Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Kiwi!
From http://www.isfat.com/happyjunk/kiwi.php: "Kiwi!" is an animation about a Kiwi - a type of bird that cannot fly, who spends its whole life working towards achieving his dream. The kiwi strived to create the illusion that it was flying over a forest as it soared down through the sky from the top of a cliff. Thus, the kiwi spent what must have been its whole life nailing trees to the side of a cliff. All this, to fulfill its one dream of flying, even though it was technically unable to. There are several powerful messages behind Kiwi, but mainly, it makes you think: no matter how absurd and seemingly out of reach your dreams are, what's stopping you from achieving them? Kiwi's had a huge online success, with currently over 1.75 million views and 9000 comments on the online video site 'YouTube' in approximately just 3 days. The animation has been recently featured on YouTube and currently ranks in at the #1 favorited video in the arts and animation category of all time. As I'm sure you'll agree, "Kiwi!" is an inspiration to us all.
My own words now: This was also shown to me by the same friend who showed me the Elite Beat Agents scene. The kiwi strived throughout the video to make circumstances where he could do something that he normally wouldn't have been able to do. Relating this to the essential questions, because of the person (or bird...) it was and the qualities the kiwi had; being strong willed, determined, and persevering; it became something that seemed to be an impossibility. Who we are will effect who we will be. I also thought this was a great example of someone who expressed themselves well, not with language, but with the emotions and actions the kiwi displayed in the video. (This very vaguely is linked to the essential questions...)
Monday, March 19, 2007
Shaman: Lit Circles
We've read the third chapter in The Woman Warrior and have been assigned to do another literature circle post. (Mine is post is late.) The role I chose was Director for Drama. The role's description is to give instructions to actors for key passages.
Page 58 (2nd paragraph): Maxine finds the photo of her mother's graduating class.
Maxine will take the photo out of the metal tube and hold it clutched in both hands immediately sliding her thumb under her mother's face. The camera focuses on that face. ("I picked out my mother immediately.") She glances up at her mother and back at the photo a few times with a mildly surprised look on her face. ("Her face is exactly her own... She is so familiar...") She looks at the photo again this time looking at all of the people in it. The camera zooms in on different faces that are distinctly different from the mother's face that makes her look older and stern than the rest. ("...comparing her to other women./ My mother is not soft... My mother is not humorous... My mother does not have smiling eyes...") Maxine gives curious, slightly doleful look to her mother. ("I can't tell if she's happy.")
Page 66 (2nd paragraph): Maxine's mother, Brave Orchid, scoffs at her friends' fears of ghosts. She searches the 'ghost room' and plans to spend the night there to prove there's nothing to fear.
A group of girls huddle together in the same bed staring apprehensively in the direction of the ghost room. Brave Orchid calmly lies in her own bed. One of the girls whisper, "Did you hear that?" They hear a thump and shriek huddling closer together, some giggling nervously. Brave Orchid sits up abruptly and gives a irate glare to the group. "That was someone who fell asleep reading in bed; she dropped her book." A girl sits up on her knees and puts her hands on her hips. Annoyed she challenges Brave Orchid. "If you're so sure why don't you go out there and take a look." They glare at each other then Brave Orchid flings back her sheets grabs her lamp and walks casually out the door.
After awhile she returns to the room just as calm as she exited saying she saw nothing. Her friends marvel at her bravery, whispering to each other how brave she was. The girl crosses her arms; upset she had lost, and argues, "The haunting starts at midnight. It's not quite eleven." Brave Orchid bits her lip then hardens her features. ("My mother may have been afraid, but she would be a dragoness...") She fakes a yawn and says, "I'm so sleepy . I don't want to wait until midnight." The girl smirks and opens her mouth to reply but Brave Orchid continues, saying, "I'll sleep in the ghost room. Then if anything happens, I won't miss it." She gives a condescending smile while the girls rushed to her side offering luck and charms. The girl sits at her bed alone with a scowl.
Page 83 (1st paragraph) : Maxine asks her mother where her dog and nurse-servant were.
Maxine asks curiously, obviously faking causality, "What happened to your dog when you came to America, Mother?" Her mother answers bluntly, "I don't know." Maxine asks in the same manner, "What happened to the slave?" Maxine's mother answers with, "I found her a husband," speaking irately as if it were a chore to do so. "How much money did you pay to buy her?" Maxine asks more intensely. Maxine's mother answers curtly, "One hundred and eighty dollars." Maxine asks eagerly, "How much money did you pay the doctor and the hospital when I was born?" Maxine's mother scoff and replies, "Two hundred dollars." Maxine looks down, sad, and responds with a quiet, "Oh..."
Maxine's mother watches her reaction out of the corner of her eye, sighs and continues in a slightly softer tone, "That's two hundred dollars American money." Maxine looks up abruptly and asks hopefully, "Was the one hundred and eighty dollars American money?" Her mother replies, "No..." "How much was it American money?" Maxine asks hesitantly. "Fifty dollars." Maxine smiles and her mother continues in her previous curt voice on the cost of the slaves in China, how cheep they were finishing with, "During the war, though, when you were born, many people gave older girls away for free. And here I was in the United States paying two hundred dollars for you." Maxine still smiles and obediently listens to her mother talk.
(This was how I interpreted this passage. Maxine is jealous of the nurse-servant and upset her mother paid almost the same amount for them. Her mother sees this and throws her a bone then returns to her usual state. Maxine understands.)
Page 95 (6th paragraph) : The villagers stone a crazy lady for signaling Japanese planes.
Villagers hurl rocks angrily shouting. The crazy lady cackles, whooping as she jumps out of the way of the stones. The villagers close in and some rocks hit the crazy lady and she yelps as they do. "Here. Here," Brave Orchid says sternly, pushing through the villagers. Reassuringly she tells them calmly, "I'll get her mirrors." The villagers calm down and watch as Brave Orchid holds out her hand and orders as if she were talking to a misbehaved child, "Give me your headdress." The crazy lady stares up at her grins and shakes her head rapidly. "See? She's a spy. Get out of the way doctor." One man yells pointing accusingly at the woman. Brave Orchid stands still. "You saw the way she flashed the signals. She comes to the river every day before the planes-" "She's only getting drinking water. Crazy people drink water too." Brave Orchid says.
A cup shatters at the woman's feet and she jumps up with a yelp. "Are you a spy? Are you?" A woman screams crazed. A grin breaks across the crazy lady's face and she narrows her eyes suspiciously. "Yes." She says in a slow and sure tone. The crowd looks at her in fright and anger. "I have great powers. I can make the sky rain fire. Me. I did that." She makes exaggerated hand gestures and slowly raises her voice, screaming the word "Me. I did that." "Leave me alone or I will do it again." She waves her hand as if she were banishing them then turns and runs toward a river she had been slowly edging to the entire performance. Just as she turns a stone rams the back of her head and she falls to her side without a sound.
Page 58 (2nd paragraph): Maxine finds the photo of her mother's graduating class.
Maxine will take the photo out of the metal tube and hold it clutched in both hands immediately sliding her thumb under her mother's face. The camera focuses on that face. ("I picked out my mother immediately.") She glances up at her mother and back at the photo a few times with a mildly surprised look on her face. ("Her face is exactly her own... She is so familiar...") She looks at the photo again this time looking at all of the people in it. The camera zooms in on different faces that are distinctly different from the mother's face that makes her look older and stern than the rest. ("...comparing her to other women./ My mother is not soft... My mother is not humorous... My mother does not have smiling eyes...") Maxine gives curious, slightly doleful look to her mother. ("I can't tell if she's happy.")
Page 66 (2nd paragraph): Maxine's mother, Brave Orchid, scoffs at her friends' fears of ghosts. She searches the 'ghost room' and plans to spend the night there to prove there's nothing to fear.
A group of girls huddle together in the same bed staring apprehensively in the direction of the ghost room. Brave Orchid calmly lies in her own bed. One of the girls whisper, "Did you hear that?" They hear a thump and shriek huddling closer together, some giggling nervously. Brave Orchid sits up abruptly and gives a irate glare to the group. "That was someone who fell asleep reading in bed; she dropped her book." A girl sits up on her knees and puts her hands on her hips. Annoyed she challenges Brave Orchid. "If you're so sure why don't you go out there and take a look." They glare at each other then Brave Orchid flings back her sheets grabs her lamp and walks casually out the door.
After awhile she returns to the room just as calm as she exited saying she saw nothing. Her friends marvel at her bravery, whispering to each other how brave she was. The girl crosses her arms; upset she had lost, and argues, "The haunting starts at midnight. It's not quite eleven." Brave Orchid bits her lip then hardens her features. ("My mother may have been afraid, but she would be a dragoness...") She fakes a yawn and says, "I'm so sleepy . I don't want to wait until midnight." The girl smirks and opens her mouth to reply but Brave Orchid continues, saying, "I'll sleep in the ghost room. Then if anything happens, I won't miss it." She gives a condescending smile while the girls rushed to her side offering luck and charms. The girl sits at her bed alone with a scowl.
Page 83 (1st paragraph) : Maxine asks her mother where her dog and nurse-servant were.
Maxine asks curiously, obviously faking causality, "What happened to your dog when you came to America, Mother?" Her mother answers bluntly, "I don't know." Maxine asks in the same manner, "What happened to the slave?" Maxine's mother answers with, "I found her a husband," speaking irately as if it were a chore to do so. "How much money did you pay to buy her?" Maxine asks more intensely. Maxine's mother answers curtly, "One hundred and eighty dollars." Maxine asks eagerly, "How much money did you pay the doctor and the hospital when I was born?" Maxine's mother scoff and replies, "Two hundred dollars." Maxine looks down, sad, and responds with a quiet, "Oh..."
Maxine's mother watches her reaction out of the corner of her eye, sighs and continues in a slightly softer tone, "That's two hundred dollars American money." Maxine looks up abruptly and asks hopefully, "Was the one hundred and eighty dollars American money?" Her mother replies, "No..." "How much was it American money?" Maxine asks hesitantly. "Fifty dollars." Maxine smiles and her mother continues in her previous curt voice on the cost of the slaves in China, how cheep they were finishing with, "During the war, though, when you were born, many people gave older girls away for free. And here I was in the United States paying two hundred dollars for you." Maxine still smiles and obediently listens to her mother talk.
(This was how I interpreted this passage. Maxine is jealous of the nurse-servant and upset her mother paid almost the same amount for them. Her mother sees this and throws her a bone then returns to her usual state. Maxine understands.)
Page 95 (6th paragraph) : The villagers stone a crazy lady for signaling Japanese planes.
Villagers hurl rocks angrily shouting. The crazy lady cackles, whooping as she jumps out of the way of the stones. The villagers close in and some rocks hit the crazy lady and she yelps as they do. "Here. Here," Brave Orchid says sternly, pushing through the villagers. Reassuringly she tells them calmly, "I'll get her mirrors." The villagers calm down and watch as Brave Orchid holds out her hand and orders as if she were talking to a misbehaved child, "Give me your headdress." The crazy lady stares up at her grins and shakes her head rapidly. "See? She's a spy. Get out of the way doctor." One man yells pointing accusingly at the woman. Brave Orchid stands still. "You saw the way she flashed the signals. She comes to the river every day before the planes-" "She's only getting drinking water. Crazy people drink water too." Brave Orchid says.
A cup shatters at the woman's feet and she jumps up with a yelp. "Are you a spy? Are you?" A woman screams crazed. A grin breaks across the crazy lady's face and she narrows her eyes suspiciously. "Yes." She says in a slow and sure tone. The crowd looks at her in fright and anger. "I have great powers. I can make the sky rain fire. Me. I did that." She makes exaggerated hand gestures and slowly raises her voice, screaming the word "Me. I did that." "Leave me alone or I will do it again." She waves her hand as if she were banishing them then turns and runs toward a river she had been slowly edging to the entire performance. Just as she turns a stone rams the back of her head and she falls to her side without a sound.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Hawaii is haunted...
We were assigned to post a Hawaiian Ghost Story. Here are a few "Haunted Hotspot" on Oahu (all stories from http://www.carpenoctem.tv/haunt/hi/):
Pounder Beach- Kukuna Rd.
It is said that the old foundation of a house, on top of the rock, is haunted by a woman that died trying to save her drowning child. She walks aggressively trying to find her child. She seems angry with anyone and everyone. Late at night, the child's cry for his mother can be heard, as well as the pitter patter of the child's feet. Children who look like her child have been taken by the mother's ghost.
Alakea St. and Merchant St.
For nearly a century, Hawaiians have considered this area haunted by Wai-lua, or the Night Marchers, ghosts that come out at night to take over the streets and play games. The sporting specters have terrified generations of natives here, but few Haole, or Caucasians, have witnessed the phenomena.
Hale Lokelani
This dorm used to be a children's hospital during World War II. There are reports of doors opening while dead-bolted in this building. There have also been several ghost sightings in rooms here. People have also heard strange noises in the middle of the night.
Room 208 - The outline of a cross that was once removed still remains. There are reports that an exorcism was performed here. There are also rumors that a suicide occurred here. The sound of radio static can be heard coming from speakers without wires in this room. Students sleeping here have awakened because they feel someone putting pressure on their bodies. They also have feeling of being choked.
Room 319 - This room was once a morgue for soldiers during World War II. People have seen the ghost of soldiers here.
Highway 3
A couple was driving on this highway when a police man pulled them over. He approached the car and told the couple that the children that were playing in the back seat of the car should be wearing seatbelts. The couple looked at the policeman strangely, because they had no children. The policeman looked in the back seat, but it was empty. When the couple arrived home, they checked the back seat again, and found little hand prints all over the back window.
Kalihi Valley
It has been reported that if you drive past the bridge entering the forest, you can hear a soft sound saying, "Come Here." While driving at night, you will see a red cross burning. It has also been reported that the gear in your vehicle will change to neutral when you return.
Waikiki Parc Hotel - 2233 Helumoa Rd.
An employee, that recently passed away, still punches in for work. His magnetic punch card has been cancelled, yet the machine still records someone punching in with his card. This has happened on several occasions; strangely, the records only show him punching in, never out.
Pounder Beach- Kukuna Rd.
It is said that the old foundation of a house, on top of the rock, is haunted by a woman that died trying to save her drowning child. She walks aggressively trying to find her child. She seems angry with anyone and everyone. Late at night, the child's cry for his mother can be heard, as well as the pitter patter of the child's feet. Children who look like her child have been taken by the mother's ghost.
Alakea St. and Merchant St.
For nearly a century, Hawaiians have considered this area haunted by Wai-lua, or the Night Marchers, ghosts that come out at night to take over the streets and play games. The sporting specters have terrified generations of natives here, but few Haole, or Caucasians, have witnessed the phenomena.
Hale Lokelani
This dorm used to be a children's hospital during World War II. There are reports of doors opening while dead-bolted in this building. There have also been several ghost sightings in rooms here. People have also heard strange noises in the middle of the night.
Room 208 - The outline of a cross that was once removed still remains. There are reports that an exorcism was performed here. There are also rumors that a suicide occurred here. The sound of radio static can be heard coming from speakers without wires in this room. Students sleeping here have awakened because they feel someone putting pressure on their bodies. They also have feeling of being choked.
Room 319 - This room was once a morgue for soldiers during World War II. People have seen the ghost of soldiers here.
Highway 3
A couple was driving on this highway when a police man pulled them over. He approached the car and told the couple that the children that were playing in the back seat of the car should be wearing seatbelts. The couple looked at the policeman strangely, because they had no children. The policeman looked in the back seat, but it was empty. When the couple arrived home, they checked the back seat again, and found little hand prints all over the back window.
Kalihi Valley
It has been reported that if you drive past the bridge entering the forest, you can hear a soft sound saying, "Come Here." While driving at night, you will see a red cross burning. It has also been reported that the gear in your vehicle will change to neutral when you return.
Waikiki Parc Hotel - 2233 Helumoa Rd.
An employee, that recently passed away, still punches in for work. His magnetic punch card has been cancelled, yet the machine still records someone punching in with his card. This has happened on several occasions; strangely, the records only show him punching in, never out.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Elite Beat Agents - A Christmas Gift
Elite Beat Agents is a rhythm game developed by iNiS for the Nintendo DS. The main characters of Elite Beat Agents are members of a fictional government agency responsible for helping those in need. When someone facing a crisis reaches the end of their rope and cries out for help, the agents arrive on the scene to help them succeed. Through the dancing of the agents, thepeople they assist are instilled with motivation that helps them overcome various obstacles. (Info from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_Beat_Agents.)
I don't own a DS or Elite Beat Agents, but a friend showed me this one stage, "A Christmas Gift," in which the agents assist a young girl in reuniting with the spirit of her deceased father (<-- that description was from Wiki too):
I just felt like posting it. There was a better video of it, but I can't seem to find it... And so this doesn't seem like a completely random post, I'll state now that this does relate to the "Who am I?" question in the fact that family is a part of who you are.
This stage in EBA shows how losing someone can affect you and how even when that person is 'gone' they still watch over you and have a part in your life. Maybe not in the sense that they actually control the wind to blow out their birthday candles or come back from the dead to give a really late Christmas present, but like how what they've done for you reflects in your future actions and choices.
I don't own a DS or Elite Beat Agents, but a friend showed me this one stage, "A Christmas Gift," in which the agents assist a young girl in reuniting with the spirit of her deceased father (<-- that description was from Wiki too):
I just felt like posting it. There was a better video of it, but I can't seem to find it... And so this doesn't seem like a completely random post, I'll state now that this does relate to the "Who am I?" question in the fact that family is a part of who you are.
This stage in EBA shows how losing someone can affect you and how even when that person is 'gone' they still watch over you and have a part in your life. Maybe not in the sense that they actually control the wind to blow out their birthday candles or come back from the dead to give a really late Christmas present, but like how what they've done for you reflects in your future actions and choices.
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