A final thought on suffering...

Our group project spent a lot of time with the story of Candide and the philosophy of Pangloss.  Voltaire seemingly mocks the optimistic perspective throughout the play that is held dearly by many religions both then and today.  The LDS perspective certainly is that everything is for the best.  Joseph Smith was told that even if the very gates of hell were to chase after him that it would ultimately be for his good.  Nephi observes that there must needs be an opposition in all things.  Satan wanted to thwart God's plan and remove the suffering all together.  So what is it about suffering that is so essential to the God's goals to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man?

Eve concluded that being cast out was a good thing because without evil, one cannot know good.  It creates a spectrum that we can now use to compare things with.  We know good is good because we've seen what evil is.  And it seems that as we experience more suffering throughout our lives that the spectrum widens and we have a greater capacity to appreciate joy - almost as if our capacity to feel joy is exactly proportional to the amount of pain and suffering we've endured...  Christ descended below them all, he suffered everything imaginable, and then he received a fullness of joy.  Satan didn't quite understand God's intentions when he suggested that we make everyone 'choose the right' by eliminating the spectrum.  You have to ask yourself now if passing billions of God's children through a test-less life would produce results.  

Elder Wirthlin says, 'Come what may, and love it."  But can we really tell that to our newly-wed neighbor whose wife was just diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer, can no longer have children, and will likely die?  How can we comfort someone who is suffering so much?  How is it possibly that a loving god would allow such a travesty to happen?  And if He could overlook this one young woman suffering... how does He overlook an entire nation of suffering?  How is it that world wars are allowed to happen - and six million Jews exterminated! They were Christ's own people!  How does this idea of pain and suffering fit in with the good news of the Gospel and everlasting happiness and joy...?  ...I think that in the end it comes down to love...

Maybe perfect packages of suffering are prepared for each of us - but they're prepared out of love.  Pain and suffering help widen the spectrum so that we can know joy.  God allows bad things to happen because in the eternal perspective of things, it will be for our good.  We know that this is a test-tube experience to prove our worthiness and gain an appreciation for good.  And maybe that's why some actually ask for trials in their life because they have this understanding that it won't be permanent and in the end it will be for their good.  Do we have to go through a Christ-like suffering experience and take on the pains of God's children across countless numbers of worlds before receiving a fullness of joy?  Well - I hope not.  I think that this is where the atonement somehow intercedes and spares us that necessity.  

I know that God lives, and I know that He loves His children.  And because of that fundamental knowledge, I can know that because God allows suffering - it will be for my own good.  

Class Notes

Doctor Who - Blink

The director takes something so standard and safe and turns it into something that we absolutely fear.  Who knew that a still standing statue could instill so much fear.  Take Aurora for instance, a place that we felt completely safe in for so long has now become a place of fear.  No on will ever go into a movie theatre the same way after what happened in Aurora, CO.

Attachment.  

Post-war culture gravitates towards attachment theory.  Doctor Who is always searching for companionship - and not necessarily romantic companionship.  He is the only one left of his race and he loves earth because he can connect with humans so well.  Romanticism creeps in when the lady has to go back to the house to feel something...  facing darkness, not necessarily embracing darkness, but recognizing that there is something about taking us to the edge and recognizing that this is something that causes me fear...

A thought about the importance of feeling:

Feeling is not the same as embracing.  It's tough to know what to feel and what to outright reject.  The brethren encourage us to not watch violent media – to not embrace violence.  But then when something tragic in real life happens we’re encouraged to take time to feel it like when Lazarus dies and Christ tells us to feel it.  But what about historical films that depict the holocaust – possibly the most violent time that the entire earth has known…  Shouldn’t we take moments to feel that historical moment?  I think that when we start to overlook violence and justify our entertainment choices by saying that it doesn't affect us... that we're either lying to ourselves or have become numb to the violence. Feeling the effects of violence could be considered a sacred experience.  In order for you to be effected by violence, there has to be violence.  Not that violence is good - but its a life experience that is very serious and in that sense is sacred.  (I'm not explaining this very well... )

Atheist Stanford Professor - 

I wish that I could hear the music, but I feel like I’m tone deaf.  People like you can just hear god’s voice…  Today’s film will take an honest exploration of religion… the search just keeps going on…  Religion today in a scholarly culture is about exploring, and not necessarily about finding the one perfect clean doctrine that answers every question… but it’s more like Thomas putting his finger in Christ’s side.  We just want to feel…  more about asking the questions that it is about getting an answer.  It’s not an organized church that they’re looking for…

After WWI/WWII you have to ask, why would God allow such a terrible thing to happen?!  How?! Religion dies out for a lot of people in the 1960’s when we are starting to process what really happened.

Magdalena Abakanowicz, Agora, 2005-2006

The book talks about how the intent of most artists is to create works of art, of joy, and of beauty.  In contrast, Magdalena Abakanowicz creates Agora, a piece involving several outdoor sculptures, that give 'fearful reference to twentieht-centurey human disasters.'

The reason that they caught my eye was that they reminded me of a series of sculptures from my home town.  Each year Spokane, WA hosts a fun-run called Bloomsday - It encourages everyone of all athletic ability to become active and participate by walking, running, skating, etc.  I always remember the mothers bringing up the caboose with their baby strollers and bright neon athletic-wear.  Riverfront Park says that Bloomsday is the largest timed road running race in the world.  In recognition of the annual fun-run, David Govedare in 1984 created an outdoor exhibit that is now a permanent part of Riverfront Park.  The statues are titled, "The Joy of Running Together."

Class Notes

John Bowlby - Attachment Theory

Babies need to make bonds with motherly figure.  Humans are hardwired to proximity seek, be close to other humans for purposes of safety, especially in times of perceived distress.  A child's attachment for their mom eventually fades but the need for proximity stays, and so you seek out other connections, eventually finding you a partner.

WWII represents the ultimate trauma and left lots of people distressed.  Instead of a science/religion center we seek out love.  Love is the only stake that can draw everyone together and live peaceably in a communistic setting.  This seems like the obvious answer, but relationships haven't always been the center!

Edward Hopper - Nighthawk - 1942
The man alone is in the dark, the couple is in the light.  Maybe the lone man came to Philies to find people...  The waiter is dressed in white, suggesting a symbolic feel of comfort.  (Nurse, doctor, temple)

Facebook - many people turn to social networks in search of proximity but are left unsatisfied because virtual proximity doesn't cut it, there's a false sense of community.


Carl Jung - Archetypes - Agrees with Fraud in that our physcis are divided.

Conscious/Unconscious... The shadow represents the real, or spiritual creativity.  It's your power, your struggles, your dreams... not necessarily dark works or sin...  (Think of Phantom, "The Ultimatum")

You need to dive into the unconscious and face your reality, discover who you are.  Sanity is facing reality no matter what the cost...  As soon as you accept that unconscious part of you it will set you free.  Dive in and discover who you are.

Singing in the Rain (1952)

Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds.  Gene Kelly co-directed the film and also did the choreography.  The movie is the story of a motion-picture production company that is in transition between silent films and 'talkies.'  Gene Kelly starts as a musician with his buddy Donald O'Connor but soon climbs the ranks of stardom.  To increase popularity, the company portrays Kelly and Jean Hagen as Hollywood lovers, in spite of his resistance and her general lack of class.  The story follows Kelly as he escapes Hagen, falls for Debbie Reynolds, and makes a brilliant film in the process.  

Wikipedia says that Singing in the Rain only had average success when it was first released, but that it later gained legendary status and is now considered one of the best musicals ever made.

How did they do that!  I found this sweet VW commercial remixing Gene Kelly's dancing and singing in the rain.  The added footage is virtually seem-less...  Also - When I was watching this with my wife, she told me that Gene Kelly made this routine up on the spot without having previously choreographed the dance.  Pretty impressive.

Cosmo!  Cosmo is probably my favorite character in the show.  He's super funny and extremely talented.  The dude has excellent control of his facial expressions and can make everything around him come to life.  O'Connor was awarded a Golden Globe for his performance.  

A super interesting fact from Wikipedia was that in this scene where Debbie Reynolds is dubbing the voice of Jean Hagen, it's actually Hagen dubbing the voice of Reynolds!  It was Hagen's own voice!

What's really important, Rewards, Learning vs Education, and Struggles with teaching styles...

First off, Ts'ui Pên's Garden of Forking Paths reminds me of the movie The One with Jet Li.  Jet Li discovers that there are other 'hims' across the universe in similar worlds.  In each setting, though he is the same person, he is has chosen different paths and are therefore leading much different lives.  The main conflict is when his Criminal character illegally travels between worlds and kills off all but one version of his character.  Each elimination of a Jet Li makes the other Jet Li's more powerful.







What's really Important:
There have been a few really good class conversations that have made me think about things in a different light.  I've taken pages of notes and made several cross connections with how I generally view the world around me.  The pendulum theme of class swinging between meaning- and feeling-based cultures made a lot of sense and helped outline a basic historical pattern.  Lacon's totality theory on objectivizing those around us in order to cause them harm... Candide's unique and stirring view on optimism...

Struggles with Teaching Styles:
On the other hand, when we'd analyze paintings and other pieces of art, I felt like we would analyze the joy out them.  Occasionally I think that it's appropriate to hold a 2 hour discussion on how a few things make me feel - but maybe it's only a small part of what we could be studying.  Why don't we take a dive into technique...?  We could explore the materials available at different times, ingenuity in creating paint canvases, brushes and inks, making additional prints, the modern printing press, etc.  We could look at the evolution of musical instruments or the ever changing wardrobe fashions...  Each student could give a 5 minute oral presentation on an ancient author and present evidence on how their presence has influenced modern works.  Doc Mack could prepare a lecture on the different architecture found in LDS temples... the alternative possibilities are endless!

Rewards and Accountability, Learning vs Education:
I was really frustrated with the midterm test.  It was lengthy, had technical glitches, involved a great deal of memorization that I found irrelevant, and I wasn't nearly prepared enough for it.  To reign in my distaste, I had to take a few steps back and really analyze the situation.

1. I still had a chance to save my sinking grade with the remaining 800 points available.  Even if I fail the final in a similar fashion, the remaining 600 points will push me into a passing grade.  
2. I find it funny that the grade has been my first concern.  I think that a lot of us are here just for the green-light status on our MyMap academic plan.  With no offense intended for those that are, I'm not a humanities major.  I don't necessarily thrive on this kind of stuff - to me it's just one more GenEd course that I need to take in order to graduate.  I do realize, however, that there is importance in getting a well-rounded education that includes such things that are outside of my immediate interest.  
3. A letter grade is a result of the student satisfying the teacher's requirements.  Grades are objective and don't directly represent significant learning and positive change.  I want good academic marks because it's a reflection of my hard work and opens up doors of opportunity.  On the other hand, I want to remain a life-long learner and not just be satisfied with the a checkmark of completion.  
4. And finally, whatever happens in this class - can potentially be for my good. :) 

Propaganda at it's best

I had never really been exposed to Charly Chaplin before watching this film, and so when I first saw his character with a square mustache I instantly thought of Hitler.  Modern Times came out in 1936 - only a few years before the entire world is at war with the Axis powers, and so I made a connection (probably an incorrect connection after our discussion in class) that this video is a call to action, encouraging all of America to be more industrious and not be a fool like Hitler.  In fact, only Hitler is such a fool that he needs help feeding himself.  And then!  We'll have the machine malfunction so that we can humiliate him in the process.

It kind of reminds me of the educational philosophy from a few years prior, apparent in Bing Cosby's song, Swinging on a Star:

...Would you like to swing on a star, carry moonbeams home in a jar.  And be better off than you are, or would you rather be a mule!

...if you hate to go to school, you may grow up to be a mule...

...if you don't care a feather or a fig, you may grow up to be a pig...

...if then that sort of life is what you wish, you may grow up to be a fish...

...and all the monkeys aren't in the zoo, everyday you see quite a few.  So you see it's all up to you.  You could be better than you are, you could be swinging on a star.

The world is swinging back to a meaning based culture!  Where your own ingenuity is what brings you success.  The world can be a better place if you're smart enough and apply yourself!  You can be swinging on a star if you just go to school!  Leonard Huxley (1894-1963) took this pendulum swing down a slippery slope and wrote a future-based novel about how unrestrained technology would turn the world into feeling-less robots.  We'd have baby making factories that produced the exact number of children each state needed.  There was even a setting to adjust the cognitive firepower of the people it kicked out!  Huxley's warning is against completely scientifically constructed societies that targets humanistic achievements, such as literature, art, and religion.

Bloggers block...

Nothing in this chapter really spoke to me... The chapter was interesting enough - but I'm having troubles finding something that I really want to write about.

Here are a few interesting points:

(1) From the text, "New medical advances reduced the rate of infant mortality, cured hitherto fatal diseases, and prolonged life expectancy."  So far so good.  From that one piece, you'd think that the world is becoming a much better place.  However!  The following sentence tells us that these medical advances played a large part in starting a world war... "As a result, populations in most of Europe soared to record levels, creating food and housing shortages."  Along with these populations came a housing and transportation crisis that "uprooted the lives of many people" and as a result, "daily existence became anonymous and impersonal."

(2) New technological advances


Fun pieces from Stranger than Fiction:

"I don't need a nicotine pack, I smoke cigarettes."

"And then harold saw it, a damaged and terribly mistreated sea-foam green fender staring back at him.  Despite its obvious maladies, the guitar spoke with conviction and swagger.  In fact, it looked harold directly in the eye and very plainly stated, "I rock."

"It came to me... ...well, Penny, like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method."

Class Notes

Garden of the Forking Path

German spy, not because of his loyalty to Germany, but because he wants to prove that the Chinese are capable/smart.


Salvador Dali - The persistence of memory (1931
Dali's painting suggest that even time isn't a constant thing and is being uprooted. Einstein begins to question time...  Clocks suggest that the thing that has been so reliable actually isn't!  We can't be sure that the sun WILL come out tomorrow...  People are beginning to distrust the center and it reflects in their art.

A piece of art isn't complete until it's viewed... and each person responds differently because they come from different backgrounds and experiences...

Surrealism and the idea of time is central to modernism/post modernism.

Lyo Tard - there are grand narratives that explain everything.  Christian narrative - plan of salvation.  Communism, Science, etc.  Coming into the 20th century people lose faith in absolute truths... and create their own paradox that there are no grand narratives... and your world begins to break down.

Mircea Eliad - the sacred and the profane.  People find a center to their universe and build around that center.  Once a center breaks down we move on and find a new center.  20th century breaks away from centers that creates unorganized space.

Bringing it home...

The theme of the class is a swinging pendulum between Meaning to Presence.


Levinas - French jew who spent time in a concentration camp...

     When someone perceives that they know someone 100% they can reach a point where they summate everything about them into one label.  "You are a jew, say no more, I know..." And at that point of totality, humans are then able to harm other humans.  The tool of war is totality.  label them as something that stops the questions and allows you to destroy them: Enemy, Killer of Jews, Murderer, Terrorist, etc.
     Levinas encourages a different mind set where we realize that each person has an infinite amount of responses and can never be known 100%.  Above all is ethics, how we treat people.



Lacon - French philosopher...

     Lacon says that everyone is born without any language ability.  Everything about those early moments is emotion, drive, instinct--The Real.  But then at some point the infant finds a mirror and sees their reflection.  At that point they realize that they are, something...  Language allows us to name and categorize everything by assigning symbols to represent and communicate them--The Symbolic.

(1) You can't really go back to The Real--because once we catch a glimpse of it, we label it!  And then we're right back to The Symbolic!  (2) Take for instance, a father holding his new born baby with unspoken emotion.  As soon as he mutters, "I love you", that unspoken feeling is redefined because it is now filed away in the love category. (3) Every once in awhile our symbols are shattered for a brief moment.  Two planes slammed into the twin towers of NYC.  There was a moment of sheer emotion, without words... Then certain definitions were reevaluated, such as the word safe.  What does it mean to be safe anymore?  What--or who--is the United States of America anymore?

Further connections associate The Real with mother and water, and The Symbolic with father and language.

Lacon encourages us to suspend the symbolic, to feel the emotions.  Because once you label that emotion it is no longer as, 'words cannot describe."  Think of Christ after the death of Lazarus--with all power to raise his dear friend from the dead--taking the time to weep with his friends instead of commanding Lazarus to rise.  The Nephites weren't able to repeat the words uttered by Christ in the Americas.  I wonder if was because it was a pure communication of the spirit, which in our words, can't be described.


Romantasicm is all about presence - feelings, emotions.
Revolutionary art reduces complexity and pushes a strong message.

Class Notes

Life is Beautiful - Roberto Benigni (Comedy)

How can you create a comedy about something so serious?  Like the great depression... or the Nazi terror of World War II?!  Without minimizing the seriousness, we can find the humor/good here...

Reality - Am I dreaming right now?
Nephi says that he doesn't know all things... but that he knows a few fundamental things.

Opera

I fell asleep 5 minutes into La Traviata.  When I woke up 30 minutes later I realized what had happened and so I started the video over again.  Not 5 more minutes into La Traviata and I was out again.  I attempted a third time, but my wife interceded with complaints of a headache, and so I found a Synopsis to read instead. :)

My initial reaction to Opera is that of annoyance.  The women screech and I can't understand anything they're saying.  I'm the one skipping over the particularly unbearable sections of The Phantom of the Opera.  To counter this gag reflex, I compiled a list of sweet Opera experiences that I've had.

1. The Fifth Element

Diva, steward of the sacred element stones, is also an opera singer.  This song was really interesting to me because it brought a futuristic/techno spin to something I really didn't have any interest in...  Combine Opera with an electronic keyboard and you have something!

2. Andrea Bocelli

My older sister introduced me to Andrea Bocelli when I was in middle school and she was a PhD student.  I wanted to be smart like her so I went on a brief Opera kick.  

My favorite Bocelli moments are when he duets with Celine Dion, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and the song he wrote after the passing of his Father, A Mio Padre.

3. Susan Boyle

This unattractive older lady in her grandmother's dress walks onto stage and shocks all of Britain, and the world!  Even judge Simon raised his eyebrows in surprise!  Today, her YouTube videos are receiving hundreds of millions of hits!

4. Josh Groban

For me, Josh Groban is the reinvention of Opera for the modern audience.  He takes traditional songs and introduces life back into them.   

Questions to address:

What is it about Opera that made it so popular?  How is it still alive today?

Class Notes

La Traviata

Escaping to the wilderness!  Industrial Revolution caused cities to pop up and there was a lot of suffering.  Paintings depict landscapes because it's an escape from reality.  It leaves the symbolic for a moment to explore the real.

Christ says before we makes sense of all this, let's just feel this.  --> Is that what the Nephites refer to when they aren't allowed to write what Christ says?  The spirit was communicating to them in such a perfect way, that if they try to put words to it that meaning will be lost?

Semantics - using correct words to describe meaning.  However, our imperfect language is limited and isn't the most effective form of communication. 

Finding Universality through individuality.  Address yourself instead of everyone, and you can connect with them on a universal level.  A light house is a specific point - but emulates light to the world.  

Lovis Corinth, Salome and the head of Saint John the Baptist, 1899.

This painting caught my attention for a number of reasons.  At first I was drawn to the center of the painting because the gaze of those within the picture created a sort of hierarchy of focal points and led me there.  It's a natural reaction to look where everyone else is looking...  I was beginning to realize that something was off, no pun intended, about the man presenting the platter to a woman of obvious importance.  Halfway through that thought I noticed that she wasn't fully clothed and wondered if she meant to parade herself around like that or simply couldn't decide on which shirt to wear that day...  Halfway through that thought came the natural reaction to divert my attention and instead look at the woman's face.  I couldn't put my finger on it at first, but there was something different about her face.  The author then pointed out that Lovis Corinth depicted Salome with heavy eye makeup and lipstick to "represent the degeneracy of the artist's own times."  At about that time I could look back at the platter and bloody sword and see that it was a head on a platter being presented to a queen, of sorts.

Thought #1:
     Corinth introduced elements from his own time into a time period where they possibly didn't belong to help communicate more effectively to his audience.  During his time, heavy eye makeup and lipstick apparently represented degeneracy.  Corinth presents Salome with those same features, in my opinion, to portray her as degenerate.
     This idea of including modern culture in artistic depictions of a past time happens all the time in movies!  And though I can't think of a single example right now, we use dialog in movies set in ancient times that only exists in modern times!  I'll add specific examples (and hopefully YouTube clips) as I think of them...

Thought #2:
     Nudity throughout the ages has apparently been widely accepted when in the form of art.  It makes me wonder if nudity was culturally acceptable, or if it was strictly accepted in the form of art...  Today, if you raised a billboard with a nude model, it would be considered pornographic - and walking around naked is against the law...  The one painting that helps communicate my thought is Edouard Manet's Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe, 1863, where two fully dressed men carry on a casual conversation in the presence of a completely nude woman...  Do these types of paintings represent the cultural views of that time?  Or are they the exploration of an artist into forbidden areas...

Candide, Part 1

Before I get into any detail of Candide - I want to say that I really liked how the book gave a short summary explanation before each section.  It reminded me of the Standard works.


"...noses were made to support spectacles, hence we have spectacles. Legs, as anyone can plainly see, were made to be breeched, and so we have breeches..."


I really liked how Voltaire counters the errors of the enlightenment philosophy with wit and sarcasm.  The enlightenment philosophy would have you believe that god designed the nose to fit spectacles, thus, we have spectacles.  Legs were designed to be covered with pants, thus, we wear pants...  When in reality, it's the other way around!

Class Notes

Music Accessibility - how easy can it be played/sung?  Pop music is popular because it is easy to replicate, everyone can sing it.  Martin Luther wanted simple music to be sung in church so that it could be sung by everyone and easily understood - which was in controversy to the movement at the time to complicate things.

Baroque - new techniques - Opera.  Emotion, psychological exploration...
There's something about music that gets to us and expresses emotion that words sometimes can't.  Operas were written to people's taste.  It was new and received a good response.

Bach - Fugue in G Minor.  Repetitive, however, increases in complexity and difficulty each time around.

Pachelbel's Canon in D

Johann Pachelbel was this German Baroque composer who lived from 1653 to 1706 and wrote the world famous Canon in D in 1680.  Most renditions of this song are done by an orchestra and put to a slideshow of sunsets or wedding pictures like this one...

But YouTube does this awesome thing where it will recommend other videos that are related and I found a couple awesome renditions of Pachelbel's work.  This first one is a computer simulated keyboard that teaches you how to play the song on the piano!

And then there's the 'Blow your mind version' done by a couple of dudes in the living room of their apartment - and it does kind of blow your mind... that these two guys are actually fairly musically talented...  The song is by nature an awesome song - and lends itself to interesting renditions such as this one:

And this one! (skip over his introduction...)

Another fun video that caught my eye on YouTube was a Rock Version that was playing in a prison yard located in the Philippines.  The prison would organize flash mobs where the inmates would synchronize dance to popular songs.  The idea seems kind of out there but several videos claim that the inmates who dance together are more unified and have less prison violence.  The idea caught fire in the jails throughout China, India, and Thailand where they've imposed Yoga and created their own World Cup.  The 'Cebu Provincial Detention Center' in the Philippines has become world famous for their dancing inmates, insomuch that now they are apparently viewed more as dancers than inmates...

And here's another one for fun!

A 10 minute search on YouTube will show you that Pachelbel's musical creation connects with and inspires people of all ages throughout the world!  

Don Quixote - Part I: Prologue, Ch 1-6, 8-14, 52

The Quixote is 100 times easier to read than Hamlet.  Cervantes writes with a fun style and the enchantment of Quixote's character is captivating.  I love and hate the obvious (and most often humorous) contradictions that Cervantes litters the story with.  For Example, Part 1 Prologue:


(pg 12)   I'd have liked to give it to you plain and naked, undercoated by any prologue or the endless succession of sonnets, epigrams and eulogies that are usually put at the beginnings of books.


Cervantes then immediately includes 8 full pages of exactly what he said that he would hate to include!  And not just in the prologue - Cervantes uses sonnets, ballads and Latin throughout the the entire text that I've read so far!  I do, however, love how these elements add a feel for how a chivalrous man would have spoken back in the 'good ol days.  Quixote explains to Poncho in Chapter 8, (pg 145) that "Knights errant have always known and still must know about everything... ... for there were knights errant in centuries past who would stop to preach a sermon or deliver a speech in the middle of a fair..."

To help illustrate the state of mind that Quixote is in, the part in Chapter 8 where he mistakes the windmills for the giants that stole his books does well.

(pg 66)  ...they spent that night under some trees, and from one of them Don Quixote tore a dead branch that might almost serve as a lance, and fastened on to it the iron head that he'd taken off the broken one.

Quixote tells this story to Poncho about a knight who'd lost his sword in battle and replaced it with the trunk of an oak tree.  To follow suit, Quixote finds a dead branch, one likely to break at its first chance, to replace the lance that he had broken while attacking windmills.  A dead branch from some unknown tree that won't withstand a single blow will perfectly suit Quixote - and continue to paint the picture of his delightful lunacy to the reader.

Class Notes

Baroque - Action, motion, more realistic (focus drawn to good, bad, ugly).  Presence based, all about emotion and feeling.  Involves new techniques.  Even in Arcadia, death exists!  Crappy stuff happens, and sometimes you just can't explain it!  Digs deeper into feelings and the asking of tough questions.  Paintings were often crowded with people - feels like a movement.

Renaissance - Uplifting ideas, ideal looks and atmosphere.  Meaning based culture - find knowledge and solve problems, perfect triangles, etc trying to reach perfection through meaning --> utopia.

Renaissance - Perfect clothing, perfect bodies.  Baroque - gritty, torn clothing, dirty faces.

The moist detached person is the artist, so that they can create art. - Ortega.

Self Portraits - Knowing yourself, seeing yourself in different situations.

Quixote, "Know thyself, which is the hardest kind of knowledge that may be imagined."

Hinckley, "Find a quiet place and look into yourself."

Suffering - 

Latter-day Saints have a complicated relationship with suffering... We have hope that everything is going to work out, however, we have the need to feel pain...  What are your views of optimism?  Has God prepared a perfect package of suffering for you?

Hamlet IV, V

Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting,

That would not let me sleep: methought I lay

Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly,

And prais'd be rashness for it, let us know,

Our indiscretion sometime serves us well

When our deep plots do pall, and that should learn us

There's a divinity that shapes our ends,

Rough-hew them how we will. (V.ii.4-11) I liked this phrase because it helped me understand Hamlet's views on destiny a little bit better and make sense of his behavior.  A large portion of Hamlet's action really was in-action.  He didn't come out and tell other's about his father's murder because the informant was a ghost...  He loves Ophelia but doesn't really put any effort into her...  He didn't kill Claudius when he had the chance to because he was praying and didn't want to risk sending him to heaven...   Hamlet kind of just lets things happen around him - and I think that in part it's because he believes that everyone has a destiny and so (partly) it doesn't matter what he does because these people are going to get what's coming to them no matter what... I did some reading on Shakespeare and what he was happening in his life around the time that he wrote Hamlet to maybe see if there was any insight as to Hamlet's state of mind.  It turns out that Shakespeare had lost a son right around the time that he was writing Hamlet.  I had previously thought that Hamlet was a mastermind because he was brilliant and was a very good actor.  Now, after having watched Kenneth Branagh's version and learning that Shakespeare was going through his own tragedy, I think that Hamlet swerves back and forth between insanity and genius.

Class Notes

• Renaissance - Venice is wealthy and can afford to get into art.  Trade booms allow tomato and potatoes to be shipped from the 'new world.'
• Judging Art - Instead of simply saying that you like a piece of art, say, "it speaks to me."  AKA, I get it, I get what DaVinchi is telling me...  What does this mean?  How does it make you feel?  What's the purpose?
• Change in time period often reflects and correlates with a shift in the Meaning/Presence Pendulum.
• Brunalesky designs dome for church - kicks off the renaissance.  Also discovers linear perspective (road disappearing into the horizon).
• Gothic cathedrals are ginormous and give the feeling that the you are so small in comparison to everything...
• Raffael - Triangles, Pyramid schemes in his paintings, human elements.
• School of Athens - Looking into Rafael's golden age.  Famous artist, scientists, philosophers... all that had died by the time of the painting.  Rafael chose people he'd like to meet/hang out with. 
• Doc Mack - "...set aside the pieces of a culture that you don't understand or agree with and find the things of good report/praiseworthy."
• Hamlet - Hamlet's problem is that he doesn't act!  He sits on his decision fort so long that as a result, a lot of people die!

Hamlet I-III

Act II, Scene II

QUEEN GERTRUDE
"More matter, with less art.'

Or in other words - stop mucking about and just tell me!  Lord Polonius is explaining to the king and queen that their son Hamlet is mad and takes about 4 pages to do so.  After one particularly poetic and fluffy paragraph the queen tries to refocus Polonius by telling him to get to the meat of the story.  The part that drew my attention was how she addressed Polonius' fluff - she called it art.  She knew that oration was an art form, a skill, a talent!  Just like Moses in ancient times knew that public speaking was a huge asset when he called Aaron to be his speaker.  Today we call it Rhetoric, AKA the Art of Persuasion, because we scientifically know that there is value to the manipulation of language.

A second thought that I had about Polonius is that he was probably known for having a sly tongue.  The queen didn't wait long before calling quits to his lengthy explanation.  I remember a few friends from high school that could talk their ways out of anything.  You couldn't beat them in an argument, they could often convince teachers of reducing their work load, and they could rally people together like no other.  These kids were gifted with the ability of language.


Act II, Scene I

HAMLET

"To be, or not to be: that is the question:"

I can't help but think of Bradley Whitford in Billy Madison whenever I hear the beginning Hamlet's 3 page monologue...  Eric Gordon (Whitford) has to compete against Billy in order to prevent Billy from inheriting his father's hotel company.  One of the final activities that the two compete in is acting out Hamlet's monologue.  The connection comes here: I didn't know enough about the play (until recently) to realize that the monologue is a contemplation over suicide...  So! The guinnesses that wrote Billy Madison timed it perfect when Eric Gordon chooses to do "to be, or not to be" for his monologue because the tides have started to turn against him in the competition.