Well I wasn't in class today, so I would like to talk about comedy. To me comedy is anything and everything that makes me laugh. I am a very amusable person, so it doesn't take much. Man, what would this world be like with out it or more importantly if the past didn't have comedy in it, what would possess the future? Here are some laughable quotes on comedy and hopefully some that will just get you to laugh!
"I live by this credo: Have a little laugh at life and look around you for happiness instead of sadness. Laughter has always brought me out of unhappy situations. Even in your darkest moment, you usually can find something to laugh about if you try hard enough." ~Red Skelton (1913-1997)
"The whole object of comedy is to be yourself and the closer you get to that, the funnier you will be." ~Jerry Seinfeld American comedian, entertainer
*This quote is totally me!!! "Any time an idea hits you, write it down. Don’t trust your memory no matter how good you think it is." ~ W.C. Fields
"When humor goes, there goes civilization." ~Erma Bombeck
"Comedy keeps the heart sweet..." ~Mark Twain
Check out this site for some fun facts on laughing: http://www.drstandley.com/facts_laughing.shtml
Have a good day!!!!!!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
March 6, 2007
Since reading Lysistrata, I have been overwhelmed with the power of women in Classical Literature. It seems that they are the back bone of every piece that we have covered in class. Some words that I feel describe Lysistrata are: beautiful but dirty, comical, powerful and empowering, graphic, action, and cunning. It is very amazing to see that in the "history" books, hardly any mention of women's achievements are made. However, in Classical Literature there are tons of women who have generated great amounts of power in their individual society's. This then makes me think, whoa, if the women of classical times could accomplish so much, then why can't I in the futuristic times of today. (Ha, listen to me, I am going a little feministic, watch out!) So who are some Lysistrata's of today? Some on the top of my head include Oprah, Princess Di (God bless), Queen Elizabeth II, Diane Sawyer, and millions more. (Oh yeah, and ME! lol)
March 5, 2007
3 levels of belief:
-Believing without questions
-A stage of terror- afraid to believe, but afraid not to
- truth and story work together
In most people's lives they all go through phases like the idea of Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy, mermaids, genies, and many more things. When I first found out that Santa was not real it was DEVI STATING. I was on the bus going to school during my Kindergarten year. There was a boy by the name of Danny Matovich who always sat in the front of the bus. It was Danny who yelled, "Hey Emily, you do know that Santa isn't real?" I didn't want to believe it, but when I got to school and asked my classmates about it, they confirmed that Santa was not real. Also in kindergarten, I found out that Barney was not real and wasn't cool. I sure had a rough start in school.
On the next level of belief, there have been many times where I am afraid to believe something and also afraid not to. For example, when my grandpa died, I didn't want to believe it. He seemed like the healthiest 90 year old man I had ever known. In fact, he traveled back from Montana to Illinois only a week before he died. He was also playing a game of 13 when his body went into shock. After he died, the doctors couldn't believe what could have gone wrong, so they did an autopsy. When the autopsy results came back we found out that grandpa had cancer in many parts of his body. This made me believe that it was Grandpa Ray's time to go. If he would have survived the shock, he would have had a long road of health problems ahead. God bless.
Finally, truth and story. When I think of truth and story, the only thing that comes to mind are all those "dad's fishing tales." You know, those stories where the fish's head was the size of a boulder, they were longer than the arm span of Big Foot, and weighed more than a semi-truck....(We've all heard them!!!!)
-Believing without questions
-A stage of terror- afraid to believe, but afraid not to
- truth and story work together
In most people's lives they all go through phases like the idea of Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy, mermaids, genies, and many more things. When I first found out that Santa was not real it was DEVI STATING. I was on the bus going to school during my Kindergarten year. There was a boy by the name of Danny Matovich who always sat in the front of the bus. It was Danny who yelled, "Hey Emily, you do know that Santa isn't real?" I didn't want to believe it, but when I got to school and asked my classmates about it, they confirmed that Santa was not real. Also in kindergarten, I found out that Barney was not real and wasn't cool. I sure had a rough start in school.
On the next level of belief, there have been many times where I am afraid to believe something and also afraid not to. For example, when my grandpa died, I didn't want to believe it. He seemed like the healthiest 90 year old man I had ever known. In fact, he traveled back from Montana to Illinois only a week before he died. He was also playing a game of 13 when his body went into shock. After he died, the doctors couldn't believe what could have gone wrong, so they did an autopsy. When the autopsy results came back we found out that grandpa had cancer in many parts of his body. This made me believe that it was Grandpa Ray's time to go. If he would have survived the shock, he would have had a long road of health problems ahead. God bless.
Finally, truth and story. When I think of truth and story, the only thing that comes to mind are all those "dad's fishing tales." You know, those stories where the fish's head was the size of a boulder, they were longer than the arm span of Big Foot, and weighed more than a semi-truck....(We've all heard them!!!!)
Mar. 5, 2007
Below is a picture of Aristophanes, the "new Lysistrata" and the "old Lysistrata."
(The Old) Aristophanes (The New)
After the Pelopennasian War, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_War) the women withheld sex from their husbands in efforts to regain peace. Lysistrata was the main leader. This play was first performed in the Festival of Dionysus. This play is a comedy because when it was acted out, the women would imitate the men with a phallus under their costumes. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallus : enter at your own risk)
(The Old) Aristophanes (The New)
After the Pelopennasian War, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_War) the women withheld sex from their husbands in efforts to regain peace. Lysistrata was the main leader. This play was first performed in the Festival of Dionysus. This play is a comedy because when it was acted out, the women would imitate the men with a phallus under their costumes. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallus : enter at your own risk)
March 2, 2007
Lysistrata...when I hear that name all I can think about is the idea of soulmates. What is a soulmate? Soulmate (or soul mate) is a term sometimes used to designate someone with whom one has a feeling of deep and natural affinity, friendship, love, intimacy, sexuality, and/or compatibility. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulmate) In today's society, many movies are based on the notion of Soulmates. (All that is in the past possess the future.)
Some examples are:
-Ghost
-Just Like Heaven
-The Lake House
-What Dreams May Come
Some examples are:
-Ghost
-Just Like Heaven
-The Lake House
-What Dreams May Come
Mar.1, 2007
My favorite stories within stories:
1) In the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is The Reeve's Tale. Check out a brief summary at this URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reeve%27s_Prologue_and_Tale.
(He sure would look good on a dollar bill! haha)
2) The Wizard of Oz. Dorthy takes the fall that sends her to the land of Oz. There of course is two stories going on in this. The story of Dorthy's life in Kansas, and her mysterious action filled life in Oz.
3) The story of creation in The Metamorphoses of Ovid.
1) In the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is The Reeve's Tale. Check out a brief summary at this URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reeve%27s_Prologue_and_Tale.
(He sure would look good on a dollar bill! haha)2) The Wizard of Oz. Dorthy takes the fall that sends her to the land of Oz. There of course is two stories going on in this. The story of Dorthy's life in Kansas, and her mysterious action filled life in Oz.
3) The story of creation in The Metamorphoses of Ovid.
Michelangelo "The Creation of Adam"
Feb. 28, 2007
Frame: stories within stories. Such works like the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, and new examples are works such as Star Wars and Star Trek.
-Socratic irony: discrepancy between what is said and what is meant. This goes back to the notion of story telling. What is the "art" of storytelling?" In the Symposium, there is a nature of love, but what kind of love is it? Sometimes people go through many stages to find what they believe is real love.
sophia=wisdom
phila=love
phila+sophia= philosophy
In Symposium, there are many different kinds of love displayed. "Homoerotic" love which is older males loving younger males, or pedophilia love. This is not to be taken in any weird way, it is mean to say that, "the people who can most relate to each other are most in love. They also don't have to worry about having children. And their intellectual behavior is the same." For example, Socrates and Alich had a type of this love, but it would be easier to say that it was a PLUTONIC love. (I love you, but I am not in love with you.) Nothing more, nothing less. I think that the most important thing to understand about this situation is to see all the beauty in life. Like the notion of "life is but a dream." Your dreams and goals make your life's dream come true. It is up to oneself to create the perfect life that he/she wants.
On that note, we are supposed to go and make someone else's life interesting. Good luck to all!
Godspeed!
-Socratic irony: discrepancy between what is said and what is meant. This goes back to the notion of story telling. What is the "art" of storytelling?" In the Symposium, there is a nature of love, but what kind of love is it? Sometimes people go through many stages to find what they believe is real love.
sophia=wisdom
phila=love
phila+sophia= philosophy
In Symposium, there are many different kinds of love displayed. "Homoerotic" love which is older males loving younger males, or pedophilia love. This is not to be taken in any weird way, it is mean to say that, "the people who can most relate to each other are most in love. They also don't have to worry about having children. And their intellectual behavior is the same." For example, Socrates and Alich had a type of this love, but it would be easier to say that it was a PLUTONIC love. (I love you, but I am not in love with you.) Nothing more, nothing less. I think that the most important thing to understand about this situation is to see all the beauty in life. Like the notion of "life is but a dream." Your dreams and goals make your life's dream come true. It is up to oneself to create the perfect life that he/she wants.
On that note, we are supposed to go and make someone else's life interesting. Good luck to all!
Godspeed!
Feb 26, 2007
A new book...very exciting!!!!!
Symposium:
-Patriarchal because there is only men allowed.
-The girls who were entertainers, the flute girls, were even kicked out.
This book is very interesting to me because it just seems so modern to me for its time. For example, in the beginning it is explained that there is a group of men sitting around drinking together. ("sympotein" meaning "to drink together") This is very much like many men of today who get together on Sundays to drink beer and watch football, or "Poker Night." Interesting....
Plato, the author of Symposium forms a very imaginative philosophy. This philosophy in class was compared to the "Matrix" theme. Explained in class, "dialectic philosophy" is "us sitting in a cave and what we see is life on the projections on the cave wall." This in turn started the idea of modern day movies.
"The film describes a future in which the world is actually the Matrix, a simulated reality created by sentient machines in order to pacify, subdue and make use of the human population as an energy source by growing them and connecting them to the Matrix with cybernetic implants. It contains numerous references to the cyberpunk and hacker subcultures; philosophical and religious ideas, including Vedanta, messianism and Socratic, Cartesian, and Platonic idealism; and homages to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Hong Kong action movies and Japanese animation." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix)
Raconteur: story teller
Today we also heard the story of the woman who told stories in a Nazi Concentration Camp to save he life and the life of her sister. Although the woman kind of "yanked Mr. Sexson's chain" she still made a good point and also told a great story of "The Beggar King."
Symposium:
-Patriarchal because there is only men allowed.
-The girls who were entertainers, the flute girls, were even kicked out.
This book is very interesting to me because it just seems so modern to me for its time. For example, in the beginning it is explained that there is a group of men sitting around drinking together. ("sympotein" meaning "to drink together") This is very much like many men of today who get together on Sundays to drink beer and watch football, or "Poker Night." Interesting....
Plato, the author of Symposium forms a very imaginative philosophy. This philosophy in class was compared to the "Matrix" theme. Explained in class, "dialectic philosophy" is "us sitting in a cave and what we see is life on the projections on the cave wall." This in turn started the idea of modern day movies.
"The film describes a future in which the world is actually the Matrix, a simulated reality created by sentient machines in order to pacify, subdue and make use of the human population as an energy source by growing them and connecting them to the Matrix with cybernetic implants. It contains numerous references to the cyberpunk and hacker subcultures; philosophical and religious ideas, including Vedanta, messianism and Socratic, Cartesian, and Platonic idealism; and homages to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Hong Kong action movies and Japanese animation." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix)
Raconteur: story teller
Today we also heard the story of the woman who told stories in a Nazi Concentration Camp to save he life and the life of her sister. Although the woman kind of "yanked Mr. Sexson's chain" she still made a good point and also told a great story of "The Beggar King."
Feb. 19-23, 2007
Well we didn't have class on Monday, and the rest of the week we will be studying for the first Quiz. I used Brittini Reid's and Elizabeth's blog to study because I just don't take as good of notes as they do! Anyways, good luck on the test everyone! Oh...the suffering. I guess, we all must suffer in life. Without suffering we wouldn't have much Classical Literature to study. Most Classical Literature is based on the suffereing of someone.
"Deep unspeakable suffering may well be called a baptism, a regeneration, the initiation into a new state." ~George Eliot
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved." ~Hellen Keller
"The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, and a hell of Heaven." ~John Milton
"And taste The melancholy joys of evils pass'd, For he who much has suffer'd, much will know." ~Homer in the Odyssesy
"To percieve is to suffer." ~Aristotle
"Deep unspeakable suffering may well be called a baptism, a regeneration, the initiation into a new state." ~George Eliot
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved." ~Hellen Keller
"The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, and a hell of Heaven." ~John Milton
"And taste The melancholy joys of evils pass'd, For he who much has suffer'd, much will know." ~Homer in the Odyssesy
"To percieve is to suffer." ~Aristotle
Feb. 16, 2007
Well, I am getting anxious for the holiday and am even more anxious for the upcoming test. Instead of writing anything on this blog I am going to give you some more ideas on how I "imitate art."
Last year, I was in CLS. In that class we were lucky enough to go on a field trip to the Museum of the Rockies. During this time, in the main art Gallery there was a collection of artwork by Paul R. Jones. Paul R. Jones is a collecton of 20th century African American artwork. During our field trip, our assignment was to pick out our favorite piece and write about it. In terms of "imitating art", I ended up writing a poem about the piece that I chose. Below is a picture by Roy DeCarava entitled "Graduation Day 1949". This piece is a gelatin silver print. (It is not a very good transfer so for a clearer picture click on this website: http://mis043.mis.udel.edu:8888/cgi-bin/navigator/navigator.cgi?fedora_pid=udel:434&type=&host=mis043.mis.udel.edu%3A8210
Anyways here is my poem.
Black and White
Beautiful girl in a long white dress,
Walking back through the ghetto's of Harlem,
Such a mess.
It was her day to shine,
Graduation...a day, she thought to herself,
"This day is mine."
Beautiful girl in a long white dress,
Her stride so prideful, but the time she was living in...
Was very much doubtful.
Black and white...it didn't matter,
She walked through all that trash
And clatter.
Beautiful girl in a long white dress,
Strong enough to face the crazy world,
And she came out with her chin up, being the best.
(Yeah, the rhyming is a little dull, but I a sure that you get the point.)
Last year, I was in CLS. In that class we were lucky enough to go on a field trip to the Museum of the Rockies. During this time, in the main art Gallery there was a collection of artwork by Paul R. Jones. Paul R. Jones is a collecton of 20th century African American artwork. During our field trip, our assignment was to pick out our favorite piece and write about it. In terms of "imitating art", I ended up writing a poem about the piece that I chose. Below is a picture by Roy DeCarava entitled "Graduation Day 1949". This piece is a gelatin silver print. (It is not a very good transfer so for a clearer picture click on this website: http://mis043.mis.udel.edu:8888/cgi-bin/navigator/navigator.cgi?fedora_pid=udel:434&type=&host=mis043.mis.udel.edu%3A8210
Anyways here is my poem.
Black and White
Beautiful girl in a long white dress,
Walking back through the ghetto's of Harlem,
Such a mess.
It was her day to shine,
Graduation...a day, she thought to herself,
"This day is mine."
Beautiful girl in a long white dress,
Her stride so prideful, but the time she was living in...
Was very much doubtful.
Black and white...it didn't matter,
She walked through all that trash
And clatter.
Beautiful girl in a long white dress,
Strong enough to face the crazy world,
And she came out with her chin up, being the best.
(Yeah, the rhyming is a little dull, but I a sure that you get the point.)
Feb. 15, 2007
I found a really hilarious spoof on YouTube for a Barbie version of Antigones. It is kind of dumb, but just bare with it. It has some funny little twists to the story! Here is the url:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvYh_qk9byY
Feb. 14th 2007
Yeah!!! It is Valentines Day!!!! But where does Valentines Day come from??? Well, of course, it comes from the classical people such as Cupid/Eros and Aphrodite/Venus. Once again, all that is in the past posses the future! Cupid to the Romans usually meant the god of erotic love. (Eros is the Greek name for Cupid and another name from him is Amor.) Cupid is often dipicted as a baby with wings shooting his bow and arrow to spike romanticism. Cupid has a lot of the time been blame for the feeling of "being weak at the knees." But what does that mean? MOst people think that "being weak at the knees" is when a significant other says, or does something so extravagent for someone else, that it makes that person feel sooo good that they are completly overjoyed. This sudden rush of "feel good" hormones in the body then causes a cataclismic reflex that well, leaves one "weak at the knees." Aphrodite, the goddess of luv, lust, and beauty. Aphrodite Unania is the goddes of pure or plutonic love and Aphrodite Pandemos is the goddess of physical love. Valentines Day is definitely a holiday of the past and everyday life. All types of love a shared between people everyday, whether it is plutonic love between friends, or lust and physical love between lovers...Love happens everyday! So thank you Cupid and Aphrodite for gracing all mankind with this enchanting feeling.
Shakespeare Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
William Shakepeare
(1564 - 1616)
Shakespeare Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
William Shakepeare
(1564 - 1616)
Feb. 12, 2007
Manon, Violetta, Odette, Anna Nicole Smith, and Marilyn Monroe. What do these five women have in common? What do they have to do with the notion of "all the is in the past possess the future?" Well to begin with, who is Manon? Manon is a women in an opera entitled Manon who was a "courtesan" who feel in love with a man called Des Grieux. Both Manon and Des Grieux were on two different paths of life when they fell in love. Des Grieux was on a quest to find his father, while Manon was on a quest to be excepted as she was to her new lovers family. In the end, Des Grieux and Manon were falsely accused of committing "adultery" are were both arrested. Des Grieux wanted nothing more than to find his beloved Manon. But as soon as he managed to escape his punishment, he didn't get to Manon fast enough to save her. When he finally found her, Manon was almost lifeless. She fainted into his arms "Et c'est là l'histoire de Manon Lescaut," and she died.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manon) Who is Violetta? Violetta Valery was a famous "courtesan" who threw a huge party to celebrate her victory over a serious illness. Violetta then mistakenly falls in love with a man by the name of Gaston, but that love comes to late. By the time the two really become lovers, Violetta has already become bed ridden because the disease of tuberculosis has set into her body. In her last few moments, Gaston finally comes back and on her death bed he begs her for forgiveness, and then she dies in his arms.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violetta_Valery) Who is Oddette? Odette de Crecy, the flamboyant wife of Charles Swann in Proust's A la Recherche du Temps Perdu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odette). So now you know of the courtesans of the past, it is now easy to assume why women such as Anna Nicole Smith and Marilyn Monroe are so important to the notion of all that is in the past possess the future. Anna Nicole much like Violetta was known as a "courtesan", or high class prostitute. Anna also coincidentally died of a tragic death, drug overdose. Marilyn Monroe just happened to be Anna's idol. So what kind of woman do you think Marilyn is? So what is the importance of all of this? Life has imitated art of the past.
So now the question is, what have I done to imitate art of the past? I have been a dancer for many years of my life. I have flamboyantly twirled around on many stages. But my claim to fame in terms if imitating art was when I portrayed Belle, the beauty in Beauty and the Beast. Beauty and the Beast was not always a Walt Disney picture. It actually came from a traditional fairy tail from the 1700's.
So now the question is, what have I done to imitate art of the past? I have been a dancer for many years of my life. I have flamboyantly twirled around on many stages. But my claim to fame in terms if imitating art was when I portrayed Belle, the beauty in Beauty and the Beast. Beauty and the Beast was not always a Walt Disney picture. It actually came from a traditional fairy tail from the 1700's.
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