demons and angels

So far I have learned a lot about my topic: demons and angels. It is a very interesting topic to study because so many different cultures view them in different ways. For instance, in Buddhism, there are many different ranks of angels-the higher the rank, the more abilities they have. While  in Hinduism, there is only one rank of angels(archangels) who act as heavenly guides. In Egypt Angels are called 'winged spirits' and there were 1000's of them. They would build elaborate tombs and put small windows in them so the angels could get in and visit their dead loved ones. Zorastirans believed that there was no such thing as an angel, just good and evil angels.
Demons in all cultures are of course known as evil and are the opposite of good. What I found interesting was that in Hinduism, demons and angels sometimes worked together in certain stories. In one story, they worked together to achieve mortality. I still have to get much more on the topic, but it is very interesting! :)

Grunge Music so far

I have learned alot about Grunge music so far since studying it and I found that one of the most significant things about it was that it was not as much about how people loved the music of Grunge but that it was used to make money by businesses such as MTV so the lifestyle was advertised. Just because of Grunge Seattle was able to up the prices of flanel shirts to $40 because everyone wanted to wear grunge like shirts and ripped jeans. I also learned that most people who became Grunge music stars all came through the same record company sub pop records because that was one of the only Grunge record companies.

Researching the Buddha

Throughout my research I have discovered a growing interest in my topic of Buddhism.  At first I thought I would pursue research on the different forms of Buddhism and how they developed and changed throughout cultures.  I thought it was interesting how there were so many different kinds of Buddhism and how they changed to suit different cultures.  However, after reading my second book, I became more interested in the concept and belief of karma and reincarnation.  This was interesting to me because it troubled the author for years and he went into great spiritual and mental depth about the concept.  I found that it would be very difficult to write a paper just on this topic, however.  

What I have decided to do my paper on is the ethics of the Buddha.  I have been doing research on the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, and the ethics behind the religion.  I then will connect these ethics with his teachings and Buddhist practices.  I hope to be able to research and develop a complete ethical portfolio of the Buddha and show how these ethics are present in the religion.  I think my research will only make me further interested and awed by the Buddhist religion.

Assisted Suicide So Far

     So far I've learned a lot about assisted suicide.  One of the things I have learned is that there is an almost equal amount of support for it as there is against it.  Generally,  frequent church goers believe that life is a gift from god so assisted suicide is wrong, but some say God gives us free will to choose our own path.  Lots of people also believe that unrelievable suffering is an unqualified evil, but others counter that argument with the fact that a life with suffering still has meaning.  Assisted suicide can also ruin the patient-doctor relationship, some say.  This argument is said to be invalid because by some because doctors can't always be healers.  In a survey, over 50% of people over the age of 65 said they were less likely to trust their doctor if it was legal.  Physician assisted suicide is a hot topic right now and still gets people riled up when it comes up.

This is our town

The second book I read for Seattle grunge music was Everybody Loves Our Town by Marl Yarm. This books gives stories and some quotations by famous Grunge musicians like Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, Layne Staley of Alice in Chains, and Eddie Vedar of Pearl Jam. It gives a lot of information about the formation of Grunge and how people especially in the Grunge business viewed the lifestyle.
The interesting thing about this book instead of a regular styled book this is pretty much a compilation of everyone who was integrated into the grunge scene like band members, producers, journalists, and columns from newspapers like the LA times. This makes it so the book gives very in depth detail om what happened in the era because it is from people who experienced it first hand.

Much of what I learned is an expansion of things I had already read something about. I already know a lot of the information I've found, but that's I've been collecting knowledge about dragons for years, and have inadvertently acquired some information about the cultures they are known from. However, some facts I knew nothing about.  For example, I found that there is a final stage to a lung's evolution, where it actually acquires wings. Now, I am gathering my information together. 

     I am connecting my "belief" information to my "examples" information- that is, connecting the portrayals of dragons to beliefs in the cultures I have chosen. I'm trying to twist it together.  I really enjoy the myths I read while researching this topic. Reading those has probably been the most interesting part. As for the topic- well, the  difference in the ways dragons are treated is really rather astounding. Where one is a ruler, the other is a demon, and where one is mindless, the other is wise. I want to bring in as much of these references as possible, while staying true to the topic. I need to be sure that I don't forget the Humanities part of it! I want this paper to be interesting. I want readers to want to know more about these cultures, their tales, and the dragons. 

Beefheart so far

During my research process I learned answers to questions that I didn't know that I had. I learned things about expressionist artists and the art form itself, but mostly focusing on Don Van Vliet. Going by the alias of "Captain Beefheart" Vliet was responsible for one of the most confusing and experimental albums ever. The album went by the name of "Trout Mask Replica" and it is commonly referred to as one of the best maximalist albums ever. My primary focus was on the album because I had known about it for a while and had personally thought that it was one of the worst things that I had ever heard, so I thought that this research project could be a good way to comprehend what the fuss was about. There was a surprising amount of depth to the album during the research, I had learned that there was so much going on behind the scene that it would be a shame for anybody to listen to the album before learning about it. During my first listen I had wanted to know why everybody in the band was playing their instrument at a different tempo than the others. The answer was that most of the album was polyrhythmic, meaning that everybody played at a different tempo and when their tempo did match up, everyone switched to a different rythim. This forced the listener to pay attention to a single instrument, whichever one they found the most appealing. The listener had a choice of what they listened to, and every time they replayed the song they could choose the way it sounded to them.
In conclusion I developed a lot of respect for Captain Beefheart and his magic band, not only that but also for abstract, and maximalist art.

So Far

Well I have learned quite a few things regarding my topic. Although find information is proving to be a bit more difficult than I thought. Well what I am learning from this topic is do not pic a topic that is completely make believe. Angels and Demons are not real, so anything we know about them is made up. Well I guess that could also make this paper really easy, could just make up everything right? The topic it self is not really anyway. But I wont do that, do not have the imagination or time to fabricate something like that. Any who, my analysis so far is every religion has them in one form or another. Despite the gap in traditions and customs of religion for one to another, there is a pretty uniform role for demons and angels. The names change and the hierarchies alter, but all in all still the same. Not many new questions about my topic for the blog. One of the most interesting things I have come across I believe is the fact that, this idea is able to stay so uniform with so many different peoples using it. What I hope people get out of my paper, well nothing. I would really hope everyone has more interesting plans than to read my research paper. There are so many other way better written and far more interesting to read than a senior's research paper. But of course if one of you get forced into reading it I would hope you would think this. No matter where you go, people believe or used to believe that imaginary creators battle to keep "the balance in the force". That is what angels and demons do, they fight each other. If one side gets to strong the other must balance it off. Or else we get Judgment day and no one wants that. Unless I guess your excited for rapture, but I know I'm not.

The American Flag

     To me, the most meaningful piece of art out their is the American Flag.  It means so much to so many Americans.  The American Flag helps was created by Betsy Ross in 1776 and is still something is something that defines us as a country today.  Stars have been added to it but I know that it still sends the same message,  that freedom is the greatest thing one can achieve.  Many people died fighting for our flag and protecting our freedom and beliefs.  I believe this strengthens us as a nation and shows how much we believe in our country.
    We have multiple days dedicated to this great piece of art, including Flag Day and the 4th of July.  People are excited to support their country and show off their patriotism.  The flag has inspired many artists in its history and will continue to do so.  I take comfort in the fact that our country believes in ourselves and that we are willing to go to almost any extent to preserve our nation.

Assisted Suicide

     For my research project I decided to do the morality of physician assisted suicide.  I read the book Assisted Suicide, by Lauri S. Friedman.  The book talks about all angles of physician assisted suicide including whether or not it should be legal, does it threaten vulnerable people, and is it moral?  Some believe it is not moral because it harms the patient-doctor relation ship.  Others believe it is moral because it is a doctors duty to end suffering their patients have.  Many people have their own opinions on whether it is moral or not and the debate on whether it will be legal or not will continue for a long time.

love is confusing

Love is a very broad word and there are so many different kinds of it and ways to express it. There can be the love you have for a family member, a love you can have for a significant other, or just the love of a good friend.
I believe that all love comes naturally. Love isn't something that can be forced. You either love someone or you don't. Without love in this world, it would be a very dark place. I believe that humans really thrive off love. It's what we depend on and what helps us get through this crazy world in one piece. Whether it be the love you have for your mom, your cat, or your boyfriend, it all counts and is all very important to survive. Love can be the best feeling in the world, but it can also be the worst. Of course with family members that love is usually a bond you are born with and have forever, but with friends or significant others, that love can fade away or become very one-sided which is a very sad thing. Love is confusing.

most meaningful experience of art

    I'm not a really huge art fan so for me to think of the most meaningful experience of art I've had is difficult. To me, my most meaningful piece of art would probably be my skis. Although many people would not think of a pair of skis as art, they are to me.
    My ski's are a work of art and have been and have been shaped to ski to the best of their ability. The cool thing about them is that when my 'art' gets scratched or damaged, it is fixable and I can fix it myself with a little wax. I also like how I am able to use my pieces of art to almost create more art in the fresh snow with my path leaving patterns as I ski down a mountain. Although they may not seem like art to others, they are to me.

Slave Songs or Blues?

     For my second book, I read Slave Songs of the United States, as well as did some outside online research on slave songs themselves. It was very interesting to read the words of these songs, in which a lot of the lyrics came directly from Black mouths. I picked this book because I wanted to try to find similarities between blue's and slave music. Both originated from African Americans in distress, but both are very different in the way those African Americans express their emotions and feelings of distress. The slave songs themselves, obviously, talk about slavery and God and how free they are going to feel once they get off this planet and go to Heaven and meet God and are finally relieved from the brutality of being a black human slave in America. Blues deals with similar topics but has a much more musically oriented tone. Blues songs have a real and raw lyric base with a musically entertaining melody; while slave songs are much more about the lyrics and the unease behind them than about the musical experience.
     After reading about slave songs, I'm honestly not sure whether I want to continue on a more narrow aspect of blues or a more narrow aspect of slave songs and slave culture within music. I'm hoping to get some feedback from you all to try and make my decision for sure. I am really very interested in both so either way, I will have a kick booty time researching.

The reason my grade is a D - Very late Art Experience post

I have always loved art - painting, drawing, really anything I can do to get my feelings on paper. It has always been my favorite subject in school and even though I'm nowhere near as talented as some of my peers, I still very much enjoy doing it. Now, comparatively, I have always hated sciences and maths. My dad, being a chemist, has always tried to explain my science homework to me. When I was younger I used to get really agitated and tune him and my homework out and just draw while he tried to explain things to me. When he noticed how much I would rather be doing art he brought me to the Boston Museum of Science, at about age 8.
Now, I know the Boston Museum of Science isn't really considered an art gallery or anything. Its not paintings and sculptures. But I thought of it as art and still do to this day. It might now be the kind of art that I enjoy creating, but it did have a slight mix of art and science that I thought was very cool. Things were constructed in a certain way and they were planned and crafted. Having things visible and three dimensional for me made it easier to understand, but also it made it seem more real. Walking through the museum I could see the art everywhere, even though some other might have purely viewed it as science. I thought about how much time and effort must have gone into the planing of all of the pieces, especially the ones with exact timing. It made me see more so how almost anything can be made into art if you have enough creativity. I'm not sure if it makes much sense to anybody else, but that was my most meaningful art experience because it showed me how art can be found anywhere you look, if you look deep enough.

Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist

The second book I read on the topic of Buddhism was Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist, by Stephen Batchelor.  This book is an autobiography, and goes in depth on Batchelor and his experiences as a traveling monk.  He was originally ordained as a Tibetan monk after leaving his life in the U.K. at age 18.  Batchelor goes in depth on the practices and life of a practicing Buddhist monk in Tibet as well as discussing the fundamental and intricate beliefs of different forms of Buddhism.  Batchelor refers to himself as a Buddhist atheist because he at first fully devotes his life to the practice of Tibetan (a form of Mahayana) Buddhism, but is skeptical on a certain belief.  This belief being the idea of reincarnation and that souls do not die.  Batchelor meditates on this concept for years and for this reason, and others involving practices of Tibetan Buddhism, he leaves Tibet for South Korea.  Once in Korea, he becomes ordained as a Zen Buddhist monk and begins to learn and practice the ways of Zen Buddhism.
 This book also goes in depth on Siddhartha Guatama, also known as the Buddha.  After Batchelor's many years as both a Zen and Tibetan monk, he went back to lay life and began studying the Buddha.  Batchelor looked in depth at the original texts of Buddhism, the Pali Cannon, which were recorded about 450 years after the death of Guatama.  These texts are in the ancient language of Pali and contained the first teachings and practices of the Buddhist religion.  Batchelor used this collection, as well as other early Buddhist literary works, to uncover the most accurate description of the original Buddha and his way of life. The facts he put together painted a very possibly accurate portrait of Gautama's life and practices, although no official recording or facts about his life actually exist.  Batchelor also used what he learned from these texts and his experiences to create a guide to practical lay life Buddhism.    
Reading this book gave me a much greater in depth idea of the actual practices of a Mahayana and Zen Buddhist monk.  I learned how monasteries modify there own Buddhist practices to suit the culture and needs of the society they are in, often ignoring basic Buddhist beliefs.  I was very interested in the concept of rebirth and reincarnation and how it is a vital belief in the Buddhist religion.  The idea of Karma, the moral and spiritual law, is deeply embedded in Buddhist belief and reincarnation.  This is what I will likely pursue more research on.  

Trout Mask Replica

After reading My second research book I've come to terms with the views that Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) had. This book explained to me what this man was thinking, and why he thought it. Growing up Vliet was always an artistically gifted individual who thought on his own terms, he often referred to himself as "a fish jumping out of the school". When he was young Vliet was an impressive sculptor, so impressive that he was offered to be taught be the masters down in California at a young age. His parents politely declined because they where afraid that they would turn him gay. Vliet's views where entirely his own and his art showed it. Almost all of his art that he had free reign over was expressionist, he described his reasoning by using television as an example, he always preferred television to be in black and white. He preferred this because the viewer could imagine anything on the screen to be in any color, he said that if you are mad you can imagine the walls in the background to be flame red, of if you are feeling happy you can imagine everyone wearing bright colors. This is basically what he did in his music, black and white expressionism translated to song turned out to be very difficult to digest, there was no hand holding, and it was not gentle. But if you let it unravel itself to you you would find the music to be unparalleled. Vliet's new and unique musical sound turned out to be very influential in helping create genres such as Alternative Rock, Progressive Rock, Math Rock, and Post Punk. And most traditional music critics respect this album in its entirety.

The Can That Sold The World

For my second book, I read Andy Warhol and the Can That Sold the World by Gary Indiana. It was very enlightening on the way artists are commonly brought up. Artistic and creative people tend to be more focused and extremely picky when they are children. This creates the demon-like personality of a "holy terror" as Bob Colacello calls it. It describes a coddled childhood that leads to early-childhood qualities of being a revered brat. This then leads to "adult monsters" who end up successful but emotionally incapable of correct social etiquette.

Andy Warhol was able to create some absolutely spectacular works of art that broke barriers and screamed an unheard opinion the second it was publicly viewed. But all this to what cost? Warhol's overbearing mother and often-absent father led to him being closed off, shy, rude, blunt, and generally not an appealing person to have a conversation with. My next question with my research paper is: how has the nuttiness and mental capacity/ability in artists (especially Warhol) affected their art? and what kind of toll does it take on their social life?

Finishing the Ballad

     The book I that I chose to read is decently long, so our wonderful teacher has allowed me to just read it, in it's entirety. Finishing the book was amazing. The author, Daniel Mark Epstein, has a very engaging writing style (God that sounds so cliche). The entire book is divided into four sections. Each one of the sections describes a concert that the author went to, but in between describing the concerts, the author details his family, social, and artistic life. He describes what affects his creativity, performance, appearance...
     One of the coolest parts of the book is when the author describes Bob Dylan's performance at Madison Square Garden, after his motorcycle accident. He was "afraid" of the crowd, nervous, rushing through songs...but he had a reason. Before the concert, he was obviously trying recover from the accident but he wanted  his life to be mostly familial. He gave up being the "prophet" that everyone on this earth knows him to be. He just lived for his family; but he did do very occasional concerts. He then describes how the crowd accepts him once again...Bob was playing as if he wanted the audience to take his songs and so they did, they were theirs. The author describes how the artist couldn't even be heard, it was the crowd who owned that performance.
    I'm not totally sure on what my thesis will be yet, but I have a lot to work with and I'm sure however I go about it the result will be interesting.

Demons

So for my second book I read up on some demons and how other cultures see and uses them. At least I tried to anyway. Ended up read three quarters of a book on demons and myths of the far east and two different sections from a different book each. All full of information just not exactly tailored to what I was hoping to learn. Just means I'm gonna have to write some really good note cards come the 11th. My reading about angles was very precise and it seamed as though my people have wondered about them. Leading to a lot of knowledge about them for me to read about. I thought the same would be true for demons, besides they are cooler anyway, the have no limit to power.

I did learn a few things in my readings, not all was lost. One very interesting thing I learn and thought was pretty amazing. In Hindu mythology demons were not always evil and in fact they helped form the Earth along with the other supreme beings. Would be interesting to do my paper on the nicer side of Demons. But don't think there will be a lot out there on that specific kind of thing. Wont know till I try I guess. Im actually really worried about this paper, normally school projects and crap does not faze me but I have started to slip. Once you fall it can be a really hard time getting back on track, look at what happened to Josh. A soon as I get home I get stressed, do I study of chem that Im not really getting, try and grasp at this wonderful poetry we are given or try and figure out how the hell Im going to write for this weighted 10 paper. What ever that means, oh and them we have finals to thats another great pile of freaking out we have coming to us. Well any who back on topic, yeah demons, not as studied as angles thats for sure.

awakening of music

The only art that has really moved me throughout my life is music. Like most people when I started out I was terrible but there was something to it that drawn me to it even though I was terrible. Once I was good enough to start soloing is when the music really started to move me. To me one of the best feelings is finding a groove you like and soloing over it. It takes me to somewhat kind of higher plane of conscious where my mind is completely empty and all I'm doing is creating music. I'd relate it to kind of like meditation where your mind is clear but in a different way in which your using your emotions in order to create music. Its somewhat of artistic experience that keeps me sane through all stuff we have to deal with in everyday life with things such as school, relationships, and work.

Dragons in Western Lore

For this blog post, I read and drew my information from Dr. Karl Shuker's book Dragons: A Natural History.

     The "typical" Western dragon is an easily recognizable figure- scales, a long neck, legs, and membranous wings. However, not all of these dragons look alike. Some are more serpentine, lacking wings and even legs- others are wyverns, who have wings, but only one set of legs. Still others have no wings, and only one set of legs! Despite their physical differences, these dragons tend to share the same penchant for causing mayhem and inspiring terror. 

    However, these dragons are not considered cunning. When one is attacked with brute force, the attackers are often annihilated. When a heroic figure comes along with a plan, the dragon is quickly subdued. For example, in the tale of the Lambton Worm (worm, in this case, being one of those dragons without legs or wings), the dragon is defeated when it tries to wrap itself around the hero, whose armor is covered in blades. In doing so, the dragon is cut to pieces and is washed away by a river. Interestingly, some dragons need not be slain, but are instead subdued by a religious figure. In this case, the tamed dragon may be led back to the town it had terrorized and tamely accept punishment, even death.

     Dragons are often used as symbols of evil, and especially in the Middle Ages, the taming of the dragon was used to symbolize the power of Heaven over Hell. Think of the tale of St. George and the Dragon- St. George defeated a horrific dragon, saving a princess. In return for slaying the dragon, the king agreed to be baptized. The gentling or destruction of the dragon was the triumph of good over evil. Indeed, some dragons were defeated when the image of a cross was held up before them. 

The Long Shrift.

Since I have done many summer programs at colleges and universities learning art history, studio art, and design in respected classrooms, I have had countless conversations about art and many field trips to museums and artists studios. However, despite the viewing of the irks of da Vinci, Magritte, Rockwell, Dali, Warhol, among many others, the most meaningful experience I have had with art happened over the summer when I saw a play called The Long Shrift. 

It was in a tiny but locally-known theater in the west village, which is where I had been living that summer (apartment sitting for a friend and taking a college course in design theory). Tickets were only five dollars for students, so I figured I would pop in and see if the show was any good, thinking I could always walk out during intermission if it was truly dreadful. I ended up seeing the play a total of three times that summer. The play definitely plead around with hot button topics that many would not agree with, but I appreciated Robert Boswell's (the writer of the play) sensitivity while still being blunt about certain facts. The play was about a young man who recently got out of prison after being accused of rape at the age of seventeen. He goes back home and the rest of the play revolves around his accuser trying to make amends for the pain she caused. The cast was only made up of five people (one of them being Ally Sheady, who starred in the movie The Breakfast Club) and the theater held around 80 seats, but you could feel the tension and realization in the room when the audience realized that the main character did not mean to rape her, he was just confused by her mixed signals. It opened up a whole new idea of understanding and empathy with the 'rapist', and showed that when strong words like 'rape' are used, we all freak out and jump to conclusions without really understanding the story.

 I enjoy art that says something about society or societies expectations. The Long Shrift, though not specifically a 'work of art', moved me as much, if not more, than the many paintings and sculptures that I have viewed during my studies.

Hendrix Experience

          Well since music and arts are pretty much a huge part of my everyday life I really don't have a
'most meaningful experience' but I do have a few pieces of art that I know that have really shown me how music can be so powerful and send such a strong message. The one I want to share is Jimmy Hendrix's own take on The Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock. He played the entire thing on his electric guitar and put no words to it but through the different sounds and effects he made with his guitar he sent such a powerful message to everyone. Some people loved it a.k.a. all the hippies and some people hated it because it was giving a negative message on war and our country even though it was truthful. It caused a big fight on whether or not the people who were offended by it should sue Hendrix for playing it and I believe a group of people did but didn't win. This just goes to show how good musicians don't need words to send a message to their audience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjzZh6-h9fM   This is a link to YouTube that shows his performance in 1969 at Woodstock. If you listen with open ears in the middle of the song he doesn't mess up a lot he's replicating machine gun firing and rockets exploding to symbolize the tragedy of war and even plays Taps which is only played when a soldier dies.

Types of Love

        Love is a difficult thing to put a single definition on. Its definition changes and is molded by each individual human being on this planet. Everyone has their own idea of what love truly is but no matter that definition is, everyone's can fit into these three categories; Eros, Philos, and Agape.
          Eros love is the word that describes the kind of love you have for a lover whether its your wife or just some girl you know that you think is hot. The word eros means "desire and longing for" so this is a more sensual, physical, sexual kind of love. In todays world this love is often abused and not used in the right manner which ultimately ends in complete failure and usually is really emotionally damaging to a person. This love shouldn't be expressed physically in a relationship until way into it when you know you truly are and want to be committed to that person for the rest of your life which doesn't matter to people in our generation. A couple will get together and be having sex 2 weeks into that relationship and people just don't seem to see or care how sex isn't something you should abuse because one day when you do meet that amazing guy or girl and you marry him/her guess what? now you have the fact you've slept with two or three other people before him/her so when it comes time when you and your husband or wife want to have sex its not really as meaningful or special. Now if you are somebody who has already had sex you'll probably disagree with me on this and say no it'll still mean something to me but how special do you think your husband or wife will feel knowing they're third or fourth in line? Its just something to think about.
          The next type of love is Philos. Philos love is the kind of love you have between you and your friends or family members. This is the type of love that is your parents caring about you when you think they are just being controling or not understanding enough. This is expressed through acts of being there for someone when they're not feeling well or going to six flags with a buddy. I don't think there's anyone who hasn't really felt what i'm talking about in this class so just list all the things you love that your best friend has done for you or that your family does for you and those are the kind of things that philos love covers.
             The third type of love is Agape. Agape is a love that evolutionarily doesn't really make any sense at all. Its the type of love where someone does an act of love for someone else when they don't gain anything or quite possibly could even recieve something negative back yet still has no hard feelings for that person(s) and has no regrets. This love is shown throughout the Christian religion as something only achievable by God. This makes sense because we as humans all have our opinions and feelings towards others. I can promise you there has not been a single person on the face of the earth that has not judged someone at one point in their life. Its not badits just natural and is the reason we cannot achieve this love because nobody is going to do something like, for example, get crucified for something they believe in and not feel hate or anger at the person(s) that killed you.
             These three categories of love pretty much as far as I know include/cover all types and feelings and acts of love and if you find an example that is not covered by these i'm sure it is but I just didn't do as great of a job at explaining these as I should have.