MY BLOG

Final blog post-definition of protest

2008-04-30T09:40:00.001-07:00

After being in this class, my definition of protest has extended its boundaries. I still believe that protest is a human beings desire to enact change in the world, however now I believe there are more devices of protest than I previously thought existed. Protest can come in many forms and fashions. Viewing the "Critical Mass" video made me realize that even if someone is not intentionally trying to protest, a progressive change in the world can still occur when people are working together. After being in this class, I realized that protest can spawn from anyone, with any motive as serious as that of self immolating oneself to advocate peace or as silly as running around in gorilla masks to raise awareness of sexism in hollywood. After covering a broad array of protests in the world, I feel that proest encompasses many more peoples lives than previously. Effective protests can be very impromptu or can be highly planned out. However, it seems that those who are more active about making a change are the ones to plan out a more innovative way to display their protests. The best protests are the ones that reach the most amount of people, in my opinion. I realized this after viewing Michael Moore's film, as he reached a majority of the US population and brought awareness concerning the Bush Administration by making his documentary film. All in all I am much more educated in the devices of protests as a result of this class.

This is a protest song because...

2008-04-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

The protest song I am choosing to example is "Wake Up" by Rage Against the Machine. This song was released on their self-titled debut album and has gained much attention for its political agenda. The song is basically a wake up call to those listening to question and analyze the current administration in the United States, specifically racism in the government and the lack of ability of the counter-intelligence programs of the FBI. This song is a good example of protest, because like most Rage Against the Machine songs, it is a very intense, loud, angry song which calls for the listener to get enraged at the current situation and stand up and do something. It is an activation song, specifically calling people out to join their cause and spread awareness. During live performances, the band will play this song and take a break in the middle where the lead singer Zach de la Rocha will very dramatically and intensely recite a monologue pertinent to any current issue at hand. I believe this song does a great job of matching its message with the tone of the instrumentation. It gets people actively engaged in their music and as a result their intended message.

With friends like these--the rhetoric of Ann Coulter and Michael Moore

2008-04-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

I don't really know if there is a formal entity that can disambiguate "protesters" from "non-protesters", but if it comes down to it, I guess Michael Moore and Ann Coulter are protesters. They both raise questions to the leaders of society and try to uncover truth where they believe it is hidden. In Moore's documentary films, he leads the viewer through his map reasoning of how everything seems to be connected to each other. He does a good job of persuading the audience to believing his points and conclusions. Coulter does her job by creating witty remarks and personal attacks to the replies of the person she is arguing. I feel as if both of these people, however, concentrate too heavily on trying to make their opponents look bad, as if that is their primary objective. Using this tactic is what I believe has given them their popularity. I think that by debating things in this manner, it attracts more attention for the average viewer and makes the issue seem more interesting as a consequence of making it more dramatic. That is why I believe that Michael Moore and Ann Coulter still have jobs today.

Fallacies and Ann Coulter

2008-04-17T11:50:00.000-07:00

It seems that every clip I've ever seen of Ann Coulter, she is more concerned with winning the current argument at hand rather than dissecting the issue to which she is supposed to be concerned. It seems her personal appearance and public persona is more important to her than intellect. She constantly presents the points of her arguments in a manner of rebuttal to the person she is arguing. She seems to bend the truth of others by taking things out of context and using them to make her own points valid. She misconstrues the words of others for her own benefit. I feel as if she didn't have anyone to argue with, she would not have anything to say, because most of her credibility comes from her ability to make witty replies and personal attacks to the person she is arguing. Although she is quite effective employing this tactic, it is an unethical way to approach the dissection of an issue. In my opinion, I believe that Ann Coulter should be unemployed.

Point-of-view and subject matter

2008-03-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

That was scary. This was my first thought after viewing Jesus Camp. I was astounded at the pressures placed on young children by their parents about religion. The entire thing just didn't sit well with me. I have sympathy for the brainwashed kids knowing that because they are taught this way of life at such an early age, it will be ingrained in their minds forever, and is very difficult to separate. I was raised Catholic, and was required to go to church every Sunday, go to Sunday school all throughout childhood and adolescence, and the whole nine yards. Seeing these kids in Jesus Camp, I could partially relate to their experience.
The movie portrays its subjects in a negative light, in my opinion, but that is because I did not agree with the way of life that the subjects were leading. However, a person of the same religious background as the subjects in Jesus Camp would think that they are portrayed in a positive light. That is what frightens me. I can only anticipate what crazy shit the second half of the movie will have.

My Writing Process

2008-03-14T08:58:00.001-07:00

I never liked the traditional writing process when it was taught to us in school. I understand that papers need to be planned out, and that all the steps were logical in creating a polished paper, I just felt like it was too much. For me, the bulk of my writing process occurs before I ever put pen against paper. Once I read the prompt, or get the assignment, I'll start gathering ideas in my head until the time comes for me to finally write them out. Normally, when I write a paper the process is quite fast, because I know more or less what I want to say before I start writing. The hardest part for me is always the first line, because that dictates where the rest of the paper will lead, and also dictates to the reader what the rest of the paper will be like from the beginning. I like to listen to music when I write, or when I'm doing anything in general. I know that this probably isn't the best way to go about writing papers, but I always stick to the rule "if you wait until the last minute it only takes a minute." I find that when I only give myself time right before the due date, I get extremely focused and can get all of my ideas out of my head in a relatively short amount of time.

Appearance Affects Protest

2008-02-27T19:18:00.001-08:00

For Mike and Andy of the Yes-Men, their appearance is used only to deceive those around them into believing their fake identity, in order to actively criticize and demonstrate to the public the incompetence of specific organizations. Initially, they try to fit into whatever their setting is in order to gain the confidence of those around them. To do so, they normally have to dress in expensive looking business suits. However, once the confidence of their audience is gained in their setting, they change their appearance to poke fun at something or call out an inconsistency-as was exampled in the conference they attended pretending to be a member of the WTO prancing around in a giant golden spandex penis suit.
Punk rock culture, on the other hand, uses their appearance for no other reason than to look different. Just because they have the right to wear whatever they want, apparently they like to exercise it. They have no specific target to implement their protest against, other than the overbearing "man". Some punk rockers do actually have a cause and are sending a message of awareness through their music, and their appearance and attitude reflect their lifestyle, which is justifiable. However, much of the recent punk rock bands to come out in the 90's and 21st century reflect appearances that are created by using punk rock as a norm to dress, rather than dressing in whatever way expresses their individualism.
Punk fashion does not count as a protest. They should focus more upon the message that their music is sending rather than the appearance contorted with their genre. That is all.

Staging Protests in Different Mediums

2008-02-27T18:39:00.000-08:00

I dislike PETA. A lasting impression has been ingrained in me about PETA- in Middle School they vehemently passed out flyers around my campus trying to condemn my fellow students and I for our food choices. I didn't get to the top of the food chain to eat leaves. Although I do not believe in eating large amounts of meat, I believe that supplemented with large amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables, one can create the most nutritious meals. I am a very health conscience person, and I eat chicken breast- a very high protein/low fat meat quite frequently. According to PETA, ideally I shouldn't be eating any meat. I don't need people telling me what I can and can't eat. I think that I have enough knowledge to know what exactly I want to put in and keep out of my body. I guess I'm one of those people who sides with the extreme hate stance towards PETA. In order to agree with PETA, I would feel I would be giving up too much of my own personal autonomy; something as simple as choosing what to eat.
The Guerilla Girls wear gorilla masks to create their anonymity, which is the most obvious aspect of their campaign that stands out to me. What, are they ashamed to show their faces? Or do the masks they wear look better than what's underneath?

Critical Mass

2008-02-27T17:36:00.001-08:00

I enjoyed the video about Critical Mass, and I specifically advocate their ingenious organization in that there are no real "leaders" or hierarchy to the organization, leaving authorities with no target to clamp down on. Instead, the riders are an organized chaos in every motorist's face, rubbing in the fact that they are riding bicycles for multiple reasons. One reason, it obviously gets the attention of everyone around showing there are other ways to get around an urban city than personal automobiles. Riding a bicycle is great for fitness and it costs nothing. There are no pollutants expelled from a bicycle. I say all of this never participating or viewing a Critical Mass ride. If I were a motorist, driving to a set location and needed to be there by a certain time, I would definitely be upset by the complete stop in traffic that would occur as a result of the riders. However, I believe this device of protest is much more credible than others because it is non-violent, and increasing the health of everyone who participates. While it may inconvenience motorists trying to get to destinations, I believe if it were more accepted by authorities, they could make public announcements that way motorists could know in advance that there will be a delay, and have the option to find other transportation accommodations.

Ethos as a Means of Persuasion

2008-02-27T17:19:00.001-08:00

Cindy Sheehan creates her ethos by using the tragic death of her son to gain sympathy which she manipulates into credibility. She protests the Iraq war, because she believes that it directly killed her son, who should have lived. After doing some more research on Cindy via the most credible source on the internet aka Wikipedia, I have some to the conclusion that she has too much time on her hands. She must be a credible expert grounded in the endeavors of US foreign policy and militaristic action, or else I don't know why anyone would listen to her, or give her all of her publicity. Yes- the death of her son is tragic, no- that does not give her the right to be plastered all over the public media sector as if she is on some crusade to stop the war. I do not find the ethos that Sheehan creates to be appealing. The most appealing ethos to me is credibility gained through service efforts and giving, combined with intelligence-whether gained from studying at a university or individually self-taught. This has led me to support most of the causes brought forth by Zach de la Rocha, with the backing of Noam Chomsky. Not to say that I support all their interests, but I do support some.

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

2008-02-18T08:58:00.001-08:00

Ethos, pathos, and logos are three literary devices used to convey ideas and messages through rhetorical means. These three devices are exampled in the speeches by Fannie Lou Hamer and Stokely Carmichael. Fannie Lou Hamer strongly employs the use of pathos in her speech in front of the credentials committee. She begins with an appeal to pathos by stating her full name, city, and address as to convey to the audience that she has nothing to hide-this also appeals to ethos, as the audience now fully knows her identity. Throughout the rest of her speech, Hamer appeals to pathos by narrating her own story about how she tried to stand up for her right to vote and was viciously beaten by police. Stokely Carmichael relies on his ability to publicly speak and the content of his words to convey his ideas. Specifically, Carmichael employs use of logos and ethos. Carmichael establishes his logos specifically when he says “…I am black and I am a human being. Therefore I have the right to go into any public place. White people didn’t know that.” He uses this same format to criticize the unjust laws and policies in the United States concerning the civil freedoms of blacks, always using the closing phrase “White people didn’t know that”. In short, the speeches by Hamer and Carmichael employ the uses of ethos, pathos, and logos to convey their ideas to the intended audience.

I believe....

2008-01-28T01:21:00.000-08:00

I believe in family. I believe that music is one of the most potent, powerful drugs. I believe that real, meaningful music has no genre. I believe in relaxing. I believe in Barton Springs, and chillin' out at the green belt with my bros jumping off cliffs into water rather than staying inside. I believe in regimented daily physical exertion of the body. I believe there is nothing more beautiful than natural bouldering over open water while the sun is rising, or any distinct change between light and dark involving our visibility of the sun against water. I believe the mind can do many things, if the conscious will let it. I believe in jamming out and the abilities of myself and my friends. I believe in porch swings and hobbit holes. I believe in descriptive adjectives and the fun in watching the sun come up, to fall asleep while the working world is waking up. I believe in jamming out, and rooms at the Music Lab. I believe in Led Zeppelin, and loving every aspect of my life. I believe kindness has no physical identity, and should be applied to all identities. I believe if SRV were alive today he would be playing shows every Friday and Saturday in my ATX. I believe in the 787 four nine. I believe in participating in pick up games of Ultimate Frisbee, winning, and then jumping in Barton Springs on hot summer months. I believe in playing the guitar until your fingers hurt, and singing until your voice become scratchy and then continuing anyways. I believe in the Earth, Charles Darwin, and intuition. I believe in perseverance, discipline, and diligence, and that camping teaches you much about yourself. I believe in putting two spaces after every sentence. I believe places hold memories, and function over form. I believe in cooking one's own food and making one's own wine. I believe if politicians had to fight in their own wars, alongside their countrymen, there would be less war. I believe the Chicago Cubs will win the World Series next year, Walter Payton will come back to life, and that life would be different if John Lennon were still alive. I believe I can't list all of my beliefs, because some are solitarily personal. I believe that if you wait until the last minute it only takes a minute.

Protest, and what not

2008-01-23T13:30:00.000-08:00

What is protest? Protest is a human beings innate desire to attempt to enact a desired change in the world. Protest can come in many forms and fashions; surely everyone has seen or encountered some device of protest, whether viewing it on the television, reading it in the newspaper, or perhaps "live and in person" as the protest is occurring. Most of the more famous protests, however cumbersome, are connoted with some form of violence- whether initiated from the opposition or from the protesters. It seems that once words have lost their effect, the final resort to impose will upon others is with physical force.
But where does protest come from? At its most basic level, it is a motive within an individual who believes that his/her interpretation of some policy, entity, law, rule, or any other captivating agent is better than that of those currently with the jurisdiction to create. It is spawned from an idea to improve a condition facilitated by change.
My favorite example of protest is that of Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk Hòa thượng Thích Quảng Ðức, as I had mention in class but couldn't remember his name. Honestly, though, that's a hard name to remember, and it's nothing close to looking like English. The fact that he could believe in an idea-something completely intangible- enough to willfully give his life for it is humbling.