Blog Assignment #4

WALL-E LA VIE EN ROSE SCENE:

This a scene filled with amazing sounds. It would have to be if we can understand exactly the love story it is successfully setting up when all we can here is systematic beeps for dialogue!

That is what makes the scene unique in it’s use of casual and semantic sounds. The literal sound of the metal that makes up Wall-e rustling around, or chattering in fright reminds us of what he literally is: a robot. The semantic sounds, or his and Eva’s beeps or electronic hums represent a language similar to ours, one we can understand, and we help to understand what Wall-e essentially is: a man in love.

Elements within the Gestalt Principal are also used. By conflict within the sounds that Wall-e and Eva make, their proximity and similarity are different and it make sit easy to establish their opposing identities. In addition, there is the opposite of the illusion of overlap, the sounds are relatively easy to comprehend and separated because the planet needs to sound quiet and lonely in order for us to really understand Wall-e’s loneliness.

Blog Assignment #3

http://changethis.com/manifesto/66.01.Brainwashed/pdf/66.01.Brainwashed.pdf

Acknowledging the Lizard:

“The lizard brain—that prehistoric brainstem that all of us must contend with—doesn’t like being laughed at” (Brainwashed, Seth Goodwin). Finally! This awful phenomenon is explained and given a name. The lizard brain likes to hold us back through fear—the worst kind of fear, too. It’s not the fear of physical pain, but of being embarrassed, being laughed at for something that we might have put our soul in. It leaves you thinking that maybe putting all your eggs in one basket you care about, or really sharing your ideas with the world would be bad. People could laugh. Laugh AT you. So, it shuts you down and controls us, making it hard for us to resist following rules and restrictions.

We can stop the lizard brain from controlling us, however, by just knowing that its there, trying to control us. “We acknowledge the lizard so we can ignore it” (Brainwashed, Goodwin).

Connect:

“Social media is either a time-wasting, wool-gathering, yak-shaving waste of effort or, perhaps, just maybe, it’s a crack in the wall between you and the rest of the world” (Brainwashed, Goodwin). It’s not about the followers, or the notifications, or even the inboxes, because although those are facets of social media, there is so much more.

Social media gives you access to the rest of the world, in most cases literally at your fingertips. I can talk to my friend studying in Ireland on Facebook about a picture of a picture taken in Africa, given a funny caption about the British Royal Family, and discovered on an Australian blog site. The possibilities are endless, and as of now it seems like soon we can have everyone connected. We can share ideas, art, and information at levels never before seen.

We have the ability to use an uncontrollable force, and harness it to share virtually anything. “I think this changes everything… if we let it” (Brainwashed, Goodwin).

Fail:

“The reinvention of the marketplace demands that one have the ability to fail, often and with grace—and in public!” (Brainwashed, Goodwin).

No. No, no, no. That is my reaction. Upon further reading though, you discover that yeah, he’s right.

Our old way of life, of being “brainwashed”, of being a cog in a carefully crafted machine, is over. In order to survive in this new world, you have to fail.

But not just to say you’ve failed. That would be ridiculous. No, you fail because you tried something new, and you’re not perfect. So put all your effort in, don’t be Sprezzatura, or have a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it. Challenge yourself, and don’t be afraid to fail.

“And so we demand you fail. I hope you’re up for that” (Brainwashed, Goodwin).

Essay:

A long, long time ago, was my favorite school assignment. It was kindergarten, and all we had to do was play with these tiny baby chicks, then draw a picture of them. We had raised them from just little incubated eggs, to chicks that would soon be able to live on their own at a farm. Throughout that month of being with the baby chicks, I gained my appreciation of animals (I hadn’t had a pet since I was three at the time), I learned how to “take care of something” (I promise we did no real work), and I learned to let myself be loved by nature. When a baby chick volunteers to hop up onto your hand and just sit there, it’s a beautiful feeling. This class assignment had nothing to do with learning my colors, learning how to read, or getting to count to 100 like the state had asked for. Sure, we learned that they were yellow, we read a book about them, and by the end I could count all 30 of them, but that wasn’t the point. I believe that sometimes the less common forms of educating people provide the greatest benefits. As for the blogs, they certainly are different, and I welcome that. Unfortunately, they do not make me a better student, I find that it’s not schoolwork but the student who decides to be better, nor am I a better artist because I don’t feel as though what I create is spectacular, and I’m certainly not willing to display it. What these blogs do well is make me a better thinker, at least while I write them.

Too often I walk away from my homework gaining nothing but the raw knowledge of the textbook. I haven’t really had to think about it, I formed zero opinions, and I’ve made no insights. Talk about a waste of time. Just kidding—I think there is a time and a place for that kind of learning. Which is why there is a time and a place for this kind of learning. So what kind of learning is this? Well, it’s starts out normal, read something. Okay, I did it, now what? Well instead of handing me a quiz with seven fill in the blanks that ask me the seven layers, I’m asked to summarize them and write an essay about if the assignment is useful. Not exactly mainstream, but still helpful. Because now I’m thinking about what I think education is, what I want it to be, what I don’t want it to be, if I have a lizard brain, if I am prepared to fail gracefully, etc. To be a better thinker you start by getting asked questions, then you ask them yourself, and hopefully, one day you’ll be able to answer them.

Blog Assignment #2

FINDING YOUR HOWL

By Jonathon Flaum:

http://changethis.com/manifesto/51.01.YourHowl/pdf/51.01.YourHowl.pdf

Jonathan Flaum starts with the story of a red wolf named Mumon who, after being raised in captivity and later released, is unable to find his “howl”. A howl is important because it distinguishes a leader, and ultimately is necessary for the success of a wolf pack. To find this howl, Mumon has to dig deep, deep through the dark, through the shame, and through the fear that separates him from his goal. Before he is completely broken down and scared the howl eludes him, it is only after he goes through a transient death-like state that he is able to finally howl.

What point is Flaum trying to make? In Part II of the manifesto he makes it quite clear:

As Mumon did, we may have to sacrifice everything, spend a significant amount of time alone, do things that we believe we can’t do, and walk away from a life that no longer fits our expanding need for freedom. This process may feel like a death. At
its most intense, it may terrify us, and at its least intense, unsettle us. This is the price of finding our howl, our own one-of-a-kind authentic voice, and there is no way around it (page 8).

Flaum is imploring us to embrace the philosophy that to find freedom, our creative voice, we need to get out of our “self-erected prisons”.

He’s absolutely right. To free yourself artistically you have to let go of what is holding you back, that’s what freedom is. At your most basic level you have to decimate yourself to an extent and start over, this time with your newfound freedom.

It won’t be easy either. How could it? To go to the core of your being an address the things that hold you back, cage you, you may have to address aspects of yourself that are scary and mind-blowing, in a negative sense. This hardship though is not without it’s payoff, which makes it all worth it for those willing to take on the challenge. After all, in the case of Mumon “The red wolf had become its howl. The trauma of near extinction and captivity had given way to freedom— an ever expanding freedom” (page 7)

Here are some lyrics that speak to me; I apologize in advance for the inappropriate nature of the lyrics:

Alright, Gambino is a mastermind,

Fuck a bitch to pass the time,

Mass appeal, Orange rind,

Smoke your green, I’m spending mine,

The beat is witch’s brew,

But beware this shit is potent,

E.E. Cumming on her face,

Now it’s poetry in motion,

Yeah Gambino make it work,

I’m the boss, move somethin’,

Yeah, this cool fucking suits me,

The swag, two button,

These girls be actin’ crazy when they dancin’, Black Swan,

I ain’t fuckin’ at the club,

Put your clothes back on…

~Childish Gambino (a.k.a. Donald Glover)

“Freaks and Geeks”

I remember the first time I heard Run-DMC’s Walk this Way more vividly than I remember any of the other first exposures I had to other songs. I was five years old, sitting in the lounge waiting for another ballet practice, when a door to another studio opened, giving way to a completely different style of music than Disney-pop or Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite. I don’t think I’ve ever had a greater urge to dance, including the numerous ballet classes, than when I heard that beat. The beat isn’t ever that spectacular, but it was new, different, and it spoke to me. Since then, I have continued my somewhat odd attachment to the Hip-hop/Rap/R&B genre of music. It drives my parents crazy, makes me feel like a poser, and is sometimes surprising to those who don’t know me. But oh how I love it. Which is why when something in a genre of music that already holds my heart goes a step further, it’s like pure bliss. Childish Gambino did this for me through his own creativity, attitude, and through just being there at the right time for me personally.

I appreciate a nice female body enough, it is after all my own gender, but there are times when I would rather be decked with a baseball bat than listen to some guy whine over the party, the booze, and the female from last night. Not to say that doesn’t have its place in my playlist—because I won’t lie, it totally does—but I like to see some change every now and then. This is where Gambino comes in, as he’s incredibly witty. Ask my mother and you’ll get an earful of disagreement, but I like what he says. He takes the modern, smart perspective of clubbing and weed, and let’s be honest, were you not slightly impressed (or offended, either is a response at least) to the poetry in motion line? I like the twists and turns he takes, not just in this song, but in all his music.

His attitude is offensive. Which isn’t unusual for any sort of artist in his genre to have. What sets him apart is who he’s offending. Now, besides the usual listeners offended by the use of profanity, he’s also poking at the listeners who he appeals to. To the weed smokers, he doesn’t relate, he says he doesn’t do it. To the girls, he reprimands them for the way they dress. He’s commenting both negatively and creatively on the culture that his music should flourish in. Maybe that’s what holds him back from mass popularity; you never do hear Gambino in your clubs and your bars. But I’ll admit, that just makes me like him more.

I first heard Childish Gambino in my sister’s car on the way back from the grocery store. I tuned in for a second to register what song was on the radio, and I couldn’t identify it. I couldn’t even identify the artist! So I tuned in more and listened to some of the lyrics and was blown away. I had just heard the Wiz Khalifa song “No Sleep”, which is a recollection of the crazy night he had before, when I heard another one of Gambino’s songs admonishing that behavior (cleverly to boot). I think having just listened to a song that epitomized the most crude behavior that my generation is capable of, then listening to Gambino, I was instantly set up to love the song.

Gambino, to me, is mastermind, through his creativity, attitude, and just happening to be heard at an opportune time. I’ll always love Hip-hop/Rap/R&B, but Gambino will be around in my mind for a long time. So yeah, “Gambino make it work”, for me.