Blow your own mind via photograph!

Check out this link if you're interested in photography!!!! It's a color photograph taken in 1915 in Russia. It was not digitally edited or anything of the sort!!!! Completely genuine!!!! It blows my mind:)
http://www.private-equity.org.uk/images/countries/russia/photos-prokudin-gorskii-001.jpg

BAD TECHNOLOGY: a lesson through poetry

all PCs crashed this year
E-mail contact was lost
cell phone distress signals
capsized text-messaging
an iPOD smoldering
radio service killed
first, massive, deadly floods
next, more rains caused landslides
plenty of dead people
electronic burden
convenience killed


I created this priceless piece of literature in a recent English 12 project. It is a "found poem" derived from 2 newspaper articles, one about a plane crash and the other about new advances in aviation technology for this year.

corneal transplant

On October 11, 2006, Patricia Stanton of Cheektowaga, NY had a corneal transplant procedure done. After being blind for 65years, she could now see. This is probably one of the best medical miracle type stories I've heard. Personally, I think sight is one of our greatest abilities as human beings. I couldn't imagine a dark world forcing one to be completely dependent on hearing, alone.
It is fascinating how far technology has come for medical practices. However, one must realize that procedures like the corneal transplant wouldn't be possible without the kindness of donors. Agreeing to give up any organs after death is a very selfless concept, a truly bold decision to be made. Also, as proven by Mrs. Stanton's case, it really can make a huge difference.

quoting the response to a frank zappa quote

"There is a reflection in many of the music people listen to now. I myself am not really all that into classical but i still respect it for it's greatness. Some people don't give this type of music a lot of credit when really they should because its awesome." - Victoriano Franco III

Though this idea was influenced by a quote of the great Frank Zappa, I still find myself in full agreement with Mr. Franco's point of view. I am not into classical music either, but it is, undeniably the foundation of all recent music, or that which was written/performed within the last 300 years. Furthermore, it is often much more complex and makes more use of different aspects of music theory. Also, there are only a limited number of chord progressions in existance. Being, for lack of a better term, the guidelines to songs falling into the category of structured music, inevitably people will write songs that, in essence, have already been written.

World War II vs. Vietnam

Throughout history, people have had basic images of different wars. Vietnam has always been perceived negatively, whereas WWII has been represented in a glorious, positive way. In Slaughter House Five, Kurt Vonnegut presents them as both being equally unnecessary.
At any point in the book where somebody dies, including the war parts, he simly says: "so it goes." I agree completely with Vonnegut. War is the most senseless thing the human race creates. I can not think of one good reason for it. Even if the United States "wins" a war, thousands(sometimes millions) of Americans and other people still die. How is that justifiable?

computers are running slow again.

For the last 20minutes I have been attempting to access a link to "The Secret Letter From Iraq", so I could read this passage and compare it to the story of Billy Pilgrim, one of the main characters of the book Slaughter House Five. My computer however refuses to present this page to me, so I will make a valliant attempt to make this comparison without actually reading the passage.
In the story, Billy is a, seemingly out of place, young man who is slipping in and out of the present time frame, constantly visiting the future and the past and therefore he is often oblivious to what is going on in reality. He walks around in destroyed loafers, bobbing up and down, and frequently gets his life saved by his comrade, Roland Weary, when gun-shots ring out and he makes no response to them whatsoever. I assume that in "The Secret Letter From Iraq" a soldier finds himself in a simmilar shell-shock induced situation. I sincerely wish I could have achieved the apparently daunting and unreasonable task of loading up the page in order to contrast between the two pieces of literature.

Country Joe and The Fish

Now here's a band everyone in the universe should probably listen to. It all started in 1965 when Country Joe McDonald would perform his original songs at anti-Vietnam war demonstrations. Then, the music he played consisted mainly of simple folk progressions and verbally dissident lyrics. Slowly he met up with other musicians and his project eventually involved into the band, Country Joe and The Fish. The band's peak was probably their appearance at Woodstock in 1969. Especially their legendary performances of "Rock and Soul Music" and the "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag".
In the words of Country Joe McDonald himself: "Now this ain't soul music, mind you. This is rock music, but it's got soul to it, if you can dig that." So if you can, "dig that", check them out. You won't be dissappointed.

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