From winding and elaborate Celtic knots, to the bold and unique scarifications of African tribes, tattoos appear in almost every civilization throughout history, making it an essential part of their cultures and an art of its own.
Tattooing was very dangerous, crude, and took months to complete in many cultures, but was seen as a sacred art and was taken incredibly seriously. With no specific tools to carve into the skin, ordinary blades and wood carving tools were used and natural pigments were used for colors. Ancient peoples took pride in their brands and marked the pain of carving the skin as a test of adulthood. These marks also showed ancestry and expressed a person’s social status across languages and borders where words could not.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Katherine L. Krcmarik. “The Art of Tattoo”. Michigan State University. April 2003. Web. March 21 2010.
“Skin Stories: The Art and Culture of Polynesian Tattoo”. PBS. 2003. Web. March 22 2010
Chris Rainier. “Tattoos”. National Geographic. 2001. Web. March 22 2010
“Tattoos: The Ancient and Mysterious History”. Jan 1 2007. Web. March 21 2010
Jim Douglas Burgess. Celtic Tattoos. Maui Celtic. 2003. Web. March 25 2010 http://www.mauiceltic.com/celtic-art.htm
Celtic, Polynesian, African, Asian
Monday, March 22, 2010
bibliography
Katherine L. Krcmarik. The Art of Tattoo. Michigan State University. April 2003. Web. March 21 2010.
Skin Stories: The Art and Culture of Polynesian Tattoo. PBS. 2003. Web. March 22 2010
Chris Rainier. Tattoos. National Geographic. 2001. Web. March 22 2010
Tattoos: The Ancient and Mysterious History. Jan 1 2007. Web. March 21 2010
Gordon Powles. The History of Yakuza Tattoos. Ezinarticles. July 2008. Web. March 22 2010
Skin Stories: The Art and Culture of Polynesian Tattoo. PBS. 2003. Web. March 22 2010
Chris Rainier. Tattoos. National Geographic. 2001. Web. March 22 2010
Tattoos: The Ancient and Mysterious History. Jan 1 2007. Web. March 21 2010
Gordon Powles. The History of Yakuza Tattoos. Ezinarticles. July 2008. Web. March 22 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
3 topics
Maybe I could write on some sort of animal like a gorilla, parrots, or an eel. I've always liked biology and would enjoy writing a paper on zoology.
I just saw the movie Seven, a thriller about a man who murders 7 people based on their deadly sin, it made me curious about researching Dante's Inferno.
Maybe i'll write on tattoos, why, I don't know.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Plot holes and mediocre storylines rule the box offices; flat characters that don’t act human hide behind special effects, and a general lack of meaning behind movies are polluting our theaters. With the rise of green screen and CGI technology in the past few decades, many movies have come to rely too much on high budget special effects. However, there are gems that come out on top occasionally. But, what makes a movie a classic? Plot, characters, style, and meaning are what make a legend.
The Plot is the movie. Without a good plot, a movie is worthless. The characters and settings can keep the audience’s attention, but the plot is what drives the movie. Movie Legends such as The Godfather, The Shawshank Redemption, and Chinatown have interesting characters, but without the well written plot, it would fall apart.
Memento, plot-wise, is a masterpiece. Memento is a modern murder mystery released in the year 2000, with an ingenious presentation and pace. At first it follows the formula of a standard murder mystery, but twists into a unique and “”” guessing game to figure out who is the murderer.
Characters are the strongest supporters of the plot and can make or break a movie. All good movies have memorable characters such as Forrest Gump and Indiana Jones. Many writers fall back on stock characters that follow a stereotype and bring down the movie, or flat characters that have no depth such as Charlie from Tim Burton’s remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Charlie seemed to be a saint descended from Heaven that could do wrong. He was completely selfless and sought to bring out the best in everyone. He shared his only birthday present with his family and loved them more than anything in the world. He spouted morals and gave heartwarming speeches; He showed no greed or gluttony in a world of chocolate. He seemed unbelievably flawless, the point being unbelievably. Charlie does not act like a child would, and is overall a very boring character.
Jack Nicholson’s character in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Mcmurphy, had flaws to his actions, showed anger and greed, wanted personal gain, and acted like an average person. He had personality and multiple sides to his character, from expressing resentment to nurse Mcmurphy, to being a father figure to Billy. Mcmurphy was a very round character that made the audience wonder if he was insane or just trying to breeze through and easy life at a mental home.
One of the biggest offenders in the downfall of good movies is the CGI technology that can get in the way of the plot, sometimes even becoming the focus of the movie. James Cameron’s Avatar, the king of the box office, has mind-blowing special effects and houses almost photorealistic computer generated people and environments. However, the story was given less attention and litters the movie with predictable plot turns and stock characters, such as the oh so familiar evil military general.
Pan’s Labyrinth features amazing creature and a world as beautiful as Avatar’s, but uses the fantasy elements to support the plot. A young girl struggling through her mother’s marriage to a military official during World War Two escapes into a wonderfully crafted fantasy world. The effects are not the focus of the film though, and are only used to add to the films dark and mysterious setting.
The element almost every movie fails at achieving is to have a meaning to behind the plot. A good story will entertain an audience, but relating to a real life situation or having a hidden philosophy behind the plot will leave people thinking. Movies like District Nine and Taxi Driver portray real world events and situations such as the brutal racism in South Africa and the affects of violence on the mind, but hide them behind the story. Other movies like Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, and The Matrix lace the action and violence with a subtle philosophy that some won’t pick up.
Fight Club on the surface looks like a grimy and vulgar movie with a shock factor, but has an anti-capitalist and anti-society message buried under the violence. The two main characters open an underground fight club and spread anarchy throughout the city, but the main point of the movie is the philosophy they carry. Released during the prime years of credit cards and debt, Fight Club tells the philosophy of “Self improvement is masturbation.”[i] That self improvement pleases only the person trying to achieve it; that people spend their lives at jobs they don’t like, to buy things they don’t need.
Intelligent movies are hard to find in recent years, but films like Quinten Tarintino’s Inglorious Basterds, proved me wrong that good movies are gone, and hopefully more great movies will come soon to take back the box offices from the disasters in theaters now.
[i]Fight Club, Chuck Palahiuick. 1996
The Plot is the movie. Without a good plot, a movie is worthless. The characters and settings can keep the audience’s attention, but the plot is what drives the movie. Movie Legends such as The Godfather, The Shawshank Redemption, and Chinatown have interesting characters, but without the well written plot, it would fall apart.
Memento, plot-wise, is a masterpiece. Memento is a modern murder mystery released in the year 2000, with an ingenious presentation and pace. At first it follows the formula of a standard murder mystery, but twists into a unique and “”” guessing game to figure out who is the murderer.
Characters are the strongest supporters of the plot and can make or break a movie. All good movies have memorable characters such as Forrest Gump and Indiana Jones. Many writers fall back on stock characters that follow a stereotype and bring down the movie, or flat characters that have no depth such as Charlie from Tim Burton’s remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Charlie seemed to be a saint descended from Heaven that could do wrong. He was completely selfless and sought to bring out the best in everyone. He shared his only birthday present with his family and loved them more than anything in the world. He spouted morals and gave heartwarming speeches; He showed no greed or gluttony in a world of chocolate. He seemed unbelievably flawless, the point being unbelievably. Charlie does not act like a child would, and is overall a very boring character.
Jack Nicholson’s character in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Mcmurphy, had flaws to his actions, showed anger and greed, wanted personal gain, and acted like an average person. He had personality and multiple sides to his character, from expressing resentment to nurse Mcmurphy, to being a father figure to Billy. Mcmurphy was a very round character that made the audience wonder if he was insane or just trying to breeze through and easy life at a mental home.
One of the biggest offenders in the downfall of good movies is the CGI technology that can get in the way of the plot, sometimes even becoming the focus of the movie. James Cameron’s Avatar, the king of the box office, has mind-blowing special effects and houses almost photorealistic computer generated people and environments. However, the story was given less attention and litters the movie with predictable plot turns and stock characters, such as the oh so familiar evil military general.
Pan’s Labyrinth features amazing creature and a world as beautiful as Avatar’s, but uses the fantasy elements to support the plot. A young girl struggling through her mother’s marriage to a military official during World War Two escapes into a wonderfully crafted fantasy world. The effects are not the focus of the film though, and are only used to add to the films dark and mysterious setting.
The element almost every movie fails at achieving is to have a meaning to behind the plot. A good story will entertain an audience, but relating to a real life situation or having a hidden philosophy behind the plot will leave people thinking. Movies like District Nine and Taxi Driver portray real world events and situations such as the brutal racism in South Africa and the affects of violence on the mind, but hide them behind the story. Other movies like Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, and The Matrix lace the action and violence with a subtle philosophy that some won’t pick up.
Fight Club on the surface looks like a grimy and vulgar movie with a shock factor, but has an anti-capitalist and anti-society message buried under the violence. The two main characters open an underground fight club and spread anarchy throughout the city, but the main point of the movie is the philosophy they carry. Released during the prime years of credit cards and debt, Fight Club tells the philosophy of “Self improvement is masturbation.”[i] That self improvement pleases only the person trying to achieve it; that people spend their lives at jobs they don’t like, to buy things they don’t need.
Intelligent movies are hard to find in recent years, but films like Quinten Tarintino’s Inglorious Basterds, proved me wrong that good movies are gone, and hopefully more great movies will come soon to take back the box offices from the disasters in theaters now.
[i]Fight Club, Chuck Palahiuick. 1996
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
11/16/2010
The Winter Olympics have never really captured my attention, and pale in comparison to the summer Olympics that feature better sports and in general more interesting events. It seems overhyped and can be repetitive, focuses too little on the sports themselves, and can be downright boring during some of the slower events. Not that I don't like winter sports as I watch the Winter X-Games annually.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Homework Assignment
What is the common topic that both Asher and Quindlen discuss in their essays?Homelessness
Ascher's focus deals largely with How people deal and react to homelessness. What IS her generalization? Everyone has compassion and empathy.
How many examples does she use to support her generalization? Why does each example work as evidence or support for her generalization? Both examples provide someone showing compassion or pity to someone in need.
Quindlen begins her essay with an example. What is it? Why does it work as part of her introduction? What is her generalization? How does she support her generalization in her essay? Is it effective? WHY?Which of these essays do you find more appealing? Ascher’s. Is it because of the examples or evidence? The wording? The focus that is carried throughout the paper from beginning to end? WHAT? Do not simply say, "Yeah, it was the wording. I liked what she said." Bully for you -- what were the words that make the essay effective? Liked the examples? Great! What examples? In my opinion Aschers’s essay is better written, is a more interesting read, and provides better examples to back up the focus of the essay. Quindlen seemed to ramble onto irrelevant tangents and uses an odd ordering in her essay.
Ascher's focus deals largely with How people deal and react to homelessness. What IS her generalization? Everyone has compassion and empathy.
How many examples does she use to support her generalization? Why does each example work as evidence or support for her generalization? Both examples provide someone showing compassion or pity to someone in need.
Quindlen begins her essay with an example. What is it? Why does it work as part of her introduction? What is her generalization? How does she support her generalization in her essay? Is it effective? WHY?Which of these essays do you find more appealing? Ascher’s. Is it because of the examples or evidence? The wording? The focus that is carried throughout the paper from beginning to end? WHAT? Do not simply say, "Yeah, it was the wording. I liked what she said." Bully for you -- what were the words that make the essay effective? Liked the examples? Great! What examples? In my opinion Aschers’s essay is better written, is a more interesting read, and provides better examples to back up the focus of the essay. Quindlen seemed to ramble onto irrelevant tangents and uses an odd ordering in her essay.
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