Music and its Borders

I will listen to any kind of music as long as it is upbeat and positive. I listen to a little bit of everything, and especially soft rock. However,at this time of year christmas music trumps everything else. I like music that puts me in a good mood. Christmas music does this very well because it is the happiest time of the time and it just makes you feel happy. My favorite artist is probably Jack Johnson because his songs also always make you feel good. His songs might not make any sense, but they tend to put you in a good mood. My favorite song is the obviously, The Victors. Another one of my favorite songs is "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. I find the lyrics of songs to be a lot more important than the beat. I think that the words are what explores boundaries. It allows the artist to express their views and show how they feel. I think the style and songs that I like explore boundaries because it shows a part of who I am, and represents my personality. I am usually positive and very cheerful, and i think that the music I listen to is also that way.

This mans story relates to speaking the unspeakable in many ways. The government tried to censor him and keep people like him quiet, but he stood up for what he believed in and told his story. Everybody needs to know and understand all the terrible things that happened during World War II and the Holocaust. People need to speak up and say the things that people don't want to hear. The things of the past and genocide still continue today and we have to know how and why these things happened if we are ever going to try and stop the mass killings of the future. It also took courage for this man to speak about all those terrible things because it would be very difficult for anyone to recount those events. In today's world most people are only self-conscious and don't understand all the evil that still exists in the world, so people have to speak up and tell them about how the world really is.

Genocide in Sudan

The people involved are the Sudanese government and there military, as well as the civilians living in the darfur region. The things that are happening there are abuse of human rights. The civilians are the ones who the government's military goes after. The military launches ground and are assaults on different tribes and villages and in some cases will wipe the whole group out. The area of the conflict is a region of Sudan known as Darfur. This genocide has been taking place since at least 2003, but some believe that it has existed since Sudan gained its independence over fifty years ago. There are many reasons why it has happened. A lot of the natural resource that the government has is located in the southern parts of the country. The government is located in the north, so it is trying wipe out the tribal groups in Darfur to be able to use and exploit the land. Those in the north feel they are superior to the tribal people's because of the different races and ethnicity's. Another thing the government does is they try to stop any relief or aid from coming into the country. The people there need food and water and the government tries to prevent the little help they do get from happening. How this happens, is out of hatred and greed. They want the land and resources and they also hate the people of Darfur because they have different religions and ethnicity. It relates to speaking the unspeakable because the horrors that genocide produce must be told to everybody so that we can all understand it and try and do something to prevent it. I don't understand why in this country we only think of ourselves, why should we have freedom and liberties while people in place like Darfur don't have any freedom what so ever.

Purpose of Art

The purpose of art is to get across a message. That message can be an expression of the artist, politically oriented, or anything that has sends any kind of message. My perspective on art really hasn't changed, I still believe art to be a way to express a point and a form of communication ones ideas. I don't think that there is an obligation for art to improve the human condition. In some cases it does, but I don't think any artist or any of there art is obligated to do anything other than what they want. If an artist creates artwork that are designed to help the human condition, then that is a great thing. On the other hand if some creates artwork that does nothing to help humans that's okay too.

I think that Theo Jansen's creation is a remarkable thing. He combined both of jobs, physicist and artist to create a unique piece of science and art. He calls his creations animari, which use the wind to walk on the beaches. I think that it is a ingenues creation that took a lot of creativity and thought. To me this is more of science then art, and show how many different things the scientific world can do. I don't like how they talk about it as a life form or a species. It is artificially created and doesn't have any characteristics of life. The idea that it will evolve and that these things will compete and take over each others DNA seems very far fetched. His comparison between the pipe lengths and human genetics seems way off as well. Even if it could evolve I wouldn't want it to because I see all life as sacred and we shouldn't be artificially making it. The purpose of art is to create something to get across a specific message. He Theo Jansen is expressing is love of physics showing how smart he is and how science and art can go together.

I feel very disappointed in the results of the election. I believe that if anyone ever deserved to be president of the United Sates it was John McCain. He is a hero and an inspiration. He is someone who not only believed in a cause greater than himself, but showed it through his actions. I can't say how much I appreciate what he has done and how thankful i am that i got a chance to vote for one of the greatest Americans of all time. I accept Obama as my next president and will reluctantly follow his leadership into this dangerous and unknown world. It is interesting to see whether he will have policy from the middle like his campaign or if he and the democrats in congress will push through a very liberal agenda indicated by his record. Despite the Republican loses i believe this is a chance to get back to basics. Reagen built the ideals of our party based on low taxes and small government. the republicans in congress recently got away from this goals and catered to big business and special interests. This is a wake up call for conservatives to get back to how this country should truly be run. I am also disappointing in the passage of proposal two because i firmly believe a human life should not be created just to be killed through experiments. I think America wants the change that both candidates preached and I'm very proud that Americans got involved and are concerned with this country and it's direction. America is the greatest country to ever exists and i think under Obama we will continue. America means freedom and Republican or Democrat we have to work together to achieve freedom not just for people in the United Sates but every single human being on the planet. God Bless America!

Community Poem

Like most communities we have the talk,
But yet again, we fail to make the walk.
We say we will help,we say we will give,
But close-minded, selfish, and greedy we live.

Great schools, business, and homes we provide,
But behind these wonderful things we hide.
We say work together, we say act like brothers,
But no one really cares about others.

We use to have a safe place to tick-or-treat,
But now there are many dangers that kids might meet.
We are a place where there used to be care,
But now our people don't understand how to share.

There are still those who do stand strong,
But it is hard to fight all that is wrong.
These few don't talk the talk,
But they sure do walk the walk.