Album Review

The album that I chose to review was "Minutes To Midnight" by Linkin Park. I had never heard any of their music before and didn't know what to expect.

Artist: Linkin Park

Album: Minutes To Midnight

Year Released: May 2007

Record Label: Warner Bros. Records

Rating: 4/5

I'm not familiar with their work, but Linkin Park is a very spirited group. Their songs my not be to my liking, even though I respect that people like different kinds of music. Seeing how I have no musical taste keeps my opinion neutral. Their music seems to have a dark feeling to it and their lyrics seem to have a negative tone, but it seems that that is the purpose of their music and they portray that very well. I was kind of surprised when I was listening to their first song, "Wake". They had no lyrics in that song whatsoever, but seeing how that it was at the beginning of the album, it was a good introduction to the rest of the songs. "Bleed It Out" was another one that struck me, it was a song of hopelessness and giving up. Overall, this album is successful in what it trying to say.

Three Songs

The second song I listened to was "Only You" by The Platters. I just then realized what Spencer was talking about the "purpose" in the music and how they sang it. I didn't know that they were African-American at first, but I kinda guessed that they were. I didn't know for sure, because Spencer also said that white people were just singing the exact same songs and making a lot of money off of it. For example, "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard and Pat Boone.

The second song that I had a reaction to was "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" by Peter, Paul and Mary. When I first heard this song I thought it was stupid and was hippies singing about flowers and such, but when I heard it again, I kind of saw a meaning behind the words. It was like an anti-war kind of song and how like everything is connected.

The thrid song that I had a reaction to was "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire. At first, I didn't get what he was talking about with all his examples of "destruction", but then I began to realize what he was taling about. He incorporated a lot of examples into his song like "...there will be no one to save when the world is in a grave" and how you can kill but can't vote. I really got a lot out of that song and i was amazed at how he could link all the things he did into a coherent song and get the message across.

Second Literature Circle Post

In response to Section A, I really enjoy reading the book, because Mishima incorporates much detail and figurative language into the novel, which makes it very enjoyable to read. The main themes that are showing up in the book are :

• Brutality and Violence
• Happiness and Romance
• Nature
• Ethics/Morality
• and Glory

All of these are very apparent in the story and really creates a vivid picture in your mind when you are reading it. The book encompasses many stereotypical Japanese traditions or values such as glory or honor and New Years customs. I think had not Mishima written about these values and traditions, you could say it took place in any country/race, they remind the reader that the story is taking place and is about in Japan.

Section B: Well, some questions I have is what is Mishima trying to say when he relates so many things back to nature, like the sea, stars and the universe? Why does he relate these things to beauty or feelings like love or solitude? How does Fusako (Noboru's mother) not see that her son is not what she thinks he is? Does he do that good of a job disguising his true "form" or feelings? Why does Ryuji hide his true feelings and thoughts from Fusako if he really does love her?

Section C: Well, one quote that lead me to believe that Noboru was changing from a relatively normal boy to a blind savage was the quote on page 57-58,

"...Noboru swung the kitten high above his head and slammed it at the log. The warm soft thing hurtled through the air in marvelous flight. But the sensation of down between his fingers lingered...A resplendent power was surging through him to the tips of his fingers and he had only to lift the dazzling arc seared into the air by this power and hurl it again and again at the log. He felt like a giant of a man."

This quote depicts what Noboru had to do as his last "Rite of Strength" that made him a "man" and to "fill the world's great hollows". I think the chief is the "mastermind" behind all the things that are going through Noboru's head like the thoughts about what a man really is and how he should act. The fault is also on the boys who follow the leader, because they do have ideas and thoughts of their own, but they suppress them with the chiefs thoughts and speeches.

Another quote that stuck with me was when Noboru began to list all the crimes Ryuji "committed". They all seemed unrealistic and just something for Noboru to vent his anger on. When I read that passage he seemed like a very bratty, self centered, misled little boy, because all the charges, especially the last one about his mom staying out too late and leaving him alone, was very selfish of him.

Nevermind Still Have To Blog About Lit. Circle

So far in my literature circle book, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, the main character Noboru has make some very interesting decisions. The plot was relatively easy to understand, except for some spurts of figurative language that relates many things back to simple things in life and nature like the sea and beauty. In the first seventy-two pages Noboru transformed from a relatively normal boy (except for looking at his mom naked part) to a savage young boy. His beliefs are blinded by a boy he calls "Chief" or the boy who leads a ragtag band of teenagers. The chief seems so much more sophisticated than the other boys in the gang, all the others just follow him blindly and suppress their own thoughts and feelings. The other characters in the book, Fusako (Noboru's mom) and Ryuji (a sailor who is in an affair with Fusako) have played a big role in the plot development so far like making an impact on Noboru and Noboru's beliefs. I think later in the book Noboru and Ryuji will have a conflict, because Ryuji is a soft grownup not like the manly man he is supposed to be according to Noboru's gang. When I read the part about Noboru hating Ryuji in his mind and then when he got back to his house, he acted all nice to Ryuji and asked him questions about ships. It was like all the hatred corked up inside of Noboru is only unleashed when he is with his "friends".

YAY DONE BLOGGING

NO MORE BLOGS FOR THIS SEMESTER

Make- Up Blog

I'm blogging today because I heard from someone that we didn't have to blog anymore, but I'm just blogging just in case we still have too. So far on our Vegas, we have about 7-8 minutes already done, with pictures and voice overs and all that. We still have to find some royalty free music that we can use as background music. Spencer wrote a good websit on the board, www.mediamusicnow.co.uk has a lot of clips that sound good for our video. We also have to shorten our video done a considerable amount because we have about 8 minutes and 45 seconds worth of voice overs...Julian already shortened the video from 13 minutes already, so hopefully there are some more information we could do without...We have about 3 more days to totally finish our videos, but we have so much to still do...we have to match some type of music to the background and the parts with Julian on film, shorten our film to the correct time, and make our poster board for our POL Night after Thanksgiving Break >.< and we have Exeter again (which is easier) and another Water Quality Testing analysis thing for Anne.

Recordings

Today, we tried to record our script and narrations. At first, Julian recorded his parts because Jesse went to go listen to some writer/publisher guy talk over at Explorer, I think he sound/did fine, but he didn't like his voice...When Jesse came back, he recorded his piece, but it was too quiet and we asked Spencer if we could get someone else to narrate, but he said that we should very firmly...He recommended that I record in place of Jesse, it seemed like Jesse wanted to do some recordings, but Spencer still made me record...We are going to have to edit the voice overs and the interview Jesse did, tomorrow, hopefully because we are running out of time...We go to Mexico on Monday and we only have about a week total of work time left....