Opression in its Image

Opression: being kept down through making an example of a social status, through physical and psychological abuse.

This car is exactly that. The Man has kept the owner of this car down, showing him his social status, by repetitively beating down the car. The vehicle is battered in such a way to only indicate the inability of the owner to fix the damage. There is no possible way, in the future, to repair this car to increase the owner's self-image and exemplify their knowledge in keeping items together and well-kempt. This car is opression.

Siddhartha

Hesse, Herman. Siddhartha. Germany. Bantam Books: 1922.

Previously, I had been thoroughly entertained by Indian philosophies. I had indulged in the idealogy behind Hare Krishna, due to my idol George Harrison converting, yet I was completely ignorant to other Indian philosophy. This book entails the concepts behind the attempts to finding nirvana. This is an fictiomal novel, with the main character acting as a parallel to the original Siddhartha, more commonly known to the world as "Buddha." The book takes place in India, many centuries ago, where a young man who has everything, Siddhartha, goes on a search to find what can be even better than that conceptually.

During the last chapters, which I find to be the most important, the main character rediscovered the river he originally crossed. Siddhartha is entranced by the river and befriends the only other person as interested in the river as him. Throughout these chapters, you can see the main character evolve and mature, from the greedy business man he had become into the pleasant man enjoying a decent lifestyle.

Herman Hesse brilliantly contrasts Siddhartha's views with Siddhartha's son's. Siddhartha immediately believes that his son will follow in his footsteps, coming from a similiar background and similiar genes. The boy shows society's discontent with the unbelievable nature of those who achieve spiritual enlightenment, and signifies his lust to be free of his father's patient gaze. The main character and his son conflict, in such a way that it further propells Siddhartha to enlightenment.

Hesse finished this section with the achievement of nirvana. Siddhartha become enlightened and all is good in his existance. The simple, poetic lyricism of the language in this part of the book leads to a satisfying finish. The main character finds the meaning of life, while his friend witnesses it. I find this was the most enjoyable ending that Hesse could have come up with, due to the fact that it not only resolves the plot, but it doesn't end it with a cliched comment. Though Siddhartha found nirvana, it does not mean that it is only the good in the world.

Personally, I do not think that I would have followed any footsteps of Siddhartha. His constant struggle to find nirvana only has one path. I would not have been discontented with my actions when having pleasant relations to a dream woman, and whilst indulging in gambling. The main character prevents himself from finding success for the sole search of the perfect state of being, and I don't think I would have found that. I would definitely refrained from holding my son back, as he was only a nusiance and ungrateful for all that his father gave him.

I thought this novel was a soft barraging of ideas. It was increasingly entertaining as I read the book, and it helped me realize ideas behind eastern philosophy. It made me realize the importance of everything in life, and the fact that all people make all their own choices, and nothing is good nor bad. I would recommend this book to anybody who would like to be enlightened, whilst not being attacked by a text.

Creative Writing of a Picture

When his parents dropped him off at school, he was already glistening from the sweat he accumulated since the walk from the car. It was the first day that the school was incorperating swimming into the Physical Educaiton program. Charles wore his swimsuit to school, as to avoid having to change into one in the locker room. He had P.E. last period, so he just enjoyed his fashion statement the whole day.

Charles didn't realize that a man was spying on him during lunch. While on his way to the cafeteria for an extra milk carton, the stranger grabbed Charles by the arms and threw him into a big white van.

Charles didn't know where he was. He didn't know how long he had been travelling, and which methods of transportation he was on. He didn't feel like he was in danger, yet he didn't feel safe. The air was no longer hot, it was just humid. He felt around with his hands, consciously realizing that his hands were no longer bound. He lifted off the earmuffs and the blindfold to find himself in a lush green forest.

This was not just a forest that Charles had stumbled into. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He enjoyed watching the mice congregate in a tree trunk and to see the jaguars pass him up due to his lack of meat. Charles threw off his shirt, causing it to float in the water, and bathed his skin with the cool water, making his dark skin shine in the sun. He was homesick, yet felt at home. He didn't know if his family had realized that he had gone, or where he had gone, but he decided this would be a new life.

Barder And The Flying Turban

Strong Legs pushing,
And magic afoot,
Golden fur flying,
Small kid trying,
To make this good.

Barder and the Flying Turban,
Souring through the clouds,
Able to the city aglow,
And hear chatter oh so loud,

Noiselss,
Choiceless,
Flight without a sound,
Majestic,
Perplexic,
Never Coming Back to the Ground

Thompson's Violin

Thomson’s Violin:

One day, you wake up in hospital. In the nearby bed lies a world famous violinist who is connected to you with various tubes and machines.

To your horror, you discover that you have been kidnapped by the Music Appreciation Society. Aware of the maestro’s impending death, they hooked you up to the violinist.

If you stay in the hospital bed, connected to the violinist, he will be totally cured in nine months. You are unlikely to suffer harm. No one else can save him. Do you have an obligation to stay connected?

One must think: what would they want others to do for them. If one stays connected to the violinist, then he is saving a life, no matter who it is. If that same person is in the similiar situation, one would want another to sacrifice 9 months to save them. Famous person or not, human life is very important, as social status does not dictate the value of a life.

Had this been a person I admired, I would be less hesitant to give up my nine months, yet I still would give up the time for other people.

Album of the Week: 6th Time Around

The album of the week for this week is:

Live/Dead by the Grateful Dead

Everytime I find an musical artist I enjoy, I slowly chip away at the discography. With each album, I notice the artist's change in style and their maturity, which seem to always take place between each disc. Sometimes though, I purposefully disregard something in the list (an unnessecary live album, the notoriously smashed studio album) and this album was one of them.

Throughout the constantly changing genre known as Rock'n'Roll, there are many things that have been defined in motion. The live performance and recording was the last to be developed and was first utilized as an instrument for Cream's Wheels of Fire LP. The band that arrived on the scene, morphing the idealogy of the live performance was the legendary Grateful Dead. The band was known for its long, winding jams filling up lengthy set-lists of songs with ethreal lyrics, derived from the mass quantities of drugs floating around at the time.

As I picked up this album, I was expecting something I couldn't relate to. I wasn't exactly someone who blew their own mind with a hit of LSD or someone who was part of that scene. I enjoyed the Grateful Dead's music, but I didn't know if this was for me. As I opened the shrink wrap, the album seemed to be warmer.

My ears were met with a fade in of a guitar doodling and a bass soloing, with such resonance as to make my car shake. The playing in "Dark Star" was not languid as it had been described, it was intellegent and leading to a point. A few minutes into the song, I am met with the conversing of instrumental phrases and ideas. The song is lengthy, yet every second counts.

That is the definition for this album: "lengthy, yet every second counts." Each song has long runtimes (the lowest being "St. Stephen" at a mere six minutes and forty-five sconds or the bonus track 45-single of "Dark Star" at 2:44 not originally on the actual album), originally on two LP's. None of the music is extraneous and all the playing is leading to a point, establishing an idea and slowly moving the boundries of what a rock band can play.

Singing had not always been a strong point of the Dead, but they utilize their unique style to make it enjoyable. On "St. Stephen", the harmonies are specific and encourage a sing-along value, while on "Dark Star" Jerry sings in a way to communicate the ethreal images in the lyrics. All of the music is enjoyable (even the 7:49 second track known as "Feedback" which is self-explanatory) and there is no reason that any person looking for a live album shouldn't purchase this.

Vocab Words Week Yi Shi San (13)

vehement - fierce: marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions; inclined to react violently; fervid; "fierce loyalty"

Some may say that a guard dog is vehement; blind and violent loyalty to whatever it's protecting.








averse - antipathetic: (usually followed by `to') strongly opposed


Some may be averse to a specific concept or symbol. The swatstika is considered an evil concept, symbolizing all that is evil, and people are generally more offensed to the symbol than the actual act.







alleged - declared but not proved

One of the most alleged cases in all of US history is the case of Lee Harvey Oswald. Is he actually guilty? We'll never know.

discreet - marked by prudence or modesty and wise self-restraint

Many say that the most of all discreet people are monks. The ability to give up all of life's pleasures for a meaningful existance is the most discreet of all.

Book Report: Catch-22

Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. New York. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks: 1955.

Due to the common reccomendations, and the high expectations of this book, I decided to finally read it. This book is a comedic-fiction novel taking place during World War II on the island of Pianosa, which is near the coast of Italy.

The main plot of this book revolvs around the main character, Yossarian, a young pilot in the military who's only goal in the war is to go home. Naturally, the notion of his desires seem to be selfish and generic, but the book unfolds to show that the military, and everything else in life, is bound to a paradoxical logic that holds reality together like a skeleton does to a body. Constantly, Heller uses great contradictory view points by characters and counter-intuitive logic to show that life, although unfair, must be lived. Unlike many books of this nature, this novel controlls the flow of the story by using contradicting tones of serious travesties and laughable idealogies.

Milo is possibly the best character, and the greatest metaphoric person in this book. Yossarian meets Milo when he becomes the leader of an idea known as the syndacite, in which "everybody owns a share." The boy is ingenious: he utilizes his smarts to control the flow of food items and is able to make a profit, even when he sells items for two cents less then he bought it. Heller spends much of the book explaining the reasoning behind Milo's actions. Some things he does are just explainable nonetheless, including Milo's major feat of making a deal on side of the war with the Americans to know where the Germans are going to be, and making a deal on the other side of the war with the Germans about the American's knowing their strategy. His actions are rash and insane, such as bombing his own squadron, yet his presence is completely neccessary for the book. Milo, though, is not a real person. Milo represents all that is the corperation aspect of war: a power hungry struggle to utilize conflict to make a profit, that seems potentially harmless and is, in the ensuing results, one of the most harmful things in battle. Another parrallel aspect of Milo and the corperation is the lack of change Milo experiences. He is constantly coaxed out of fighting and is unaffected by the conflict around him.

I thought that this was one of the greatest books I've ever read. A slow start nonwithstanding, the book was a page turner. I felt attracted to the woman Yossarian was attracted to, humiliated for his defeats and equally saddened by Snowden's state at the end of the book. I thought that Heller's lack of chronological order was essential in the power of this book. The book was geared toward the inhumanity of war and its atrociouties. The book addresses taboo subjects that yank at the heart's strings and works for the recognition of how horrible war actually is.

Firstly, I will never join the army because of this book, but it is imperative that I realize what one goes through in the army. I would highly reccommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good book with a clear message. The book had enough leeway for interpretation, but is not so open as to fall apart conceptually. This book constantly reminded me of the conflict in Iraq. Is there a Yossarian in Iraq? Is Milo prompting terrorists to attack us?

I understand the main character's angst. He lusts to go home for the same reason that I yearn that our troops can come back. War is a traumatizing experience that should be experienced by others, and I felt everything Yossarian did was justified. I think that this book ended exactly how it should have ended and contained one of the most satisfying endings I've read in a book.

I have not previously read a book by Joseph Heller, but the book was similiar in form and substance to Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughter House V. The two books are great, but Catch-22 gets the upper hand due to more comedic moments and agreeable contradictions. I hope to read more of Heller's work, as I've heard that there are books of his that have even more humor in it. The only thing I haven't elaborated on is that this book is vulgar like no other. From swearing to characters reaching up nurses' dresses to constant sexual interaction, this book delivers vulgarity in the way its meant to be delivered.