Tell Tale Heart

The tell tale heart is a story of a seemingly insane man (or woman) telling the story of how he or she murdered an old man.  I think that it is being told in court to a judge and jury, and the narrator is pleading for his or her sanity and reason for the murder.  The narrator is scared of "an evil eye"  that the old man posesses, and each night for a week plots to kill him.  Then he finally ups and does it.  But a neighbor hears the ruckuss and calls the police, who then arrive on the scene, to investigate.  When the police do arrive the narroator freaks out and gives himself away due to the alleged beating of the heart.  I think that the narrator is somewhat crazy, but overall sane, the beating of the heart could be the death watches, a type of beetle heard before in the walls, but murering someone because of an eye is a little crazy.

Kick the Can

It was a hot summer day sometime a few years ago.  I was with some of the kids in my neighborhood, Danny, John, Owen, Conley, and Wyatt.  We were all bored of playing hide and seek and tag, so we decided to frind a new game to play.  Danny, who had brought us all cans of Minute Maid Lemonade, suddenly had the idea of playing "Kick the Can."  Nobody had ever played it before, so we all took some time listening to the rules.  When we all understood it, Owen volunteered to be the person who was the tagger, and everbody else ran to hide.  Soon enough he coaught Conley, and she was put in the "jail" zone, which Owen tried defending, but he was overwhelmed and someone kicked the can, so Conley out, and this went on for hours; people getting in jail and then getting out.  Eventually, everyone but I got in jail, and if I wanted to get them all out, I had to kick the can.  So using strategy, I went around some houses to hide and then snuck up around back.  I then hid behind a tree, and waited until Owen had his back turned, and sprinted to the can!  I was halfway there, but then Owen saw me!  I had to arc around, but I still got to the can and kicked it before Owen tagged me, and I freed everybody.  We would play this game all summer, and played it for years, and it would sometimes end in watergun fights to cool everybody off.

A Whiter Shade of Pale

My isong is by Procol Harum, and was made in early 1967, which was soon to be called "the Summer of Love" and when hippies and psychedelia were at thier highest (haha, thats an accidental pun).  The meaning of the lyrics to my song are very complex.  The first few lines are about dancing somewhere, and then doing cartwheels, but it says they are on solid ground, but the the narrator is feeling seasick, which is one of the many paradoxes in this song.  The rest of the next lines eem to have ro correlation or meaning.  Finally the chorus seems to have the most meaning, and makes sense.  It goes, the miller told his tale, and her face just first ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale, so the millers story scared the girl, and her face turned even whiter than thought possible.  The rest of the song lyrics also seem to make no apparent sense and don't seem to have any specific order.  These lyrics also have the same randomness as in the first part of the song, so I think the lyrics are just nonsense lyrics, similar to The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carrol in Alice in Wonderland.  The band members probably did this on purpose, because this was a time where young people were rebelling against the norm, and tried to break from the establishment by having lyrics that make no sense, but still had a popular song. 

Life on the Reservation

Life on a Native American Reservation is very tough and unfair.  These reservations were set up in the mid-1800's by the Federal Government to remove Native Americans from the everyday life of "Normal" America, and were treated extremely unfairly.  The lifestyle on these reservations is compared to third World/ developing countries.  These reservations are primarily located in the western United States, where it is very hard to cultivate crops and many Native Americans had to comepletely change thier lifestiles from farming to ranching. Out of the nations 550 something tribes, there are only 310 reservations, so many have to share a reservation or don't even have one to live on  Some of the poorest counties in America are counties with Indian Reservations on them.  Ever since their founding in the 19th century, they have been poorly kept by the government and have little funding, and most living there rely on food stamps and other donations.  These reservations are still in terrible condition and many are left unkept, just like the one in Smoke Signals.

Propaganda 2011

In my opinion one major example of propaganda in the news this year has been all of the revolutions in Arab countries.  There has been a large amount of news coverage, and I think that newscasters put a little too much emphasis on the violence, even though there has been little.  Also there is emphasis on how the old regimes were U.S. allies, and the new regimes might not be good for America.  Also, the fear of non-U.S. allies forming the governments of these new countries seems perfect for the politicians and people who want the Patriot act renewed, (which is currently being debated in Congress) because when there is uncertainty, instability, and fear, some people would rather feel safe and secure, even if some personal privacy is invaded.

RAMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One reason I like watching Beat Street, is because it takes place in the mid to late 1980's, a time period when Hip-Hop and Rap were just evolving, with new artists like Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, Eric B. & Rakim, Young MC, Slick Rick, and N.W.A.  These Hip-Hop artists were so much better than the average rappers today (excluding Eminem, Kanye West, Jay-Z, and the select few good ones), because back then Hip-Hop was mainly political and from the heart, and brought up issues and problems in the lives of the poor living in bad conditions, and unfairness and racism that many had to deal with.  Also back then, MC's would make beats that were sampled form a multitude of songs, and then used great methods like scratching, and then all mashed together to make a catchy, widely popular sound, unlike today where many try to make their own, but they just aren't that good.  Hip-Hop artists also incorporated complex rhyme schemes into their music, so they could be taken seriously, and not just ignored, for example, in the song "Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy, Chuck D used a dactylic hexameter (a type of phrasing used in Homer's epic poems), and raps that Hip-Hop was a legitimate type of music, and was on the same level of complexity of Rock.  Because of these artists, rap today is a hugely sucessful and popular industry.  

Is Richard the only Hungry One?

I think that Richard isn't the only hungry person in this novel.  Richard is the hungriest by far, he is hungry for attention, knowledge, food, and in a way hungry for rebellion.  Richard immediately kills the cat when his father tells him so, and then tries to use the leverage that his father told him to, so he does not get in trouble, this is another example of how he is hungry for knowledge too, as he does not know what a dead cat will be like.  Then he tries to run away and leave the orphanage, and he doesn't want to have anything to do with the main caretaker. Also, quite literally his brother and mother are hungry.  I think that his brother is also hungry for attention, and his brother has a hunger for knowledge.  His mother is also hungry for attention, because she misses her husband and wants him to come back, and they are all hungry for love, which they lost a lot of when their father left them.  I think that his father is hungry for attention also, he tries to get his kids to be with him, but he will not support them if they are still living with there mother.  Overall there are various elements of hunger in this novel expressed by all of the characters.

American Journalists

This article was on how journalists are supposed to just report the facts without any bias at all or any other influences to their reporting.  This can be a real challenge to one's thoughts or ideas and to one's nationality and patriotism.  This was one factor in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, some reporters tried to stick with the no opinion standpoint, and were then battered by critics for not siding with the American people, which was not the reporters intentions at all, they were just misjudged, and taken the wrong way.  Personally, if I were a reporter, I would find if very hard to not put in my opinion to something like 9/11, which was a devastating and traumatic event, and I probably would put in my opinion.  Some reporters now have to worry about the outcome of what exactly they say now, because in this world, communication is international, and it could not be good if one criticizes a certain government or regime, because even though reporters are usually not targeted, they could be in danger in a certain government for what they say.  Being a reporter is probably a very exciting job, but it does come with risks.

Chief Seattle Speech

This speech/letter, written by Chief Seattle of the Suquamish Indians, was in response to a letter from the President to buy his lands for American settlers.  He says how can you sell something, like air and land, if you do not own it, and he makes many refrences to thier god, and the white man's god, and how the white man's god loves them, but punishes the Native Americans, so they can't be children of "that" god.  He goes on to say that every part of the world is sacred to the Native Americans and that they value all of it, and men cannot own the earth, it owns them.  He is saying that putting a price on land isn't right, and that everybody should live in peace, but then goes on to say how the white man is always being violent, and that they will destroy everything sacred to the Native Americans, and that it will be the end of living for them, and the beginning of survival.  He then goes on to say when the last Indian dies, will there be any more memories of his people and traditions.  He then goes on to say if they sell the land, love it and don't ruin it and deface it, because it is sacred to the white man too.  He then ends the passage by saying that all men are brothers.  This passage is mainly a critique of Americans taking land, and just throwing the Indians aside, and not caring about them.  I found this passage very deep, and shows that our anscestors were very inconsiderate of Native American lands and traditions.