebublican or democrat. What some on the right might consider the glory days of Regan's reign have long past and the new "republican" party has shifted from strict focus and drive on returing power to the states and shrinking the government, to spending money as if they could just print it (pun intended) and expanding the ever watchful eye of big brother washington (the place not the person). Sweet Land of Liberty



Now, where some of this political hair pulling between the parties can be written of as "politics", there are ocassions where I think most would agree our leaders have crossed the line. You probably think I'm gonna site a war for an example, and your right, but the fun is in guessing which one...

...Guess it yet? bet not...

okay, fine, it's World War the second. In Susan Griffin's A chourous of Stones she makes mention of a man named Israel Torres who fell victim to the testing of our contries first nuclear weapons. However, he was not alone. Being an officer in our armed forces he was given orders to march his men out to the testing site under the guise that what was really to happen was not going to be harmful. The very men he sacraficed for and dedicated his service too bluntly lied to his face. This is where the debate begins...

...Is the greater good a good enough reason?...





During the vietnam war and even after the withdrawl of troops, many believed that the only way to get the actions taken by the government to be that of there will was to demostrate and protest, in some ways violent and other not. This mentaltiy led to a great change in our culture which is still ongoing today. It even has given rise to a new debate for the modern generation...When is action taken not enough? when is it too much?...

Many believe that the current war in which we are partaking is wrong and we should simply pull the troops out as we did so many years ago. However, what displeases many of the mature is the lack of effective action taken to validate the beliefs in which these people supposedly hold.

...Have we learned from our past?

...What is inhibiting the supposed angry youth from vocing their concerns in a public and effective manner?



When philosophy is thrown into the mix the great questions become even more complex and intricate and thus taking longer to answer. As Aristotle implores us, if we are to strive for excellence in everything we do, then what is excellent about fighting our fellow man?

Is it morally acceptable to endanger or termanate the lives of a few, even a very few, for the sake of killing many more, all to serve the end of saving even more lives?

I think I need a day withS.P.A.

And that's all I have to say about that...

...for now!

This short film most obviously funtions as art due to the fact that 1) It is drawn and 2) it uses these drawings, strictly, to try and communicate somthing to the viewer including evoking some kind of emotion. The fucntion of this film as a metaphore comes in where it chooses to focus on the absurdly common and (Somewhat) everyday practice of walking. The film seems to link this activity to its abstract message, which to be completely honest I am not entirely sure I understand. My personal belief is that a central theme was that of Diversity due to the quickly flashing color changes and different types of drwings presented, though this is more my grasping at figurative straws of meaning than anything else.

One thing that can certainly be said though is that it does dehabitualize its activity of focus by visually reapeating it on the screen and by basically specifing a few distinct types of walks and the charachters they belong to. For instantce, we do not habitually see naked people walking around carefree. I know if I were naked I wouldn't have quite that thoughtless swagger in my step as that of a daydreamer.

Also, this film addtionally decontextualizes the activity of choice by creating a blank canvass upon which we can focus on specific aspects of the image or movement. However, I am not quite sure it accomplishes the same type of decontextualization that Joy Garnett's work does because were Garnett choses to crop and focus on part of an entire image, and then to blur the rest to really make the work almost somthing entirely new, this film dosen't seem to create a new way of "walking", but uses the action of the walk as a catalyst for viewing those doing the waking in a new way.

In the end, I think that this piece functions as art, or i should say modern art, more than anything else due t the fact that its obscurity certainly leaves it open to interpretation by its audiance.

Drama in Mass Media or: Why the Eagleman Commercials were Allowed to be Aired for So Long.

As you can see the "dramatic" commercial I chose for this blog was the classic and almost unforgettable EagleMan. However, not only for its humor but because it provides a very upfront, albeit barebones example of the dramtic structure in "mass" media (mass in quotes because it was a local Chicago commercial, in case ya didn't know). The driver's fortuanes abrubtly fall within a few seconds due to the crash, followed by her realization that she dosen't have any insurance to cover the damage. Never to fear, Eagleman flys in to lay down some low rates (right on the top of her car no less) to turn her fortunes once again for the better.

Although I'm sure this has Aristotle spinning in his grave, it does however meet all of his main points for dramatic structure, but it is no Oedipus Rex for sure. Additionally, it shows us as viewers that if even Eagleman can beincluded in the same conversation with Aristotle and Sophecles, then I'm sure the teams of professional writers mentioned in our reading can find ways to included it in their maga-million dollar national ad's.

What is Literature, Really?

From Shakespear to Shanely, Kant to Cosmo, or even Plato to Playboy people have began to wonder, and some not so recently, what really qualifies for that ever exclusive and prestigious club of "big L" literature. Is this blog literature? Is a myspace comment? what about a journal entry? Well, according to Barry Laga, these are all equal candidates in the race. Laga's theory is that for every past attempt to define literature there are documents out there that meet those requirements yet still are publicly held in a lower relm of the literart world.
Now although I do agree in part with this idea, I still hold as a personal belief that literature (excuse me, Literature) is somthing that goes beyond telling a pre-pubesent girl the ten secrets to drive men wild. "Big L" Literature is somthing that affects many people consitently on the same intellectual level, and although Cosmo may satisfy this as well I don't think it still matches the quality of let's say London's epic Call of the Wild.
One point that I think must be raised here is that thinking of literature in this reltivistic sense really leaves loopholes any time a solid, concrete, absolute definition is attempted. What I personally qualify as literature is not going consistantly going to match with the next person's list and I think that will apply no matter who sets down the laws of lit.
So, I guess on the whole I am really saying that although I think it is admirable to challenge the established definition with new ideas, I don't think I entirly understand the point since it seems to futile in the end. Then again, that's just my opinion and I could be entirly wrong.

Conditioning and Motovation

Are grades operant conditioners? If so, what are the ethical implications? Both valid questions to be discussed especially in what seems to be a generation that believes that there future is told in their report cards.
Firstly, though, before we can discuss weather or not grades fall under the category of operant conditoners, we must first know what they are. According to dictionary.com an operant is defined as: Of, relating to, or being a response that occurs spontaneously and is identified by its reinforcing or inhibiting effects. Thus if we look at grades being the response, it is logical to think that the reinforcing or inhibiting effect might be the behavior students exhibit to attain these grades. We students are taught almost from the instant we enter any educational institution that grades are the bottom line for us. These simple ink blotches on some specialized stationary determine the course of our lives from kindergarten through college, or so they want us to believe.
Rarely is it found, at least before college, one who dissents against this common knowledge of grades and actually values the knowledge they are endowing upon their students. These precious few do not just want to condition their pupils to keep pecking at every test life puts in their way in hopes that one more kernel of approval will be granted.
This is not even scratching the surface of what ethical implications this idea of grades as conditioners carries with it. Not only are many teachers across the contry failing to perform the most basic function of their job, to truly teach-that is, to pass on accumulated knowledge from the past unto the next genration in hopes of them building upon what has come before them-but molding socitial members of the future that are not truly prepared to deal with all the many challanges that life has to offer for which many times there is no grade gratification upon completion.
However, there is one way which we students who choose not to be another product of this educational assembly line can circumvent the system. This wepon in our metaphorical arsenol is to find our own personal motivation, that which drives us forward and pushes us to truly learn and aquire the knowlede which we seek. My personal motivators are my family and my dreams. As cliche as this may sound, my father was astrong influence in my life who constantly pushed me to do better and better until I consistantly did the best I could of my own accord. This mentality eventually led to me becoming aware of my own thirst for knowledge, and eventually to the realization that I perhaps one day would like to have a solid carrer in the arts, either in theater or film. I heard once long ago that if you have a job that you love doing, then you will never work a day in your life and took this proverb to heart. This motivates me to work hard now so as to relieve myself of unneeded fret and exertion in the future in a carrer I will possibly not even want.
Now in case the previous paragraphs were to much to read, here they are in summery. Are grades operant conditioners? yes. Our behavior is conditioned by being taught to continuously seek gratification from one form or another of grades, much like the famous psychologist and scientist B.F. Skinner and his pecking pigeons; the ethical implications of which are that we students are not truly being taught. Then finally I mentioned my personal motivation being simply that since I want the carrer of my choice I must make the right life choices now.