Friday, May 2, 2008

Free Choice: Piano Composition

I decided to play an improvisation of Yiruma's "River Flows In You" piano piece.
This song is really pretty and it was the first song that I actually enjoy playing everyday. It will never get tiring to me ever! There are a couple mistakes so I'll upload a new edited version tomorrow or something :D
The song should be on the player on the left hand side :D

Free Choice: Air Show


My dad and I did not go on the Air Base to watch the Air Expo. Traffic was way too bad to even get down to Cross Country Road. So we went somewhere else. It was a great view. I took some great shots! I only wish it would not have stormed so the sky would have been prettier!

Free Choice: Bird Encounter!




Yes, this was taken on my porch. Okay, let me tell you what happened. My dad went to go answer the door and after he finished talking to whoever was at the door, he told me to come downstairs. So I did. I went to the door and my dad told me to walk onto the porch and look to my right. So I did. And I promise you, my heart jumped out of me and I screamed so loud. This humongous bird was on my porch! O___O!!!!! I was surprised and scared at the same time. So while I was catching my breath, I told my dad to go get my digital camera. So he went to go get it and once he got back I started taking thousands of pictures. These were the three best ones. This was such an amazing experience :)

Free Choice: Light Pole


I took this at school during photography class. The class was doing bookwork, so I just asked the teacher if I could leave and go take some pictures. Luckily, she said yes!
I actually have no idea how I came around to taking this photograph. It was almost accidental. I was holding my digital camera near the bleachers and looked up to see the tall pole. And then I had a thought. Let’s take a picture of this pole and make it seem gigantic! Alas, this picture was born. At first I thought it did not look that good on the camera, but once I uploaded it onto the computer, I was shocked. It was so clear and I love the shining clouds in the top left corner of the picture. So beautiful!

Persuasive Analysis: Juicy Fruit


Persuasive Analysis #3
Juicy Fruit Gum Advertisement

This advertisement for Juicy Fruit Gum was found in a GamePro magazine. The ad is very funny. The gum displayed is Juicy Fruit’s Grapermelon and an odd looking fruit was created by putting grapes and a melon together. On the bottom of the advertisement is friend of Godzilla, Lambzilla, who is reaching for the Grapermelon gum through the border line.
This advertisement shows an example of the Appeal to Authority fallacy. The advertisement is basically saying, the gum is so wickedly good that even beasts—like Lambzilla—would reach over their page borders just to get their hands on the gum. Because Lambzilla is known to the people who often read this magazine, it would most definitely be an example of Appeal to Authority.
This is also an example of the fallacy Straw Man. The advertisement is very exaggerated with the Lambzilla jumping through borders to reach the goodness. It just shows how desperate the creature is to get their hands on the chewing gum. Even though animals do not chew gum, this is exactly why this ad is a Straw Man.

Cultural Event: As Seen On TV!


Cultural Event Three: “As Seen On TV” Play
About:
The “As Seen On TV” production was entirely written, produced and acted out by the students in the Patriot Players. The play was performed Thursday, May 1st, 2008. Basically, it was a bunch of popular TV program and commercials—that you love or hate—that were made into parodies. There were twenty three programs or commercials that the Patriot Players performed. It lasted for about an hour so it was not that long. A couple of teachers were performing in the play as well.
Analysis:
I loved this performance so much! Almost every television show and commercial they put in the play I knew and a lot of them were hilariously funny. However, there were a few that I thought could have been portrayed better and a few that I did not understand at all.
The Verizon Wireless skit was hilarious. They actually performed two of these. The first one was about a guy asking a girl out to prom and after he does the called gets dropped so the girl is freaking out screaming “Yes, I’ll go with you!” but the guy thinks she does not like him because he cannot hear a word she was saying so he just says, “Okay, well nevermind. I’ll see you on Monday.” And you can see the girl start to cry about it. That was funny. The other one was a call to a suicide hotline. A kid was standing on a box—pretending it was a cliff—and told the girl on the phone that all he needed was someone to say they needed him and that they cared for him. Of course the call gets dropped so he could not hear the reply. So the kid gets angry and shouts, “I knew no one would care. Okay, I’m going to jump then!” And the kid rolls of the box. That was also funny but sad also.
The Scrubs skit was not memorable at all. I didn’t even know what was going on the whole time. So sadly, this is one that I really disliked. Also, the Unsolved Mysteries scene is a blur to my mind. I cannot even remember what was happening.
The Geico Commercial was hilarious. It was the one with the “real person” and then a “hired celebrity.” I could not figure out who the celebrity was but he had an English accent. But he ends up interrupting her when she explains her situation asking if she’s seen his dog.
The Survivor skit was funny, really funny. There were two teams—four wore red bandanas, the other four wore green—and one host on the stage. What was funny about it was the last immunity challenge was so long. He spent two minutes explaining the humongous task they had to perform. And once he finished, everyone completely forgot. Then it comes back to this skit and apparently everyone voted themselves off the island to free them from their misery. I found that hilarious.
The ESPN SportsCenter Commercial was alright. It was not as funny as I thought it would be. Two people in the office were talking—one of them apparently Sharapova—and the guy offered her a can of tennis balls. Believing they were what he said they were, she opened the can and out came a canned worm thing. She gets angry and throws the can at him and storms off.
The next few were really good. You had America’s Next Top Model, a Master Card parody—“with some teacher singing the entire country song,--and a weight loss infomercial featuring a girl who lost ninety three pounds but also lost a lot of her vital organs but does not care about it!
The CSI, Cash Cab, Blue’s Clues, and the Hannah Montana parodies were not memorable at all. They were dull and sometimes very stupid. You could not hear the people talking in a couple but the other ones were just not funny.
My favorite scenes were the Flirting Skit and the Movie: The Ring act. The Flirting Skit was a reenactment of a hilarious scene filmed on MadTV and the Movie: The Ring parody had white light flashing a girl with black hair reappearing under a screen crawling towards the audience. It was kind of creepy but it was awesome!
Overall, I loved this performance very much! It was really entertaining and kept me wishing it was much longer!

Persuasive Analysis: Gun Control

Persuasive Analysis #2
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=743808

This editorial written by Edward A. Flynn is about gun control policies in Milwaukee. He is arguing that the current criminals who have a gun in their possession are not worried about getting caught because if they do, they would only be in custody for a brief amount of time. The number of criminals who were caught with the firearms do not pose any real threat to those who have not been caught yet because so many of them disregard that fact of getting caught. They just have that mental side note that if they were to get caught it would not be that big of a deal because soon you would be free from police and can roam around again.
This editorial appeals to the reader’s emotions because of the number of references of young children being in possession of lethal weapons or even thinking about getting one. Flynn wants to change the influence that is being put onto kids to carry weapons. Many of them, if they have a gun in possession, often do not know why they do and often react to certain situations differently if they did not have a firearm on them.

Cultural Event: Miss FDHS Pageant

Cultural Event Two: Miss Fort Dorchester High School Pageant
About:
The Miss FDHS Pageant was held on a Saturday afternoon in the school’s auditorium. There were representatives from all classes—Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior—who were competing for the crown. Last year’s Miss FDHS was there to pass on her crown. Other queens were there as well, like Miss Relay For Life and Miss South Carolina (I think). There were three rounds: Casual Wear, Talent Competition, and Evening Wear. Many performed song and dance and a few others chose to be different. There was a winner from each class and an overall winner who won the title Miss FDHS. That person just happened to be Caitlin Oenbrink.
Analysis:
Overall, I thought the whole thing was a complete waste of time. The majority of the girls—if not all—had the most fake smiles I have ever seen. They were really pretty though. A good number of them, though, wore way too much make-up. When each contestant went to introduce themselves in the beginning of the pageant I thought it was crazy how stiff most of them walked. Except for a select couple, the rest of them could NOT walk in heels. You are supposed to go heel to toe, but they all went flat and that caused them to look stiff, nervous and unprofessional. And again, the smiles as they were making were ridiculous. I wanted to laugh at a few but I thought that would be too mean and I did not want to get jumped.
Anyways, the Casual Wear round was okay. But, there were some clothes that did not go together and some shoes that did not match the clothing either. But a lot of them were pretty well matched.
The Talent Competition was the worst round of the three. I’m sorry, but if you’re going to try to sing but end up talking the words to only one side of the auditorium, and on top of that have a horrible voice, you might as well get off the stage because there are more people out there than the people who are cheering for you. As usual, there were a few talents who performed “dance” but only moved their hands to the beat (boring!).
There were a couple acts, however, that I actually liked. There was a contestant who dressed up in camouflage and recited a poem that she wrote with a drum beating in the background as if it were wartimes. I thought that was pretty cool. There was also a girl who had a slideshow of some pretty awesome photographs she had taken for her talent. It was definitely something you wouldn’t think would be someone’s talent at a pageant, but the pictures were gorgeous.
Last came the Formal Wear round. This was my favorite round because I like to feel as if I’m at an auction looking for a prom dress or something. Almost all of the dresses were beautiful. The only part I did not like about this round was the fact that each contestant was told to walk around the stage in one small circle and then one big circle and it felt like FOREVER. Each contestant circled the stage for like three minutes and then the next contestant would go and it lasted soooo long. Argh!
If it wasn’t for Cindy Tang calling me up asking, “Wanna go to the Pageant?” I would not have gone if I knew what I was in store for. It was long. There were long pauses, long intermissions, and long walks. If it was not for my good nature, I would have gone crazy.

Cultural Event: Student Choreography Concert


Cultural Event 1: 2008 Student Choreography Concert
About:
The 2008 Student Choreography Concert was held on Saturday, March 18소, 2008. This showcase was held for the students in Dance Class who created their own dance routines to a song of their choice. There were seventeen acts and many of the dancers performed more than once. Basically, each person or group chose the color of their background scene and had two minutes or so to perform their routine and then the next act would go next and so on and so forth.
Analysis:
I didn’t enjoy the Choreography Concert as much as I would have liked. There were not too many people in the auditorium to watch but there was still enough to consider it a crowd. I don’t remember if the Girl’s Step Team performed or not but I remember seeing Aisha there, so maybe. The first couple or routines were really good. Well, I actually think I liked the songs better than I did the dance routine. I caught myself writing down the song lyrics and remember going home to go download them. Anyways, the second act with Sydney Polluta and Heather Thompson was my favorite. It might have been the song that won me over, but their choreography was beautiful and I could tell that they put their heart and soul into the moves and I really appreciated that. True talent!
After the first couple acts, it kind of got repetitive. The choreography seemed to remain the same. Almost every group or solo had the same choreography incorporated into their routine which kind of made the rest of the two hours boring. However, some of the music choices were good so I enjoyed the hearing pleasure.
Almost halfway through the concert, a lady near the back of the auditorium collapsed. I’m not quite sure what exactly happened, but I think the lady might have had a heart attack. The dance teacher—or someone—called 911 and the ambulance came to the rescue. To my knowledge, the lady is alright.
On a nice note, I was happy to hear the Caitlin Hunt and Audrey Heldreth composed a dance to Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek.” And, I loved every moment of it.
The last thing I did not like about the concert were the people who did not even “dance.” All they did was move their hands and smile. I swear, it annoyed me so much. I could not stand it at all.
Overall, the only reason why I’m glad I went was because of the music that was played. Except for a couple of acts, I was not pleased with the dancing I saw that night. If it was not for the music selections, I would go back in time and tell myself not to go.

Original Poem: You And Me

You And Me

I remember that day when you said it was meant to be
My heart could not believe it; I was so happy
I remember those hours we would stay on the phone
Sometimes we’d be silent, but we knew we weren’t alone
I remember those trips we would take on holidays
Driving cross-country and breathing in the sunrays
I remember those nights we would spend on the lawn
We would lie there all night and not rise until dawn
I remember those restaurants you’d take me to eat
And the movies afterwards that made the night complete
I remember those songs you’d perform for me
I loved every single one of them, I can really guarantee
I remember those years that flew by so fast
With every moment we shared, it was so clear it would last
I remember that night when we shared our last moment
When we’d say our farewells and reminisce on our life spent
Even though you’re still down there and I’m up above
We both know that nothing could ever tear apart this love

Original Poem: You Are My Life

You Are My Life

You’re everywhere within my life
A knife, my clothes, that bottle of wine
Many don’t understand how important you are
Of course, they just have not learned

With you existing, everything’s like a puzzle
All things just seem to fit together
Humanity can’t see you, but some of us know you’re there
And how we couldn’t live without you

It may sound strange to some
Being unable to see you individually
We realize how much you impact our world
Plus actually bring us into existence

It’s hard to tell whether or not it’s true
If we take the time to look around
We touch ourselves and the surroundings
Still, unable to feel you move

To imagine our society bound together by you
Is a thought some people can’t fathom
Some cannot believe that an invisible thing
Can create the earth where they live and breathe

Persuasive Analysis: Orbit Gum



This picture of an ad was taken off the internet in a search for editorials and ads/commercials for the portfolio. This advertisement for Orbit chewing gum is an example of the fallacy Appeal to Crowd. The huge number of people in the world desire to have bright and shiny teeth. This ad shows light bulbs in the shape of teeth. The light bulbs are really bright and really white, which goes along with the tag line, “For bright, white teeth.” This advertisement would appeal to many because it shows the desirable outcome of shiny, white teeth if you decide to buy and chew Orbit gum.

Song Interpretation: Diamonds

Peppertones - Diamonds

lyrics:

blurry daydreams singing solace to me
distant callings soothing voices i hear
today's the day, all those in the way are gone

step out to the road, and you will recover the beauty,
all the spice of your life
look up to the sky, and you will discover
infinity, is way up there so definitely

cosmic visions flashing shining truly
breezy, windy, sunshine tenderly
TODAY
step out to the road, and you will recover the beauty,
all the spice of your life
look up to the sky, and you will discover
infinity, is way up there so definitely

Peppertones is actually a Korean indie band. However, a lot of their songs are sung in English therefore making it usable for this song analysis part of the portfolio!
“Diamonds” is a song written and sung by the Peppertones. The story behind the song is about letting go of all hardships and just living freely without any worries.
Peppertones uses personification in the first stanza. The first line reads, “Blurry daydreams singing solace to me.” This line gives the inanimate object “daydreams” the ability to sing cheerfully to someone. The first stanza is all about the narrator’s surroundings becoming less worrisome and that the world is becoming brighter. The speaker states, “Today’s the day all those in the way are gone.” The line basically means what it says. Everything that held the speaker back from fulfilling a completely free life has been conquered and now he can do what he wants without having to worry about what would be affected if he did.
The chorus of the song tells the audience that if you just take those steps in achieving your goal, you will get their eventually and realize that there is no limit to happiness and living with no worries.
The diction of “Diamonds” feels very vibrant. The words Peppertones chose sound very cheerful and have an uplifting tone. Words such as “soothing,” “sunshine,” and “shining” are all words that sound pleasing to the ears and have happy meanings. These words have a direct impact on the entire song’s meaning about reaching complete freedom and living with no worries.
The lines, “Look up to the sky, and you will discover infinity is way up there so definitely,” means that there are no limits to achieving anything. No matter what you want to accomplish, all you have to do is wear a smile on your face and chase after your dream.