ENG001:Language and Writing

life through music

2007-12-10T13:09:00.001-06:00

The Beatles: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
The Beatles are widely famous. They are perhaps the most recognizable and influential band of the 20th Century. Not only have the influenced the musical world, but they have even infiltrated the film industry. Using their musical success, The Beatles were given several opportunities to translate their music to screen. One of their popular films is “Help”. This movie follows a mysterious cult that John, Paul, George, and Ringo get caught up in, and, at the same time, incorporate their widely famous songs from the album entitled the same as the movie.
I remember seeing this when I was quite a bit younger. Being young Beatles fans, my brother and I watched and listened to most anything related to The Beatles. For some reason this movie ran on television, though I have yet to see it ever broadcasted again, and my brother and I eagerly watched this movie with a crazy storyline of human sacrifice and a sacred ring that incorporated the Fab Four and their hit songs. These songs used in the movie were the first to be “imprinted” on my brain. I have never forgotten the opening lines of the title song “Help”, or various lines of the song that started with an enthusiastic “Hey! You’ve got to hide your love away…” Probably because of my young age and naïveté, the numerous drug and sexual references often flew over my head, and I was left with a childhood of catchy songs that colored my childhood in a certain way, and that I still remember to this day

Bob Dylan: Cross the Green Mountain
In 2003, a war movie came out. Not just any war movie, but a war movie about the American Civil War that had a length of about three hours. “Gods and Generals” was released when I was an eighth grader, and though this film is not your typical movie that all junior highers would rush out to go see, I was quite excited to see this film. My family was one of those that went on vacations to see battlefields and other historical sights, so I was brought up with an appreciation for history, especially American History. I was even taking American History at school during that year, and our study of the Civil War coincided with the release of the movie. I went to this movie, and though it was tremendously long, stayed not only awake, but interested throughout the entire movie.
The soundtrack to this movie was what you could expect from a war movie: sometimes sad and bittersweet, and at other times grandiose and victorious. The song that played over the credits, Cross the Green Mountain by Bob Dylan was especially poignant. I really couldn’t tell you what the lyrics of the song were, except for maybe the first few lines. I just remember sitting through this terrifically long movie that actually had an intermission, and tiredly laying in my seat in the movie theatre as if I had just gone through a marathon while Bob Dylan’s rough, yet melodic voice sang in the background.

The Verve: Bittersweet Symphony
Sometime there are songs that you hear only a few strains of, and that’s it. You don’t know who the artist or composer is, if there is even an entire song you are not hearing, or if there are even lyrics to the music. Sometimes it’s from a car commercial that uses a few seconds of a song to advertise their latest model. Other times it is because you only hear the last few seconds of a song on the radio, and the title is never revealed for some reason. This mystery can haunt and drive you crazy to figure out what that song was. That few seconds of music can stick in your mind like cement for years to come.
I remember hearing only about the first thirty seconds of a song that was being used on a short-lived PBS presentation that I watched some point in junior high. The strains of music that I heard were melodic and grand. The sophistication of the sound of violins and other stringed instruments was juxtaposed to the rhythm of a trap set that gave the song a modern feel to an otherwise classical song. I had no idea that this was an actual song. However, one day I was watching TV and the song that I thought did not exist apart from a thirty second piece of music was being played. From then one “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve has become a favorite song that conjures of memories of long gone junior high days that were fun, very awkward, and “bittersweet”.

John Williams: Battle of the Heroes
Sometimes, a movie comes along that you have to go see at midnight on opening night. When “Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith” was released, I like many other people around the country, waited in line for hours with our tickets that we had bought in advance, just waiting and anticipating what was to be viewed at midnight. I was a junior in high school, still awkward, but now more at peace with my awkwardness than I was in junior high. My friends and I got in line at four in the afternoon and waited eight hours to see the final piece to the saga. Like the rest of the movies in the series, the music plays a special and key part to setting the scene, the themes that everyone knows, and that have been carefully developed over the past 30 some years by John Williams.
The music has to be just right, and the music in the pivotal final battle between Anakin and Obi-wan Kenobi had to be the culmination to the “space opera”. It could have been a letdown, but John Williams did not disappoint. “Battle of the Heroes” ranks as one my favorite Star Wars themes along side “Duel of the Fates” featured in “Phantom Menace” and of course the theme to the films itself. However, “Battle of the Heroes” has a special place because it calls up specific memories of mine. Memories of having fun and wasting time while waiting in line with friends, of seeing the trailer for the first time, and of trying to stay awake the next day at school by talking with my friends about the movie itself.

The Flaming Lips: Do You Realize?
Generally, I don’t watch music videos. Unless someone recommends one or I hear that a music video is particularly interesting, I just don’t watch them. I never have. I have also found that watching the music video can alter the way you remember the particular song. A particular song might have some sort of significant meaning to you, because you associate it to a specific time or place in your life, but when you finally see the music video, it can change the way you can feel about the song.
For example, “Do You Realize?” by The Flaming Lips has been a favorite song of mine since I first heard it mid-way in high school. I recall listening to it numerous times while driving home from football practice in the late fall when the sun sets early and it the cold weather finally making its way in. The eerily melodic synthesizers would make my speakers shake as I drove over the gravel roads. I was certainly confused, but not surprised when I saw the music video and how it featured men in bunny rabbit costumes and a circus elephant with the blaring lights of what looks like Las Vegas in the background. Definitely a unique music video, and a music video that has nothing to do with my memories attached to the song. Sometimes personal point of view does not match up with the artist’s intent.

Coldplay: The Scientist
Coldplay has there own style. It’s somewhat generic, but it is theirs nonetheless. You can always identify a Coldplay song when you hear it. Usually there is a piano being played softly, and gradually the song builds to a climax to a barrage of varying instruments and melodies that combine usually to make a pleasant sounding piece of music. “The Scientist" is a good example of this. It begins with a simple minor chord progression that soon expands and then ends on a somewhat melancholic feel. The music video expands on the sad feeling of the music, showing the affects of a car accident by going backwards, which gives the video a very unique feel. At first the viewer is confused by what is happening, then it is made clear that everything is being “rewound”. However, the ending of the music video turns the “unique” music video into something more poignant.
Because of the simplicity of the song, like many Coldplay melodies, it is easily learned by the amateur piano player to play. In my choir class during my junior year of high school, it seems that I can recall very few days when one student or another would play the beginning chords to this song on the piano. Often he or she would begin like the song itself, soft and somber, and develop the melody to its peak before softening back down to the soft, simple chords that began the song.

Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan: Girl from the North Country
Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan are legends of music. Each of them paved a path in their particular genres that is still being emulated and copied today. In their duet, “Girl from the North Country” their voices, though very different, Cash’s is deep and gravely, and Dylan’s is lighter and rough, it forms a very distinctive piece of music. The story they sing about is of a girl living far away who is obviously of great importance to them.
I had a long drive in high school. It was at least twenty minutes, and in the winter, it got to be quite a bit longer, so I often had time to listen to a lot of music going to and from school. For some reason this song sticks in my mind. It brings back memories of that long drive specifically in the winter. The roads are icy, and though the landscape was often picturesque, I never could really pay attention to it because I had to obviously focus on the now very dangerous road and other drivers who might slide through an intersection. However, this song, with its lyrics of “howling winds” and “snowflake storms” brings back those drives through the ice and snow, over gravel roads and icy bridges.

Sufjan Stevens: Chicago
Sometimes there just isn’t a music video. There are a lot of great songs that don’t have one. I suppose this can be a good thing. This can let the listener make up his own mind about the song without being influenced by what might be a crappy music video, and sometimes the music video does not at all match up with your “version” of the song. Without a music video, the song can speak for itself, and you decide what you want to about it. Sufjan Stevens is an artist who very few “official” music videos. He has around six albums, which include humorous musical pieces, poignant melodies, and several Christmas songs. I was first introduced to his music by my brother and throughout high school I bought his albums and have replayed his songs numerous times.
“Chicago” is one of his more famous pieces. It is part of an album totally dedicated to the state of Illinois. This album his part of his project to make 50 albums dedicated to each of the 50 states. This song in particular brings back memories of the end of school. As opposed to “Girl from the North Country” that brings back memories of winter driving, this song, and entire album, brings back memories of the imminent beginning of summer, of free time, and sunny days without having to be inside a school building all day. There is an optimism that is paired with anxiety in the music that reflects what I felt those last few weeks of my senior year.

Free as a bird....

2007-11-18T22:31:00.000-06:00

I really never watched music videos. I still don’t. Perhaps it is because I didn’t watch many of them when I was younger, so that now I really have no interest in them. However, there are a few music videos that have caught my attention over the years. One of those videos being “Free as a Bird” by the Beatles.
For some reason, about eleven or twelve years ago, my older brother was going through a sort of “Beatles” craze and he was grabbing books, videos, documentaries, and basically any other sort of thing that had to do with that band. I had known who they were and was quite familiar with at least their most popular songs such as “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Yellow Submarine”, but I became much more acquainted with the band of the past through the influence of my brother. He began watching a VHS of The Beatles Anthology, a documentary detailing the history of the band. On that documentary was this music video.
This was the first music video that really struck me for some reason. The song is somewhat melancholy, yet not in a negative sort of way. It is a video that looks back at the past years with fondness for the good times and sadness over that bad times. It seems to be a mix of nostalgia for the past with contentment with the present. The Beatles are almost legendary, so it is a very peculiar thing to realize that the four guys were human with their own personalities, hopes, and faults. These mythic musicians were actually were now viewed from a different perspective, and this music video showed an interpretation of their vulnerability.

there there

2007-11-11T22:54:00.000-06:00

This is a weird music video. It really is. The way it is shot, the action that takes place, the special effects, pretty much everything. I first heard of Radiohead from my brother. When I was freshman in high school, he would drive us to school, and because he was the one driving, he was the one who chose the music we listened to. I hated that. He would pick “weird” music, and I would complain and nag that I hated it and so on. There was even a point where I just brought along my c.d. player to listen to so I wouldn’t be forced to listen to the stuff he was playing.
That was a long time ago it seems. I now have a great appreciation for his music, even to the degree that I now name many of the artists and songs he played as some of my favorite bands and songs. The transition was slow, but sure. I remember when I first saw this music video. We were at his friends house after school one day, and I was dragged along because he was my ride, so where he went, I had to go also. We were going to stay for just a “minute”, but that soon changed into two hours. When he showed me this music video, I was just humoring him so that we could hopefully leave soon. Now that I look at it again four years later, my opinion has completely changed. Not only do I like the music, but I guess I even have a fondness for it. It brings back so many memories. It brings back memories of that really awkward first year of high school. It brings back memories of driving that half hour to school at 7:30 in the morning. It was a simple time. Who would have guessed that a music video that I once despised now brings back to mind such great times and fond memories.

25 cents..

2007-11-08T18:02:00.001-06:00

When you think of commemorative coins, you might think of a late-night infomercial about some gold-plated silver dollar stamped with the seal of the United States, which can be yours for only 3 payments of $9.99 plus shipping and handling. Sometimes, these coins are collected and even handed down through generations. You don’t buy anything with these coins. However, there are some commemorative coins that you use all the time. These are the state commemorative quarters. These quarters first showed up in 1997, and every year for ten years, the government would mint five new quarters that would somehow represent each state. The process of choosing a design for the commemorative quarter started with several residents of the state submitting their designs for the quarter, and then the state government would vote on the final design.

Some states depicted scenes from history such as Washington crossing the Delaware, or the first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Other quarters depicted various objects that the particular state was known for, for example, the Tennessee quarter depicts several musical instruments to symbolize the state’s musical heritage, and the Wisconsin quarter is illustrated with various dairy products. Each different quarter is in itself an argument that announces to the rest of the United States what defines that particular state. Because of the limited space, the argument has to be simple and to the point. Chimney Rock has long been a symbol of Nebraska, and by depicting the iconic images of the famous, natural landmark along with a wagon of passing pioneers and the rising sun, the quarter then displays a myriad of meanings and values which represent the state of Nebraska.

The image itself employs mainly one rhetorical strategy, which is illustration. The landmark of Chimney Rock itself takes up a great portion of the quarter. This image is even inscribed with the name of the landmark at its base. Chimney Rock was used as a sort of a guidepost to pioneers making their way out west. Because of its significant height and its abnormal shape, it was a very recognizable landmark in a land that was for the most part very flat, which was called by most “The Great American Desert”. The importance of it seems a little obscure. It just was a tall rock formation. To the pioneers, though, it meant that they were nearing their destination. To the pioneers, it represented hope, and it signified that they were making progress.

As stated above, the images depicted on the quarter are “representative” of many ideals and principles that Nebraska as a state would want to be represented by. Therefore, the argument of this image is for the most part based on the ethos of the image. Logos is presented, such as the obvious use of a well-known landmark of the state and depicting the pioneers that first populated the state. Through the use of the logos, however, the ethos of the image comes through even clearer.

The images of Chimney Rock, the pioneers, and the rising sun are iconic images that have attached to them numerous and deep meanings. Chimney Rock represents a guidepost, an image that the pioneers would recognize as symbolic of their approach toward home. The pioneers are symbolic of the ideals of bravery through hardship, venturing into the unknown, and forging a new path. The rising sun depicted has often been representative of a new beginning and a new start.

The coin could have depicted Chimney Rock alone, but the artist decided to include the pioneers on their journey west as well, which by doing so, narrates a short and simple story. This addition adds a lot to the image. The pioneers are very important to the history of Nebraska. They were the ones who for the most part founded the state. What is more important, though, is that inclusion of the pioneers also gives a reminder of not only the literal pioneers themselves, but also the pioneer spirit that categorized them. They were going to a place they knew little about, and they still went forward despite the many dangers and hardships that they faced. This image conveys that spirit of bravery and determination, which Nebraska as a state often likes to associate itself with.

There is another part of the image, which could be overlooked, as it does not at first glance seem to bear much significance. That element is the sky, or more specifically, the sun. The artist could have depicted the scene differently, but for some reason, the sky takes up a great part of the scene, and in the sky near the horizon is the sun. The next question to answer is, is the sun setting or rising? Because the sun is situated behind the pioneers who are headed west, the answer must be that the sun is rising. Did the artist mean to have a rising sun? I have no idea. Does it have some significance? I would say yes. The rising sun in art often symbolizes a new beginning or a fresh start, a new day. By depicting the pioneers marching westward under a rising sun, this gives the picture an almost encouraging and bright feeling, a feeling of looking forward optimistically.

This commemorative coin shows a simple image of a famous Nebraskan landmark. However, the image conveys something much more than that. This image is quintessentially Nebraskan. It conveys in a small and confined space most of the values and ideals that Nebraska as a state wants to be known for. Like the raised torch of the Statue of Liberty was for dispossessed immigrants, the lone peak of Chimney Rock stands as a beacon of home and a new beginning, a sign for a better life. The artist is trying to convey the spirit of Nebraska through depicting something iconically Nebraskan. It’s simple, but the argument that the image is getting across is much deeper. It depicts a heroic resolve that is optimistic about its outcome, even in the face of the unknown.

2007-10-21T17:41:00.000-05:00

Apparently, Jesse James spent a lot of time in Nebraska. The famous outlaw evidently had many connections with the state. He traveled through Nebraska on several occasions, he had friends here, he even had family here, and even wanted to move to Nebraska when he had enough money to buy the land. I remember first hearing about this interesting fact when I was on vacation in Missouri with my family. One of the things we did on this particular family vacation is visit Jesse James’ childhood home. Really, it was nothing more than a log cabin with a few rooms. In the information building that was a short walk from the house itself, there was a display that housed various artifacts, pictures, and personal documents and letters. One of the letters was a letter that was sent by Jesse James to the Journal Star inquiring about buying several acres of land.
What I find interesting in all this is that for some reason we almost glorify this man who was basically nothing more than a regional outlaw who robbed banks and trains. So why is someone like this so popular and almost even looked up to? It seems that part of the reason is that he has become somewhat of a Robin Hood type figure, being a poor man who is revolting against his oppressors. For some reason, our society likes this type of image. Another popular image in recent years that seems to be akin is the image of the pirate. Because of such popular movies as “The Pirates of the Caribbean”, we have this romanticized version of people who in actual history were people who would be in jail today. Its an interesting irony that infamous people, such as Jesse James, are elevated to a legendary status when if we could evaluate them without the romanticized baggage that these characters often come with, we would probably be shocked to find normal, everyday burglars and bandits.

2007-10-14T20:53:00.000-05:00

I remember when I was little I had a toy cell phone. It was one of those now ancient looking machines that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie rather than something a person in normal society would use. Then my parents got their cell phones. These were not the gigantic phones like the toy, but they were still much bigger than what you want as a cell phone today. As the years progressed, they traded their phones in for the newer and better versions. When my older sister began driving my brother and me to school, she received her very own cell phone, and in the following years my brother received his and I received my very own cell phone. Like my own family, everyone around us seemed to have cell phones. Parents buy the newest and smallest cell phones for their thirteen year olds, and other men and women save up for the newest cell phone such as the new iPhone.
With everyone using cell phones, the normal land line phones are fading into antiquity it seems. Some families have given up entirely on their landlines in favor of just solely using cell phones as their means of communication to the outside world. It seems odd at first to think of giving up the normal phone system for the other, but it does make sense. The cell phone is quite practical and useful. You can have it anywhere. You can contact anyone at anytime of day. There’s no more need for searching for change to pay the charge to use a pay phone. These things that seemed to be almost timeless seem to be quickly fading into history. It seemed that something as simple as a normal telephone would be always here, a constant such as books and television. However, with the creation of new technologies these constants seem to be on shaky ground, and will probably soon just be example of past innovations that only belong in a museum.

Procrastinating....again

2007-10-10T23:11:00.000-05:00

I’ve been sitting at my computer for a couple of hours now. I’ve been putting off this essay, telling myself that I’ll start on it in a few minutes, but, as always, things keep getting in the way. This should be easy, right? So, I keep putting it off, but I might take a step or two toward completing this essay, but the steps are small and unnoticeable such as opening a blank Word document. I’ve always been a pretty bad procrastinator. When I was in junior high, I can remember several times when I was up until two in the morning working on a school project. I would just keep putting off, telling myself I had plenty of time, but, of course, the due date would approach very quickly and then I finally realize that the project is due the next day.
I figured, like all those many projects and papers, that this wouldn’t take that much time, and that I could easily hammer it out within an hour if not less. However, I find myself distracted by certain things: the TV, or a friend on IM who wants to talk, or the Internet itself. Meanwhile, I’m telling myself that I should really start this essay, that I should just get it done. I should do the smart thing and just shut the TV off and put off all distractions and just sit down and write. Things like that are great thoughts, but for some reason everything against me works against what I need to do. I tell myself that I’ll start right after this show, right after this conversation, I’ll quit in five minutes. But, I don’t start right after the show is done or after the conversation, and the five minutes soon turns in to 55 minutes and nothing is accomplished.

I hate shopping...

2007-10-07T17:08:00.000-05:00

I don’t like shopping. I have loathed it for as long as I can remember. I can recall having to run errands with my mom when I was little, going from store to store, slowly dieing of boredom. Even when it is to buy something for myself, I can’t help but feeling like I’m walking into a deathtrap. Every time I embark on a mission to buy something, I usually try to start out positive, but by the end, I’m so agitated by the whole situation that I can’t wait to get out of there. There’s something about the bright fluorescent lights, the long, tiled aisles, and the gigantic shelves that are filled with absolutely nothing you need. I just want to get in and get out. It doesn’t matter if it’s shopping for food or clothes, I want to get out of there as fast as I can.
Of course, there are different types of stores. There are the super, hyper, mega, warehouse stores that have wall to wall and floor to ceiling “stuff”. When you step inside you feel like you feel like you’ve been swallowed by the merchandise it self. Then there are the small and very intimate shops. These are very different from the mega-stores, but, honestly, these stores intimidate me even more. I always feel that I don’t belong, and that everything I do is being watched and scrutinized.
That seems to be view of shopping. Not too optimistic. However, there is one store I don’t mind going to: Barnes and Noble. Sure, right away you’re going to think: “Books? What a nerd!” Yes, it’s true, I do like books, but that’s not the only reason. The atmosphere of that bookstore is quite different from almost any store I’ve been to. It doesn’t fall into my stereotype of a normal store. It seems to has it’s own rules that are quite separate from the normal shopping center. It’s a safe haven from the chaos and insanity of the normal shopping experience.
I remember a long time ago when I first went to Barnes and Noble. I went after church on a Sunday with my family when it was a fairly new building. We had had lunch at Southpointe, and we decided to step inside and take a look. What I first noticed then, I still notice today when I walk inside: the smell. It’s quite a different smell from the normal smell of the cocktail of cleaning products or the smell of clothes or of differing items that normally overpower customers when the step inside a store. This smell is distinctly coffee based, but there’s something else to it. It is definitely not the same as walking into a Starbucks. Maybe it’s the smell of coffee added with the smell of new books. Somehow a smell is produced that can be described as “inviting”; quite different from the normal warehouse disinfectant normally encountered.
I have been to Barnes and Noble numerous times since that one Sunday. Sometimes to look for a new book that I had heard about, other times to buy a specific book for a class. Still other times I just want to browse through the stacks of books laying about on tables. The books are arranged in a peculiar way I’ve noticed. They books that are located on the shelves aren’t put away like you would put away books in your bookshelf at home. Some of the books are put away in the traditional way with the spine facing out. However, others are put away so that the cover is facing out. Of course this takes up more space than the traditional way, but this way, the books themselves seem so be saying, “Look at me! Pick me up and look at my cover! Scan my pages!” The tables located around the store, with their numerous stacked and scattered books seem to be saying the same thing. Quite different than the “Don’t touch the merchandise” mentality of most other stores.
This store seems to welcome loitering. They want you to spend time there, look around, sit down in one of the chairs and read even if you don’t intend to buy the book. The employees are always there to help, of course, but they don’t interrogate you when you walk in the door. I can’t recollect how many times I get pulled into a different store by some friends who want to just “look around” and right away an employee walks up and asks, “Can I help you with anything?” Of course the answer is the monotone: “No thanks. We’re just looking.” For some reason I can’t help but think they hate that response. I’m sure they’d like to just snap back, “We don’t need a bunch of people just standing around here. If you’re not going to buy something, then jus leave already!” However, the employees at Barnes and Noble are inclined to just leave you alone. They probably tend to think if you look like you’re browsing, you probably are.
Barnes and Noble is not an “in and out” kind of store. People walk around, not looking for anything in particular. Or if they are looking for something, they might just be looking for ideas, not a book to buy. For example, I remember seeing this guy stand at the same bookshelf for about twenty-five minutes. He would lean on the bookshelf looking for any title that caught his eye, then he would pick up an interesting title only to put it back moments later. Eventually he was even sitting in the aisle, reading a book that had interested him. Yet, this is okay at Barnes and Noble. Where else could you actually sit in the aisle of a store while making use of the merchandise and not be bothered by the employees?
In the café, the customers sit at the tables, drinking their various beverages and eating a muffin or piece of cake while minding their own business. One young man is sitting next to the wall, presumably doing homework while listening to his Ipod. In another area, two older women are knitting what looks to be a blanket while talking about some recent gossip or some other such subject. At another table, a mother reads a book to her daughter while the grandmother is reading a magazine and drinking a cup of coffee. Where else could you do this? Yes, you could say that this is in the café area, but the café area itself is seamlessly woven into the rest of the store. There is no dividing line between the two.
As I’ve shown, it’s obviously more than just a bookstore. It’s a place where you can come and just look around at the books, momentarily escaping from your every day life either by looking at the landscapes of Italy in one of the large, coffee table books, or by sitting down in one of the secluded chairs and reading a chapter or two of a book you just haven’t gotten around to reading yet. Sure, this might sound like a public service announcement advocating literacy, but that doesn’t make it less true.
I guess, lastly, I just have many good memories of that place. I can remember countless times of wasting time among the bookshelves after school. On other days, I would sit around with a couple of friends and talk about the future, complain about the present, and laugh about the past. I can remember sitting at the café with some friends, proof reading our literary analyses due for our high school English class only to end up getting off task, which only extends the whole process by several hours. Because this store itself seemingly never changes, those memories can almost stay frozen in time. The atmosphere of Barnes and Noble is very unusual. Maybe it’s the memories that color my view of the store. If it’s the memories or just the welcoming atmosphere that always stays the same, either way Barnes and Noble sets itself in a class of its own.

2007-09-23T18:13:00.000-05:00

At first look, this video seems to show a great touchdown by a high school team. In fact, if the only thing known about this particular game is from this video, we could guess that this team creamed the other team. We could surmise that the scoring team is far athletically superior to the other team. However, this is only twenty five seconds of video. It’s not even half a minute. So what really happened?
I was actually on the opposing team during this game. I was there. It was my senior years and I was watching from the sidelines. Why was I on the sidelines during my senior year? Was I injured? No. Was I just simply not on the punt team? Actually, I wasn’t on the punt team, but neither were the other players who were normally were on it. That only raises more questions. Why was the normal punt team on the sidelines, especially when it was nearing the end of the game? There is actually a simple answer to these questions.
The answer is: we were beating the other team so bad that the varsity team was pulled off to let the junior varsity in to have a chance at playing in a real game. We were beating them 54 to 26 with only about a minute or so to go. In fact this was the first and only time that I sat down on the bench on the sidelines. From just this video, it sure seems to be a very unlucky Friday the thirteenth for the Lincoln Christian Crusaders. The reality is it was quite the opposite. We were wining, by a lot. Sure this is an impressive play, but they’re playing against the J.V.! I suppose this just shows that context is actually important, and that 25 seconds of a football game doesn’t show a lot.

a bookstore

2007-09-19T15:45:00.000-05:00

I parked my car in the half filled parking lot as it started to rain. Various people in their raincoats and umbrellas quickly ran either inside or to their respective cars. As I opened the front doors and walked into Barnes and Noble, the smell of the place hit me instantly like it had numerous other times. It is definitely a distinct smell of coffee and new books, which somehow combine to actually make a pleasant scent. Different tables are set up in the middle of the central walkway, advertising the recent bestsellers or the newest works of certain authors while another table presents the books that are currently on sale.
Various customers slowly amble around the tables and bookshelves, some looking for a specific book while others are just browsing, looking at the books that catch their glances. Outside, the rain has turned into a downpour. The sound of thousands of buckets of water hit the roof, making it sound as if wave upon wave was crashing into the building itself. However, everyone seems to ignore the storm rampaging outside, turning rather to the current conversation they are engaged in or the book they are reading. One older man reads quietly in an aisle, but he is soon interrupted by a cell phone call. Another couple stand around the section of classic books ranging from Oliver Twist to Frankenstein.
The employees of the bookstore are at their various tasks. An older lady is helping a young woman find a specific book for what sounds like a Spanish class she is taking. Another woman is seemingly hidden behind the bookshelves in the chapter book section, shelving the newest arrivals of junior high literature. Another employee arrives, drenched from the downpour outside as her coworkers laugh at her now very soggy appearance. The rain, though, seems to have gone just as soon as it has come, and there even seems to be light shining from the west as the storm moves farther away.

Familiar... or not?

2007-09-16T17:22:00.000-05:00

I went back to my old high school this week with a slight apprehension. I was going there to return some things and to pick up my yearbook. I pulled into the parking lot in the early afternoon. The thing about LCS is that it’s quite a small school. My graduating class was a grand total of 43, and I had known all of them, most of them I had known since elementary school. Not only had I known my own class very well, I was also very well acquainted with almost everyone in the high school. Because of this, going in and leaving without being noticed was quite impossible.
However, I had arrived in the middle of a class period, so the halls were mainly abandoned except for a straggling junior higher or wandering senior who was in no hurry to get back to class. The last time I had been in this building the halls had been filled with familiar faces and the excitement of summer. Now the halls were marked with the sure signs that school was in session: posters promoting different colleges and academic programs, the signs on lockers of athletes encouraging them to win the game on Friday, and the floor strewn with various homework assignments and worksheets.
Basically, nothing had visibly changed. The classrooms were filled with students who I was familiar with but were now older than I had remembered and teachers who I had been under. The front office still had the same smiling secretaries I had passed by everyday. Nothing had changed. Or had it?
The bell rang and students filled the hallway in the same way students had done thousands of times before. This time, though, I noticed so many new faces. The teachers who came out of their classrooms to monitor the passing period were different. There were some familiar ones, but some I had never known before. I was like an alternate reality. Things were so familiar, yet everything was different. It’s shell remained the same, but it was altered enough to make it completely alien. Even though the building was exactly how I had remembered it, it had changed into a place that my classmates and I would no longer recognize.

Nebraska Farmers

2007-09-12T22:59:00.000-05:00

I have lived next to a farm my entire life. I’ve seen my uncle go through the fields in a combine. I’ve gotten lost in a field of corn. However, I’ve never given this farming thing a second thought. It seems simple, right? You plant, you let it grow, and then you harvest. You would think that having close family members involved in the business that I would actually know something about it, and I do know some things. I know the old saying about corn: “knee high by the fourth of July.” I know that rain is good. Really good. And that drought is really bad.
There’s another thing I learned from growing up around farmers: farmers are rarely optimistic. Whether its drought, plague, locusts, or any other sort of crop endangerment, farmers always have a lot to worry about. It seems that no matter how much rain there is, they still are worried about the outcome. There is some sense to this because the farmer is so dependent on uncontrollable forces that there is always something that could come up to greatly change the product. This year, though, with so much rain, the farmers are really optimistic about this years crop turn out.
At the Husker Harvest Days, a yearly get together of farmers from around Nebraska for farmers to look at the newest in farm equipment, apparently the biggest thing going around is not the newest combine, but, as Art Hovey reports, is the optimism. Living in a time when everyone is so pessimistic about the weather with global warming and things of that sort, it is actually encouraging to hear from those who are so dependent on the ever changing weather, that this year actually turned out better than normal. The crop looks abundant, the price of corn is high, and, for this year at least, the farmers seems to have a smile on their faces.

Post 2: The telephone

2007-09-09T17:50:00.000-05:00

It seems that we often take the mystery of the telephone for granted. Like most technologies that we grow up with, we accept them as if they were just as natural and normal as the act of speaking itself. However, to look at the telephone from the perspective of those people who were around at the telephone’s conception, this piece of everyday technology is quite interesting.
Before the telephone was the telegram. Before the telegram there was the simple act of writing letters and sending messages via the written word. Now we have cell phones, text messaging, and email that instantly send information from one point to another in what seems to be no time at all. All of these developments are a part of our society and culture, but, if viewed from the perspective of those living before these advancements, these inventions would seem like they have come out of an out of this world novel by some crazy writer.
The telephone seems like such a simple device. It transmits audio from one area to another. This seems so simple and even natural to those living today. Everyday we verbally communicate over small and great distances. We find nothing fantastical about speaking with a person who may be located on the opposite side of the globe. However, from those living around its debut, even from the perspective of the telephone’s inventor Alexander Graham Bell, being able to communicate from one room to another using this device was absolutely astounding.
As this technology changed and evolved, people kept being amazed at this piece or equipment. Soon people were being able to speak to each other from different parts of their town. Then after that, people were able to go to special booths to make long-distance calls, which had the best technology that could connect people who were many miles apart. From there, the telephone developed and changed shapes into the integral communication device that we are familiar with today.

Post I: Discourse Surrounding the Essay.

2007-09-03T14:12:00.000-05:00

“For me, the ideal essay is not an assignment, to be dispatched efficiently and intelligently, but an exploration, a questioning, an introspection…The facts are important, but never enough. An essay, for me, must go past the facts, an essay must travel and move. Even the facts of the essayist’s own history, the personal memoir, are insufficient alone.”
-Alan Lightman in “The Ideal Essay”

Often, it seems in an education setting the most important part of any piece of writing is the mechanics and the facts inside the essay itself. It is pounded into us and drilled into our minds every time a new assignment comes along. It seems interesting, though, that when we re-read these essays later we are surprised to hear how wooden and shallow the essays actually are. Lightman’s opinion is that the essay must go beyond mere recitation of the facts into some other realm entirely. The added ingredient, so Lightman seems to indicate, is the human element.
Without the human element, meaning that part of the essay usually described as “the voice”, the essay would never move out of the sphere of the likes of junior high book reports. It would definitely make the classification of what a “good” essay is much simpler if there was a uniform essay example, but, because there is as wide a variety of essays as there are people, the essay itself eludes any litmus test. Still, it seems for grading purposes, many junior high educators still apply this “standardized essay”. At first, the fact-ridden, ultra-rigid essay does seem to have its place in learning. It lays the foundation for what an essay is supposed to get across. You can’t explore, examine, or question if you can’t even communicate using the written word.
This way of learning, however, is very apt to backfire upon the writer. Because the grading system is based upon the mechanics and construction of the essay, most students will give just what is required. This ends up to be a piece of writing that ends up very rigid and hollow. The realization that the essay can be something far different from what is normally taught can have a very freeing effect, which, instead of replacing what was previously learned, can partner with it and utilize what was learned to produce of piece of writing that escapes the standard definition.

Test Post

2007-08-31T14:30:00.000-05:00

First post for ENG001, Section 7.