Free Rein on a Blog Post! What to Write About? How About Music.

     Music is something that holds importance in almost every human being's life.  Every country, culture, region, era and person has its or their own music.  Music is something that transcends time and language.  In the modern and uber techonoligcal times that we live in, music is more accessible than ever.  A simple tap of a finger or a mouse can send wonderful sounds through speakers or headphones to entertain us whenever we desire.  While music is commonly used for entertainment, it can be used for so many more things.  It can be used to relax, reset and focus.  It can be used to help oneself fall asleep or wake up.  It can be used socially and it can be used for private moments.  It can trigger a wave of emotions and actions in a person.  It can make a person dance and sing and be happy.  In the realm of students, music is commonly used as a backdrop to studying.  Depending on the level of difficulty of the assignment or material, the music can be adjusted to fit the needs of the listener.  Depending on the student, their deep studying music and and light homework assignment music can be incredibly varied.  That is the great thing about music, it can help define us as a person.  There are so many artists and genres of music to explore that everyone has their own set or playlist.  While everyone's playlist is unique, there is often overlap between playlists helping to start and strengthen friendships and spur conversation.  Music has been around since almost the dawn of human kind.  There is something about a rythm, notes, instruments and vocals that appeals to the human ear and mind.  Music is a defining characteristic of humanity and it will continue to be as such so as long as humans journey through life on this earth.

The Train Wreck of Pilkings and Jane

     Oh, what to say about Pilkings and Jane.  Well, there isn't much redeeming about them.  They are careless, insensitive, racist and are generally bumbling idiots.  Pilkings is often rude to his wife and she is either submissive or she fires right back at him with more rudeness.  They certainly don't understand African culture and they don't seem to respect it either.  They look down upon Amusa, Joesph and Olunde and Pilkings is attempting to disrupt an important cultural event just because he thinks finds issue with it and because it is illegal in the government that his people have imposed in a country that isn't really theirs.  Pilkings describes the tradition as barbaric and unsettling, which is a fair assessment of the tradition.  Killing oneself is certainly an unsettling thing and Pilkings is certainly allowed and is probably expected to have this view of the ritual.  However, that certainly doesn't give him the authority to intervene.  He can have whatever opinion he wants about the tradition, but he should absolutely leave it be.  He is being insensitive to the culture of the people who he is trying to oppress and he isn't seeing the ritual from their angle.  To the Yoruba people, this event holds incredible significance. To them, this event determines the future success of the tribe and they are well within their right to be unhappy with Pilkings attempts to intervene.  It is equivalent to people from another country and religion going to Pilkings town to mess with Christmas or Easter or some other day that holds incredible significance to Pilkings and his people.  Pilkings wouldn't be okay with that and the people attempting to harass during Christmas or Easter would be out of line. Unfortunetly, Pilkings doesn't realize this and believes that he is doing something that is morally right and that he is just doing his job for Her Majesty's Government.

The Old Man and the Sea Intrigues Me

     I've always been intrigued about Hemingway's writing.  I visited his house in Key West when my father and I took a trip there when I was younger.  I didn't know why the house was important when I visited all those years ago, but I do remember it having an air about it.  It definetly seemed important to my young brain, but I didn't know why.  Now I know he is known as one of the greatest writers in American Literature and is known for his incredibly concise writing.  I also know that he wrote a lot of things about the depressing nature of WWI as he served in the war.  Another thing that I know about Hemingway was that he was an avid fisherman.  Obviously, we would have gotten along well.  Of all of his work that I hear about, the name that is said the most is The Old Man and the Sea.  I know that it is about fishing at some capacity, so I would enjoy it in that respect, but I imagine it would offer much more.  Glancing through his Wikipedia page (Ooh Wikipedia!  How rebellious I am.), it appears that Hemingway had four spouses, lived in many places including Cuba, served in WWI, went on safari in Africa and eventually killed himself while living in Idaho.  He obviously had a troubled life and saw and thought about a lot of things allowing him to offer up a lot of wisdom.  I'm sure that there are many wonderful nuggets of insight into life, human nature and all those other things that we read literature to find, tucked away in The Old Man and the Sea.  So, of all the authors and books that I could think of off the top of my head, Hemingway and The Old Man and the Sea is certainly the book that I would like to read and will make sure I do at some point.

Shakespeare's Goodbye

          The one idea about the Tempest that was brought up in class that made me think the most was the idea that Shakepeare is saying goodbye through Prospero.  All people who become famous and liked in the public eye must say goodbye to their fans and put down the tools of their profession eventually.  Examples abound in actors, athletes and authors and Shakespeare is no different.  Shakespeare is certainly bidding his fans farewell during Prospero's ending epilogue.  The similarities between Prospero and Shakespeare are quite striking.  Each has a power that could be described as magical as Prospero bids Ariel to do as he pleases and Shakespeare has the power and magic to entertain and influence an audience through his marvelous play writing.  Both were getting up there in age and had acquired a lot of wisdom and had accomplished many things throughout their life.  Despite accomplishing many things, they both felt they needed to do something more.  Prospero felt that he needed to find a suitable mate for his beloved daughter and he felt the need to free his slaves and forgive those who had wronged him.  Shakespeare felt the need to write his final play and share more messages to the world about society and human nature.  At the end of the story, both Prospero and Shakespeare are able to be free as each laid their burdens behind them and hung responsiblity up on the coat rack for the last time.  They had both accomplished what they wanted to do with their lives and they said goodbye to those they had influenced and those they had touched over the years.  While the Tempest isn't Shakespeare's most famous or best work, his ability to say goodbye through his character Prospero is one of the greatest and sneakiest endings to a literary career in history.

Book vs. Movie

          The book versus movie debate is one that has abounded through English classes.  Which came first?  Which was better?  Did the one that came second stick to the original story or did it expand to be better or worse?  These are some of the questions that define this debate.  In the case of the Tempest, the book or play is certainly better than the movie.  While the movie has a few talented actors, the huge leap to make Prospero a woman and call her Prospera, is too much of a change and detracts from some of the things Shakespeare was originally commenting on.  Usually when a movie makes a change from the book, it doesn't work out well for the movie and the Tempest is no exception.
          Prospero being a male character is important as it makes it more believeable that he is super protective of his daughter and also treats his daughter as a possession that should be hard to get for suitors.  Also, Prospero's controlling and powerful nature makes more since if he is male as society at the time told women to be submissive and to go about their daily lives of child rearing.  I appreciate the movie's attempt at being progressive, but in this case, it detracts from Shakespeare painting a picture of what he saw in society and letting people decide for themselves what to think.  I think that was one of Shakespeare's large motivations in writing the Tempest.  He had an incredibly large audience, saw issues in society and wanted to expose these issues to his audience.  As we have discussed in class, he never really seems to take a certain side in issues as he acts more to display them.  In the case of the movie, its changes serve to change what Shakespeare was displaying about society, which is not a good thing.