Scholfield Hurley - The Spoon River Animoto Project

Our latest project had us making a short video encompassing elements from one of the poems in the 'Spoon River Anthology' by Edgar Lee Masters. I chose Scholfield Hurley as my author of choice, and this poem brings to mind all of the great accomplishments of mankind, but ends with one of our greatest follies. Feel free to check it out via the links below. They are meant to be watched in order, as the first part deals with the very beginning of the poem, and the second; the end.


Pt 1
http://animoto.com/play/000IT1UMAOkZ0BLWbc1V0w

Pt 2
http://animoto.com/play/5j10n19TTBazrjfLZciC8Q

Animoto- Around the World in 80 Days

I have enjoyed using animoto, a simple online program of making images into videos, in previous blog posts. So once again I put together one for the book I recently read, Around the World in 80 Days. I hope you enjoy.

Link: http://animoto.com/play/1PNETF2o4qOvbS9rm3RZ5w

The Death of the English Language

This is Relevant

Alright no, the English language isn't going to just stop existing. Everywhere you go, you will likely find people speaking the language, for English is now the basis for science and business. If anything I should be writing about all the unfortunate languages that have died out because, no one really speaks them anymore. But what I'm talking about is the 'old' English language, you know the way people were speaking around a hundred years ago. Now if you've traveled around the United States, you will see a great variety of dialects, very many different words and phrases are used in different areas.

Now the problem I can forsee with this in the nearish future is that soon proper grammar and spelling won't exist, as the 'correct' way of speaking English will be different to different people. Now this isn't nessecarliy a bad thing, language, like culture, and technology changes over time. I for one am interested in seeing how this all pans out. How about you, the reader, is this at all revelant to you? How about the fact that certain words can mean entirely different things when put in context?

"The Fathers of Science Fiction"

I have seen the works of both H. G. Wells and Jules Verne since childhood. I unfortunatly confuse the works of the two due to the fact I refer to both as the founders of the Sci-Fi genre. What I loved about their works, the series Star Trek, and the genre of Sci-Fi as a whole, is the whole matter of showing the mysteries of the cosmos, and the exploration of things beyond our current level of comprehension. Whether the works inspire fear of the unknown or a desire for knowledge, it provides a great distraction from our everyday mundane lives, and it is those qualities that make Science Fiction great.

After a slight bit of research on the matter, I found that along with H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, an author I have hardly heard about by the name of Hugo Gernsback, is also included in the trio of authors known as the Fathers of Science Fiction, and should I come across any of his books you can expect a follow up blog post soon enough. However between the two authors of which I have read of, I prefer H. G. Wells. This is because I feel Jules Verne takes a more casual approach to Science Fiction, he seamlessly intergrates it into his story without it becoming overwhelming, great for those new to the genre. Yet H. G. Wells, as can be best seen in his work, War of the Worlds, takes a more proactive approach. The radioplay version did stir up a good deal of controversy and fear when it was first released, for the audience really believed that the world was now under siege by beings from beyond. H. G. Wells made good use of our fear of the unknown, yet when all seemed bleak in the story he explained a logical undoing of the aliens, something so very simple yet entirely conceivable. Now your opinion may vary, so I urge you to at least experience a bit of which each author has to offer, if you are at all interested in the genre.

Around the World in 80 Days, A Review

I have had the pleasure of experiencing a great many of Jules Verne's works, the author of Around the World in 80 Days. Though from this point I had only seen them indirectly, via spin offs and children based remakes- from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to The Journey to the Center of the Earth. Having only the memory of the remakes as a guide, I wasn't disappointed in my reading of this book. Around the World in 80 Days is the classic tale of people seeking adventure in the attempt to overcome the expectations of society. In this case overly rich man, Phileas Fogg, and the Reform Club make a bet, Phileas Fogg assuages that he can perform the impossible feat of traveling the world in 80 days.

Unfortunately along the way he is accused of bank robbery, forced to aid everyone he can, and make several detours, yet in the end he manages to make the bet within the nick of time. The story was quite intriguing, yet having already seen a good deal of spin offs greatly lessened the effect of the book on me as I already knew what to mostly expect, though the book did a good job in deviating slightly in those expectations, for example burning part of a boat for fuel and the fact they managed to get around the world a day earlier than predicted are interesting little tidbits that stood out to me. I only wish I had the fortune of reading the original first, then the remakes would appeal more to me, and wouldn't detract from my reading of the book. In any case if you haven't yet read Around the World in 80 Days, and haven't been exposed to all of the remakes, and ignored my little plot summary, this is definitely a book you should check out.

A Review of A Song of Ice and Fire

I am now partway through the second book of the series A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin. If you have never heard of the series I will only say that if you enjoy low fantasy medieval titles with a good bit of intrigue and complex plot, then this is the book for you. I won’t spoil the book futher than what it says on the back cover, the threat of war looms everywhere and winter is coming. Both the first and last chapter end in a large cliffhanger, yet the satisfaction of reading the book overcame my desire to read the next at first. I would recommend this book to everyone, if only on the topic on how the plot is dealt with. There are no conventional chapters in this book, sections are divided by the view of the character currently at the forefront of the story. The multiple views makes for an interesting narrative, yet the amount of information coming from each characters viewpoint, and all the people they relate with can be a little overwhelming at first. Yet this book pulls it off magnificently, no character overstays his or her welcome, and the actions of one character can affect the others.

The low fantasy setting on top of all the intricate plotlines, is just icing on the cake. Unlike a book set in high fantasy, dragons and magic are only revelant in stories told in the book. Yet within the first chapter you will see that things are more than meets the eye. All in all this is an astounding book, that I list as one of my favorite this year, among The Hunger Games and Around the World in 80 Days. Though I would warn you the book can be very addicting to read, an entire weekend was spent reading as I got sucked into the story. Along with the book I hear the TV series, A Game of Thrones, based on the book, is also worth seeing- though I haven’t yet checked it out.

This Post is Provided by Procrastination

With a new year comes a new blog post, and New Years resolutions. This year I resolved to finish my blog early, and I had half of the first post typed up within the first week of school. As it would go I would abandon this resolution soon after, keeping in the American tradition of New Years resolutions, and that post will never see the light of day. In any case this post is inspired by what I had orginally drafted up, and spurred on by the looming due date ( Kids these days, always putting off major quarter long projects to the last second ).

This quarter I have chosen to read Around the World in 80 Days, a classic that while I've seen quite a few remakes I had never read the original. Having already read the book, I'll be going into more detail in a subsequent post. Though honestly my first outlook on the book was somewhat marred by the very wacky spinoffs, I almost expected a mention of a flying machine made Macguyver-esque and a long series of chase scenes. I was glad to see that these fears were completely unfounded, and the book went on to surprise me a bit.

This being the movie I remember →