March 17th Reflection

In the documentary PressPausePlay, the good and bad effects of new technology and communication are debated over. Many artists give their different opinions on the subject. Some think our culture is dying and others think it is blossoming.

Music production used to be much more difficult than it is today. Many artists appreciate the work required to make music and release it to the world. Now it seems that any artist can make their work public with new technology. "Slap up their early stuff on Facebook. On YouTube. It would get lost. It would get lost in the ocean of garbage" (Keen). Andrew Keen describes how true artists don't just become famous by posting their music on the internet. It would simply get lost with an overflow of other information on the internet and soon forgotten. This makes it significantly tougher for the true artists to emerge. Technology allows about anyone to use a simple program on their computer to create music.

It is argued that only the most devoted of artists deserve recognition. People without musical education will find it almost impossible to make their voice heard. "I don't hear a lot of stories about the Robert Rodriguez's and Quentan Tarantino's who just sort of went out there and made a movie on their own and ya know became over night successes" (Watson). Adam Watson argues that it is very difficult to become a great film maker without going to film school and that many people think they can be directors just because they can buy higher quality cameras for less money.

However, new technology isn't completely bad. Olafur Arnalds has little music theory background, yet with the new technology he can create his music. "But still it's just sound frequencies. Theoretically there is no actual difference between a sound coming from a computer or a sound coming from a piano" (Arnalds).
Arnalds is able to make his music popular without having to be a prodigy of musical genius because of the technology that allows him to create digital music.

Computer programs such as Napster allowed individuals to download music for free. This was great because people could listen to what they wanted to without having to buy it and it was completely legal.This took much money from record companies. Sean Parker talks about how this affected large companies. "We were the the wake-up call for the record companies. We we're the first time that they were forced to recognize what was happening with content distribution on the internet" (Parker). This would change the way music was distributed forever. People could now get music off the internet instead of just records or CD's. This was great for those who couldn't afford the music they wanted.

Week of March 10th Reflection

This week we watched Smoke Signals which portrays how Native Americans seek healing through story telling and gives an idea of the reservation living conditions.

Thomas Build-The-Fire is a very perceptive Native American who doesn't act like a typical reservation Indian. He dresses nicely, wears glasses, smiles, and pushes social boundaries. He has a one-way friendship with Victor who obviously is annoyed by Thomas's presence and is always asking questions and telling stories about Victor's dad. Victor is aggrovated by these stories because he only sees his father as a dunk who left him and his mom alone. Victor is hurt by the fact that his dad left him and pushes away anyone who tries to help him by talking about it. Thomas talks about the time Arnold took him to Denny's after he found him on the bridge and that portrayed Arnold as a good person. After finding Arnold's wallet, Victor sees that his Father planned on going home and that he really does love him. In the final scene Victor throws Arnold's ashes into the river and this is the final point of healing because he realizes that he was a good man and not just some drunk who left him.

Much of the scenery in the reservation gives the audience an idea of what Native American life is like. One example is the flag hung upside down on independence day. This is ironic beacause Native Americans independence was taken away by America. Also, all the beer shows what kind of life Victor's dad has. Even the ironic poster in police office about justice shows the police man's racism.

Week March 3 Reflection

This week we finished Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. The ending of the book shows how witchery destroys and manipulates people and Tayo resists the urge to turn to witchery.

Before, Leroy, Pinkie, Emo, and Harley were all friends from the Vietnam War who would share their stories, drink, and curse the white people for the land they had taken. Tayo finds out that they are coming to get him, most likely to kill him. Tayo hides between boulders and watches as Emo slowly kills Harley to try to bring Tayo out from hiding. The witchery had manipulated Emo so that he thrived off of destruction of life. Leroy and Pinkie begin fighting too over a simple shove. Witchery had even made Harley and Leroy, Tayo's best friends turn against him and attempt to bring him to Emo to be destroyed. In order to finish the ceremony, Tayo has to avoid Emo and the others.

Tayo finds himself trying to resist the urge to stop Emo from killing Harley. He would have liked nothing better than to stab his screwdriver right through Emo's temple. However, if Tayo did this, he would become part of the witchery himself, be driven to insanity, and end the ceremony. It's hard to comprehend how witchery can manipulate someone to have the desire to kill another just because they are a "half-blood". Emo didn't really care about the importance of whether Tayo was sane or not. His cause to find Tayo was completely personal. Tayo does resist coming out of hiding and later, Leroy, Pinkie, and Harley are found dead and Emo has to move away to California because he isn't wanted in the reservation. This shows how Tayo was strong enough to complete the ceremony and that made the destructive witchery leave his life for good.

Week of Feb. 24 Reflection

This week, in Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko we read pages 163-208. This is after Tayo has gone through his ceremony and is healed. Tayo finally finds something to fill in the emptiness inside of him and begins to see Betonie's visions come true.

Caught in the middle of an exhausting trip, Tayo spots an Indian girl underneath an apricot tree. She sees how exhausted he is and brings him inside and begins to make supper for him. Her name is Ts'eh and she represents Earth and this is symbolic of Tayo being nurtured by nature. Nature is what Tayo lost his touch with in Vietnam and totally warped his inner being and Ts'eh is helping him recuperate. Tayo sleeps with her and immediately falls in love. She has filled his emptiness and he is noticeably more confident the next morning. Tayo finally feels "at home" and has found his place in the world.

Tayo notices that two of Betonie's visions come true. The woman he foresaw in Tayo's future is Ts'eh and the stars Ts'eh and Tayo saw were the constellations that Betonie envisioned. The only thing that was missing was the cattle. Tayo knew he had to find them and bring them back, for it was part of his destiny. Tayo is angry at all he white cowboys and ranchers because they dstroy the land around them and the animals. He is also angry at Indians like Harley because they value the things white people have and envy them. Tayo steals the cattle and finds that Ts'eh has a husband. Tayo doesn't seem to mind this fact however.