Little Brother Part Deux

This Doctorow novel brings up several frightening things. One being the ability of the government to have constant surveillance upon the people. This might seem like something that is in the very far future, but it's not. It's capable of happening time now. With the Patriot Act and increases in technology the government's ability to monitor us is at an all time high. This novel should awake the public to this possibility, but it won't. The public is completely oblivious to the goings on of the government and their ability to watch and track every move. A day where we live in a USA like Marcus lived in is not far off. We need to fight back just like the characters did in this book. They fought for what's right and what is good. If we're not careful, what happened in this novel will happen to us. This type of government is very scary, but at the same time it is real. Also, it is scary to think that there are already types of government out there that are like this. Governments exist that will capture and torture their citizens without being provoked. This makes me sad for the rest of the world.

Little Brother...

This book by Cory Doctorow is a book that encompasses many emotions. It captures the love, fear, and courage just to name a few. It is a tale of four best friends who skip school one day to play the newest level in an online video game. Whilst skipping school, a tragic terrorist event occurs, and the four friends are arrested without reason. After three harrowing days, answering questions that they don't have the answers for, three of the four are released (Marcus, Jolu, and Vanessa). Darryl, however, remains in custody. For a while, Marcus remains mum on why he was arrested, and doesn't tell anybody. But, as time wanes, Marcus decides he has to fight back. Jolu and Vanessa desert Marcus for fear of retribution from the DHS, and his dad starts fighting with Marcus incessantly. But, Marcus stands strong in his attempt to get Darryl rescued. Using his top notch computer skills, Darryl sets up a network to communicate with other anti-DHS teens, and they begin amassing information about DHS. Using the network, they are able to foil DHS's plans and wreak all sorts of havoc upon them. Finally, Marcus gives all his information to a friend who is a reporter. This leads to Marcus getting captured, imprisoned, and subsequently waterboarded as a result of the information. However, the governor of California decrees that Marcus be rescued. Marcus is rescued, along with Darryl, and the two are reunited as best friends again. Marcus' girlfriend is also released from her imprisonment, and life goes back to normal for everyone involved.

Little Brother...

We have recently started reading the novel Little Brother for English class. It is so far interesting, and one that raises a lot of questions. After Marcus is released from the police, he finds that San Fransisco has been put under a type of police state. What if the government put us under martial law, and instead of letting go of that power when the danger was over, they kept the martial law state. Does the government have the power to do this? Yes, and there is nothing we could really do to stop them. The government has far too much power, in my opinion. Then again, I'm about as laissez-fairre as you can get. I want minimum government interference. But, reading this novel reminds me of our government. Are Obama and company wielding too much power? That is up for debate, he seems to be able to do whatever he wants, while not getting any blame for anything. I mean, he won a Nobel Peace Prize for nothing. If we're not careful, we might wake up one day to see Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville, or Memphis under a martial law state. That, my friends, is one scary thought, and one I'm not looking forward.

Fall break....

So, fall break just finished and wow what a great time it was. It was so nice to be able to go back home to Alabama and feel like I lived in my house again. I got to sleep in my bed many nights and enjoy my sisters, my dog, and my parents. I got to see old friends and visit old teachers. I went back to my old stomping grounds. It was so great to be able to be home. But, at the same time, it is nice to be back in Knoxville. I've grown close with my friends over the past 2 months, and it's getting to the point where I view them as my closest friends now. It's something I don't particularly like or care for, but it's not something I can control. It's just how things work. I will always love my friends from high school, but when you're not seeing them as often, it's hard to maintain that connection you had. Of course, there are a few who are still considered my brothers and I'll never lose that connection. Aside from those few, it's hard to talk and hang out with anyone from Alabama. Part of the disadvantages to moving away from college, I guess.

My contextual analysis paper...

So, we have to write a contextual analysis, and I really have no clue which direction to go. The options are endless. Should I continue on with the Obama/Joker poster? I just don't know. I'm leaning toward going in another direction. I am sort of sick of that picture. It's weak and is easily dissected. I need something with a little more substance, so to speak. So, if you have any suggestions what I can do my paper on, feel free to post them here. All suggestions are welcome! Thanks.

Children of Men...

Wow! Where do I start with this movie? This movie is amazing. Plain and simple. I don't even know where to start. The twists and turns of this movie were brilliant. This movie was like a cross between a Tom Clancy novel and the novel "1984". Clive Owen was amazing along with Julianne Moore. Set in the future, the human race has for some unknown reason, become infertile. The movie chronicles Moore's and Owen's quest to get the first pregnant women in a few decades to the human genome project and away from the totalitarian government of Britain. The movie has so many twists and turns. It is gut wrenching to hopeful. It's just an amazing movie.

The Road...

This is a movie poster from an upcoming movie titled The Road. If you think this poster looks bleak, well that will be putting it nicely. This movie comes from a novel by Cormac McCarthy. McCarthy is a great author who has written many books. He hails from Knoxville, but in my opinion, this is his best book. The Road is the most hopeless book I have ever read, and that is why I love it. Real life isn't all happy and great. It often times sucks, and life in this book is much worse than anything we've ever dealt with. The books starts out in a post nuclear holocaust with a boy and his dad. The boy and his dad are trying to make their way down from the northern U.S. to the coastline around the Gulf of Mexico. This book chronicles their journey. While the book is a dark, hopeless look at what life will be like if there was nuclear war, there still is a glimmer of hope. The love that the father and boy share is heartwarming and this is what carries both of them through the trials of their trek. I encourage this fantastic book to anyone.

This is the album cover off of Pearl Jam's latest album titled Backspacer. I picked this album cover for a few reasons. One being I like Eddie Vedder (minus his crazy political views) and Pearl Jam. The other reason is that this album cover is absolutely crazy. I don't even know what to say about it. You could write a paper on each little box. The colors in it are fantastic. They capture your attention instantly. Personally, it makes me think of space and all its mysteries. Another idea I get from the cover is Armageddon. This is a pretty broad word, but there are scenes of destruction all over the album cover. Scenes of fire, mushroom clouds, and a person drowning. This is pretty intense, and just adds to the unknown about this album cover. Perhaps the weirdest scene is the one in the center, at the bottom. It's a picture of a black man dressed up in a funk 70's suit sitting between the legs of a person with only underwear on. What does this mean? Who knows? I wonder if Vedder and co. even know what the album cover signifies. Also, the new album is pretty good.

"The Creation of Adam"

This piece of art is titled The Creation of Adam is a fresco painting done by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. It is 4th in a series of paintings done by Michelangelo telling the story of Genesis. This picture represents God "breathing" life into Adam at the beginning of time. There are quite a few things that stand out about this picture to me. One is the use of the earth tone colors. Michelangelo uses really subtle colors in this painting and it's done brilliantly. Another thing that captures my attention is all the little children surrounding God. Who are these little children? Are they future humans? I don't know, but I find it an interesting thing to put in a painting. This painting is amazingly beautiful because it signifies the start of human life. Although, we are destined to fail many times, human life is still a beautiful thing to hold.

Chris Lofton...

Some might ask what exactly does this picture have to do with an English class. Well, on the surface, not much. But, I figure I can rhetorically analyze anything. So, here goes. I came to school at Tennessee for the sports teams. I’m not going to lie. I have been coming to football games in Neyland Stadium since I was a little kid. I’ve been coming to basketball games for seemingly forever. I would have done anything to be talented enough to be a Tennessee Volunteer athlete. The person in this photo felt the same way. This person is Chris Lofton. He graduated two years ago, and he graduated as the all time leading SEC 3 point shooter of all time. This is an impressive feat. After his junior year, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He was told he needed to take his redshirt season and come back the following year. He refused to do this. He wanted to play with his fellow seniors one more year no matter what. He would take his chemotherapy and then go practice. He talked about how he would lay in the bed with a garbage can beside the bed and he would vomit continually into it. This picture symbolizes how Chris Lofton beat cancer. He beat this deadly disease and was able to play his senior season. It shows all his hard work paying off. He gave his all for the University of Tennessee. That is something we can all appreciate. Whether we are a sports fanatic or not.

I was trying to think of a picture to write about and wasn’t having any luck. Then, I remembered seeing this picture. The title of this picture is “Grand Ol’ Gang” and it’s painted by Andy Thomas. I chose it for a few reasons. One is because I’m a staunch Republican (You could probably tell), and this picture represents the glory days of the GOP along with the not so memorable days. It’s a polarizing picture, and one I think is just, quite honestly, beautiful. It also makes me wonder. It makes me wonder what it would be like if you could actually get all these great men into the same room at one time, what would happen? Would their personalities clash? Would they be able to get along due to their similarities in political doctrine? It certainly looks like they are enjoying themselves in the picture. I mainly chose this picture for one reason. Art rarely affects me on a personal level. I’m just not that affected by it. I’m much more affected by music, but for some reason, this picture spoke volumes to me. This picture pretty much speaks for itself, and doesn’t need to be commented on much. I just thought it would be a really neat picture to write about. So, if you have any comments our thoughts on it, feel free to discuss. Also, there is a democratic version of this by the same artist. It’s a really pretty picture, but for some reason I don’t like it as much. I wonder why?

A Breath of fresh air for Tennessee football

We are at the dawn of a new era here at the University of Tennessee. For the first time in 18 years, Philip Fulmer will not lead the Volunteers through the T at the beginning of the game. This is the beginning of change in our football program. For the first time, the head coach has no ties to the University of Tennessee at all. Going all the way back to General Neyland, the head coach has had some sort of tie to our university. Yet, Lane Kiffin has zero ties. Lane Kiffin is a complete outsider. He is a new comer. Since his induction as head coach, he has embraced all the traditions of our beloved university. At the same time, he has also infuriated our rivals all across the SEC. From Alabama to Florida, they all have a chip on their shoulder when it comes to Tennessee. He has increased our recruiting greatly while bringing in an all star staff. If my very humble honest opinion, Lane Kiffin, so far, has been a home run hire. Yet, Lane will be judged for good on the field. We'll see how the Lane Kiffin era starts this weekend.

Obama as the Joker...

I chose the picture of Obama as the Joker as my image for our first paper. The picture has the subtitle "Socialism" under it. I chose this for a myriad of reasons. One of these being that this picture has sparked a huge controversy amongst Americans in the past few weeks. Another reason being that it is interesting to see what some Americans truly think of Obama. They view him as a guy with not much substance. He preached hope and change vehemently during his campaign, but has yet to put these words into action. The fact people disrespect him as much as George W. Bush was disrespected is an interesting development, in my opinion. Another interesting parallel is that this image was created by a Chicagoan. Chicago is Obama's home city, and he is widely viewed as a savior in this city. The media likes to portray Obama as a "messiah" of sorts. Yet, the voice of American people will still be seen and heard, as evidenced by this image. In this instance, the voice of the American people would like to see Obama deliver upon the promises he made during his ascent to the Presidency of the United States of America.