Cultural Opportunity: ICC Art Exhibit

Culture is all about the customs and philosophies of a group of people. A big part of culture is expression in the form of art. Whether it be abstract, portraits, clay work, or simple drawings, art is considered beautiful and luxurious in almost all cultures. At Illinois Central College, we are fortunate enough to have an art department full of talented artists. When visiting ICC’s art exhibits, one can find paintings of distorted portraits, nature, and colorful, psychedelic abstract pieces. The distorted portraits were works created by the students of themselves in a twisted point of view. Facial features were exaggerated and faces were stretched or contorted. The pieces more directed towards nature were of rocks and sticks. These paintings were mainly brown. My favorite piece in the exhibit was entitled “Blue.” This piece was a portrait of a beautiful girl with full lips and crazy-colorful hair. The whole piece was done in blue but her hair was blue along with pretty much every color of the rainbow. It made me want to go home and dye my hair just like that. Another piece I enjoyed was called “Loop” and it consisted of a bunch of loops and swirls of different colors. I truly enjoyed the art exhibit and am proud to say that I go to the same school as many of those artists.

Cultural Opportunity: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Are you ready for one crazy trip? And not just a roadtrip, but a trip of the mind. Well then you better “buy the ticket [and] take the ride!” In the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a journalist named Raoul Duke and his lawyer Dr. Gonzo take a trip of a lifetime from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. With a trunk full of any drug you can think of, the two prepare to take a wacky journey through the desert, their minds, and ultimately come out with some the craziest experiences of their lifetimes. This movie is all about the drug culture of the 1960s and 1970s. The men are constantly dropping acid, smoking weed, and taking all sorts of other uppers and downers. Their crazy drug-induced antics make for a quirky laugh-out-loud comedy. Overall I thought the movie was very interesting and I felt that Johnny Depp (Duke) and Benicio Del Toro (Gonzo) made a very crazy duo. But in the end the only thing I really remember are the crazy trips resulting from “too much too much too much” drugs and the music of Jefferson Airplane playing while Dr. Gonzo attempts suicide in the bathroom. I think the movie says a lot about American culture though. American society has dealt with the war on drugs for what seems like forever. But in the end, America isn’t really winning, the drugs are. No matter how many laws are established against drugs, people are still going to do them and create new drugs to experiment with. I mean, the guys even stay in a hotel full of cops while taking all of these illegal narcotics and not once do they get caught. I think the movie is a good source of wicked comedy for people who don’t mind being exposed to the drug culture. But if you are against such cultures, I don’t recommend seeing the movie.

The Big Finale

So this is it. The final blog. What to write about?...I suppose I could just write about my Film Analysis, considering that is where the majority of my focus has been lately.
For my Cultural Film Analysis, I am writing about the movie Into the Wild. The movie is about Christopher McCandles, a college graduate who, in the early 1990s, abandoned his old life in favor of the Alaskan wilderness. Chris, later renaming himself Alexander Supertramp, took off, burning his cash, his social security card, and dumping his car. Along his 2 year journey to Alaska, Alex encountered many different people across America. Jan and Rainey, a hippie couple, invite Alex to stay with them for a while. They all become very close and Alex ends up saving their relationship. Alex also encounters Ron, an ex army man who, still mourning the death of his family, has become couped up and full of fear. The two bond tremendously and they both teach each other about life and facing inner demons. Alex survives in the wilderness for a good while. Ultimately, he begins to starve and turns to plants for nutrition. He accidentally ingests a poisonous plant and ends up dying. Although tragic, the story makes you want to get away from society and be one with nature. The film makes me look at life in a whole new way. I can relate to Christopher Alex Supertramp McCandles. We both have had struggles with our family and our place in society.
I hope to really kick ass on this paper. I absolutely adore this movie and am VERY passionate about the topic of self-discovery and true happiness, which are the bases of my paper. I really want to end the semester with a bang. Hoepfully I'll get an A on this paper. I plan on working super fuckin hard on it! =D

Black Friday

So as we all know, Thanksgiving is next week. YAY! Turkey, football, family, good times...But that also means that the day after is the most dreaded day in retail: Black Friday! Awesome sales bring out the crowds and the ugly. This year is the first time I've ever had to do anything related to blitz. I work at Staples and I'll probably be a cashier. I've been told that we get to work at 6 a.m. and there are lines all the way out the door and around the store. I am definitely not looking forward to this. People are crazy when it comes to good deals. In fact, people have had stuff stolen from them, people have gotten violent over gifts, and some unfortunate people even get killed for the sales. Now is that what Christmas is about? Beating the shit out of each other for the best price on gifts? I thought Christmas was supposed to bring out the peaceful and giving sides of people. But apparently, and especially in today's economy, sales are more important than being a good person. So I say protest Black Friday and wait until the last minute to get your gifts!!! =P

Write Now

Man, I haven't had any motivation to write my ad analysis. So far I've only got one paragraph done. I've just got so many ideas rolling around in my head that I don't even know where to begin. Plus, I've had other homework to do and I worked all weekend. I also think I'm starting to get kind of burned out with writing. I guess I just need to get over it though. I just can't seem to find my muse for this paper. Most likely I'll sit down tonight around 8 or 9 and write the entire paper. But I'll make it work. I always do. I also have to write a one page paper for my history class. We watched part of Gladiator the other day and now we have to write about the history discrepancies. But we only watched an hour and fifteen minutes of the movie. And I don't know that much about Rome. So I'm going to have to do some research for that and write it tonight as well.

Kids these days...

With constant inventions of new and exciting technology, kids of today are getting more and more lazy. It's gotten to the point where it's rare to see a kid climbing a tree or riding his bike down the street. Instead, they are inside, on the couch, playing on their computers, cell phones, or those damn DS'. My little cousin is 8 years old and just about every time I see her she is playing on one of those things. Along with her lack of exercise, and shitty McDonald's diet, she has gained so much weight in the last 2 years. It's gotten to the point where she can hardly keep up with her friends when playing and she even has a double chin. I know it sounds mean, but it's the truth. Yeah I was kind of chubby when I was a kid, but I was always running around outside with my friends and all the other kids in the neighborhood. We skated, played ball, played hide and seek, and were always getting into trouble. We weren't inside on the computer or watching tv, we were out having fun and living the normal life of a child. So what I'm trying to say here is that kids today need to get out more. Even if it's just an hour a day, kids need to get out, run around, and stretch their legs. Otherwise, every kid in America is going to end up like my cousin and even worse like the 1000s of obese kids in our country. I'll admit, I love my technology, but there's nothing better than giong to Macnaughton park up the road and taking a good hike. =]

In school vs Out of school writing

First off I just want to say that I feel like I'm going to repeating myself alot throughout this blog, but here it goes.
I write a lot both in school and outside of school. For school I write lots and lots of papers and I take notes every day. When it comes to writing papers for school, I tend to be very serious. I like to brainstorm and get my thoughts in order and then just simply go at it. Sometimes I’ll write some rough drafts out on paper, but recently I’ve just been mostly typing. I type and type until I can’t do it anymore. Writing on the computer allows me access to more tools such as the thesaurus, which I use a lot. If I feel like I’m repeating myself over and over again, I’ll look for alternative words. That way, my readers won’t get bored and my teacher won’t put tons of red marks all over my paper. When I write outside of school, like my poetry for example, I ALWAYS write on notebook paper. Usually I’ll get one or two ideas, jot them down, and then ideas will come at me from every direction. Anything can become inspiration for my personal writing. Also, if I end up saying the same things a lot, I just go with it. Because that’s how I feel. When my writing is just for my eyes, I say whatever I want and don’t have to worry about being formal. Also, I need motivation some times to write papers for school. When I’m writing for myself though, I just do it whenever. Something will usually spark my interest and then I’ll just write forever. When I’m taking notes in school, I see it as something that I simply have to do. I don’t think about it, I just listen and write. I don’t really mind taking notes. It gives me something to do and I know it will be useful later. Papers aren’t always horrible, but I tend to put them off until the last minute because I’d rather do other things. But writing for me is anything but a chore. It’s something I enjoy and I feel better about myself after I get my personal thoughts out.