State of the Blog Address, Quarter 2

      With the first quarter blog and The Green Glass Sea out of the way, we now can look to the future, with The Ship Breaker. Before we move on though I can't right out and say that the blog was fine, I personally felt that while much effort went into certain areas, some other places were lacking. For example, certain blog entries had been overlooked in favor for others. My goal for this blog is to learn about the subject matter, of blogging, and provide an interesting and opinionated view on what I am reviewing. So for this quarter in blogging I plan to spend more time developing my blog.

     Now while blogging still feels a tad bit like work, I have begun to take a liking to it, I for one tire of all the analytical reviews of the past.

    So with all the cheesy guff out of the way lets move on to my new book for this quarter, Ship Breaker. Now I've only managed to get a quick peak at the book, but it looks rather interesting, as far as I can tell it's the story of a boy living in a dystopian society that happens to be on an island. Now no offense to Ellen Klages, but the book I read last quarter isn't something I'd read over summer, personally I feel books should hold ones attention via good plot interspersed with action and suspense with down to earth and interesting characters. I felt that The Green Glass Sea was lacking in the action and suspense departments, while Ship Breaker looks to be very dependant on those.

Peer Review

1.) Around the World in 20 pictures.. get it? HaHa
Heya Brandon, twas checking out your blog and this instantly caught my eye. The obvious humor is obvious as are the many memes. Now I've never read 'Around the World in 80 Days' and before this point never cared to, yet your clever choice of pictures has really got me intrigued. I also like how you provided a nice little plot synopsis via the pictures, and I dare say that I'd much rather read the book as depicted by your pictures and captions. Bravo man, consider me hooked.

Animoto- Green Glass Sea

This is my second time of uploading this, and I have noticed that a few pictures were cut off. The end result still carries the point across, but I can't help but wish for a better media editor.

Classical Connections

Link to 'Big Elegy to John Cage'



Whilst listening to this piece, the emotions conveyed by the music hit me instantly. The song attempts to be light hearted but is held back by a longing sadness. These are the same emotions I imagined Dewey Kerrigan to be experiencing in quite a few portions of the book. Now many people can relate to some of the problems Dewey goes through, such as bullying and loneliness, then things take a turn for the worst with her father's death. Thankfully, by her side is her new friend Suze. While the future for Dewey is uncertain with no family to take her in, yet hope always remains.

A picture is a thousand words, this blog post contains over 20,000 words

The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages

The book's title has a literal meaning to it.

WWII, the bloodiest conflict mankind has ever known.

 

Advertisements like these were everywhere, and played a large role in getting public support.

Most of these characters should be recognizable.

Comics like these were very common at the time.

The threat of war lingered everywhere.

Propaganda existed on both sides.

Los Alamos, the main center of the Manhattan Project

The project was rather secretive.

The inventors of the atomic bomb included men just like these.

Production of the 'Gadget', the first nuclear bomb developed.

Project Trinity, the test of the Gadget

What the effects of an atomic bomb look like from the atmosphere, this bomb being the one dropped on Hiroshima.

The sight of something this powerful inspired both awe and apprehension.

The nuclear bomb, the symbol of doom and destruction.