SpektorBrooks

Stranger Than Fiction

2008-09-24T20:07:00.002-04:00

Stranger Than Fiction answers questions three, five, and six. The director uses Harold Crick as the vehicle to answer these questions.

For most of the movie, Harold lives a bland thought out life. Eventually he, upon learning about this unavoidable death, he chooses to change his life style. The director shows that you can choose to make yourself but sometimes it takes a monumental event to spark these changes. That then poses the question is it you making the choice to choose? Or is you only reacting to the event that takes place? I believe that under pressure many people shut down and don't act, and because this I think the movie shows that you do make your own decisions.

Towards the end of the movie Harold is faced with the decision of halting the creation of the book, or letting it take its course and accepting his death. This where the director addresses question five. Harold mulls it over and eventually decides that the book should be finished in it's original intended ending. He independently chooses to allow his death to happen even though the author makes it evident that he could have talked her out of it. If someone is faced with death and instead of running away from it, walks towards it, that decision shows that they are breaking the mold of human condition and making a independent choice. I think in real situations that matter it is easier to see if you are clearly making the decision for yourself or if someone is making it for you. The director shows us that is possible to make your own decision even if it means taking the stairs instead of the elevator, so to speak.

Stranger than fiction shows us that it's the little reasons that drive us to live our lives among all of the chaos and uncertainties. Close to the end of the movie the author of the book reads out loud the exert of the story the night before Harold's death. She speaks about the evening with Anne and how it was understood as normal but it really was so much more. Although the saying, "its the little things that count in life" is over used, it is very true. The director makes us think to ourselves: "What are the things in life that we care about? What comes to mind? What makes us get up in the morning?" My cat. My best friend. My customers at work. The Fall air. People have to live because if they just sat there, what would be the point of the journey? Oedipus's fate was inevitable but he didn't just live in ignorance. He sought the truth and got more meaning out of his life in a day than he probably did from all of his victories. Stranger Than Fiction illustrates this much the same but it's stretched over the course of a week or two. We life our lives because the point isn't to die the point is to gather experiences along the way. To learn, and to teach. To live on from the stories and lessons we give to others.

Final Final Draft Of Podcast. (Yay!)

2008-09-09T11:00:00.002-04:00

I believe in car rides. I developed my attachment to them when I was baby. If I was having trouble falling asleep, or if I was having a tantrum, my parents would take me for a ride in the car and I'd always come home calmed down. For a long time, when I was a kid, car rides weren’t necessary for me anymore. But in recent years, as I've gotten older, these small trips have really become a nice escape. I always come back home feeling better than I did. I'm not the best at stress management and there's something deeply comforting to me about sitting back and watching the world move past my window. Cars take me where I want to go, whether it be mentally or physically. For me, they're the only place I can think in the perspective I need to handle whatever may be on my plate at the time. Over time I've developed a specific science for making the trips successful. My family went on a vacation to Missouri, and while we were there I asked my dad if we could drive around. He said 'sure', but this time offered me the keys. Big mistake. I should always be the passenger. When I’m driving and trying to sort out my issues, I get extremely distracted. I ended up coming home more frustrated than I left. Also, it's always good to go with someone I can level with. It's not about having an authority figure giving me advice. It's about having someone that can speak to me like they're my equal and either appreciate mutual silence or help put together the puzzle that we call life. My dad is this person for me.

When I was younger I had a few of my family members pass in a short amount of time. My dad was still grieving the death of his father, and we weren't very close. We were around each other the majority of the time but it was hard to connect and in most cases we gave up before we had an actual conversation. When we started picking up car rides again, they really gave us time to share our thoughts with each other and have some support. My dad and I are extremely close now, and I'd like to think that taking the time to go on a pointless 45 minuet drive has brought us together. The atmosphere is always very relaxed. There's never any pressure to talk, which is relieving - I feel that half of what people say is only because they feel obligated to carry on a conversation. Sometimes all we do is listen to music. I like to explore many of different genres, so not only is a time to reflect, our trips are also a time to analyze what ever I'm currently trying out. I really like to think that in some aspect the car rides are just a great opportunity to have a actual genuine talk. People, whether they realize it or not, are constantly under pressure, and that's my place where i don't feel obligated to worry about the fickle things that stress us out from day to day. Over the past two years especially, I've grown as a person. I truly believe that I owe this development to taking an hour out of my day, getting in the car, and watching the world move past my window.

I believe in....

2008-09-08T11:21:00.002-04:00

I believe in Determinism with the opportunity for change. I enjoy live music because all my life i grew up in an environment with people playing instruments. Because of that, I will most likely pick acoustic songs over songs full of amplifiers. I want to go to college. I think a lot of this was influenced by my parents saying all my life "Sydney, you will have so many more opportunities if you go to college." I have brown hair because both of my parents have brown hair. I'm naturally skinny because i inherited my moms high metabolism. When I'm older, I'll probably get cancer checks more often because it runs in my family. All of these aspects, everything I've encountered as a child, has made me the person i am. I believe in determinism because the foot prints left on us as children are eventually the adults we will become. With this being said, you don't have to follow the foot steps and ultimately create the exact same environment for your children. If you were raised dirt poor, you don't have to stay dirt poor and that's where your will comes into play. The effects of being poor will forever shape you, but you can rise above the past generations and create a new version of determinism for the next generation to make their own.

Battle Royale

2008-08-31T13:04:00.002-04:00

The title is reflective of the story's meaning because the term Battle Royale is generally associated with fights to the death. The Webster dictionary states the definition for Battle Royal as: "a fight participated in by more than two combatants; especially : one in which the last man in the ring or on his feet is declared the winner". The author used the series of situations in the story to illustrate the point that all through his life the narrator would be fighting, weather it be for things like his rights or protecting his well being, much like a Battle Royale. "Blindfolded, I could no longer control my motions. I had no dignity. I stumbled about like a baby or a drunken man." The author debilitates the narrator in some way in each scenario to demonstrate that through his life there will be times that he wont understand why hes fighting or will be involved in a unfair fight. He places him in situations against fellow African Americans and whites to show that he will be constantly in 'battle' with essentially every one he knows. There is actually a Japanese movie titled Battle Royale which has the same sort of premiss as the part in the story where the boys are all in the boxing ring together: "A group of students from Shiroiwa Junior High School in the fictional town of Shiroiwa are gassed on a bus. They awaken in a school on an isolated..They learn that they have been placed in an event called The Program, also known as Battle Royale...the students are required to fight to the death until one remains. Their movements are restricted by metal collars around their necks...". This parallel between the two stories further illustrates the meaning that the author was trying get across.

The very old man with enormous wings...

2008-08-21T10:31:00.003-04:00

The man with wings is just a man. Many people are born with afflictions or 'blessings' that are never viewed as being something religious or monumental. They're simply people who are different from the rest. He acted like a old man, he looked like a old man, and some perceived him to be a old man. By my logic he was a old man, who happened to have wings. Some kids are born with eight limbs, like the child in India, but she isn't a goddess, she's just a child.

This affects the story because it shows how people deal with faith, and what they choose to invest in. No one in the story paid attention to the familiar outlets of faith like the preacher, no one paid attention to the letters from the pope. "The most unfortunate invalids on earth came in search of health: a poor woman who since childhood had been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers; a Portuguese man who couldn't sleep because the noise of the stars disturbed him; a sleep walker who got up at night to undo the things he had done while awake; and many others with less serious ailments." These people brought their faith to something unknown with hopes of getting the answer. People need hope, and the man is a symbol of how far people will go to get that comfort from faith that they need.

2008-08-20T11:09:00.003-04:00

The cathedral represents enlightenment. The narrator begins the story as a skeptic towards everything. It seems as though he's incapable of recognizing the good things in life. We are shown this in his attitude towards poetry:

"I can remember I didn't think much of the poem. Of course, I didn't tell her that. Maybe I just don't understand poetry. I admit it's not the first thing I reach for when I pick up something to read." (275)

When the blind man arrives, he treats him with reluctance. The narrator is not comfortable with the idea of being alone with him and generally holds a negative attitude towards the situation:

"I thought she might have gone to bed. I wished she'd come back downstairs. I didn't want to be left alone with the blind man." (279)

Eventually he finds himself drawing the cathedrals they saw on the television. His eyes are closed, like the blind mans, and he's relying totally on his instinct. In that moment it hits him. By being able to see he was blinded but ...

--------------------------------

I'm going to change which one I do!
Look for it after school.

Pod Cast - Take 2

2008-08-18T15:37:00.002-04:00

I believe in car rides. I developed my attachment to them when I was baby. If I was having trouble falling asleep, or if I was having a tantrum, my parents would take me for a ride in the car and I'd always come home calmed down. For a long time, when I was a kid, this wasn't necessary for me anymore. But in recent years, as I've gotten older, its really become a nice escape. I always come back home feeling better than I did. I'm not the best at stress management and there's something deeply comforting to me about sitting back and watching the world move past my window. Cars take you where you want to go, weather it be mentally or physically. For me, they're the only place I can think in the perspective I need to to handle what ever may be on my plate at the time. Over time I've developed a specific science for making the trips successful. My family went on a vacation to Missouri, and while we were there I asked my dad if we could drive around. He said 'sure', but this time offered me the keys. Big mistake. You should always be the passenger. If you're driving and trying to sort out your issues, you get extremely distracted, and I ended up coming home more frustrated than I left. Also, it's always good to go with someone you can level with. It's not about having an authority figure giving you advice. It's about having someone that can speak to you like they're your equal and either appreciate mutual silence or help put together the puzzle that we call life. My dad is this person for me. When I was younger I had alot of family members pass in a short amount of time. My dad was still grieving the death of his father, and we weren't very close. We were around each other alot but it was hard to connect and most of the time we gave up before we had a actual conversation. When we started picking up car rides again, it really gave us time to share our thoughts with each other and have some support. My dad and I are extremely close now, and I'd like to think that taking the time to go on a pointless 45 minuet drive has brought us together. The atmosphere is always very relaxed. There's never any pressure to talk, which is relieving - I feel that half of what people say is only because they feel obligated to carry on a conversation. It takes someone thats comfortable with themselves to be able to sit with someone and not have to fill the air with small talk. Sometimes all we do is listen to music. I like to explore alot of different genres, so not only is a time to reflect, its also a time to analyze what ever I'm currently trying out. I really like think that in some aspect its just a great opportunity to have a actual genuine talk. People, weather they realize it or not, are constantly under alot of pressure, and that's my place where i don't feel obligated to worry about the fickle things that stress us out from day to day. Over the past two years especially, I've grown alot as a person. The foundations for who I'll be as an adult are in place, and hopefully my stars are aligned correctly. I truly believe that alot of this has to do with taking a hour out of my day, getting in the car, and watching the world move past my window.

Pod Cast Rough Draft (Extremely Rough)

2008-08-17T16:10:00.002-04:00

I believe in car rides. I'm not the best at stress management and there's something deeply comforting to me about sitting back and watching the world move past my window. Cars take you where you want to go, weather it be mentally or physically. For me, they're the only place i can think in the perspective i need to to handle what ever may come at me in my life. It doesn't really work when you're the driving, it's better to be in the passenger seat, and its always good to go with someone you can level with. It's not about having an authority figure giving you advice. It's about having someone that can speak to you like they're your equal and either appreciate mutual silence or help put together the puzzle that we call life. For me, my dad is this person. There's never any pressure to talk, which is relieving - i feel that half of what people say is only because they feel obligated to carry on a conversation. It takes someone thats comfortable with themselves to be able to sit with someone and not have to fill the air with small talk. Sometimes all we do is drive and listen to music. I usually pick things that are relate able to the situation im trying to think about and they sometimes guide me to the solution i was looking for. Over all its just a relaxing experience. People, weather they realize it or not, are constantly under alot of pressure, and that's my place where i don't feel obligated to worry about the fickle things that stress us out from day to day. I think car rides became comforting to me when i was baby. Alot of times if i was having trouble falling asleep, or if i was having a tantrum, my parents would take me for a ride around the block and i would calm down. For a long time, when i was a kid, this wasn't necessary for me anymore. But in recent years, as i've gotten older, its really been a nice escape. I always come back home feeling better than i did. And for this reason, i will always believe in car rides.

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That's all i have. =/

Quotes

2008-08-15T11:38:00.000-04:00

In reference to "The Pact of Acquiescent Sorcery."

"The act of showing the hands to be empty, before revealing that despite appearances they could not have been, is itself a constituent of the Pact. The Pact implies special conditions are in force. In normal social intercourse, for instance, how often does it arise that someone has to prove that his hands are empty? And consider this: if the magician were suddenly to produce a vase of flowers with out first suggesting to the audience that such a production was impossible, it would seem to be no trick at all. No one would applaud.
This then illustrates my method."
....

"As every stage magician well knows there will be some who are baffled by this, some who will process to a dislike of being duped, some who will claim to know the secret, and some, the happy majority, who will simply take the illusion for granted and enjoy the magic for the sake of entertainment."

- The Prestige

I really like these two passages because Christopher Priest touches on concepts that not only apply to the 'magic world' but to the world as a whole. People want to be entertained and shocked, but what it takes to achieve that is getting harder and harder. What limits will people go to to see 'something new' and how much will they take for granted in life before they realize that 'shocking' things are right in front of them? The fact alone that we can do half of the things we do today is incredibly amazing, but I feel as though most of the time it's just viewed as 'technology' and not given the weight of importance that it deserves.

Test

2008-08-14T11:03:00.001-04:00

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