Final Blog Posting!

Here it is- the grand finale!!

1) At least two analyses of photographs.

Smoke Screen

Battle of Chancelorsville

2) At least two creative pieces. This might include poems, short stories, or other innovative forms.

NUMA NUMA Homophonic Translation!

Shadow

I Remember

War Pigs (new)

Interview with a Soldier (new)


3) At least two letters.

Dear U.S. Citizens

Letter to a Soldier (new)

4) At least one group effort post.

Which is Which?

5) At least one post that relates, refers to or deals with a medium other than writing or photography (i.e. film, sculpture, etc.). Push the medium to its limit here. How does the form of a blog allow you to do something you couldn't have done on paper?

War in Video Games (new)

6) At least one post completely of your own design and execution.

War Redefined (new)

Interview with a Soldier

Here is an inteview of a soldier.

This interview is with a man who served in the military, was injured, returned home and willingly enlisted again, knowing full well that he may be called to duty again. The interviewer asks personal questions about the soldier’s history and why he chose to serve in the military. The soldier is very revealing in his answers and his morals are quickly revealed. Its encouraging to read the determination that this one soldier has for his country. It almost sounds as if he is speaking for an entire team or unit but really he is just speaking of himself, only one man. You can almost touch the spirit, dignity, and pride that he has invested in being a soldier. He virtually has allowed something terrible, such as war, into his life fully and accepts it as a challenge.

After reading this interview, there are still a few more questions I’d like to ask. He responded in much detail about himself and his experiences but I want to know a little bit more about his opinions on a larger scale.

Do you have any good memories of Iraq?
Do you think the citizens of the U.S. are well informed about the war now that you are back?
How is the overall morale of troops in Iraq?

War Pigs by Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath originally titled these lyrics “War Pigs”. 75% of these words have been changed, thus altering their meaning.


Ghouls gravitate in their moccasins
Julie lies with a blue mule
Even my time plays destruction
Seemingly of dire constitution
In the flowers by the bushes
As the wary mother keeps tilting
Demons and hates to men
Plotting their beautiful memories, oh lord yeah!

Penny helps the animals
They only say the weather
Who says they go out to fly?
They lift that ring to the pier

Time will tell on their pitiful maneuver
Making way just for friends
Telling Penny just like people in class
Well they told Jesus, declare comfort, yeah!

New in demeanor, when she tilts
As the wind moves, it keeps blowing
No messengers when people of the peace appear
Honor God, he said the hands
Did of justification, good is coming
On their kites, the wind progresses creepily
Begin mine for their sunshine
She laughed, spread her wings
All rise now!

Here is the link to the original song lyrics by Black Sabbath.

War Redefined...

1war
Pronunciation:\ˈwȯr\
Function:noun
Usage:often attributive
Etymology: Middle English werre, from Anglo-French werre, guerre, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German werra strife; akin to Old High German werran to confuse
Date:12th century
a (1): a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations (2): a period of such armed conflict (3): state of war b: the art or science of warfare c (1)obsolete : weapons and equipment for war (2)archaic : soldiers armed and equipped for war

-The Marriam Webster Dictionary Online


1war
Pronunciation:\ˈwȯr\
Function: verb
Usage: often referring to many events of U.S. History
Etymology: Middle English werre, from Anglo-French werre, guerre, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German werra strife; akin to Old High German werran to confuse; North American war to destroy anything and everything to fill the human desire to challenge
Date: 21st century
a (1): a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between The United States and any or all other nations (2): a period of such conflict in many different categories i.e. weight, drugs, poverty or disease (3): state of war b: the art or science of warfare including violence against an unreal threat c (1)obsolete : weapons, words and actions for destruction (2)archaic : people equipped for conflict

–Modern Interpretation for Blogger by Sarah Kelsey

War in Video Games

This is a link to a popular video game website that involves modern-day war and allows the player to feel as if they are in a virtual combat.

Here’s a link to some other trailers of war video games.

In today’s technology age, we are faced with a whole new medium that illustrates war beyond stories, letters, photos and even videos. As weapon technology and combat tactics sharpen and advance, various video games are created parallel to actual war. Now, not only do soldiers witness and experience the atrocities of war, but anyone from the comfort of their own home can experience war to a certain degree. Time has proven the damaging psychological effects that live combat has on our country’s veterans, but now we are able to spread some of these negative effects unto many more citizens, even children. Personally, I think that only those who are fighting to defend our country should have to witness war, and the fact that people spend a lot of money and get a lot of enjoyment out of virtual war zones is sick.

Letter to a Soldier...

Dear Dad,
Well I don’t know where you are right now but I wait for you every afternoon beside the window. I can see your car in the driveway but it never leaves like it used to. I wonder where you went ‘cause you never throw me in the air anymore. You’re usually gone for a long time, but not this long. Where did you go? I am really confused, Dad. I can’t ask Mom because I don’t know how. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to come back.
I think Mom is sad. She doesn’t talk anymore, she has no one to talk to, except me, but I don’t think she likes talking to me because I can’t talk back. There are no other big people around. She has no time to play with me, Dad, she’s always in the kitchen doing something. Why don’t you come home and talk to her? I can’t be a good friend to her like you can. One time I saw her really sad, she was crying. I thought only I could cry, but because you weren’t there, weird things happened.
Well dad, I don’t know where you went because you don’t come home in the afternoon. Don’t you miss me? I think you should come home really soon because I am growing everyday, I can almost walk now, Dad! You are going to miss it if you don’t come home. I’ll be waiting at the window still so please hurry up.
Love,
Sarah

Hello, I'm a Mac

Here is the link to the commercial that I am talking about. 

Everyone loves a witty commercial. In a series of ads by Apple Co. advertising their Mac desktops and laptops, they attempt to jokingly compare Macs and PCs through the two guys- the older, larger and more formally dressed gentleman is a representation of the PC and the younger, more modernly dressed and hip hairstyle guy represents the Mac. 

In a day an age where Americans are virtually slaves to their computers, choosing the right brand or model of computer is of utmost importance. 

But that's not to say that one would make a decision on what computer they are going to buy based on this superficial representation that only shows the actual computer for about three seconds at the end. The point of this ad is to poke fun at PCs and create a friendly rivalry where where Macs are against the traditional and apparently boring PCs. 

As an owner of a Mac myself, I wouldn't say that I chose the computer for all of the spiffy and fun things that it can do with iMovie as the ad exemplifies, but rather I feel it was a good purchase because of its dependability and limitation of viruses. 

Nonetheless, I find these commercials entirely entertaining and humorous. Poking a little fun at the "opposing side" was always an American pastime, satisfying our competitive spirits.