"And, I'll play the clarinet/Use clamshells for castinets"

♦ And we'll find us a home
Built of packaging foam
That will be there 'til after we die

--The Decemberists

I should be studying chemistry. What will happen if I don't study at all except for opening up my book and reading about how chocolate is good for you (yep, it has an antioxidant called phenol.)

But seriously, it's just that I can't study this close to a test. So if I didn't study as we were going along (which I didn't) then it's just too bad for me.

That song is a waltz, a story...sort of romantic but in a different way. Not one of those songs that try to make a point. It's just a fact that the packaging foam will be there till after they die.

It has to do with chemistry (polymers). But we don't know about polymers. We know how to change mass to moles. That's why I can never bring myself to study. It's so boring.

But then I got thinking: would that be a good thing to make a home out of? Would packaging foam be a good insulator? If they absolutely have to ship some things in this sort of packaging (and assuming they reuse it many times...) could they then put it in walls to insulate it?

Or do they do that already?

"Hear the sound of the falling rain, coming down like an armegeddon flame"

An essay on the Greenday song Holiday. This was kind of rushed, but there's so much in that song and it was really hard to write the essay on it. I don't think I was organized enough. I'll probably come back to this one later but right now I have to get up in about 5 hours so I should get to sleep.

In the Greenday song, Holiday, the speaker talks about the crazy society we live in. He uses poetic devices, and allusions to show his need to get away from the "hollow lies" and hypocrisy of the government.

The speaker uses allusions to religion, alternated with exclamations of the tragedy of war, and corruption.

At the beginning of the song, the speaker compares a time now, to armageddon--in the New Testament, the last battle between good and evil, before the judgement day (1). He says "Hear the sound of the falling rain/Coming down like an Armageddon flame." This simile compares an everyday occurance, the falling of the rain, to the Judgement day, and already hints that someday the things that are not right in this world, will be judged and put to shame.

One thing that is not right, is the death of soldiers, and civilians in war-torn countries. That is the tragedy of war, as the speaker says, "The ones who died without a name." These are needless deaths, but the war still goes on. This shows something fundamentally wrong with the world.

In the second verse, the speaker shows examples of things that are not quite right. One example is the "dogs howling out of key/to a hymn called 'Faith and Misery'." By using figurative meaning, this shows how some people have such devoted faith in their government, like a dog has to its master. They religiously sing this hymn and support the decisions, without realizing that this will bring misery.

Later on in the song, the idea of being religiously devoted to the ideas, without thinking of the consequences, is the line "Can I have another Amen (Amen!)/There's a flag wrapped around a score of men/A gag, a plastic bag on a monument." This also shows the tragedy the unnecessary deaths in war, listing out more things that are wrong. The speaker uses an internal rhyme scheme in the words "flag", "gag", and "bag" to accentuate the list of tragic things, and to link the people's disrespect with the death that they are having disrespect for.

Among the many references of corruption, the spoken verse near the end shows a lot of corruption.

First, the speaker starts off with the phrase "Sieg Heil", a reference to Nazi Germany, which was the epitome of evil dictatorship. This comparaison of America to Nazi Germany is fairly harsh. He then continues on to say "Bombs away is your punishment/Pulverize the Eiffel towers/Who criticize your government." This shows a brutal side of the government, certainly a lot closer to Nazi Germany that they were being compared to in the previous line.

Next, he continues on with the idea of violence, but also introduces the idea of judgement again. He says "Trials by fire, setting fire." This has a double meaning: it can be a reference to fire being used for violence, but also to Purgatory, the place between Heaven and Hell where you are judged, or tried. Yet the government still sets the fire in the wars. (2)

The speaker in this song does not agree with this messed up world. He wishes to go on holiday from it, and says in the chorus: "I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies/This is the dawning of the rest of our lives." He wants to be free from it, and his generation are just beginning their lives. He is leaving a message of hope that he and everyone else, can dream, and can change things from the hollow lies that characterize society now.

The speaker in Holiday believes that the messed up world will be judged, and should change. He wants to change it, to live in a world where things are more like riding in a car with the wind whipping through your hair.

--

(1) Dictionary definition

(2) "It was always burning since the world's been turning, we didn't start the fire, no we didn't light it but we're trying to fight it."

"I guess it's better to turn this way"

An essay on Here I dreamt I was an architect.

The song Here I dreamt I was an Architect, depicts the speaker's restlessness and need to live life to the fullest possible. It is about someone remembering as if in a dream, their past and all the things they have tried. He uses figurative meanings, metaphors, and even the rhythm of the music, to explain to the reader how he lived life to the fullest and made the best out of it.

In the first verse of the song, the speaker speaks of being a soldier marching towards the concentration camp, Birkenau. He describes the perfume of Birkenau in spring, when the town was lazy and relaxed before the war. He then says "When the barkers call the moon down, the carnival is ringing loudly now." This description of Birkenau seems to be one of happiness and laughter. However, the speaker is using figurative language to explain what was happening then. When the moon goes down and it is the start of a new day, another sort of riotous carnival starts: war. Even in the middle of a war, the speaker is living life to the fullest.

As the speaker grows older, he tries to settle down to maybe start a family. In this section of the song he speaks of being a successful architect whose work is unparalleled. He makes a balustrade, a kind of ornamental architechture, and builds a place so settle down. But he says "but the angles and the corners, even though my work is unparalleled, they never seemed to meet, this structure fell about our feet and we were free to go." The speaker chose the word free to describe how he felt after he left this house. He needs to be free to go and live life, and not confined to one set lifestyle.

The third verse takes place in the present: the speaker is currently in Spain and living like a Spaniard. He is older now, near the end of his life, as shown in the line "I will be buried with my marionettes." Still he is living life to the fullest and not worrying about much. He says, "Countess and courtesan have fallen 'neath my tender hand when their husbands were not around." Even though he is nearing the end of his life, he is still trying to get the best out of it, with the ladies. Even if this is not quite a good idea.

Next, he explains with a metaphor, what his life is like. He says "And we are vagabonds, we travel without seatbelts on, we live this close to death." In comparing himself to a vagabond, he is saying that he has never settled down in life. He is living on the edge, which is represented by his not wearing a seatbelt.

In the chorus, he says rather vaguely, that he tried many things and never ended up focussing in on one thing in life, but that turned out to be better in the end. He says "It's alright, it's okay, guess it's better to turn this way." He was given the opportunity to live a life which might not have been what he had in mind, but he could take the idea and run with it. His life even turned out better as he tried more things.

This lifestyle of never settling down, is depicted in the upbeat music which always seems to be moving forward to something new.

In the end, the speaker is happy with this restlessness in his life, and realizes that it is better for him than simply settling down and living carefully. He says "I won, so you lose [...] guess it's better to turn this way." The speaker's choice was the better option. In "Here I Dreamt I was an Architect" the speaker realizes, looking back on his life, that it was more important to live life to the fullest.

"You can't take the sky from me" (An essay on the Firefly theme song)

♦ I am still trying to get my essay writing skills to not suck. This one was written while looking at my english notes and a sample essay that our prof handed out. I wrote jot notes for it too (and if you care to look it's in the html just click view-page source.)

I don't really agree with this song but it intrigues me.

Ballad of Serenity, the theme song for the TV show Firefly, is about a group of people's struggle against things that would take away their freedom. This song uses symbolism, parallel phrases, and even the style of the music, to convey the importance of freedom in people's lives.

In the opening lines of the song, the singer is challenging those people who would try to take away his liberties. Here he says "Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand." The parallel structure puts emphasis on the list of things they are taking from him, as the only word that changes in each phrase is something else that is being taken away from them. He then goes on to say, "I don't care, I'm still free, you can't take the sky from me." The sky represents freedom: no matter what is done to them, they will be fine if they still have the freedom to travel around.

The freedom to travel around, in the show, is with a spaceship called Serenity. This spaceship represents freedom for its crew. In the final lines of the song, he sings "I have no place I can be, since I've found Serenity. You can't take the sky from me." Serenity enables them to travel around and be free, instead of staying in one place.

Even the lyrical, western style of music reinforces this theme of freedom. Before North America was completely settled, the west had connotations of freedom away from the land that was already settled. In the show Firefly, the vast expanse of space is a place of freedom. In this way the music reinforces the meaning of the song.

The Ballad of Serenity has many ways in which it shows that freedom is important in people's lives. Freedom has and always will be important to people: as the world is now very orderly, people are turning to other things of freedom like the internet.

In class essay on the poem "On the Subway"

I think that this semester, our prof is really good. He marks fair, and writes things in the margins ("Good point", "Line breaks", "Good overall but mention race". Then lots of constructive criticism at the end, but put in a constructive way.

Oh yes, you might want to read the poem (On the Subway by Sharon Olds), first.

♦ In the poem "On the Subway", the speaker describes the differences between herself and a boy she sees on the Subway, one day. She speaks of the contrast between her easy life and his difficult life. She uses similes and metaphors to show that she is rich and he is poor, but it is only because of reasons beyond their control.

In the beginning of the poem, the speaker describes this boy she saw on the Subway. The first thing she describes of him are his sneakers and his feet. She says in line 2: "His feet were huge, in black sneakers/laced with white in a complex pattern like a/set of intentional scars." Here, she is comparing the pattern on his shoes to scars. This simile makes the reader picture someone who has a rough life, and even his shoes seem to have scars.

In line 5, the speaker shows that she and the boy are only separated in their life by their luck: she happened to be born into a wealthy family or have acquired wealth, and he wasn't, but really they are both equal. She describes them as "a couple of molecules stuck in a rod of light rapidly moving through darkness." This is a metaphor, comparing them to molecules, which signifies that even though there is such a difference between their lives, they are both people and ultimately if life were fair, should be equal.

Later on in the poem, the speaker explains the difference between these two people by describing their clothes. She explains how it seems that he has nothing and she has everything money can buy. She says, in line 9, "He is wearing/red, like the inside of the body/exposed. I am wearing dark fur, the/whole skin of an animal taken and used." The simile comparing his red clothing to the inside of a body exposed, shows that he is poor and has nothing. When the speaker explains about her dark fur clothing that is the whole skin of an animal, taken away from it, she is showing the difference between her lifestyle and his, and that she is so rich almost as if she has taken things away from him and made him poor.

To explain the unfairness of this, the speaker explains how the boy is much stronger than she is, but because of his birth is forced to have a hard life. She describes her life, in line 28, and how she is fragile. She says "This/life he could take so easily and/break across his knee like a stick the way/his own back is being broken." This shows that he had a hard life, and she has an easy life, for reasons beyond their control, by using simile to compare her to a stick that can be easily broken.

These unfair things beyond their control make this lady so rich and this boy so poor, in the poem, and are described using similes and metaphors. In fact, this lady represents all the people who are born [white and] rich, and the boy represents all the people who have to struggle in life [because of discrimination].

I don't watch western movies

♦ In English class this semester, after reading some poems and some Shakespeare, we are (most likely) going to read Serenity, the movie based on the (cancelled) TV show Firefly. I read a bit at the website. Basically, it's science fiction based on a time in American history, sort of like a western movie except in space instead of, well, the west. There are a mis-matched group of people who are on this ship transporting illegal stuff so that they can get money to get by in life.

I figured it sounded interesting, so I went on Youtube and watched the first episode. It is not the type of movie that I like, but somehow still it kept me watching to find out what happens to all the characters.

It's interesting because it's a story I don't quite agree with.

One thing I don't agree with is the theme song, the Ballad of Serenity (Although it sounds nice, and serene. Although I downloaded it). One line that sticks out, is "Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me."

Think about it for a second. That would be horrible! Even if you still had your life (always a bonus) and could go travel in space, you would miss so much that is here on Earth! Beautiful landscapes like forests, mountains, rivers; everything else.

But all in all, the more I watched it (what I was doing today instead of studying), the more I enjoyed it.

I have realized that one major thing I like in stories, is that they offer insights into someone's life. And though I would never want to have a life like in this show, it's fascinating to watch it and imagine what it would be like.

PS: I've decided Kaylee is my favourite character...

KAYLEE
We're taking on passengers at Persephone?

MAL
That's the notion. We could use a little respectability on the way to Boros. Not to mention the money.

JAYNE
Pain in the ass...

KAYLEE
No, it's shiny! I like to meet new people. They've all got stories...

(from the Firefly website...) it's just the way she says it too!

---

EDIT (February 18): Yes, we are going to be watching Serenity in english class! Shiny!

Here are some pictures I found in my My Pictures, taken from screenshots when I was watching Episode 1 on Youtube.

(Pictures are copyright Joss Whedon or whoever owns the copyright for Firefly/Serenity).

Couchland: Krista, and Mac Users.

This is in the Student Lounge (Couchland). Krista won't go to folklore on the first day of the semester, and Leah doesn't approve of mac computers.