Censorship in Greece: 1967-74

For my second project in my class, Forbidden Books, we had to create a slideshow to represent the time period that we chose in class. We also had to choose a specific country to research for our time period. I chose 1967-74, during the dictatorship of the Greek Military. The Greek Military Dictators were also known as the Junta. Junta means a military or political group that takes over countries by force. During my project, I noticed lot of things such as: the Military can be dictating, because I thought they were to serve and protect, but at the time, life was not great for Greeks. Honestly, I think that no censorship is really ever justified because it happened and that can never be changed. People died and lost their jobs and there was chaos. No one can take that back.

How Does Crohn's Disease Effect You?

In the first unit of my class Disease, we talked about how different diseases affected each part of the body. We also discussed what each part of the body is called; from Integumentary to Circulatory. We also spoke on how some diseases target certain age groups or locations. We had to conduct an interview with someone with a disease. I chose someone in my family who has Crohn's disease. This is a disease that targets, both the smaller and larger intestines. This was actually pretty difficult, since you had to get all the details right and make sure everything was precise in the drawing of the body. Although this project was really fun and informative, it was also pretty hard!

How Crohn's Affects The Body. DNR, February 13.

Crohn's disease is one of the most horrifying diseases to ever affect the digestive system. Crohn's disease is something that target the intestines and make it hard for you to release waste, and also causes abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, and malnutrition. When affecting the intestines, it usually slips into the bowel tissue. As my interviewee stated, Crohn's can lead to life-threatening situations. Even though I have a personal relationship with the interviewee, you have to respect the strength it takes to live under these conditions. Since the interviewee has to live under these conditions involuntarily, she can't eat what she wants to eat, she has depend on her family to watch over her children, including a newborn. In our interview, she told me about the time when she was first separated from her baby at 3 months. Her baby had to stop being nursed and live with his grandmother for two weeks. I was also affected by this and it's not easy to be told someone in your family will have to stay in the hospital for two weeks.

Since medical trainers and doctors have not fully understood what causes Crohn's disease yet, there is not a lot of treatments to pursue if you do have it. My mother has implemented another kind of treatment though, she has decided to strictly watch what she puts into her system. What she eats is key to keeping her body from having Crohn's related problems and being healthy. This disease can not be spread or passed on. It is a multi-factorial and environmental disease. Some risk factors are being at a low age or living in an industrialized country. Usually developed from the high-fat diets in more developed countries or from being younger than 30 yrs old.

Is Reality Really Real (IRRR)?

In the first unit of my class Forbidden Books, we discussed how we can use our inspiration from Socrates to create our own definition of life in general. We also discussed why the media may not have liked published books in the past and present. Socrates was a very famous philosopher and teacher who taught people to believe in what they believe in and to know that they know nothing. When he says, "all you know is that you know nothing," he means that if you admit that you know nothing, you will only then be open to obtaining knowledge. This is when I started to wrap my head around the real definition of the Socratic method of dialogue. I have come to the conclusion that the Socratic method consists of using wits to pierce others' arguments. I chose to analyze my own problem using the Socratic method. I chose to speak on the subject of, "what is reality?" I've always been interested in defining life and how we came to be! Writing my script was challenging but more importantly, I learned to investigate and not to let the original answer be the last answer for you.

Script Below:
DR: Hello Ra, to what do I owe this pleasure?

VG: I’ve just been in Rivea lately and decided to come find you.

DR: I’m happy you did. I’ve been asking the same question to different people for over a year now. There’s this thing about the definition of Reality. I’ve been trying to find out what people around Rivea thought about my topic.

VG: Everyone knows that reality is just what’s real.

DR: Ok, if reality is what’s real, then what is real? Because, is the definition of real the same as the definition of reality? Tell me more.

VG: Well, what I meant was that real is the base of the word reality and by that being true, then they have to be similar, correct?

DR: I agree. Definitely, they are similar but as in Geometry, they are not congruent which is closest to your statement of them being the “same”. Do you understand what I’m saying? Saying something is real doesn’t help me understand reality.

VG: I kind of have an idea of what you are talking about. Your comparison to mathematics is interesting, although the definition of similar is “resembling without being identical,” resemble means “to seem like” and my intentions of saying “same” is because it “seems like” the word reality has the same intentions as the word real.

DR: Very interesting indeed. Let me ask a question if you don’t mind. Do you believe in imagination and hallucination?

VG: Of course, what would life be without it? Everything had to be created or thought of. Imagination is just that, isn’t it?

DR: It is. But my thing about all this is that, what do we ACTUALLY know about reality? Is anything “real” or is reality even a thing? How do we know we are living? We are living a life destined by someone else. We can’t create our own destiny because everything is meant to be. Everything came from something, like you just said, I believe our origins are yet to be known because none of our knowledge can really be proven due to the fact that we don’t exactly have a clue about what reality is.

VG: Hm, so you’re saying that it’s possible for our knowledge of reality, and way of living could all be wrong? I guess I never thought of it that way.

DR: I have only recently had this epiphany, assuming you know that an epiphany is a realization. It just came to me. How do we know the truth when we weren’t there to notice it ourselves, so our meaning of reality is just an imagination of what our elders “think”.

VG: Wow Deshius, I leave tomorrow and I will surely take this knowledge along with me.

DR: I hope you do, wonderful seeing you again.

Podcast Review on Slumdog Millionaire

In this term, the last unit, "Post-Production," got me and my peers down to the bone of film creating. For this unit, we saw how much work the editors of the film had to do. We also discovered how important editing is to the flow and plot of the story. For this action project, we had to pick from a short list of movies and chose one to review. I chose Slumdog Millionaire to review. For this review we had to use audio as our source. I'm sorry for the lack of presentation but this was the only way I could find to complete what I tried to do. Thanks and enjoy my audio below, featuring a audio clip from Slumdog Millionaire!!

My audio is presented below:


Transcript Below:
Hello! Thank you for tuning in to my review on Slumdog Millionaire!!

This dramatic thriller released in 2008, was directed by Danny Boyle and co-directed by Loveleen Tandan. It features a handful of amazing actors; Dev Patel as Jamal, Freida Pinto as Latika and many, many more.

I will critique the film for elements of post-production including editing, special effects, sound effects, and soundtracks.

The protagonist of the story, Jamal Malik participates in a Indian version of, “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire” in hopes of the love of his life seeing him on the television. “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire” is a show where people answer worldwide questions and earn loads of cash. Jamal excels on the show and stuns people watching all across India. After being accused of cheating, he is then arrested and interrogated by cops. He claims that all of these questions pertain to certain events that happened in his life. He tells the back story of each and every question throughout the movie.

I will critique the movie through the feminist approach.

The feminist approach pinpoints the effect that women have on the film.

So feminism is a very strong and controversial approach to me. I believe they had a lot of feminist acts in the film. Latika was a VERY strong and influential character throughout the movie. From her being a child to being a slave to being free. Even for other women in India, not just Latika, prostitution and rape is a huge problem. Recently, I read an article on a woman who was forced to kill her child. This is just a taste of the harsh conditions that women have to live under in India. I think overall Latika shapes the structure and story of the movie. Without Latika, what does Jamal have to live for? Why would he be on the show?

The editing of the film was really traditional, but they still managed to make it interesting. I’d have to say the thing that stood out the most to me, was the persistent use of Dialogue Referent. This was when the questions where asked and Jamal recalled events back in time that were related to the question. There was also the before action shot of Salim in the tub of money, before Javed busts through the door. This scene had excellent placement as it occurred in the midst of the climax of the story where Jamal is answering the last question.

The film score of the movie was pretty amazing. I definitely had a hard time missing the music in the film. It was always defining the mood and adding affection & emotion to the setting and it’s characters. The music also emphasized the setting really well. I definitely liked that the music was native to the setting. I specifically like the end of the movie when the music is playing through the credits. It feels very exhilarating and rushed, like something happened or something’s going to happen. The music was most of the time, going fast with drums like a traditional Indian music.

I really liked scenes that involved guns!! So they definitely couldn’t happen without the sound effect of the gun going off. My FAVORITE scene was when Salim pointed that gun at Jamal and told him he had 5 seconds to walk and Latika lowered the gun but I still like when Salim shot Javed at the end. The guns in the movie, when they went off especially made this movie more realistic and suspenseful.

Although, I didn’t see much of any Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). The only semi-CGI content I could spot would probably be the set of the “Do You Want To Be A Millionaire” show. Some things were displayed on the screen in the show that can’t exactly be filmed so they may have used a computer to create it.

In all honesty, I would have to give this film no higher than a 8/10. Although it wasn’t perfect and some things weren’t as realistic as I wanted them to be, it was an overall good movie and I would definitely recommend it!

I would like to thank you guys for listening and have a blessed day!

References:
“Challenges of Women in India”, CNN. Sumnima Udas. Web. Jan 12, 2015.

Service Begins At Home: Service Project

For the last project in my Five Faces class we all had to complete our own service project following certain requirements. It was kind of hard to make the service convenient for me, let alone following requirements along the way, but I pulled through and delivered a nice video. This service project was a lot different than most. Lots of people wouldn't even consider this a service, but this was service in my eyes. If you're using your own blood, sweat, tears, and money then it's definitely service!! I cooked for my great grandmother and it made me feel AMAZING. I cooked things that she would usually cook to make her feel at home! She invited people over and so did I and it was all a success. It was truly a magnificent experience. As you will find in my video, she even shed a tear. That's the very first time I've ever seen her cry, it was really something special. Tears of joy are the strongest liquid to me.

Using my Seer face, I visualized my success before my service occurred:

"Before" DNR Jan 9

"During" DNR Jan 9

"Post" DNR Jan 9

Using my Observer face, I detailed my project to perfection! I made a table to help me organize what I needed and what I had to do to make this service successful. I needed to buy the food, I needed 10 guests, and I needed seasonings and silverware. The cooking took roughly 2 hours. The meat and potatoes took up most the time. We also had salad, bread sticks, broccoli, and macaroni. 

Thanks to the Alchemist face, I used my love for Pineapple Pop and Orange Juice to mix them together and serve at dinner. I also used my great grandmother always making us nice meals as inspiration for my service.

Using my Fool face, I flipped the script and cooked for my great grandmother as she is always cooking for me!

By taking advantage of the Sage face, I made everything traditional and simple. I had everything laid out and detailed. I also utilized simplicity and created a crafty title that summed up my project: "Service Begins At Home: Service Project".

What Face Are You?

In my second action project this term, the second unit, "Understanding the Five Faces," was all about learning the five faces of genius and who they apply to. We researched an assortment of famous people who displayed distinct features of each face. For example: Chance The Rapper is an Alchemist because he loves to mix different genres to create his music. I now look at people differently because of learning these faces, I like to just sit and observe and it has been a fun experience. This project was slightly easy because it’s mostly opinion-based, like how you can pick the famous people you want to review. It’s also really fun to analyze some of your favorite role models to see how they think.

There are five faces of genius. These five titles are given to certain types of people:

1. Seer: A Seer is someone who uses visualization in everyday life, like picturing things and visualizing the past and future. 
2. Observer: An Observer is someone who is trained to look at all the small details and then come to a conclusion from them. 
3. Alchemist: An Alchemist is someone who is normally inspired by something and likes to combine two things to create something, sometimes even more beautiful.
4. Fool: A Fool is someone who doesn't look at problems as serious or simple. They like to mix things up and are inspired by absurdity.
5. Sage: A Sage is someone who uses simplicity and history to think about things. 

Earlier in this course, I took a survey that helped me define who I am. I definitely agree with my five faces survey. My more dominant faces are based off absurdity, which should not be much of a surprise to those that know me in real life. For example: whenever a problem occurs, I usually say something ridiculous and my friends just ignore me. This happens a lot. This can very well classify me as a Fool. My second face is Alchemist, for example: I use my characteristics of absurdity to make up ideas, one of my ideas was mixing Pineapple Pop and Orange Juice to make a Pineapple Orange Pop which is delicious by the way. My least dominant face, that I scored 0% in is the Seer face. I'm not really surprised since I am always denying my ability to be visual and also because visualizing things isn't the first thing I look to when in a situation.

I interviewed TC, a student from my school. I asked him a question that I found interesting. As all my questions were yes/no, I felt like this was one of my more dominant questions that identify Sage: Do you find simplicity as a benefit to society? He answered yes to this question, which definitely could classify him as a Sage. Also TC answered all my Seer questions yes, identifying him as a Seer.

“Do you find simplicity as a benefit to society?”
"Yes"

Me And TC. Interview, December 10. 

Adora Svitak is a 12 year old that believes adults should embrace “childish” beliefs and that adults should be more willing to learn from kids. She shows signs of Fool and Sage. She uses absurdity because kids don’t teach adults and this is quite crazy because it elaborates on the fact that she is one of the more educated children in the world. She also uses Sage techniques because of the simplicity of her thinking, it may sound crazy, but how simple would it be to just reverse the roles of teachers and students.

I love the quote below because it's stated in a sarcastic way and it makes me smile because I can definitely relate to being called childish:

"Every time we make irrational demands, exhibit irresponsible behavior or display any other signs of being normal American citizens, we are called childish."

"Adora Svitak"  Wiki. Web, December 13th. 

Chancellor Bennett, also known as Chance The Rapper is one of the most inspirational people to me. He displays characteristics of a Fool and Alchemist, as do I. He likes to make music using different genres like jazz and R&B. Also if you really follow Chancellor, he displays Fool techniques in plenty of his personality. He loves to have fun and make people smile and laugh, and he is definitely absurd because if you know anything about him, he is always making statements that are rather peculiar and unreasonable in his music and in his personal life. Maybe this is why I follow him, we think alike!

I love the quote below because it defines how I think about the world. The man who created the iPhone is no different than the man who created Peanut Butter, “we just people with ideas” 

“In the real world, we just people with ideas.”

"Chance The Rapper" Wiki. Web, December 13th. 

These are some ways I can implement the five faces in making my service project effective: For Seer I could make it look nice and presentable, I could also use Seer techniques to envision my own success and make my goal easier to reach because of my confidence in succeeding. For Observer I could make sure everything is in the right spot and things come together nicely. Also for Observer, I could use small details in my art to create a better experience for my local Chicago people. For Alchemist I could mix things up and create things using two ideas, such as: using quotes from real celebrities that people look up to or follow and making their quotes useful to my cause. This combines press and art, or trends and art. For Fool I could use absurd thinking to create problem-solving by maybe implementing abstraction to my art. I feel like abstract art can make a very nice contribution to my piece by attracting more attention. For Sage I could keep it simple, understandable, and relatable. As far as these three aspects go, I think they make things feel real for the viewer. I feel like making things simple and relatable, it will make the viewer understand me more. It will feel like I'm there in person presenting it to them. I was thinking about raising awareness for resource distribution problems by leaving a mural or some art in a public park somewhere because I feel like we have the food and resources to feed millions but these things are being wasted because we aren't sending them to the right places! I could also make stickers that say Don’t Shoot to contribute to that cause because I am growing really interested in that campaign. Or maybe even put "Don’t Shoot" on napkins around the Chicago area! The "Don't Shoot, I Want To Grow Up" campaign is something related to the violence and shootings in Chicago, and I want to join the cause. 

"Hands Up Don't Shoot" Flickr. cactusbones. Web, December 17th. 

References:

"Top 10 Dopest Lines" Vibe. Web, December 13th.
“Adora Svitak” AS. Web, December 13th.

Becca and Deshawn's Review on Fruitvale Station!!

In this term, the second unit, "Production," made me and my peers understand what it takes to create a presentable screening of a movie or play. We discussed actor's performance, lighting, camera angles, and what the producer envisions. Throughout this unit, I have broken down the actual excellence of actors and how good they are. I now have a better understanding of how to analyze the performance of some of my favorite actors and see how excellent they actually are. I didn't have that much of a hard time putting together this assignment, it was really fun and the film was excellent. Check out my video review of Fruitvale Station below!