Reality

What is reality? This is a question that I've been thinking about lately. Why are things the way they are? Why do people do the things they do? Could anything ever change?

Since high school started, I've began to question myself, my life, and my morals. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I'm in STAC. Maybe it's just because I've emotionally matured over the last few months.

I've been constantly questioning myself. I wonder, "What makes me different from all those other people?" "How do people go on in their regular lives doing bad things without even realizing it?" "Why do people care about how they look and how they act in front of all else?" "Why do people care about superficial things that don't matter?" and "Why are people so simple minded? Why do they judge before they know all the information?"

You know I really don't know how to put this. I've been sitting at the computer for the last 30 minutes hoping something clever would come up, but it hasn't. Hopefully you understand what I'm saying. Or maybe I'm just blabbering. I don't even know anymore.

Deep Meaning Behind Disney Cartoons

I know, a post with this title doesn't give a good impression but hear me out!

The other day in Orchestra, I had a bit of a STAC aha moment. Not the kind where a teacher is talking about Polic and I end up having a 20 minute conversation. The kind of aha moment when you look at something in a way that you've never seen it before.

The movie we were watching was Balto, if you guys have heard of it. Personally, I don't remember ever seeing the movie before. It starts a dog obviously named Balto. Balto is half dog and half wolf. Because of this, he doesn't fit in with the dogs or the wolves. He's constantly ridiculed by the other dogs and ignored by the wolves. This leaves him stuck lonely in-between point.

I realized that even though children's movies are very simplistic, they're actually trying to spread a good point. This movie is talking about loneliness, bullying, and discrimination. Many of us don't realize that while watching these movies as kids we were learning morals that we use in our everyday lives.

Double View

In a strange kind of way, I'm kind of glad that we had to end up watching the movie twice.

Watching it the second time, I realized something very important. If you happen to be watching a very good movie (like the one we saw in class), you get something new from it every time you watch it. You notice a little hint at the plot in one place, understand something you didn't get before. It's easier to focus on the great movie filming techniques and tricks the director used when you're not worrying about what will happen next.

A few tiny things that I noticed/didn't understand before
- When Alex is leaving the photography studio, one of the henchmen of Neuville was standing by the building, obviously on watch
- Alex runs away before the police come to make sure he makes it to the park on time to meet up with Margot.
- Helene is the wife of Alex's sister. I really didn't understand this until the second time. I just thought they were in an open relationship.

The other big thing I noticed was the use of music and audio during the film. When the situations were more tense, the volume increased to a very high level. This was prevalent during the scene where Alex was crossing the highway. At the same time, the music immediately got softer when Alex got a break during his chase. The music changed immediately and drastically, almost like it was coming from his thoughts. That really shows a good soundtrack.

Field Trip: Alphabet City

For a very long time I'd come to New York and I would wonder - where is the culture? Where's the place where underground artists live and thrive? Now, I have an answer. The place is Alphabet City

I could tell that this was a place like no other. It was a special little place where art dominates commercialism. Unlike the rest of New York, this place is very authentic. As John pointed out, it seemed like all of the people walking around the area actually lived there, instead of being annoying tourists. The place was covered in graffiti (and I don't mean just peoples signatures, I mean large pieces of art). Gardens were spread throughout the entire area, some which you could actually enter. It's probably one of the greenest areas of the city.

Probably the best part of visiting the city though was when my group visited a condemned building. All outside the building were paintings stacked in piles, sparse furniture, and a fake mummie of some sort. Inside was even more interesting. Throughout the room that I entered were various paintings and sculptures. Masks were on the walls, along with paintings on cardboard, fans, candles, everything. The building had paintings and objects for every religious. I saw some Egyptian characters, as well as what looked like to be Hindu images (don't quote me on that though because I really have no idea).

Basically what I love about Alphabet City is how real it is. It's where artists live and struggle together, away from normal society. Hopefully one day I will be lucky enough to live there. You can always hope, right?

Post #6

Be Kind Rewind, aka a skanky STAC acting debut

I already somewhat knew what Be Kind Rewind was after STAC night, but I was always really curious to see what it was for myself. Now I finally know.

I've made random movies with friends as a kid, but they usually came out as complete and utter crap. What would usually happen was we'd think of a random beginning to a story, and then start filming. We didn't have a script or an idea of what would happen next. Right before we set the camera to film we would decide who plays what part and then let the rest just happen. There wasn't even a coherent story line, so of course what ended up happening was we'd say incredibly weird things, and make a lot of poop jokes. But what's to be expected from a bunch of 10 year olds with a video camera?

I'm pleased to say that the video me and my group made was not like little kids telling poop jokes. We weren't given much time to plan the movie, but unlike my previous attempts, there was an actual plan set in place. We knew what scenes we wanted, who would say what in each scene, and where all these scenes will take place. Even though the plan was minimal, it was still better than no plan at all. I hope that we can get a STAC youtube channel put up, because after explaining to my friends why I was dressed up as a whore with Jesus they really want to see the movie.

I just want to say thanks to all the people in my group. The movie turned out amazing! Matt and Alex, the whole idea was hilarious! I wouldn't be surprised to see you guys on Saturday Night Live one day. Zach, you make a great Jesus. Mairead, the film came out great! No screw ups or anything. Caitlin, thanks for being new to this with me. It was nice to know there was someone else who was just as confused as I was.

Post #5

Busby Berkeley, and Why I'm Such a Failure at Blogging

I still remember when we first were revealed our focus for art. Right before Ganes said who it was, I was thinking to myself "Oh I hope it's someone good." Then, he says "Busby Berkeley". Immediately, I thought "Who the hell is that?" When Ganes explained how he was a choreographer, I was even more confused. Why are we basing art off of dance? What did Busby Berkeley do that made him so important?

I realized later that in reality Busby Berkeley was really more of an artist than he was a choreographer. While most choreographers focus on individual dance moves and expressing a point, Busby Berkeley viewed it all as a big picture, and used his dancers for human illusions. As one documentary said, "He was like a little kid, and the dancers were his toys." It was something along those lines. Busby Berkeley's choreography was making geometric shapes with people, like looking through a kaleidescope. I think it's quite interesting. Maybe one day I'll watch one of the movies he choreographed for, like Gold Diggers of 1933.


On a totally random note, I am an awful blogger. I admit it. If I was better, I probably wouldn't be writing this right now on Friday. In general, I have trouble keeping records of my life. I usually forget to take pictures at social gatherings, and I've made 4 attempts to consistently keep up a diary, all of which have failed. Recently, I've realized why this is. I don't think it's because I'm lazy, or irresponsible. Well, maybe it's a bit of that. Mostly though, it's because I like taking life as it comes, instead of wasting time saying something that already happened. I like living in the moment, being happy, acting crazy. That's just who I am. I'm not saying that I won't try my best to blog, but it's just a bit hard for me.

It looks like journalism will not be one of my future careers.

Post #4

Matisse and La Cage Madness!

I have heard from many people that STAC field trips are completely amazing. Now, I have finally gotten to witness them for myself. They're completely amazing.

It was so cool to see the paintings that I only saw pictures of the computer of up front in person. I always like looking at original copies of art. If you look really closely you can see the little individual brush strokes and how the artists made the painting. To me, seeing the paint makes the painting seem like a reality, and not just a made up fantasy. With Matisse it was more interesting though because not only did you see the individual brush strokes, but you could also he how he scratched away at pretty much all of his paints. You can also see how he layered the paint, and how he tried to cover up his mess ups with a background of color. See, even the experts make tons of mistakes.

La Cage aux Folles. What can I say? It's probably one of the most craziest musicals I have ever seen ever, and one of the most amazing. Its not everyday you see a bunch of cross dressers putting on a drag show. Even less often, you usually don't see into the life of these people. In the musical, it actually showed what a gay family was like, which I thought was interesting. My personal favorite characters are Albin and the maid. They were hilarious.

I can't wait until the next field trip!

Liminal Geography: A Psychogeography Project

When I first got this project, I was very confused. In-betweenness? Transitions? What was this supposed to mean? Since I was very confused, I asked for a bit of help from my dad, and googled the subject. From what I gathered, liminality was the threshold between 2 places. Sort of like a boundary line, or an interface. At first, I wondered how I could possibly photograph such a thing, but after a walk with my dad, I found it was more common then I thought.

These interfaces were everywhere. I visited the High School and I examined the road that leads off from the side of the back parking lot. The road was like a portal, leading from the school straight to an area filled with houses. I photographed these situations, where it seemed like you're in one world, but then suddenly you enter another. Examining my surroundings in this way makes it seem like I can teleport, almost like I'm not even on earth, but in a mythical place. It's quite interesting.

Inside vs. Outside

Nature vs. Man-made

The Beginning of Life vs. The End

Land vs. Residental

Commercial vs. Residential

Baskin Robbins vs. Dunkin Donuts

Land vs. Water

Land vs. Residental

Ground vs. Underground

Nature vs. Man

Post #3

Opinions on The Village

It's been quite an interesting week. The game is finally over, and I no longer have to hide in paranoia. Nobody's going to kill me now.

I don't think the game went quite as planned though. In the very beginning we were barely able to get our teams together (it took about 2 days), and in the end, everyone was bombing each other's school bags, chasing each other around the room, and faking kills. How did it get to that point?

I think one of the biggest flaws in the game was the fact that their wasn't a particularly clear end goal or purpose. Sure, we had the puzzle to solve, but other than that, what were we supposed to do? The other things left were finding out all the members on another team and killing them. It just became a game of murder until the last man standing.

Sure, it is fun to kill people, but if everyone's just killing then the game will end almost instantly (like it did on Friday). If there's nobody left, then the game can't go on. In addition, if the goal is to kill everyone, nobody's going to take the time to think of a clever kill. They're just going to want to get the kill done with and win the game.

Maybe if we were given an end goal, the game would've turned out better. Unless the purpose is to just kill people. In that case the game came out fine.

The Clutter Cronicle: A Psychogeography Project

In my psychogeographic quest, I have decided to analyze some of the clutter in my house, probably the biggest hinderence in my enviornment.

When you look at these pictures, I want you to keep in mind. This is what my house looks like on a regular daily basis. My family's not moving, or cleaning any areas out, or organizing. For as long as I can remember, it's been like this. Stuff, just piled all over the place with no end. For those who's never lived in a house with hoarders, it's hard to understand the story behind it. It just seems like junk, but in reality there's so much more. I can think of so many times when I was a child when I lost things that were precious to me, like my favorite toys, parts of craft kits, just disappearing out of nowhere into the piles, never to be seen again. As an energetic kid I would run around my house. That is until I'd trip over a random box and fall onto the floor and injure myself.

You know the mess is really bad though when your dad is sneaking out late at night with a garbage bag right before the truck comes because he knows that if he leaves it out even a day before, you mom will try to delve into the bags and retrieve the stuff that he threw away. At least thats what my dad used to do, before he would just throw even more stuff away when my mom did that so she couldn't keep up. I know that parents argue quite a lot, but I'm pretty sure that's a lot more aggressive than what's healthy.

In my photos, I demonstrated this paranoia often by viewing one or few objects close up (in the rule of thirds of course), showing individual clutter, and then showing how all this individual stuff piles up as the background. This shows how a lot of small objects can end up making a huge difference, in a negative way.

I hope you guys enjoy my project.

Post #2

More Prisoner, Poem Time, and STAC Art

You know I thought I was understanding what was going on in The Prisoner. Of course I was wrong, because nobody can ever understand what's going on in The Prisoner. This week's episode: A new resident joins the village (another resigned agent) and she and Number 6 once again attempt escape.

The thing is though, in the village, everything's a circle. When you try to leave, you end up circling right back around again. I'd have to say the moment he opened the doors of the spy office to discover he was really just back in The Village was true hysteria. It's like the village is clinging to him; you think you're out, but you just end up right back where you were again, like a never-ending nightmare.

Another thing I noticed, you always seem to see the same 2 residents over and over again. One of them had a white and orange striped shirt, and I don't particularly remember the other one but I know that they were shorter. Number 6 would see them when he started walking, and then when he was at the end of the street, they would just appear again out of nowhere. It's like the circle, they just come right back around again.

Enough about the prisoner. It's Pantoum time! The Pantoum poem pretty much writes itself, by repeating 2 of the lines you wrote into the next stanza, and then taking those 2 new lines and putting them into the next stanza. I think this poetry form is sort of like Madlibs. The way that the lines are shifted and randomly put together, you're never really sure of how it's going to sound in the end until you read it all, and it usually ends up pretty random. It's so much fun!

I was finally introduced to the STAC t-shirts, a huge tradition. A lot of those t-shirts I would've worn myself, even though I wasn't in STAC the year they came out for. Personally I kind of liked the charactertures (sorry Luke). I can't wait for this year's t-shirt!

Post #1

I begin this blog, we watch The Prisoner, and tracing some pictures

And so it finally begins. I walk in the STAC classroom and I don't quite know what to expect. What I do see though is everyone rocking out to Ballroom Blitz. I'm optimistic for this class. I know that it won't be like any other.

First we watch a show called The Prisoner. In my opinion, it was quite clever, and creative to the extent where it became completely random. At first it seemed simple: A spy who resigns is kidnapped and taken to a small town with no escape as he is questioned about the reason for his resignation. Then it starts getting weird. For example, some man screams something on a megaphone and everyone suddenly stops in place. A large white bubble comes and it seems like he attempts to eat somebody. I'm still trying to figure out who this bubble is and why he attacks random people. 

There's also a lot of symbolism. The main character is given a number (number 6) and is only referred to by his number, not his name. This seems to imply that they view the citizens as objects and not people. Also, if you listened carefully, the citizens always said "Be seeing ya", which implies that being stuck together, they see enough of each other they don't even need to say goodbye. I can't wait too see more episodes.

The next day (being today) we learned the art technique, a little thing called copying. I have learned that there is no cheating in art. We live to get as much money as we can, to survive. Artists have always copied little things from other artist. Michelangelo, Da Vinci, they all did it. If they can do it we can too. This makes me more optimistic about making art, considering the fact that I not the best drawer. So with the help of pencil, a ballpoint pen, a picture of Lotte Lenya, and some watercolors, I created art. I feel accomplished!

By the way Luke, I agree. I don't understand how cigarettes could ever have been attractive.