Monday, December 13, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Tim O Brien (visiting WCSU this semester) The things they carried
All of the short stories throughout Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried have various themes that are often reoccurring in each story. Two of the stories which show many different aspects of O’ Brien’s experience before and during the war are On the Rainy River and Lives of the Dead. Both of these were an interesting insight into what a young man goes through when he is called off to war.
In the beginning of the book O’Brien presents the story On the Rainy River. In this installment of his book he shows how he wasn’t interested in going to the war in the first place, and actually attempted fleeing to Canada to avoid the draft. Once he actually makes it to Canada he becomes very emotional. This leads to him turning around and going to war because of the sheer embarrassment he felt.
There are many different themes that can be found in this piece. Rules are a major theme here. The rules that O Brien is expected to live by he doesn’t agree with, leading to him attempting to break the rules. It turns out for him he has such convictions to the rules he can’t bring himself to break them. Shame is also something we see that is very apparent here. He can’t endure the shame he will be feeling if he actually flees to Canada. This is why he breaks into tears when he’s on the boat just 20 miles from the Canadian shore and then turns around to go home and be a part of the war. Truth is also scene here very prominently. In the beginning of this story when O’Brien has just finished school and he is working in the meat packing plant he has no aspirations to go to war. He claims he doesn’t know the truth about what happened to the U.S.S. Maddox and doesn’t know anything about Ho Chi Minh. All of the people he knows from town don’t know either they feel he should just go to war for his country. Showing knowing the truth about what is going on is very important not only in this story but O’Brien’s whole book.
Another story in the book where we see many opposing themes that we saw here is in Lives of the Dead. This is a much darker story in the book, but does have an uplifting message. The main theme of this story is death. As O’Brien explains the first time he fell in love. It was with a girl named Linda, they were just 9 years old at the time. Linda always wore a red cap. No one knew why until one day a kid knocked it off her head exposing she was going bald due to a brain tumor. Shortly after this she died. O’Brien explains vividly the experience of seeing her in the casket. This was a loss of innocence for O’Brien. He was seeing the first girl that he loved now dead in a casket in front of him. He was experiencing love and death for the first time as a young boy. This leads to how the soldiers in the platoon deal with seeing so many dead bodies in general. Dave Jensen, a member of the platoon, makes fun of an armless man that is dead on the ground. The men of the platoon often acted as if the bodies were still alive conversing with them just as a form of escape. Escape is such an important thing in this story and in any setting of war when you’re getting to know the soldiers.
There are many other themes in each story of the book. These were a few that re-appear throughout almost all of the stories and in any war story showing what the soldiers are really going through.
Rosemary's Texas Taco
If you’re ever in the mood for authentic Mexican food in the area, which is rather hard to come by in the North-East, you must check out Rosemary’s Texas Taco on Rte. 22 in Paterson New York. From the outside Rosemary’s Texas Taco looks like an obscure small home, but on the inside it gets even weirder.
Rosemary herself, a Texas native, has an image that is unforgettable for any of her patrons. Now in her early 80’s Rosemary still dons a very punk rock style to the way she dresses and presents herself. She still has dyed blue hair, which she used to often wear in a Mo-Hawk, accompanied by eccentric gothic style make up and clothing that she most likely purchased at a salvation army.
Her establishment also has a very original look to it on the inside. The walls are covered in memorabilia from 80’s punk rock, new wave, and even the Rockabilly era. She also has a pet parrot in the back room of the restaurant which recites curse words back to patrons if you entice it to. Accompanying the imaginative decor of the restaurant is the Westconn radio station WXCI; she always has this radio station playing during hours of operation. When you first enter you will hear her signature greeting of, “hey ya’ll.”
The food of Texas Taco is as greasy and disgusting as it is delicious. Anyone who enjoys real Tex-Mex style food should try it. The menu is quite small, “It’s about quality not quantity,” Michael McDermott a regular patron of the restaurant said. She makes up with her lack of variety with flavor and authenticity of her food. “The Tacos and burritos are so spicy they nearly burn your mouth off, but I can’t stop eating them,” Michael also remarked of her eatables.
If you ever have a craving for real Mexican food, Rosemary’s Texas Taco is the only place in the area to find it. You might think the inside of the eatery is quite unconventional, but once you try the food it won’t matter and you’ll realize it truly adds to the experience.
Print vs Digital, the real future for writers
Young writers attempting to enter the work force are in for a much harder struggle than they realize. We hear everyday how much the print industry is hurting. Magazines are being closed, bookstores are selling fewer books, and newspapers are firing their staff left and right. What can a young writer trying to get into the field do to make it? The answer to this question changes almost every day. The internet has created a whole new form of media. The technology is evolving at a rapid pace. Millions of Americans now have hand-held devices that allow them to surf the web at any time. The internet offers all the news you can get in a newspaper for free, so why buy a newspaper? Unfortunately, for us purists out there, print is dying, and will one day soon be officially dead. Books, comic books, and magazines will always exist in hard copy, if not for anything else than as a novelty. But we will see less and less of them over the next few years, that’s for sure. The fact remains, just because print is dead does not mean writing will die along with it.
The transfer of information has changed throughout history. The way we receive media will always evolve. We saw this in the slides that were shown in last week’s class. All of these technologies were once used, and are now considered obsolete. The newspaper was the first way many people could receive information on a wide scale. Eventually, we saw the radio, then the television, now the internet, come into play as important technologies. The way we receive information has always evolved, but the internet allows all these things to be available to us for free. The problem we often run into when receiving news online in a written form is that the writing is not as good as it would be in a traditional newspaper. At least we don’t think it is, or maybe we just feel that way because we’re used to holding the newspaper and having it in a traditional form. A lot of us still feel this way and aren’t ready for an all digital age. The newspaper has been a part of our society for centuries.
The younger generation who is coming up has grown up with the internet in their homes as long as they can remember. With the invention of handheld devices such as Kindles and I-Phones, they can receive information at the click of a button rather than picking up a newspaper. This generation doesn’t have the attachment we have to things such as newspapers and books. They have more of an attachment to their phone or Kindle. With the invention of the Apple I-Pad we will see more magazines going digital. Companies often want to capture younger markets. Tapping into the internet and new technologies is the best way to do so. These days there is still a large market of people who want the hard copy of a magazine, but someday this will no longer exist. Eventually we will be living in an-all digital age. What we are experiencing right now is much like the Industrial Revolution that occurred a century ago, but this is a digital or technological revolution.
Many individuals in the field of writing and others feel the digital age is bad for writing. There is no doubt it’s bad for the printing world, and may very well be the end of it someday. Young writers should use the opportunity the web offers. “Technology has already happened. Technology is a very strong current. It’s better to swim with it than against it,” said world famous horror writer Stephen King. Now rather than putting in years of work and paying dues to try and get to the top, you can do it from the comfort of your own home. If you are a talented writer and release your material in the form of a blog or even wanted to sell fictional pieces online, you could. There are millions of writers out there today who are trying this. “We’re tapping a genre or niche out there that isn’t being served. Internet Writers such as Maddox, Robert Hamburger, and I have received success finding an audience online,” Said Tucker Max. In some ways it makes the field much more competitive. If you are a talented writer, with a vision as well as focus, people will recognize this and have interest in your work. Tucker Max is a perfect example of this. He started a website where he would release well written auto-biographical stories about drunken adventures he had with his friends or one-night-stands with women. He doesn’t even have a writing degree; he went to law school. He said he started sending stories describing his misadventures to his friends via e-mail. They loved the stories and told Tucker he should really post these things on a blog or a website. Once he did this Tuckermax.com spread through word of mouth. Eventually this generated a book deal and a movie based on the book. The title of his book and movie are called, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. The book was very successful while the film was not.
The story of Tucker Max shows up and coming writers should be utilizing the internet rather than complaining about how hard it is to make it nowadays because of the web. There is a ton of garbage on the internet, and unfortunately there is no way to regulate it at this point. We will have to see what the future holds for us. The internet and the digital age could seriously hurt writing or it could give us opportunities we never had before.
When it’s all said and done, the internet presents a new form of media for writers to use. We should all be using it to its full potential, because someday it might not be as easy to get something posted on the internet.
sex before marriage
http://www.gotquestions.org/sex-before-marriage.html
As children growing up we are taught to believe many different fictional tales that all teach us a lesson. All religions have these stories, they help us understand what is right and wrong in the world. My family was never very religious, but I was raised Catholic. The Catholic Religion has many different rules and guidelines which are well known by the general population in the United States. Some of the things written in the Bible can be interpreted in many different ways. Some people take the ideas and lessons and get far too extreme with them. A myth that is taught in the Catholic Religion that never really stuck with me was, “you go to hell if you have sex before marriage.”
This idea is really not considered the, “norm” any longer in modern society. Of course there was a time when people stuck by this. Many devout Catholics, as well as many Christians in general, still live by this philosophy. Not only is this not considered normal by today’s standards many would consider it impractical. In the twenty first century many people, both female and male, would say you should definitely experiment with people or at least date before you settle down with one person for the rest of your life. I’m not saying everyone should be sleeping around, but I don’t think you get sent to a sleazy hotel room with the thermostat up to a thousand degrees just for having sex with someone before you’re married.
This idea is a big part of the Catholicism because it teaches an important lesson. Sleeping around a lot has serious consequences. The men who wrote the Bible had no idea what would happen in modern society, but instilling this fear in children is probably not the worst idea. Besides things such as STDs and teen pregnancy, there is a lot of emotional pain involved in relationships and having multiple sexual partners. The ancients had this figured out centuries ago, and this is still a fact today.
The idea that, “you go to hell if you have sex before marriage,” sounds absurd by today’s standards, but this can be used a valuable piece of knowledge. Not taking this so seriously is probably a good idea for anyone who seeks a worthwhile future with someone they truly love.
2Pac Murder still unsolved, possible conspiracy?
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=26993
The death of Tupac Amuru Shakur is a mystery in itself, but within that mystery spawns many other ideas of how he died, why he was killed, or if he is actually deceased. Tupac was arguably the first Hip Hop Superstar of his caliber. Many rappers never reach the level of success Tupac saw in his lifetime, having a prolific career in both music and film. He has gone on to sell more records since his untimely death than while he was living. There are so many different conspiracy theories surrounding his death it’s hard to figure out where to begin. Let’s first start the night he was shot.
Tupac was fatally shot on Sept. 7th 1996; in the passenger’s seat of his BMW on the night of a Mike Tyson fight in Las Vegas, Nevada, while his record companies CEO Marion “Suge” Knight was driving his car. Earlier that night, both men and their entourage had been involved in a fight in the lobby of the MGM Grand casino. The man they jumped was Orlando Anderson, a high profile member of the Compton, California, street gang The Crips. Suge Knight was a high-profile member of the Compton street gang The Bloods, so there had been some bad blood between the two men or their respected organizations. After Tupac was shot five times and a bullet grazed Suge’s head, they rushed to the hospital where Tupac was in a coma for seven days before he passed away on September 13th 1996 Orlando Anderson was the lead suspect in the shooting but there was never enough substantial evidence to hold him and he was shot to death in a gang shoot out in Compton in 1998. Tupac was then cremated the day after his death; this is where all the questions start.
During Tupac’s career he made many references to Niccolo Machiavelli, the Italian writer and philosopher, actually renaming himself Makaveli on his posthumous album Makavelli: the Don Killuminati: the 7 Day Theory. In Niccolo Machiavelli’s writing, he spoke of faking his own death as a
2
military strategy. Many believe Tupac was inspired by this to fake his own death.(http://www.tupac4u.de/english/alive.htm ) The title of the album The Don Killuminati: the 7 Day Theory alone raises many questions. Tupac was shot on the seventh of September but died on the 13th; that’s seven days. On the cover of the album, Tupac is depicted being crucified, which many have believed to be a sign he will resurrect himself within seven years, which has already passed so there is no merit to this theory.(http://www.2paclegacy.com ) But the number seven also raises many questions in this mysterious case. Of course there is the matter of Tupac passing away seven days after he was shot. Another interesting fact is Tupac was shot five times out of 12 bullets that were fired into his vehicle, the number seven again, which is also a bizarre coincidence because Tupac had been shot earlier in his career in New York where he was also hit with five bullets.(http://www.2paclegacy.com ) The title of the album The Don Killuminati: the 7 day Theory is interesting as well. You can rearrange the lettering and it will say “Ok on the 7th day you think I’m dead yet I’m really alive.”(http://www.thuglifearmy.com ) On the inside cover of the album, it says “exit 2pac enter Makaveli war time” Was this a sign? Again, the day Tupac was shot was September seventh.(http://www.2paclegacy.com ) Is this coincidence or was this a brilliant plan orchestrated to remove one of the most popular men in America at this time from the public eye?
Attention must be brought to the video Tupac had recently filmed before his untimely death. The song titled “I Aint' Mad at Cha”, which was premiered the week Tupac died, depicted him being shot in the beginning with one of his friends, very similar to what actually happened the night he was fatally shot. He is then rushed to the hospital and dies in the video. In Heaven he meets up with many different black musicians who had passed away and they are accepting him into their ranks. Was this just a coincidence or was it an omen Tupac foreseeing his own death?
There are also many theories that say Suge Knight was behind Tupac’s murder. It is very questionable, because Suge was driving Tupac’s car and he was only grazed with one bullet. Another
interesting piece of information is Tupac always wore a bullet proof vest, he wasn’t wearing it the night of the Tyson fight and there are vast rumors that a surveillance tape exists showing Suge telling Tupac to loosen up and not wear the vest tonight.( http://www.tupac4u.de/english/alive.htm ) The man that Suge and Tupac jumped that night was Suge’s rival not Tupacs.(http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/7575/makaveli.html ) Did Suge insight the fight to make it look like Orlando Anderson shot Tupac as revenge? There are also many rumors that Biggie Smalls, a rapper from New York who Tupac had been feuding with at the time, had Tupac killed. Biggie was in Vegas the night of the fight; he and his entourage were known to use Crips as protection.(http://trailfire.com/white/trailview/31298 ) This theory raises some questions but it does not have as many coincidences as the others.
Mark Fenster’s book Conspiracy Theories presents many different thoughts on the topic of government cover-ups. He states that many conspiracies throughout U.S. history are intertwined, if in fact they are true. His comparison between the Warren Commission and the 9-11 Commission shows that if conspiracies actually do exist they all affect each other. This would also make sense in the case of Tupac. The government would never want a free thinker who may inspire young people to question authority to have a voice. Just as JFK was murdered so was Tupac, and just as the JFK assassination investigation Tupac’s murder investigation is surrounded in questions and mysteries. If conspiracies and government cover-ups do exist, the government has their hand in much more than the general public can fathom.
The most evidence presented through the various conspiracy theories points to Tupac faking his own death to one day return. Many believed he was paying homage to Nichollo Machiavelli, who Tupac had looked up to greatly near the end of his career. The many coincidences that appear involving the number 7 do raise some interesting questions, and definitely add to the lore of his murder. It has been so long since he passed away it is safe to say he is not coming back. After reviewing all the different evidence and scenarios put forth surrounding the mysterious unsolved murder of Tupac Shakur, none of the theories hold much merit. It’s cool and interesting to read about, all the coincidences between 2pac and Niccolo Machiavelli definitely raise some thought. Unfortunately 2pac is dead and the entertainment industry lost one of its brightest stars. He serves as a martyr in the Hip Hop community and will always be remembered through his music.
R.I.P.
Tupac Amaru Shakur
6/16/71-9/13/96
What if proposition 19 passed
Imagine a place where we can all meet in a positive environment and just relax and enjoy each other’s company. Somewhere that doesn’t have the hyper active energy of the bar scene. A location where friends can all meet in a mellow environment sit back and laugh at each other’s jokes while they smoke high grade marijuana legally.
Sure beats sitting at the dirty old table in your mom’s basement cracking dick and fart jokes, spraying Lysol to cover the scent of each bong hit being taken. While your friends laugh at you for still having to hide the fact you smoke pot from your parents at age 35. Soon these days will be nothing more than a memory.
The fact of the matter is weed is becoming less and less illegal every day. Cannabis clubs are popping up relatively regularly on the west coast, and now in many other states. Many states have also begun de-criminalizing the possession of marijuana. We keep moving closer to actually legalizing pot. With the state of our economy this would not be such a bad idea.
If weed were to be legalized the government would be able to tax it as they do with tobacco and alcohol. There is no doubt marijuana would have a high sin tax. Other than that, if it were to be legalized nationwide a whole new industry would open up. This would create jobs and allow individuals to open their own businesses. Jobs are already growing in the field; Northern California’s Humboldt County has created a whole new market. Many farmers in that area have become legally licensed through government grants to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes. But let us truly examine how marijuana legalization is inevitable and will be a great help to the economic problems we have been having for the past year or so.
First we must ask the question how many individuals currently use marijuana in the United States for any purpose, whether medicinal or recreational. A lot of people have tried marijuana before, but there is a vast sub-culture who uses it in a safe manner all throughout this great nation. A few months back our president Barrack Obama held a public forum. Nearly 100,000 questions were submitted by the public. The main questions asked involving green jobs and energy involved pot. Our president simply said “no” when asked if it would be legalized. This does show a strong public interest in at least the question of marijuana legalization.
“The people want it,” Said “Radical” Russ, host of NORML Show Live a radio show broadcast from Oregon’s NORML Cannabis Café. This particular Cannabis Club claims to world famous at this point. This is most likely because NORML -National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws- runs the establishment. “You see that people are interested now more than ever with those questions sent to Obama. If this country could just pull its head out its ass and finally legalize herb we could all get on with our lives and have fun.” Spoken like a true stoner, but Russ does have a point.
Statistics show from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health that 51.3% of our population between the ages of 18 and 25 admit to having tried pot. Between the ages of 26 and 34, 49.8% have smoked up at least once. From ages 35 to 49, 53.1% all have admitted to trying pot. Over half of the population for the past three generations has admitted to trying pot at least once. That is a large statistic that cannot be ignored.
Another interesting occurrence happening throughout our country is the openings of Cannabis Clubs and dispensaries in many different states. These clubs are a place where individuals, who use marijuana medicinally, carrying a prescription card issued to them by a doctor, can go and purchase pot legally. The Cannabis Clubs first started sprouting up in Northern California. Now they are slowly spreading through the states that have medicinal marijuana laws. Currently in our country there are over 45 of these locations, in 12 states and the number is growing as the success of these businesses continues to grow.
“A lot of people get by smoking,” said Ken Starke, an employee of Valley Village Caregivers. One of the more prominent Cannabis Clubs in the Studio City area of Los Angeles California, they have been successfully providing marijuana to patrons who use marijuana for medicinal purposes for years now. “This place is just for people who are prescribed weed. Think of what would happen if these places could be open to the general public. We already have a pretty large clientele; if marijuana was legal for anyone we would be doing probably four times the business.” An interesting thought, which again raises the question could marijuana legalization save or at least help the faltering economy of the United States.
Looking at simple things in our economy that have been considered recession proof would be a good way to gauge if legalizing marijuana would actually help the economy. The entertainment industry has suffered the least during this recession. Films, bars, and nightclubs have actually seen a pickup in business since the economies decline began last year. People need a fun cheap form of entertainment to escape the day to day problems we all have. Allowing these cannabis clubs to be open to the general public would provide just this. People are unable to afford expensive vacations, or go to fancy Broadway shows. Instead they are all flocking to the movies or hitting the bar for a quick drink. The Cannabis Clubs could be another alternative for cheap fun. The taboo of smoking pot is diminishing more and more every day. If pot was legal it would be looked at more like alcohol, and deemed not such a dangerous drug.
If we look back to prohibition of the 30’s, all that did was cause problems for our nation. It also allowed the Mafia and other organized crime to rise to power. All though we will never be able to stop the illegal drug trade in this country legalizing pot would be a good way to fight it. With the statistics shown above more than half of the population of our country has at least tried pot. This shows people aren’t as concerned as they once were with the negative effects of Marijuana, which statistically is much safer than alcohol.
Every year many individuals die of alcohol related deaths. An Alarming 250,000 people have died in the past 10 years due to alcohol related events. Every year 25,000 people die from alcohol related deaths, these numbers are frightening. Not to mention 435,000 a year die from Tobacco related deaths, a number this high is very distressing. To date no one has died solely because of marijuana use. It is a sad and almost comical statement on our society. Being that tobacco and alcohol are legal and marijuana is still illegal and probably has a long way to go before it is even looked at in the same vain as these other two substances.
So next time you see two younger kids pulled over on the shoulder of the road and there handcuffed while the car is being searched, just think how much easier life could be. Besides making life easier for the youth that use marijuana it would help our economy, which is something that can help everyone in America. The government themselves would be making money hand over fist in the taxes put on pot. We will just have to see how the next couple years go as far as the recession and the rapidly growing legal marijuana industry.
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