Final Blog Post

1) At least two analyses of photographs.
http://warlore.blogspot.com/2008/04/reading-photograph-tuesday-april-15th.html
http://warlore.blogspot.com/2008/04/war-between-states.html

2) At least two creative pieces. This might include poems, short stories, or other innovative forms.
http://warlore.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-remember.html
http://warlore.blogspot.com/2008/05/through-eyes-of-syllables-575.html

3) At least two letters.
http://warlore.blogspot.com/2008/05/letter-to-todays-soldiers.html
http://warlore.blogspot.com/2008/05/assignment-pretend-you-are-soldier-and.html

4) At least one group effort post.
http://warlore.blogspot.com/2008/04/resistance-is-futile.html

5) At least one post that relates, refers to or deals with a medium other than writing or photography (i.e. film, sculpture, etc.). Push the medium to its limit here. How does the form of a blog allow you to do something you couldn't have done on paper?
http://warlore.blogspot.com/2008/05/world-is-drawing-one-picture.html

6) At least one post completely of your own design and execution.
http://warlore.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-drawings.html

My Drawings

I really wanted to do a small comic for my original post, but unfortunately, that was already suggested in class. So I figured I would show some of the drawings I have made. I drew the girl in my blog profile, as well as the two in this post. As you may have noticed, I am a huge fan of pinup. Because I am so entrenched in military life, and since pinup originated in the military planes of WWII, I have made several pinups with a military theme. I am fond of Andrew Bawidamann at http://www.bawidamann.com/gallery/galleries_militarypinup.html, who does a wonderfully stylized military themed pinup.

I realize that pinup isn't incredibly deep, or thought provoking, but I like it.

Letter to Today's Soldiers

To all the Soldiers serving in Iraq,

First off, thank you. Thank you a million times over. Everyone in America loves you and thanks you so much for just doing what you are told to do. I am so happy that people support the soldiers, even if they hate the war. America learned it's mistake with Vietnam, they learned not to hate the soldiers for something that they cannot change. I hope that everywhere you go, you feel like everyone looks up to you.

I hope that each and everyone of you comes back home safe and sound. Even though there is no way to take away your experiences of the war, I hope that instead of giving you nightmares, it makes you stronger, and makes you a better person than you were before.

Your biggest Fan

Letter Home

Assignment: Pretend you are a soldier and write a letter home or a journal entry of a personal account of your experiences and how war has effected you.

Dear Mom,
First off, I want to say that I love you, and I miss your hugs so much.
I am tired of this, tired of everything. I cannot count the number of people I have seen that have no homes anymore. It seems like everywhere we go, the bombs have kissed the land, leaving behind broken buildings, and broken towns. What's really horrible is that for every homeless, tired, unfortunate person I see traveling the roads, there is a dead body lying somewhere in the streets. I know you don't want to hear about things like this, but on the bright side, my unit hasn't run into much trouble, since we're far from the front lines of battle. I am going to be fine, so don't worry too much about me, I'll make sure I get back home safe, promise.
Your Little Girl

Through the Eyes of Syllables: 5,7,5

Assignment: Write five haikus about war.

Rain pours down my face
Red bodies, sky, and anger,
Blood is all I see.

Stars shine in the wind,
Red, White, and Blue flutters high,
Ready for battle.

Sir, reporting in,
The target is in my sights
Waiting your orders.

The sky yells with jets
Carrying the weight of war,
Destruction flying.

Alarms sound, time to hide.
Airraid puts fear in our hearts,
Who will die this time?

The World is Drawing One Picture

Assignment: At least one post that relates, refers to or deals with a medium other than writing or photography (i.e. film, sculpture, etc.). Push the medium to its limit here. How does the form of a blog allow you to do something you couldn't have done on paper?

DrawBall.com
The most prevelent, and yet probably the least thought about medium of the internet is the website. Everyone thinks of the hosted on Youtube, but who ever thinks about how interesting the concept of Youtube as a whole, about how it is set up to showcase the videos it holds, the fact that it allows for comments, staticstics on video populatiry, or any of its other features. Next time you look at your favorite websites, think about them as a whole, and how much thought and effort had gone into it's look and function.

The website I would like to present to my readers is Drawball.com. The first thing you see is a large ball with what looks like scribbles all over it, and a few words. By clicking on this ball, it zooms in closer, to reveal that what looked like scribbles before are actually pictures. This ball is a giant, ever evolving and changing ball, consisting of drawings by countless thousands of people. This takes collaboration to a whole new level. Particularly any of the larger drawings, such as the Xenu.net collection, which is obviously drawn by hundreds of people (view the playback feature.) This would be possible off of the internet, but so much harder to orcistrate that it would never happen, and certainly not constantly evolve like the drawball does.

I hate to be the type to make excuses but...

I was stuck outside all day yesterday due to car trouble,
which led me to be stuck in bed today due to dehydration.

I will post my Final Blog ASAP.

Pagan Strikes Back.

Assignment: Put a link on your blog to a song, video, advertisement, or some aspect ofpop culture. Then write a short creative piece with a 250 word maximum that connects to you in some thematic or personal way.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=qRagep7AOpk

Have you ever felt like you have a secret that you can't talk about with others? I feel like that sometimes. It is no secret that I am Pagan, but I certainly do not just volunteer that information whenever the topic of religion comes up. Too many stares, I can see the thoughts running through your heads.
"What the fuck is a Pagan?"
"Are those tree hugging freaks?"
"Oh my God, is she a devil worshiper?"
"Get away from her."
I cannot find others like me. Or if I do, they are dark and brooding creatures in the shadows, wallowing in their stagnant soup of loneliness. Also known as goths. And as hypocritical as it sounds, I can't be around people like that for long, they make me feel uncomfortable. They also feel like they are as knowledgeable as a slug. About as slimy as one too.
I am tired of Christianity being the assumed religion of everyone in the United States. It might be the majority, but it is not everyone.

We are borg. We present the Lakota.

The Lakota People

In December of 2007 the Lakota Indians successfully succeeded from the United States, and went almost completely unnoticed within the realms of the United States. No U.S. press devoted their time or effort to reporting this cause, yet three different nations recognized the Lakota as independent from the U.S. They declared themselves to not be citizens of the U.S. and laid claims to the land which they owned in parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. They had been drafting this declaration stating their independence from the U.S. since 1974, and just now released it. This just shows how the media controls what the public hears.

Response 1: The Lakota people are completely justified in their actions. They were not satisfied with the actions of the United States government, and according Lockean philosophy, if a government is not protecting the rights of its constituency, then they have every right to rebel. In fact, he even claims that it is their duty to rebel in order to protect their rights. Now, in the United States Government, there are 2 checks that the people have on the government in order to assure that their individual rights are protected. These checks are: 1; the people are the ones who elect the officials into their offices. Thus the people can choose to not reelect an official if he or she fails to fully represent the voice of their constituency. 2: if the government fails to do their job properly, the people can rebel, and succeed from the nation. The rights of the Lakota people have been trampled on ever since the killing of Sitting Bull, and the Massacre at Wounded Knee. They have the obligation to ensure that their rights are protected, and if that means leaving the U.S. and creating their own country then so be it.

Response 2:The main purpose behind this notion, in relationship to our English 104 course is most obviously the power of the media expressed in this passage. This passage expresses that these Lakota Native Americans have been drafting their succession from the United States for over 30 years and the press just gave word. This is a dangerous lesson for our citizen's because, if the media is able to keep things under wraps for that long a period of time, what else are we unaware of that is occurring in our country? or even, what else are we unaware of that's occurring overseas? The war in Iraq is one that has been held in a negative light from day one, but still, the media doesn't provide the citizens of this country with full information. Many people of this country are still unaware of what we are even "fighting" for, which provides us with the scary realization that there could be far more corrupt actions going on in

Response 3:The Lakota Indians succeeding from the United States and being un-noticed by the media and general public shows two things; 1, the government must have not been taking care of its’ people must if the Indians were happy in the United States and how they were being treated then they would not have succeeded, and 2, either the media was told not to blow this story out of proportion because other Native Americans might follow suit, or they are not doing their job. The Lakota succeeding gives the feeling that the government has ignored them and has not treated them the way they wanted. The lack of Americans knowing of this succession shows how the news either reports on wars happening in far away lands or on local stories about a dog finding its owners. As Americans we need to know real news about what is happening within our country and the first way to do that is to tell the media what we want to hear.

Response 4: It is interesting how the Indians often get forgotten. Americans like to think of the United States as a virtuous country built on pure ideals, but no one ever remembers how we acquired this 'pure' land. Old treaties made, even if forgotten, still exist. If the Lakota community feels that the United States has not upheld their end of the contract, then they have every right to break away. Wouldn't it be strange if they did though? Can you imagine only 45 stars on the American flag? I think it is hard to imagine the US growing any more, and even harder to think of it getting smaller. I also wonder if there are similar treaties with other Indian tribes, and do those Native Americans also feel that the United States has not fulfilled its part of the agreement?

Resistance is futile...

Collective post.
War is over if you want it. + War Lore.
Happy Town + Levels of devistation.



After Derek leaves jail, he is a new man. This picture is highly representative of that and is a stark contrast to the photo of his arrest. He has a full head of hair (unlike a skin-head) and is wearing a white shirt (suggestive of a light, angelic nature) which covers the swastika he proudly displayed before. He is surrounded by family, all smiling, which suggests support for his new, more open attitude. (Technically, they don't know about it, but that is still what the picture suggests.)

Memes in Your Mind.

A sibling of the 'slogan' (which is used by corperations and political activists for getting the public's attention) is the 'meme' (used by prepubecent boys on the internet). The phrase "Don't taze me, bro!" is recognisable to anyone in America under 25. A nice definition of meme (nicer than the one I posted above anyways) is a unit of cultural information that represents a basic idea that can be transferred from one individual to another, and subjected to mutation, crossover and adaptation. The 'Don't taze me bro' meme has been used in many different applications, such as pictures, stories, and even Youtube techno videos.

Anything we want! (Tuesday, April 22)

I wanted to search for a light-hearted, or only semi serious cartoon or comic about war. Instead, I found this. I am a big fan of motivationals, and even more so of demotivationals.

According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Hubris means "Overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance". The word hubris in this poster is likely referring to the Bush Administration's lack of willingness to admit/explain that they were mistaken about the Iraq War.

Reading a Photograph (Tuesday, April 15th)

This image feels very geometric; the three cylindrical objects coming from three sides of the picture serve to equally space the dark and light values. I am unsure of what the metal cylinders are, perhaps rifles or the guns on three tanks. Either way, the point of view gives the viewer a sense of power: one tends to feel a lot safer behind the gun than in front of it. The lines of the picture remind me of the Japanese rising sun, which provides an interesting historical perspective considering that Japan was one of the America's enimys during WWII.

The War Between the States

http://www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/unpacav1.htm

These men are from the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry / 60th Regiment (Young's Kentucky Light Cavalry). Gray tone photographs often play up the visibility of light and dark. Seeing the light through the organic shape of the tree's leaves gives the sense of a bright, beautiful day. This in contrast to the main subjects of the photo, four civil war soldiers. They are carrying swords, and appear to be in uniforms. Behind them is an old style of tent, so this photo was likely taken next to their regiment's camp. The men are the obvious focus of the picture. They are facing the camera straight on, in somewhat similar poses, with the exception of the sitting figure. He is most likely in a different position because he is the Commander, Colonel William Averill, and the other men are his officer staff. The highest ranked person in a picture will often differentiate themselves in some way, by standing in the very middle, or placing themselves on a pedestal of some sort.

Teacher's Blog

http://104aboutwar.blogspot.com/

Images of Iraq

In this photograph, the eye immediately notices that the two figures in front are much darker than the figure in the background who seems to be surrounded by an aurora of light. This range of value implies emphasis on the figure in the background which is a Sunni militia. The focal point centered on the Sunni soldier is referring to the suffering of Sunni militias who are now being targeted in assassinations and bomb attacks. The depth in the picture which makes the two figures seem much larger and far more intimidating seems to suggest the innocence and smallness of the Sunni soldier. The Sunni soldier’s face is the only one in picture you can actually make out which stresses the sympathy of the audience toward the one figure. The photographer could just as easily zoomed in on the Sunni soldier instead of darkening the American soldiers but this would lose the effect. Thus suggesting the two dark figures on either side play a prominent role in the picture and hold certain valuable characteristics. The two American soldiers appear as some form of statues on either side of the focal point. They appear to be protecting the figure in the middle, valuing his innocence and what significance he has. This photo’s natural eeriness seems to draw together the current American perspective of the Iraq War and suggests the present and future importance of these Iraqi soldiers.

Iraq today!

http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1207833943183800.xml&coll=6

This article is about the rising prices of oil in America, and it poses the question, where is the oil money in Iraq going, and why isn't it going to the US's debt fund? The article says that American taxpayers have already put billions of dollars into rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure and training/equipping its military but all the money that the Iraqi government is making from oil profits is nowhere to be seen.

The author is obviously anti-Bush. His entire article drips with distain for the Bush administration. In particular, he hints that the US government has been lying to it's citizens since the beginning of the war. He tries to establish credibility by sprinkling statistics and various figures throughout the article.

I don't remember...

I don't remember telling my mother that I hated her daily. After Ricky was taken by SIDS, suddenly I thought that meant that everyone I liked was going away. If I didn't like anybody, then they wouldn't have to leave. At least that's what the pediatrician thought, and what my mom told me later. Apparently, a friend of mine at the preschool had moved away, and I thought that meant she had died.

I don't remember how many times I have eaten at Cold Stone Creamery, but just the same, I'll bet each and every time was delicious. Om nom nom.

I remember...

I remember the day my mother wouldn't let me into my brother's room. Something was wrong, though no one would tell me why. I was sent to bed early while my mother went out. Father stayed in the kitchen, talking to people, or maybe just someone on the phone.

Next morning I wondered where my brother was. Why isn't he in the crib? I don't remember anything after that until...

I remember everyone being dressed nice. I had a pretty dress on too. We all went into a building that smelled like flowers and quiet. Why is everyone being so quiet? Then I saw my little brother in a box, in a tiny suit, surrounded by flowers.

"Mommy, why don't you just pick Ricky up so we can go home?"

Lemon

And this quail's croches rouge salad my trail sniffle
'n to tell jar pair lean find you, seal blew;
Cute car late covert surprise do Roy quail Israel,
Crew lent less battalions in mass eden self you.

And this coin unfolds lie unpreventable boils and late decides millions,
demons untask fume ant.
Pave rest mortals! Dan is letting lil'Herby dance the joy, nature!
Oh toy, quit faces on my sainty mint.

I'll east undue queer, I take naps,
The mask us, the assault, silence!
And socks grants chalaces.
Dork, you dance the bare cement.