Post for Today/Yesterday

I'm posting this for yesterday because I didn't have an oppurtunity to post since I was busy doing stuff for the LAN Party...Wel then today we got our storyboards checked off and made more goals for this coming week. We have about 6 pages worth of storybaord and will probably need more. We split up the work this week, because on our previous assignments, we just hurried and finished it to get a satisfactory grade, but now we have to go back and revise the work that we did quickly...So Jesse's doing the Flash introduction, I'm doing the storyboard revision and Julian's adding onto the script so we have more to talk about...

The Mexico Project

The Mexico Project seems to be getting more intense because of we are starting to get all our script/storyboard things done so were going to start doing more work that affects the final product more like the actual pictures we're going to use, the script, how people are going to talk, when people will talk, how we're going to record...So we are almost done with the preliminary phase and are getting to start on the actual documentary.

STORYBOARDS!

Well, our storyboards are due tomorrow...We split up our script into 3 parts each of us have a few paragraphs to do, we also have to find some pictures for each slide/sentence/part of the script...I think it is fairly easy to split up the sentences into what we are actually going to put onto our film, but finding all the pictures might be a pain. Our new and improved second draft of our script is due on Tuesday and we got a new mini project in Anne's class so we might not have much time to work on this project on the weekend.

Flash Critique

Today, we got our Flash introduction critiqued. We had the minimum requirements like the time and names and everything, but we were far from done...We had a lot of high expectations for the Flash introduction, but the deadline really came up fast and we had to hurry and finish what we could to get a satisfactory grade. Jesse said that he would take on the challenge of improving our Flash to make it more professional and fine cut, while Julian and I work more on the script and storyboards, which are due day after tomorrow, really tomorrow since today's already done...Well I hope we can pull off 6-8 worth of storyboards in a day...

Today...

Well, Jesse didn't get the script for the interview because of technical problems...But he did have the questions from the interview from an earlier e-mail. So he has the main part of the interview done but just not the transitions from the introduction to the next subject of our documentary.

When I got home, I revised the script more and also finished the Flash that I had started at school, Jesse had the idea of a paper airplane flying around town and landing on the news guys' desk. My Flash depicted that but in a very very crude way, because of very little time to work on it. I think we can revise everything later...and just want to finish things to get the points, but we seem to be putting off everything til the end and not having any time to revise anything we had said that we would do later.

JV's Blog

(To my Mexico Project Group)- I think the other group doing Water Quality/Pollution is JV, Raul and Austin Han. I looked at JV's blog and it had a lot of god information/links for water pollution topics.

Interview

Today, I revised the script to include the changes that we recieved from our critiques on Friday. I had to finish that today so that I could send the new and improved script to Jesse so he could do the interview he scheduled for Sunday at 11, so I hope he checks his e-mail today because I told him that I would be sending it soon...Hope the interview goes well. Jesse said he didn't need any help so I hope he can handle it by himself.

Emlyn and Inca Info

Even though the Mini-Project is over, Emlyn has some pretty interesting info on his blog about the Incas.

-The Inca empire was divided into 4 quarters with Cuzco in the middle. Blood relatives of the emperor were governors of these 4 quarters.

-Below the emperor was the aristocracy. The pure-blooded incas had the most important post, but the leaders of conquered kingdoms were also accepted into this hierarchy, being considered Inca by adoption.

-Detailed records of population, gold, corn, etc were kept on quipus, knotted strings tied to a larger string.

-The Inca had a labor tax called mit'a. This meant that all the Inca people were requited to labor on various public works (roads, temples, giant rope bridges, etc) for a certain amount of time each year.-everyone lived in ayllu, a large communal group or family. each ayllu was allotted a certian amount of land by the emperor to farm on. Everyone in an ayllu shared everything.

-although for the most part, peasants stayed peasants, specially gifted boys were sometimes trained to be pages, temple attendants or the like. Specially beautiful girls were taken as concubines for royalty and sometime sacrificed.

-Each ayllu was a self-suffciant farming community. they used heavy wooden spades or foot plows called a taclla, stone-tipped clubs to break up clods, bronze-bladed hoes, and digging sticks.

-Since there were often years of droughts, Incas created complex canal systems to get water to their crops.

-The Inca priests not only prophesied the future and gave sacrifices to the gods, they also treated the sick. It was thought that illness was caused by the anger of the gods.

-Most illnesses were treated with healing ceremonies, but the Inca also knew how to preform surgery, amputations and even transplants.

-Inca music was played with instruments made of wood, reeds, pottery, bone, shell, and metal. The Inca music usually accompanied religious ceremonies and was played with only percussion and wind instruments.-Inca music had a very strong rhythm to it and sometimes almost pun the dancers into hypnotic trances.

http://encarta.msn.com/text_761560004___4/Inca_Empire.html

Austin Hans Blog

Austin Han and his group seems to be doing a similar topic to ours. He has posted a lot of links/information about Water/ Water Quality. So you might want to check out his blog.

Julians' Blog

Julian posted a lot of useful information about the San Diego and Tijuana Rivers.

Script

...I forgot to post yesterday, because of my enormous workload yesterday =( Well, I guess this post is for yesterdy...ya, well, so yesterday I wrote the whole script. I used a lot of resources, here are some:
http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et1094/et1094s9.html
http://www.projectcleanwater.org/html/ws_san_diego_river.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_River
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/bptcp/docs/reg9addendum.pdf

Those gave me a lot of information about the San Diego River, but not a lot about the causes or problems that resulted in the polluted river we have now. It was more about the general information. The information Julian and I found about the Tijuana River was almost the opposite, we found a lot of information about the pollution, but not a lot general information.

Rivers Information

Here are some URL's that Julian and I composed:
http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et1094/et1094s9.html

http://www.projectcleanwater.org/html/ws_san_diego_river.html an NGO is helping clean the SD River (Project)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_River just general informantion (using for external sources)

http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/bptcp/docs/reg9addendum.pdf

http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0694/et0694s1.html- general info on TJ River, including treaties and sewage problems

http://trw.sdsu.edu/English/WshdOverw/wshOverwFrame.htm- info on water quality and what’s in the water

http://nerrs.noaa.gov/TijuanaRiver/welcome.html- what wildlife is in the river and area and if they are endangered


I don't know what we should like focus our documentary on...like the actual rivers and sewage/pollution in them or like the government/politics and wildlife. I guess we could put all of it if we don't have enough information to just choose one, but water quality and the two rivers is a very broad subject so I think we could just compile everything and just take out what doesn't fit in or isn't important...Script is due in two days...better start.

Latin America Short Stories+Mexico Project

Today in Spencers' class he read us some short stories and told us that a lot of writers in South America/Latin America favored writing "magical fiction". Magical fiction has a mostly realistic setting/storyline but with a little randomness element thrown in.

Our Mexico Project is coming along nicely I guess...We have our interview set up with Jesse's relative and Julian and I have to research more and put together our script in two days...I know that we can do it, but we really going to need to stop avoiding the work until the last minute and rush and not do a very good job. Well hope it all turns out well.

REJECTED!

Well, I e-mailed the Scripps Institute of Oceanography on Sunday to ask if anyone there had any time to do an interview for our project. So the lady e-mailed me back today and she said that all the people/researchers/scientists were busy and could not do any type of interview video/e-mail/phone. But she gave me 4 websites that linked me to pages where there was a FAQ page and already recorded interviews. So hopefully we can make do with 1 video interview and information quoted from the websites.

Additional Expert Source

I just e-mailed the Scripps Institute of Oceanography wondering if there was a professor/person that could answer some questions about the San Diego River. Jesse has a relative that could be a expert source, but he/she can't answer some of the more specific questions like government involvemnet or what pollutants are in the rivers. The professor/person from Scripps is going to be an additional source and possibly instead of actually video taping them, we could just quote them to save time if we have too much info or if we have to little we could tape the person.

Script

Julian, Jesse and I all agreed to help write the script due Friday, because each of us knows a little different amount of information so we could put that all together and combined with our interview(s) we would probably have enough to meet the 6-8 minutes required. Not exactly sure how the whole interview/dialogue/narration is gonna happen but I have a general idea about the whole setup.

Stories and Beyond The Border

Well, today I did my two short stories and tomorrow I have to research more about the San Diego River and the Tijuana Rivers...I also wanted to find an additional expert source even though Jesse has a relative that lived in TJ, he can't answer more of the scientific and statistic question, so Spencer recommended that we e-mail the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and see if there is a professor/person that can answer the questions like if the government is doing anything or what is actually polluting the rivers and stuff like that...

Beyond the Border

Now with the Inca Project out of the way, hopefully I can focus on my Beyond the Border Project. This week, I was supposed to compile all the information Julian and I found and start forming an outline for our script...I kinda have a format in my head, but need to check out the websites to get info. I know we have the expert source out of the way, Jesse has a relative/knows someone who lived in Mexico and experienced the water quality first hand. I know we're going to have to kick into gear because a bunch of deadlines are quickly approaching...

Presentation

Well, sorry forgot to Blog yesterday in the mad rush to finish my artifact and poster board...I wish I didn't procrastinate and wait til the last moment to finish my board...It really affected the outcome of the final product. Since I finished so late, I didn't really have enough time as I had wanted to to practice my oral part of the presentation, so today I was mostly improvising every presentation just saying what I remember and looking at more board for help. I'm happy with the final product somewhat, but know I could have done better, with the oral talking part and the aesthetics of my board.

Artifact

Well, for my artifact, I'm making a halberd-like axe made of bronze and wood. This weapon was mostly wielded by royalty as a sign of power. It could be long like a stave and used with 2-hands or a smaller version held by one hand so the other could hold a shield.

The weapon is held by the warrior in the upper right hand corner. It's kinda small so I'll look for a bigger image later, but that's it.

http://www.theperuguide.com/grafica/inca_warriors.gif

hmmmmm...not much time for Mexico Project

Not having much time to work on Beyond the Border Project...it's not like Spencers not giving us time, or anything, but it's we feel that we need to get more done on our Mini-Project than the Mexico Project. So it's more like us choosing to work on one project over the other.

Pictures and THAT Bibliography

well, today in class Spencer suggested a more visual board than an information soaked one...seeing how I have so much info...that means a lot of pictures. I spent my time in class, making sure everyone had their info so no one could blame others about not posting and also I split my sections into little sentences so I could spread them out along with the pictures. When I got home I started looking for pictures to match my topics like the gods, tools, innovations, instruments etc. I ended up finding 18 pictures that I would use for my board...that means 18 more entries into my Bibliography...that's gonna take sometime which now I don't have much of with having to construct my board still and make my artifact...well today I plan to finish my bibliography for my pictures and such and then focus on my artifact and then board, since i have all my stuff already wont take long to make, which usually means it does...well i guess i better start.

Bibliography

huh I just finished my Bibliography in about 30 minutes...using the MLA required formatting thingy. I know I used more websites than this, so I'm gonna check my Word document with all my URLs I used at school tomorrow to possibly pick up a few that I missed here at home. Go check out Spencers' website (DP not blog) he has a link to some MLA format place that shows you how to correctly cite your source.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

oh my god, I totally forgot about having a works citied page on my board...Good thing I kept all my websites and posted them...weeew. Don't forget your works citied page either people.

Inca Project

Well, seeing how I have everything under control at the moment, I don't think there is much more to do...except make my artifact, construct my poster board, find pictures, and print everything...on second thought i do have a lot of stuff to do...Hopefully, i can get this done quickly so I can start focusing on the Mexico Project. Jesse I think already has our expert source, so we have that covered, but we only have like 1-1.5 more weeks til we have to turn in our first draft of our script. So I hope I don't procrastinate and leave all the Inca stuff until Wednesday night and have no time for Mexico Project stuff...

Inca Project

Well, I constructed all my paragraphs about Music, Expansion and Conquest, Art, Religion, and Technology. At 1.5 spacing i have 3/4-1 page of info on everything except Music...I didn't see very much info on Music, so if anyone has any websites or information, please post it or something like that.

THE ACTUAL ANSWERS! DON"T COPY PLEASE!

Are they mono- or poly- theistic? What/is their god/s?

The Incas were polytheistic meaning they worshipped more than one God. The Incas believed there were many Gods as aspects of the world. For example they have a god of the Sun, Moon, Thunder, Earth.

Description of each:

Viracocha - Creator
Foremost of the celestial Gods, Viracocha was also worshipped by pre-Inca peoples living at Tiwanaku, near Lake Titicaca. Creator of the earth and its living creatures, Viracocha had formal titles such as Ilya-Tiqsi Wiraqocha Pacayaciq, "Ancient Foundation, Lord, Instructor of the World" or Wiraqocha Pachayachachi, "Creator of All Things". Although Viracocha was not as publically revered as Inti, the Sun God, Inca creation myths clearly place him as the most powerful.


Apu Inti - the Sun God
The royal rulers of the Incas claimed direct lineage Viracocha through Inti, the Sun, as he sired the first king. Inti was a male god, represented by icons as a golden disk or seated boy (Punchao) with rays projected from his head. The statue of Punchao bridged the gap between the supernatural and everyday world, as the vital organs of deceased rulers were burned and placed in his stomach. Golden images of his wives Inca Ocllo and Palpa Ocllo were kept with him in his temple.
Inti was the patron of the empire and conquest, and the Inca dedicated many ceremonies and rituals to him. The most powerful priest was the High Priest of the Sun, usually one of the ruler's close relatives or even the ruler himself, who led the innumerable ceremonies and festivals dedicated to the Sun God. Every major settlement in the empire had a Sun Temple, and crops and resources were set aside for the Sun's temples and activities throughout the provinces.


Chiqui Illapa - Thunder God
Also called Inti Illapa, the god of thunder and lightning was seen as a man in the sky wielding a great war club in one hand and a sling in the other. Lightning in the sky was said to be the sling stones he cast, and the Milky Way, called the Celestial River by the Incas, was the source from which he drew the rains. Because of his meteorological powers, Chiqui Illapa was the deity to which people addressed their prayers for rain.


Mama Quilla - Mother Moon
Mama Quilla was the wife of Inti, and in some coastal societies the moon was more important than the sun. Many rituals were based on the lunar calendar, and she had her own temple in Cuzco with attendant priestesses. Inca legend says the spots on the moon are from a fox who fell in love with her, and when he rose up into the sky to steal her she squeezed him against her and produced the dark patches visible today.

Pachamama - Earth Mother
Worshipped by farmers, the Earth Mother (also known as Mama Pacha) was a goddess who received many sacrifices of llamas and other animals to ensure successful harvests. Presiding over planting, harvesting and fertility, she is also sometimes depicted as a great dragon who causes earthquakes, and is still revered by some Andeans today.

Other Inca deities
Other important deities included Yakumama, the Mother Water; Mamacocha, the Mother Sea; and Pachacamac, Maker of the Earth and consort of Pachamama.

http://trailingincas.info/celestial.php

How does religion affect the hierarchy of their society? Do chiefs/priests have special religious importance?

Well, the chief was believed to be a descendant from Viracocha through Inti, the Sun. The chiefs were treated and seen as gods or as close as a human can get. In battle, the chiefs were like a beacon of divine power, giving warriors strength and a sense of protection. The priests of the Inca people were like ministers and had special healing powers to cure any disease. The priests were also the ones to perform sacrifices when the Incas won a battle or a great natural phenomenon happened.

How does religion differ from Western faiths?

Well, in Inca religion it is customary to perform human sacrifices to the gods after winning a battle or some natural phenomenon occurs. In fact, that was one reason the Spaniards killed so many of them when they "discovered" them, because they didn't belieave in the Spaniards one "God".

Socratic Seminar

Well, I just completed my first Socratic Seminar of the 07-08 Year. And I think that Seminar was the best Seminar I have participated in. I talked A LOT more than before and I contributed to the discussion. I think I talked more in this Seminar than all the Seminars last year. I know I can do better now and I know I will. I don't know what it is about this Seminar that made me want to be so engaged...I'm happy I am though, I got to speak my mind and I think all the previous Seminars I learned from like when to talk and looking for an opening to say something, really paid off.

Now that that's over, hopefully we have a lot more time to work on our Mini-Project and Mexico Project, because I think I'm going to have a lot to do over the weekend...i still have to form my information into paragraphs and construct my poster board...=(

Socratic Seminar

The text about globalization was very interesting, because the author thought that the global community should assist poorer countries to get on their feet and try to get rid of poverty and disease. The text explains both sides of the argument, but I think they are kind of leaning toward helping the poor counties rather than letting them help themselves. The author also says it was not the countries fault that they ended up where they are now. Hopefully, I'll have some good things to say tomorow =)

Look at some other people's Blogs(My Inca group)

Hey guys if you guys subscribe to Google Reader and follow the directions Spencer gave us, then you can look at what others are posting on the Incas, they might have some good stuffs...

Thoughts...

So far on both the Mexico project and the Inca project, I feel like my groups are doing very well for the first projects of the year and hopefully they will continue to work hard until the end of the project. Today, I worked more on the Inca Project than the Mexico Project, because with so many people it is a little harder to keep everyone focused and because all of us are working together to kind of form a pool of information (not copying each other) everyone really has to do their part or else the whole group will suffer in a way. I think that everyone is research very hard and trying to get their part done, because we have a lot of homework/stuff to do already so early in the year. I can already tell that our team this year is going to be very hard working and very productive, which is excellent. I'm really not sure how large or how much information is supposed to be on our Poster Board/Visual Aid, but seeing how much people are researching I'm now thinking I had better start forming what I'm going to actually put on my board and get a head start, because it may take a little while...hoping there is no homework over the weekend so i can focus all my time on making my Presentation accurate and appealing.

Read the Inca packet

There's a lot of info in the packet Spencer gave us. I just read and highlighted a lot of stuff, so we can discuss if it's good info or not tomorrow. and I found another website for info

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/Anthro/Anth210/inca_empire.htm- it's about the time of height of the Inca civilization.

Information for Mexico Project about Rivers

I labeled what they were generally about too:

http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0694/et0694s1.html- general info on TJ River, including treaties and sewage problems

http://trw.sdsu.edu/English/WshdOverw/wshOverwFrame.htm- info on water quality and what’s in the water

http://nerrs.noaa.gov/TijuanaRiver/welcome.html- what wildlife is in the river and area and if they are endangered

oh and btw im an Inca

Research for 9/04/07 and the Labor Day weekend

I labeled what some of the websites were about.

http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/latam/inca.html- who they worshipped, history of their religion.

http://trailingincas.info/celestial.php- who their gods are, with descriptions for each one.

http://www.lost-civilizations.net/inca-civilization-page-2.html- religious beliefs, time devotion.

http://www.lost-civilizations.net/inca-civilization-page-4.html- foods, crime and punishment.

http://www.lost-civilizations.net/inca-civilization-page-5.html- how they communicated.

http://www.fanaticus.org/DBA/armies/IV81.html- general weapons info.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3409_inca.html- info on how the weapons work.