For my peer evaluation, I will be critiquing Zach's Blog.
Fir off, I really liked you idea of a novel in assignment #5. I totally agree, not every novel has to have some sort of a life lesson in it. Novels can be read just for fun, to kill the time if one needs to. A cliché can always be used if one does not want to cause controversies, and make people come up with questions such as "what does that mean?"
I haven't read a novel in a while that's just a plain novel, with no deeper meaning behind it, and after reading your post, I really want to go read one.
The SH5 movie that we watched in class was really bad. It detracts from the entire plot of the novel, and, when seen by someone who haven't read the novel, they would probably never understood what the novel was about. The transitions shown in the trailer never made it clear that each cut is a jump in time. I would think that people would want to read the book just to understand what they saw in the movie.
Slamming the trailer aside, remaking the movie would be a great idea. Maybe part of the reason that the movie was so bad was because the special effect techniques were limited, and the film makers didn't want to spend any time time on the special effects. But with today's advances in special effects field, as well as advances in CG techniques, the movie could be remade to better represent the book. Smoother graphics and better quality sound would at least make the movie bearable.
However, I have yet seen a movie that represent a book perfectly. There is always a gap between what I imagine and what the film makers imagine.
The interview with the author himself really brings up useful information from a reliable source (the person who thought of the idea first). Information today are shared across the globe. With new information coming to light every day, causing information in the world is growing by 75% every year. Where does that much information come from? Part of it could come from people reading other people's ideas, and by putting ideas together, generate new ideas for other people to create. Different people relate to different experiences that they had, and generate different ideas.
I think Vonnegut would whole heartily support out little blogging assignment. It allows for endless inspiration between the two classes.
*edit*
Are you kidding me... After I write my peer evaluation, I find that two other people did their peer evaluation on the same person...
Sunday 17 April 2011
Slaughter house 5: the play
No, the novel cannot be shown as a play. There is no way to show the time wrapping of Billy, and no way to throw in the "so it goes" every time someone dies. The audience is just not going to understand and won't be able to follow the non-linear plot of the novel.
Also, some parts of the over all message may be lost due to the impossibility of showing it on stage. Parts like Billy's dream of the giraffes in the garden while he was high on morphine, Billy's time traveling while he was in the hospital, and the part of the novel where he was on Tralfamadore, on exhibit in a zoo.
But this novel is not completely incompatible with plays, there are certain scenes which may work in a play. Such as the adventure of three musketeers and Billy Pilgrim, the part of the novel which took place in Dresden, and others that I can't think of at the moment.
That said, this novel as a whole cannot be made into a play, only parts of it. Well, what is the point of only making part of a play? "Thanks everyone for coming to the play, you will have to read the missing parts by yourself."
That's just my 2 cents on this topic. I have very vague ideas on the kind of things possible in a play.
Also, some parts of the over all message may be lost due to the impossibility of showing it on stage. Parts like Billy's dream of the giraffes in the garden while he was high on morphine, Billy's time traveling while he was in the hospital, and the part of the novel where he was on Tralfamadore, on exhibit in a zoo.
But this novel is not completely incompatible with plays, there are certain scenes which may work in a play. Such as the adventure of three musketeers and Billy Pilgrim, the part of the novel which took place in Dresden, and others that I can't think of at the moment.
That said, this novel as a whole cannot be made into a play, only parts of it. Well, what is the point of only making part of a play? "Thanks everyone for coming to the play, you will have to read the missing parts by yourself."
That's just my 2 cents on this topic. I have very vague ideas on the kind of things possible in a play.
Death and SH5
In slaughterhouse 5, Vonnegut makes a point of viewing death as everyday matter. His "so it goes" make death seem insignificant to comment on, and thus he write it off nonchalantly. I agree with Vonnegut's view on death.
It's not that I do not value life, but rather I do not think it is very useful to cry and whine at the idea of someone dying. It is the inevitable consequence of life. There is no use to try to change it. It always have happened, and always will. Why does everyone act so surprised when they learned that someone has died? What difference would it make if they had lived longer? The end result is the same.
Perhaps it does makes a difference to say good-bye to the person, perhaps they could have done more for the world if they were alive for longer. But that's another story
But I do not think that death is in any way funny, as some speculated Vonnegut's view. A death is the passing of a human being. No matter how weak or helpless, friend or enemy, they deserve respect.
And yea... the picture saids it all
Slaughter house 5 movie scene
Slaughter house movie? It's been done before, but apparently got very bad reviews, and seems like the producers didn't even bother read the book.
One scene in the book that I felt might be good in a movie was Billy's 20th anniversary with Kilgore Trout in attendance. The scene where Billy falls sick to the four person singing, and is reminded of the four guards after the firebombing of Dresden. This scene would lend itself to a movie because it covers both the present and a flash back.
The scene could be shot as follows:
First fade in to a high angle shot of the anniversary party, where everyone is socializing. Then an optometrist calls for a toast in honor of Billy and Veronica. As the four people starts singing, the falls and zoom in on Billy's face, where his expression changes and his face takes on a pale color. The scene then cuts to a first person view of Billy looking at the four singers. The song ends, and the camera zooms out to a long shot, where everyone is looking at Billy, Billy sits down and people ask him if he is alright. Billy dismisses their concern by saying he is alright. Then Billy walk upstairs to his bed room where he has a flash back of himself and other American POWs coming out of the meat locker and witnessing the ruins of Dresden. The scene then cuts to a first person view of Billy, looking around, and finally settles his eyes on the four guards, with their mouth open.
Well, that`s how I imagine the scene. It could be part of the trailer for the movie, but shortened of course.
One scene in the book that I felt might be good in a movie was Billy's 20th anniversary with Kilgore Trout in attendance. The scene where Billy falls sick to the four person singing, and is reminded of the four guards after the firebombing of Dresden. This scene would lend itself to a movie because it covers both the present and a flash back.
The scene could be shot as follows:
First fade in to a high angle shot of the anniversary party, where everyone is socializing. Then an optometrist calls for a toast in honor of Billy and Veronica. As the four people starts singing, the falls and zoom in on Billy's face, where his expression changes and his face takes on a pale color. The scene then cuts to a first person view of Billy looking at the four singers. The song ends, and the camera zooms out to a long shot, where everyone is looking at Billy, Billy sits down and people ask him if he is alright. Billy dismisses their concern by saying he is alright. Then Billy walk upstairs to his bed room where he has a flash back of himself and other American POWs coming out of the meat locker and witnessing the ruins of Dresden. The scene then cuts to a first person view of Billy, looking around, and finally settles his eyes on the four guards, with their mouth open.
Well, that`s how I imagine the scene. It could be part of the trailer for the movie, but shortened of course.
Saturday 16 April 2011
A novel
What would I write in a novel? I have no idea.
But if I had to write a book, it would probably a book that disproves urban legends, viral videos, old wives tale, and so on. In other words, I'm trying to bring sense to the general public.
Why I chose this as the basis of my book? Probably because I watch Mythbusters, a lot (seen every single episode).
Sometimes I see viewer requests on the Mythbusters website that are so simple. If the person thought about it for maybe 5 minutes, they would know how simple the answer it. Take the airplane on a conveyor belt myth. It is immediately apparent that the airplane would take off on the conveyor belt, but, apparently, not many people think so. This makes me think that the general public is ignorant (no offense to anyone).
So the book will be an educational one. But, since it covers viral videos, it is likely to become out dated as soon as it is printed, because new viral videos are being made everyday, and publishing a book to keep up with them is next to impossible.
What I will try to do is teach people the basic concepts of physics, chemistry, biology, and other subjects. They then will be able to judge whether something is possible or not for themselves. With their new knowledge, they will be able to tell a lie from the truth beyond the scope of my book.
Hopefully, my book will inspire people to discover new things, help progress science. According to Mrs. Zuk, in today's wold, there is little to no new discoveries or inventions, only things made based on existing technology. Take smart phones for example, every smartphone is basically the same. Every smart phone has a touch screen, an operating system, some applications. Even the hardware are similar, like the GPS chip, accelerometer, gyroscope, and so on... They are all the same. Sure, one phone might have a bigger screen, or higher resolution, or a faster processor, but everything works the same. You make your calls, text some friends, browse the web just the same with any phone. You know that there is less new discoveries being made when Steve Jobs called a phone with 2 antennas "a breakthrough technology"
But if I had to write a book, it would probably a book that disproves urban legends, viral videos, old wives tale, and so on. In other words, I'm trying to bring sense to the general public.
Why I chose this as the basis of my book? Probably because I watch Mythbusters, a lot (seen every single episode).
Sometimes I see viewer requests on the Mythbusters website that are so simple. If the person thought about it for maybe 5 minutes, they would know how simple the answer it. Take the airplane on a conveyor belt myth. It is immediately apparent that the airplane would take off on the conveyor belt, but, apparently, not many people think so. This makes me think that the general public is ignorant (no offense to anyone).
So the book will be an educational one. But, since it covers viral videos, it is likely to become out dated as soon as it is printed, because new viral videos are being made everyday, and publishing a book to keep up with them is next to impossible.
What I will try to do is teach people the basic concepts of physics, chemistry, biology, and other subjects. They then will be able to judge whether something is possible or not for themselves. With their new knowledge, they will be able to tell a lie from the truth beyond the scope of my book.
Hopefully, my book will inspire people to discover new things, help progress science. According to Mrs. Zuk, in today's wold, there is little to no new discoveries or inventions, only things made based on existing technology. Take smart phones for example, every smartphone is basically the same. Every smart phone has a touch screen, an operating system, some applications. Even the hardware are similar, like the GPS chip, accelerometer, gyroscope, and so on... They are all the same. Sure, one phone might have a bigger screen, or higher resolution, or a faster processor, but everything works the same. You make your calls, text some friends, browse the web just the same with any phone. You know that there is less new discoveries being made when Steve Jobs called a phone with 2 antennas "a breakthrough technology"
Tuesday 12 April 2011
Fate or Freewill? Revisited
A change on what I have said earlier in writing assignment #1, I believe now that free will is how our world works. What made me change me mind was because of a simple thing that happened while I was working on the photovore for science club.
While soldering wires to the voltage comparator, which is essentially the brain of the photovore, I remember one pin on the chip being especially hard to solder. The solder refuses to stick to that pin. After a while I got frustrated, and just held the pin the hot solder for a long time. When I took it out again, there were solder stuck to it. But unknown to me, the heat from the soldering iron and the hot solder made tiny changes in the architecture of the chip, rendering it completely useless. In other words, I fried the chip.
Because of this small change, the progress that I have made that entire morning was undone. The entire project was put on hold because of the broken chip. It was not until after several days, when the new chip arrived, that I was able to resume work on the robot.
Several events happened as a result of the few extra seconds of contact between the soldering iron and the pin.
1) The science department had to pay about $10 for the replacement chip, since the website that I ordered from charges $1 for the chip, and $9 for shipping and handling.
2) I feel ripped off, because the chip is only worth $2 at the most, but it had cost $10 to get it.
3) Mrs. Mohan was not too happy about spending an extra 10 dollars. Even though she did not say anything, I felt something in her expression.
4) This could have remained in her subconscious, and could have affected her mood while she was marking some test that day. If she was in a bad mood subconsciously, she could have been a little more harsh in her marking subconsciously. Some unlucky student could have gotten a few more points deducted from his or her test than if Mrs. Mohan had been in a better mood.
5) The student did poorly on the test, and that few points made him or her fail the test.
6) The student`s self esteem drops as a result
7) The student is also doing poorly in the course, that test pulled his or her average below the passing point.
8) He or she drops the course, which is a requirement for the university program that he or she wants.
9) When the student applies to an university, the admission officer sees the dropped class on the transcript, while another student with similar qualities passed the course. The admission officer decides to offer the last remaining spot on the other student, and declines the first one.
10) The student did not get accepted into his or her dream university, further damaging his or her self-esteem.
11) The student get depressed, starts doing drugs, and eventually becomes a drug addict and commits suicide.
All the above may occur as a result of a few extra seconds of contact between a pin on a chip, and a soldering iron.
I know that this sounds far fetched, and the possibility of it happening is as likely as pigs being able to fly, but it kinds of make some sense on the argument of free will.
While soldering wires to the voltage comparator, which is essentially the brain of the photovore, I remember one pin on the chip being especially hard to solder. The solder refuses to stick to that pin. After a while I got frustrated, and just held the pin the hot solder for a long time. When I took it out again, there were solder stuck to it. But unknown to me, the heat from the soldering iron and the hot solder made tiny changes in the architecture of the chip, rendering it completely useless. In other words, I fried the chip.
Because of this small change, the progress that I have made that entire morning was undone. The entire project was put on hold because of the broken chip. It was not until after several days, when the new chip arrived, that I was able to resume work on the robot.
Several events happened as a result of the few extra seconds of contact between the soldering iron and the pin.
1) The science department had to pay about $10 for the replacement chip, since the website that I ordered from charges $1 for the chip, and $9 for shipping and handling.
2) I feel ripped off, because the chip is only worth $2 at the most, but it had cost $10 to get it.
3) Mrs. Mohan was not too happy about spending an extra 10 dollars. Even though she did not say anything, I felt something in her expression.
4) This could have remained in her subconscious, and could have affected her mood while she was marking some test that day. If she was in a bad mood subconsciously, she could have been a little more harsh in her marking subconsciously. Some unlucky student could have gotten a few more points deducted from his or her test than if Mrs. Mohan had been in a better mood.
5) The student did poorly on the test, and that few points made him or her fail the test.
6) The student`s self esteem drops as a result
7) The student is also doing poorly in the course, that test pulled his or her average below the passing point.
8) He or she drops the course, which is a requirement for the university program that he or she wants.
9) When the student applies to an university, the admission officer sees the dropped class on the transcript, while another student with similar qualities passed the course. The admission officer decides to offer the last remaining spot on the other student, and declines the first one.
10) The student did not get accepted into his or her dream university, further damaging his or her self-esteem.
11) The student get depressed, starts doing drugs, and eventually becomes a drug addict and commits suicide.
All the above may occur as a result of a few extra seconds of contact between a pin on a chip, and a soldering iron.
I know that this sounds far fetched, and the possibility of it happening is as likely as pigs being able to fly, but it kinds of make some sense on the argument of free will.
Monday 11 April 2011
Wraped narative
Ray's muscle is aching. He had been lying in the ditch for almost a hour, crawling on his stomach. "Why does these mosquitoes like my arm so much?" he muttered to himself as more mosquitoes landed on his arm. In his hand was one of the well known Airsoft sniper rifle, accurate up to 500 feet, guaranteed. The gun had cost him more than a hundred dollars. He was playing the role of the sniper in this Airsoft scenario.The main job at the moment is to make sure no enemy gets past him. But the job seemed fruitless: he had not seen any moving person since he got there.
Suddenly, a movement in the distance caught his eye. He peered down the scope of his rifle to take a better look. What he saw was different from what he had expected. A giant praying mantis was looking back at him through the scope. When he looked up again to remove the little creature from his gun, he found that he had traveled back in time to his child hood, looking at a praying mantis with a magnifying glass. The creature looked back at him, as though trying to say something. It wiped it little head again and again with its claws, as if wiping away sweat. The creature looked incredibly complicated, yet extremely fragile; a slight squeeze between his forefinger and thumb would maim the little creature forever. Somewhere close by a dog barked. And the surrounding silence made the bark sound like a big bronze gong. Ray jumped at the sound, and the praying mantis took that moment to escape. Ray sighed. "Whatever," he thought "there are millions more out there. I can always find another one." He then went on his computer and surfed away online. After surfing the internet for who knows how long, Ray opened a game that requires a lot of computing power (for a game anyway). The dinosaur that Ray was surfing on froze. Technologies made for ten years ago is too weak to handle today's work load. Ray stared at the screen, waiting for it to come back to life. Unconsciously, he dozed off.
Ray woke with a start. He had dozed off in biology class again. Ray didn't really like biology, since all the organic stuff is confusing, and no one knows exactly how everything works. "Alright class, I want to introduce you guys to our new class pet." Said Mrs. Hamzeh as she held out a small light green creature on a PetriDish. It was a praying mantis.
Suddenly, a movement in the distance caught his eye. He peered down the scope of his rifle to take a better look. What he saw was different from what he had expected. A giant praying mantis was looking back at him through the scope. When he looked up again to remove the little creature from his gun, he found that he had traveled back in time to his child hood, looking at a praying mantis with a magnifying glass. The creature looked back at him, as though trying to say something. It wiped it little head again and again with its claws, as if wiping away sweat. The creature looked incredibly complicated, yet extremely fragile; a slight squeeze between his forefinger and thumb would maim the little creature forever. Somewhere close by a dog barked. And the surrounding silence made the bark sound like a big bronze gong. Ray jumped at the sound, and the praying mantis took that moment to escape. Ray sighed. "Whatever," he thought "there are millions more out there. I can always find another one." He then went on his computer and surfed away online. After surfing the internet for who knows how long, Ray opened a game that requires a lot of computing power (for a game anyway). The dinosaur that Ray was surfing on froze. Technologies made for ten years ago is too weak to handle today's work load. Ray stared at the screen, waiting for it to come back to life. Unconsciously, he dozed off.
Ray woke with a start. He had dozed off in biology class again. Ray didn't really like biology, since all the organic stuff is confusing, and no one knows exactly how everything works. "Alright class, I want to introduce you guys to our new class pet." Said Mrs. Hamzeh as she held out a small light green creature on a PetriDish. It was a praying mantis.
Friday 18 March 2011
Tuesday 15 March 2011
Banned Literature
People write to express their ideas. Some of the ideas are good, others controversial. When books and other literatures are banned, it is often because they contain controversial ideas, or it provoke a strong reaction to its readers. However, it is important to note, that not all controversial ideas are bad ones. It is merely an alternative for something. One can choose to ignore it if they find it too offensive. When a piece of literature provokes a very strong reaction from its readers, it usually contain an element of truth within its attack on the subject.
Literature should not be banned merely because it presents controversial ideas or it provokes strong emotions from its readers. It is merely presenting an alternative view to a subject. Or it is the playground of a madman, who write to tell the world of his outrageous ideas or crazy thought experiments. Or the book is written with the intention of provoking strong emotions in the first place, reacting strongly to the content of the book is exactly what the book is designed to do.
Books that presents controversial ideas test the firmness of our own values. Because everything in the book is so bizarre, we have to rely on our values and morals to tell us what is right and what is wrong.
Books that provoke strong emotions should be carefully analyzed and the source of the strong emotion found. For a book to cause strong emotion, it must have spoken out loud of an unspeakable problem, which is denied by millions and goes against the basic ideas of the people. For a statement to be felt like that, it must be very powerful, hitting where it hurt the most. It probably contain many elements of truth, each by themselves is very damaging. When combined together, they form a giant ball of hurt. These statements should be taken seriously, as they represent a fundamental flaw within what we were told and what is actually true.
Books should never be banned on account that they present controversial ideas or they evoke strong emotions.
Monday 28 February 2011
Vonnegut wisdom
"Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward." --Kurt Vonnegut
This quote signifies that Vonnegut has a optimistic personality. He would rather laugh than cry. We can see this in his novel Slaughter House five. Vonnegut was in Dresden when it was fire bombed. And he had to clean up the corpses after the bombing. After a firestorm, the flesh on people's body is probably cooked, and the body probably fell apart as soon as it is moved. So Vonnegut was probably forced to look at bloody human gore. But he decides not to cry about that, instead, he write a book about it, and fill the book with humor. I think that humor is the way the Vonnegut deals with the sadness and horror of war.
This quote signifies that Vonnegut has a optimistic personality. He would rather laugh than cry. We can see this in his novel Slaughter House five. Vonnegut was in Dresden when it was fire bombed. And he had to clean up the corpses after the bombing. After a firestorm, the flesh on people's body is probably cooked, and the body probably fell apart as soon as it is moved. So Vonnegut was probably forced to look at bloody human gore. But he decides not to cry about that, instead, he write a book about it, and fill the book with humor. I think that humor is the way the Vonnegut deals with the sadness and horror of war.
Fate or Freewill?
There are many believers of fate and freewill. One group argues that everything that happens in the world has been planed ahead of time by some powerful entity. The other group thinks that everything happens in this world is happening on it own, and every little event that occurs has a impact on the future. physics has a neat way to supporting fate.
Suppose that you have a twin brother or sister, born a few mintues before or after you. And you both live your life happly. Now imagne that on your twentyth birthsday, your twin want to go off into distant galaxies and explore; he or she leaves on the day of your twentyth birthday. After twenty years on earth, on your fourtyth birthday, he came back, landing in your back yard. The door of the space ship opens, and out comes your twin, Only a few years older than when he or she left. We can all see here that she or he, in some sense, has time traveled into your future. This has been proven by NASA, but with subatomic particles, and the time difference is only a few microseconds rather than years.
If we take the example at face value, then we see that the principple of fate is how nature works. If time is indeed a vector, then we can go forward and backword in time, and therefore fate is a posibility.
Suppose that you have a twin brother or sister, born a few mintues before or after you. And you both live your life happly. Now imagne that on your twentyth birthsday, your twin want to go off into distant galaxies and explore; he or she leaves on the day of your twentyth birthday. After twenty years on earth, on your fourtyth birthday, he came back, landing in your back yard. The door of the space ship opens, and out comes your twin, Only a few years older than when he or she left. We can all see here that she or he, in some sense, has time traveled into your future. This has been proven by NASA, but with subatomic particles, and the time difference is only a few microseconds rather than years.
If we take the example at face value, then we see that the principple of fate is how nature works. If time is indeed a vector, then we can go forward and backword in time, and therefore fate is a posibility.
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