The Beatles

Some would disagree, I even admit I am somewhat skeptical of such claims, but many believe that The Beatles were the founders of Rock and Roll. The Beatles, originally from Liverpool England came to America in 1964, were they released their first album Please Please Me. Originally called the Quarry Men, but switching their title to The Beatles after dropping Pete Best and adding Ringo Star into the line up. The first appearance of The Beatles came as a televised presentation on the Ed Sullivan Show which pulled 73 million viewers that tuned in to catch the English quartet. The first album was released in 1964. The first single release in the UK became “Love Me Do,” however, The Beatles produced another huge hit in the US, “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” which became a charter topper soon upon the arrival in the States. The Beatles became a huge hit because their albums were self-written and they arranged many sounds eventually composing their own to form a unique sound unto their own. Not only did The Beatles have an original sound to their name but they also produced 19 albums in 6 years. They also hold records for holding the most number one hits at the same time and have topped many charts with their original singles. So even if you are like me and don’t particularly care for all The Beatles produced in their time, we can all at least respect the work and dedication they put into their art.

Artiste

So this is probably a tad late, but I'm going to go ahead and blame the horrible weather.

One of my absolute favorite works of art was done for a book entitled The Dark Tower. It's the 7th in a series by Stephen King, and the final in the series as well. The art shows the main character standing in front of the Tower itself, in a massive field of roses. Having read the book, the entire picture is a huge emotional impact. A single rose in the series has taken a large emotional attachment for readers, and the Tower is what the main character, Roland, has been questing for for 7 books. The colors are beautiful and deep, showing both beauty and strength. The monolithic tower offsets the field of red with it's dark brick, causing it to stand out quite sharply.
Sadly, the only picture I can find is a cropped version of the book's dust cover. Just imagine it as wider to the right, and without the title and whatnot.
http://g-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/37/65/b5d9124128a027b4804b6010.L.jpg

Drawing Restraint 9

From the mind of Matthew Barney and song from Björk, "Drawing Restraint 9" envelops its viewer into modern day Japan where we follow a whaling ship's route and happenings in correlation to the film's character exploration. Barney incorporates traditional Japanese markings and wardrobe amidst an environment clearly defected from nature and drenched into industrial conformity. The characters (played by Barney and Björk) are stripped from their material assets in a gradual progression leading to coal-smudged teeth and partly shaved heads adorned by wool and shell elemental clothing.
With a musical score composed and sung by Björk, the mood effused from the film stays at a steady iced pace with subtle escalations of intensity. Famous for her sonorous, mournful voice, Björk transforms the whaling ship's industrial bestial state into a frozen mystic setting.
Along with his two main forces, Barney also projects parallel accessories to his film, with pearl-divers in white wet suits, whom are seen from the middle towards the end of the film. Key visual styles almost make this two hour and 25 minute feature, roll like an everlasting music video.
The visual's poignancy entraps its viewer to follow along with the film's metamorphosis and leaves one with a feeling of detachment, as the film depicts the removal of whale blubber and its transformation on the ship.

My Favorite Works of Art

My favorite works of art come in the form of words. Jodi Picoult is a well known author and has recently been in the spotlight for her piece My Sister's Keeper. Jodi has a way with words, a way to make you emotionally involved in the occurances, a way to make the unique but realistic characters seem like your co workers, friends and family. She also has the wonderful capability to intertwine that romantic storyline with current societial issues. Jodi researches many different topics that are important to us and will be important to us in the future. In My Sister's Keeper, readers get a look into the life of a family wrestling with the questions: Is it right to infringe on one of our daughter's lives and possibly harm her to save the life of our other sickly oldest daughter? Was it right for us to have our second daughter a product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, so that she would match her siblings bone marrow?
The family appers to be like any other, but they are different, they are plagued with many problems. Kate is the youngest of the children, and is the main character of the book. She has gone through many medical procedures to help her older sister fight her chronic leukemia, but none of those procedures and surgeries have ever been done with her real consent. The girls' oldest brother uses drugs and alcohol to escape from his family's "problems" thus adding to the stress of the parents. The novel follows the struggles of daily life, a loved one with cancer, an older brother with substance abuse issues, the complicated and sudden life analyzations forced upon the married couple, as well as the federal trial for Kate to recieve medical emanicpation from her parents. With an ending that is almost guareenteed to make a couple tears be shed, this wonderful piece of art is a must read.

Legally Blonde

I decided to post on a very symbolic piece of art for me, the cover of the Legally Blonde DVD. In Legally Blonde Elle Woods has it all. She is rich, beautiful, blonde, has big boobs, president of her sorority, Delta Nu, and won the Miss Hawaiian Tropics contest. She even has the perfect, dashingly handsome and rich boyfriend, Warner Huntington III. When Warner visits with his Grandmother Elle gets it in her head that Warner is going to propose and that his Grandmother visited to personally hand over the ring. What Elle discovers is that Warner doesn't think she is serious enough and looks how a future Senator's wife should look. Warner dumps Elle and informs her that he is going to Harvard Law. Elle gets it in her head to steal Warner back by going to Harvard and proving him wrong, what she doesn't know is that she will end up not only proving Warner wrong, but all of Harvard as well.
On the cover is a picture of Elle on the Harvard campus in a sexy hot pink sparkly dress with her little chiahuahua, Bruiser, right beside her all in hot pink as well. In the background is a boringly dressed group of Harvard Law students all frowning and gawking at the blonde Elle. The cover also states "Boldy going where no blonde has gone." In my opinion, the cover states how confident Elle is in herself and all people in general. You can do whatever you set your mind too. Elle stands for not being afraid to wear what you want when you want and acting the way that you want. Blonde symbolizes the power to not only turn heads, but be a powerful person in society as well. The cover shows Elle holding large law books as well, which says that just because she likes to look the way she does doesn't mean that she isn't serious about what she is doing. She is serious about her look and serious about being a law student. To sum things up, if all you see is how she looks, then you've missed the whole point.

Art

The piece of art that I chose to critique was the movie poster for the movie Caddyshack. Some people do not consider that art, but I do. This was one of the great movies of all time and the poster deserves to be critiqued. Looking at the picture there four main characters are in the hole. They all had different goals throughout the movie but they were all trying to accomplish their goals. Which is the point of golf to get the ball in the hole. There is also the 19 hole flag in the hole with them. This may be confusing to some who have not seen the movie, but if you have seen the movie and know the end, it makes sense. I also really like the fact that they have a big gopher on top of the clubhouse. This could have two meanings. One he destroys the golf course in the movie. The other meaning could be that he kind of ruled the golf course towering over it. I also like the quote at the top of the poster. I like it for two reasons. First, it is a good quote saying, “Some People Just Don’t Belong.” I also like it at the top of the poster so it attracts your attention. Also the poster has nice placement of the title. It is big and you can read it clearly. After writing that I just realized that you can’t see the picture so I hope that is a clear enough image.

I believe that a code of ethics for journalists are very important. This does not mean I expect for news to be inhibited in anyway, however, I believe that in military topics, journalist should use extreme care in what they write. I understand the need to write about what is happening, this is a great way to go back and have records of just what the conflicts have been like over the years. However, if our public is reading the material printed by our own journalist, what is holding our adversaries back from obtaining the information for themselves. Ethics are the guidelines of journalists, and many other professions. But in a situation like this, I believe we should take the responsibility a step further and think about our own morales. If you are willing to write a contreversial article and put the lives of our soldiers at risk then I feel it is pertenant to ask the question, if those who have been written about are killed because of a planned attack, is the journalist responsible for this activity?

Ethics are never 100% agreed upon by a whole profession; there are too many opinions and backgrounds. But yet most professions do have that code to guide the professionals through the appropriate actions expected of them. Jounalists are no different, there are expectations they must live by, as well as a heavy responsibilty to the public. Unfortunately, there are many grey areas in the code. Not all specific situations are the same, each has its own little quirks and problems, and it is the journalist's responsibilty to determine the most ethical way to report it. Situations such as the few mentioned in class, are just that: a few. Everyday journalist's are approached many times with two options. The option to go about reporting the story in the ethical and reasonable way, or the option to let all cautions fly out the window and report the situation with no respect those involved. Even then some of their peers will have their own opinion about whether or not the reporter made the right decision. But isn't that how life is? Full of decisions, decisions that will never be 100% agreed upon by your family or friends. The thing that counts is that you made the best possible, educated, ethical decision you could.

PS: i loved our venture out activity!!