Q4: Post #6

For this outside reading i am going to talk about Persepholis the graphic novel. It is told by a young girl during the Iranian revolution. I am about half way through the book, and so far I would say it is okay. It is a pretty interesting novel but I don't really find my self liking any of the characters. Pretty much none of them have a mind of their own, even the protesters aren't very independently thinking. It is sad that a people can oust a government and then let an even more oppressive government take control. Also I don't really like the art that much. In comparison to other graphic novels I have read so far it doesn't even come close to a comparison. It is just unfair to compare it to Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and 300. All of which I thought had much better characters, stories, and art. Overall though Persepholis is still a very good novel. It is interesting how the author could write it like she was still ten. I also liked how she thought she was a prophet in the beginning, I thought that was funny.

Q4: Post #5

Since we are still doing a lot of choice book stuff I'm going to do this post about SlaughterHouse-Five which I have now finished. First off I thought it was excellent, I loved how Vonnegut told us how it began and ended in the first chapter, it makes me think of how time is presented in the novel. For my group project I did the scene music portion, so it got me thinking what other songs would I use in the rest of the film? For my project I did "Soldier Side" by System of a Down which I would put during the investigation of Dresden. But I knew there had to be other songs in the film so I thought of a few others. I would put "All these things that I've Done" by The Killers when Billy fully assembles his ridiculous outfit during the war, because he gets ridiculed for wearing the outfit and it reminds me of the lines "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier." During the bombing of Dresden I would put "The Blitz, 1940" by Harry Gregson-Williams because it was written to reflect the bombing of Britain which would have been very similar to that of Dresden, since both were targeting civilians. Another song I would use would be "The General" by Dispatch not necessarily in a specific part but because the general in the song sees the war through time travels in his dreams like Billy. Also like Billy he reflects on war very negatively.

Q4: Post #4

For this outside reading I am going to talk about SlaughterHouse-Five instead of I am the Messenger. SlaughterHouse-Five is about a man named Billy Pilgrim who gets removed from time, so that he can see all of time in one greater picture. Also he can time travel which is what happens throughout the book. In the book he goes to an alien planet, experiences the bombing of Dresden, and even experiences death after his assassination. Although I am not quiet done I am close enough to offer an opinion on the book. So far I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The novel has an excellent message that speaks out against war, from a time when it wasn't always easy to do so. I also really like the view on time that it offers on time. It is curiously similar to how Dr. Manhatten from Watchmen sees time. Perhaps Alan Moore had some inspiration from an outside source? I liked that Vonnegut never missed a time to use "So it Goes." Even in the beginning when we didn't know what it meant he still said it. Also I liked how Billy new about his own assassination and did nothing about it, because he knows how time works.

Q4: Post #3

Ed ends up firing the gun into the air. He lets the man go. You find out later that he left town, and probably isn't coming back. After this event Ed has finished the card, so he is visited by two hooded men who give him a new card. On the card it says say a prayer at the stones of home. Ed is very confused by this but eventually a man gets in his cab, and makes him drive to a place where he hung out with his brother when he was a kid. It was their secret place so no one was supposed to know that they went there. At the place there were three names carved into a stone. These names were Ed's newest assignments. It is interesting to think about how the card deliverer would know about the stones of home if it was supposed to be a secret. This leads one to believe that the deliverer may have talked to his brother, but Ed calls his brother to ask if he has told anyone about the spot and he says no. Puzzling indeed. I think that there will again be two people that will be a pleasent experience and one that is a very hard challenge.

Q4: Post #2

Ed got the first ace (the Ace of Diamonds) in the mail. It had three locations written on it, each with a time. The first location was at a run-down house where a women was being sexually assaulted by her husband. Ed realizes he has to help her, but he is scarred of the husband so he decides to go to the other places. The next location has a lonely old women. Ed befriends her by going to her house for dinner a few times every week. The third location has an extremely shy girl who runs every morning barefoot. Ed gives her confidence by convincing her to run barefoot in her races. Ed then goes back to the first house but still can't muster the courage to stop the man. So a few days later he finds a gun in his mailbox with a single bullet in it. After worrying for a few more days Ed devises a plan and ends up drugging the man, bringing him out to an old church, and shooting him. That is when the first part of the book ends, and so far it is really exciting. I can't stop wondering who is sending the cards. The way that Ed has to workout how he needs to help the different people is brilliant. Also the internal battle before Ed pulls the trigger and when he finally does is electric. You have no idea wether he will do it or not, its an incredibly tense scene with an explosive ending.

Q4: Blog 1

Since this is the first post I will provide a brief introduction to the book that I will be reading. It is called I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. Basically it about an underage cab driver named Ed, who one day stops a bank robbery. Shortly after he receives a card in the mail that tells him to go places. Also he is in love with his best friend. That's all that has happened so far. I am enjoying it because I like the main character. He is well developed and easy to relate to. I am not far into the book and many of Ed's character traits are already well defined. Also I like the mystery element to the novel. Although you know the cards are connected to the robbery you don't know how. There was only one bank robber, and he is in jail. Also the significance behind the cards is puzzling. So far the only thing we know is that his friends and him play cards all the time so the sender could have known that, but if that was it that would be kinda disappointing. Also he was sent the Ace of Diamonds which seems to set it up for the delivery of the other three aces.

Q3 Blog #15 final outside reading post of the Q

This post had to be about someone overcoming odds, so I decided to talk about the movie In the Name of the Father. In the Name of the Father is about an Irish father and son who were wrongly convicted by the British government of bombing a pub where many British soldiers went. The main character is sentenced to life but he overcomes odds and gets out after many years. Unfortunately his father died in prison, but his son clears their name. This movie was based on a true story which to this day shakes the foundation of the British legal system. The father and son were easy scapegoats for the bombing because they were Irish. The case also included several other Irishmen and woman who were also wrongly convicted. The convicted were tortured physically and mentally, basically forcing them to confess to a crime they did not commit. Also evidence was illegally kept from the defendants attorney so that they could not win the case. It amazes me that this story actually happened. It is incredible to think that a government would actually wrongly convict someone just to "close the books" on a case. It is like catching the real perpetrators isn't important, its just about PR. They would just cast away peoples lives because they know they can get away with it because they have an easy scapegoat, in this case the a couple of Irish. In the Name of the Father is a powerful film that I would recommend to anyone, it is certainly one of my favorites.

Q3 Blog #14- alternate X.C. assignment

For this blog my group has decided to do the alternate assignment which is to blog about our topic. Before I must express my disappointment about not getting to blog about this weeks normal topic which was love. Only because I thought I had a good idea. I was going to blog about a song thus making music a new form of "text" to be blogged about. Unfortunately I could not do this early because not many songs I have heard relate to things like colonization and gender roles. Anyway oh well I guess I wait until the next good topic. However for this blog I will write about the article "The Scramble for Africa" that Sam posted on his blog. Africa was the most largely colonized continent in the world. It went from only a couple of its countries being under foreign control to all but two. Ethiopia was free because they succeeded in fighting off the Italians, and Libya was free because of its ties to the U.S. Today none of the european powers hold any of these colonies. Unfortuanately the effects of the european colonies is still felt today. The poorly drawn european borders have plunged the continent into war and violence. It also didn't help that the europeans took much of Africa's natural resources and exported them. It turns out that none of the African colonies ended up being profitable because of the money the europeans had to spend for keeping order and fighting revolutions.

klein, sam. "scramble for africa." wikipedia. 16 feb 2009. wikipedia. 17 Mar 2009 .

Q3 Blog #13

This outside reading is supposed to be about a text about war. So I read an article in the L.A. Times called "West Bank Shooting Kills 2 Israeli Police." Although Israel is not currently at war but that area of the globe has been torn by war since humans settled there. Recently however formal war is not under war, but it is things like police shootings that can pull it back into war. That is why this is an important article. An event like this could be a small spark to set off another war. Of course the underlining cause is religion. It disturbs me that people can be so blinded by religion that they could wish death on millions of people who don't belive the same thing as them. If it weren't for religion no one would care were a guy named Moses or Jesus or Muhammad stood. They certainly wouldn't shoot each other to own it. Think of all the people who have lost there lives because of religion. Religion is stunting the growth of human kind so we must be rid of it. Then again what would we have left to kill each other over?

Boudreaux, Richard. "West Bank Shooting Kills 2 Israeli Police." The L.A. Times. March 15, 2009. March 15, 2009.

Q3 Blog #12

This outside reading was supposed to be about imperialism or colonization. So I decided to write about the movie Zulu. Zulu is about the British trying to colonize Africa. The mighty Zulu tribe stands up to them and tries to fend them off. The main story focuses on a small British fort that undergoes multiple Zulu attacks. You watch as hundreds of Zulus are cut down by the British breach loading rifles. Several Zulu attacks are broken by the defenders. It was a good movie, but I didn't like how the British were the heroes. Instead of showing the Zulu as people defending their homeland they were shown as savages that must be rid of. The British are the real villains but instead they are shown as heroes. The film gathers sympathy for the British by showing brutal killings of the main character's friends, and directs hate towards the Zulu by way of the same tool. I think it would have been better to show the struggle of the Zulu in fighting off the British from their homeland.

Q3 Blog #11

For this outside reading we were supposed to find a text about a global issue. So I read an article on The New York Times website about international economic problems. The article is called Appeal of the Dollar Adds to Woes of Ailing Nations by Peter S. Goodman. It talks about how due to recent economic troubles investors are investing in less risky endeavors. This makes it harder for entrepreneurs in poorer nations to raise money. This article shows the great effects that the U.S. economy has on the rest of the world. As it has been said when the U.S. sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold. Foreign investment has dropped significantly in recent years. This drop is causing a profound effect on other nations. They are hitting even worse times than we are. This article shows the huge effect the U.S. economy has on that of other nations. As it has been said the U.S. sneezes and the rest of the world catches a cold. It is important not to forget that we are not the only ones struggling in the world.

Goodman, Peter S. "Appeal of the Dollar Adds to Woes of Ailing Nations." The New York Times. 3/15/2009. 3/15/2009. .

Q3 Blog #10

This blog post was supposed to be about holidays. So I decided to blog about a hilarious Onion podcast I watched, that I downloaded from itunes. It was four people discussing the meaning of Halloween. They were all very disappointed about how many Americans had lost sight of what it was really about, which is of course protecting virgin souls from demonic spirits. I though it was a very funny and very clever joke on when people talk about America loosing sight of the meaning of Christmas. I thought it was funny because both were originally pagan holidays but because of Christianity ties to Christmas people care when we change the meaning of Christmas, but no one cares about the meaning of Halloween. honestly I enjoy what Halloween and Christmas have become, because they fit right into my purpose for them, which is to have fun and relax. It really bugs me when people complain about the meaning of Christmas being lost in the marketing machine and then go out and buy tons of presents. I mean the hypocrisy is astounding.

Q3 Blog #9

This text was supposed to be about Bollywood, but we had the option to switch this one with the one on last Wednesday. So now this text is supposed to be about any aspect of a culture other than your own. So I decided to watch the show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. For this episode Bourdain held a competition for people to send in videos about themselves and the place they wanted Bourdain to do a show in. The prize was he would do a show at their place of chose and they would get to go with him. He ended up choosing a girl from Saudi-Arabia. He decided to go to Saudi-Arabia because he decided it was probably the place he would least want to go to, because of all of the misconceptions he knew he had. He wanted to prove to himself and the rest of the western world that these misconceptions were wrong. I think he made the right choice, because he got to explore the Saudi-Arabian culture which turned out to be much more exciting than he thought it would be. I thought it was very interesting that they have family sections, and single men sections in their resteraunts. This was interesting to me because of what the Saudi girl that had won said about it. She ssaid it was more like segregating the men instead of the women. The show certainly showed me a much more true picture of Saudi culture than I had previously known. I think the show was a very valuable look into Saudi culture.

"Saudi Arabia." Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. Travel Channel.

Q3 Blog #8

For this blog post we had the option of switching the culture and Bollywood blogs. So I decided to do the bollywood blog and talk about Bride and Prejudice. So far it has been pretty interesting. I have not really enjoyed any of the recent musical numbers, but the first two were very entertaining. And that is just it, that is what bollywood movies are, entertaining. They are created just to entertain you while you pass the time. They don't really send any deep messages, and they certainly don't make you think. They just play on basic human characteristics like curiousity and our love for drama to keep us entertained. Also there is a certain comfort in knowing exactly what you can excpect from a bollywood movie. You know there is going to be musical numbers, love triangles, comedy, and drama. Overall Bollywood movies are fun, but don't really mean anything.

Q3 Blog #7

This outside reading had to be about change, so I decided to write about the book that I am reading. I am reading Diary by Chuck Palahniuk, which I talked about last time. In the book there is much change mostly centered around the island. The island used to be a beautiful secluded place which was only inhabited by the native families. Now in the novel the mainland shoreline is being highly developed so now the island is densily packed withrich tourists buying summer homes. It is much like the village in Nectar in a Sieve, where it is secluded and only an indian village. After the tannery is built it becomes a crowded town with both indian's and white people. Both of these novels shows the effects that outside sources can have on otherwise undiscovered places. Both of the places changed greatly when they were touched by their outside forces.

Q3 Blog #6

For this outside reading we were supposed to find a text relating to hope. So I decided to write about the current book that I am reading. It is call Diary by Chuck Palahniuk. It is about a woman who was going to be an artist but then got married, and had a child. Her husband then tried to kill himself and is now in a coma. She is just now (which is about 130 pages into the book) getting back into art. Up until now hope has not been a central theme, but instead the lack there of. Now hope has begun to show itself in the form of Misty (the main character) picking painting back up. Although her health is diminishing she feels perfectly well while painting. Also they have become very poor, but she is already getting large offers of money for her paintings. Oddly though she is not selling them because she says that they are her clues to a larger picture so she needs to keep them for her greatest work. This kind of confuses me, but hopefuly it will turn out in a really crazy interesting Palahniuk style twist.

Palahniuk, Chuck. Diary. New York, NY. Anchor Books. 2003.

Q3 Blog #5

This outside reading was supposed to be about religion in some way shape or form. I decided to talk about an article I read about the movie Religulous. The article was from the Rolling Stone website. It said that Religulous was very funny but also took a very serious stance on questioning the blind faith of many people within every religion. The film tries to expose this blind faith as dangerous, because it can spark conflict such as wars. This of course is a perfectly valid point, one need only look back on history to prove it. From the crusades to the French wars of religion to much of the conflict in the middle east (although certainly not all of it, because a large part of that is our fault) organized religion has been a large source of bigotry, hatred, and war. I plan on renting the film so that I can see in full what it has to say.

"Religulous." Rolling Stone. Fecruary 15 2009. .

Q3 Blog #4

For this outside reading which was about gender roles I read Declaration of the Rights of Women by Olympe de Gouge written 1791, during the enlightenment. It was a response to Declaration of the Rights of Man written during the same time. An obvious reason for the response was of course the obvious wording of Man. The author did actually mean these rights were mostly just for men. De Gouge called for reform to Rousseau's idea of "separate spheres" for men and women, which was widely excepted. This idea said that the only area in which women were superior or even equal was emotion. De Gouge of course had reason to complain, for as is now accepted women are equal in all aspects to men. One right that De Gouge calls for is the right to divorce your husband. A right that had been previously denied, and was causing many women to be shackled to abusive husbands. The gender roles of the enlightenment were clearly very different from that of ours today.

"De Gouge, Olympe." Modern History Sourcebook. February 10 2009. August 1997.

Q3 Blog #3

This outside reading was supposed to be about any aspect of a culture different from your own. So I read a book with a bunch of Irish jokes, stories, and proverbs. The book had a bunch of pretty witty jokes. For example one features a man who wears a pair of not matching socks, when questioned about them he says that he has a pair just like them at home. There are also a bunch of great stories, many of which have to do with the different fairies. Most of the fairies are very mischievous much like Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. The stories in the book describe a rich Irish culture centered around much folklore. This can be proven by the example of the Irish language, or Gaelic. Irish is a beautiful language which is made to flow seamlessly while telling stories. The book certainly describes this type of language.

Q3 Blog #2

This blog is supposed to be about someone overcoming struggle or facing a difficulty so I decided to write about the book Diary difficulty. Her husband tried to kill himself but instead put himself into a coma. She now has to pay his hospital bills. She is a forty year old by Chuck Palahniuk. In the story the main character faces muchalcoholic who works as a waitress. She has to support her daughter and mother-in-law. On top of it she finds out that her carpenter husband was writing threatening messages in closed off rooms in the houses that he remodeled. It is clear that she faces many difficulties. So far she has not been able to solve these problems. Her mother-in-law believes that if she starts to paint again she can earn a lot of money. She on the other hand does not believe this. The author shows that the main character has given up all hope while facing her problems, she is content to never recognize her dreams of painting. She is okay with her job which she hates. I believe that later she will be inspired to paint again and overcome her struggles.

Quarter #3 Outside Reading #1

This outside reading was supposed to be about natural disasters, so I've decided to talk about the ice storms in Kentucky, Arkansas, and Tennessee. The article I read mainly focuses on faith based orginizations providing relief. I didn't particularly like the article. I don't think it was terribly informative. It didn't really seem to talk too much about the actual storms, and instead about the relief. All it said was that they were the worst in history, and that many people are without power. I want to know why it was so bad, and maby a small summarization about ice storms, because I wasn't aware of them happening down there. Overall I do not think that it was an effecttive article.

Skillington, Jim. "Ky. ice storm called worst in history." Disaster News Network. February 1, 2009. February 1, 2009. .

Outside Reading #25

For this outside reading I read through the book The Greatest Movies Ever. I was happy to see that for once Citizen Kane was not ranked number one, but instead number two. In its place was The Godfather which I found to be a fitting replacement. However I was disappointed to see that Pulp Fiction was only number 99. Also there were to many Spielberg movies, I mean six movies is just too much. They're just not all that good. Why not just throw Duel up there with them? Besides criticizing Pulp Fiction for just being a pop culture icon and then putting Jaws at number 65 is ridiculous. I was however happy to find Taxi Driver at number 15. Overall its a pretty cool book that's definitely worth checking out.

Outside Reading #24

For this outside reading I have started reading Diary by Chuck Palahniuk. It is about a Misty, a woman who was really good at art, and wanted to become an artist. She instead married a man who put himself into a comma after writing death wishes all over the insides of houses he remodeled. Misty now works a terrible job at a resteraunt on an island that is a huge tourist attraction. She abuses alcohol, and medication. Misty has rented her house to a rich man who had his house remodeled by Misty's husband. All and all it seems like it will be a very interesting book.

Outside Reading #24

I am still reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland follows, and this is no exception. Johnny so I would like to address the possibility of Tim Burton remaking this excellent book as a movie. Personally I am not thrilled. Although I am a fan of Burton's I do not think he will portray the book how it was written. I believe the book to be a fanciful tale of nonsense, but he will most likely make it dark and gloomy. Of course wherever Tim Burton is Johnny Depp is sure to follow. Depp will be cast as the mad hatter. Personally I don't see it. Yes Depp has had experience slightly mad characters in the past, but I simply do not want to recognize the faces of the inhabitants of wonderland, it's supposed to be new. In the end I just don't want this to become the next typical Burton Depp collaboration.

Outside Reading #24

I started Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and it is really good. It is absolute nonsense, but it is so witty and just flat out funny that I can't stop reading it. I love the ways in which it plays with words to make fun of the flaws in the English language. I also love how it jests at English manors and schooling. I just read the chapter A Mad Tea Party and it is one of my favorite chapters of any book I have ever read. The madness of the party participants being stuck at the tea party is absolutely wild, but at the same time incredibly fascinating.

Outside Reading #23

I finished reading Fight Club and it was really good. I would say it is my second favorite Chuck P book, next to Rant. I also watched the movie, which was surprisingly different. I t was like they had kept only the base idea and the focus but shifted all of the important scenes. For example the main character beats himself up to make his boss at his waiting job pay him salaries without having him work. In the movie he does this with his boss at the office. Also at the end of the movie only Marla comes to help him instead of all of the people from the support groups. One really interesting thing about the book is that chapter six is the short story that he wrote originaly which then became Fight Club.