In the future ...

What will people be using now in 5 years and what will they be using it for?


Assuming that networks like myspace, facebook, tumblr, and other blogging sites will probably still be popular five years from now. I'm sure they will change, probably become even more addictive. Five years from now, we will probably be using those sites a little differently as well. They have already turned a different directions since they have started. More people meet over the internet rather than face to face. A lot more advertising and spam will take over some of those sites. Money will start to play a bigger role in new applications for those type of sites. Maybe even the news will begin to get more involved just because those sites are usually the most populated. It's hard to say what will be going on over the internet 5 years from now, it changes so frequently that we almost don't feel the changes that are happening. We connect a lot through this the internet. It's possible that a lot more jobs will start to form where you spend most of your time on the internet. There probably will be a lot more help lines to where you talk to someone over the internet rather than over the phone. Maybe we won't even actually talk to a person but rather a computer.


new technology .... I'm guessing books will probably be less likely to be printed and more popular on screens.




15 years from now ....


Technology-wise, a lot will change. The technology we use now, what makes it 15 years, will probably be smaller. New companies will have formed promoting their new technology. Maybe a company like Apple will make it, or maybe a new company even more popular will come along. Our music, tv shows, movies, and cyperspace will all be affected. CD's have already become less popular, I'm guessing in 15 years most of our music will be bought through something to where we don't even have hard copies. Movies, like dvds, blu-rays, and now 3d disks will probably stay around a little longer. Everything we see will probably be a little more in your face, popping out like we're wearing 3D glasses. I can assume then that healthy-wise we will all be affected. Such as worse eye sight, hearing, headaches, ect. Our media will probably become a little more controlling, not that it isn't already but it will be even more so. Everything will move at a much more rapid pace, new technology will show up that will make us even lazier. There's really a lot of possibilities and the weirdest thing is that their are people out there that already know what our future will look like. The first flying cars might come out but probably not be popular yet, faster transportation, less actually face to face communication. A lot will be digital.


50 years from now ...


There will defiantly be an over population of people, technology, trash, ect. The types of jobs we have now probably won't be as popular anymore. Technology might take over a lot of the jobs we have. The way we live will become closer, everything will be much more populated. I can't really see there being too much ground space, or as much as there is now. A lot will change in technology, a lot is always changing in technology. What we see or do now will be out of date. Our laptops, maybe they won't even be laptops. As popular as they are now, if they are around the size of our cell phones now will be our laptop sizes with expandable screens. I'm thinking our screens will probably be like holograms. Our bodies will probably have our own new technologies built in. We might all have this type of communication build into us to where we connect more in that way.








other subjects to consider for the future ......


sports - I know that sports right now, and have always been, really popular. I'm assuming that our feelings toward sports aren't going to change. What I see changing is how we play sports. I feel like the way we play against each other will be more like clocking in to a building, stepping into a room or area of your own. Where a type of computer will download your skills and you will play virtually against other teams that could be in a different rooms or buildings, or maybe states, countries, ect. Distance will not be as much of a problem. It might be rare to actually see other teams. But there will also be a way to view those players actions so that it still looks like a game.


exercise - For me, this is important. This is something that already really isn't that popular anymore. I really want to know how they are going to change exercise in a positive and useful way in the future. Already there are things like WiiFit, but those types of things aren't as beneficial as they advertise. I have yet to hear a "success story" involving exercise and technology. Maybe our exercise will be just how we will play sports. We'll go to our own private rooms, clock into a computer and have the ability to change the temperature and scenery of the room to better fit our atmosphere to how we like to workout.


food/health - What I think about is also from the movie the Island. To where a computer tests your sugar levels, cholesterol levels, and your overall health to decide what we will eat. I can't really imagine how food will change, but it most certainly will. There will be a day in the future where we won't go to grocery stores, we'll have some sort of hook up in our houses that our food will get sent from and we'll pay like atms.


transportation - I know flying cars are already a possibility but I wonder how our trains, airplanes, buses, and subways will be effected by the changes of the future. We will have a need for them if we have cars that fly? Will they travel faster? Will public transportations become more popular or even less popular?

All At One Point/ The Aquatic Uncle [Short Stories 4 & 5] & Oryx & Crake [novel 7]

My main thought that All At One Point brought up was that it's amazing how people can occupy the same space and never really get to know each other. How people can be in the same room and never say hi. How quickly we forget those people once time has passed. I guess that's a little bit of a depressing thought, but it's true and I can't pretend otherwise. It always seems that at the end of something is when you finally start to get to know people then your time is up and it's time to keep moving on. On a happier note, it is also wonderful how

We already discussed in class that The Aquatic Uncle was about evolution but I also think it is about change. Change is constant and for a lot of people it is hard. In this story we have the uncle who is a fish that doesn't want to face having to live outside of water even though the world is changing around him. He is given plenty of options to go about change in a more comforting way but of course no one really likes change. I think this story is relevant to a lot of people's view on change. I enjoy that the author added a character who was the complete opposite of the uncle and that the main character had both of these people in their lives. By having someone who is on the opposing side that is also an understanding person really makes a big difference in people's view of change.



Oryx & Crake

So I actually started this book a few weeks ago because I thought we were suppose to read it for a different week. When I found out that we weren't suppose to read it I stopped reading it but will probably finish it for my last entry post. So this is what I thought about it so far; 

Parts 1-2 [chs 1-6]

I thought the opening to the book was pretty great. Since I am not a guy, I can only guess how they would act in such a situation as the snowman is put but from my point of view for Margaret, who is obviously a female as well, to capture the feeling of a male as her main character is dead on. Too often authors stay in their gender groups when writing because of course it is easier for someone to write about a gender mindset when you are indeed part of the gender group as well. I enjoy how she is getting the mindset of a guy, which we can especially see every time that snowman's/Jimmy's mother is mentioned. So far when the mother is mentioned we get this frustrated and defending mother who wants her child to both grow up and stay young at the same time. I think this is very typical in mothers and maybe it's also a little gender-typical, but none the less it supports the guys' mind.

The first part for me displays some of the things I'm worried about for the future. They don't fully get into what is really going on but at this point I have a feeling that Crake is the owner of this company, I'm guessing OrganInc Farms that we are introduced to in part 2, that during time ends up being the largest company. So large that they decide how the human race will evolve. Such as men not having facial hair. It would be very interesting to know what type of alterations we would have if we gave someone the power to change us and to take away things that we are used to, that make us human.

One of my favorite parts so far is when Jimmy is explaining how they lived when he was younger when  OrganInc Farms's workers had their own community and relates it to medieval times.

"So are we the kings and dukes?" asked Jimmy.

"Oh, absolutely," said his father, laughing.

I'm finding it difficult to explain why I enjoy this little exchange between son and father. I think it shows a lot how the book is going to go. How Jimmy is going to grow up having had his parents, mostly his father, work at this huge company and live a higher class life than most people but then he's going to be completely against the after effects of this company. 

So far I think this book has a lot to do with change, realization, and how both of those ideas are going to effect each other. Such as, how the main character is going to try to get through to the next day realizing he can't change the past.

Bloodchild [short story 3]

I have enjoyed reading some short stories lately, it's something I rarely do because I kind of forget that they're there. When you usually finish a novel they make you feel as if you're glad that you've been told this story. They have this completed sense about them, even series have this completion and when they don't we feel as if something was left out. Short stories don't really need to solve anything, they don't need to make you feel as if everything turned out alright.

So when I said that this story was strange, I really meant that it's different. Yes there were a lot of unusual elements to the story but that's not necessarily bad. After talking about the story in class, it's pretty clear what this story is about; survival. It's not about survival of the fittest, which I dislike that phrase anyway because it's selfish, but it's just plain and simple survival. Doing exactly what you have to because you might not know any better, it's expected of you, or out of sacrifice. I feel as if the main character gave into this life because he didn't know much else, he was almost forced into it in that sense because he didn't have a choice and the only choice he had was sacrifice. It's easy to stand back and judge him for giving in, for not fighting more, for not wanting something different for himself. I can't decide if I feel his actions were heroic or stupidity. When I think about what I would have done in his case, it's hard to say that it was stupidity. To one's self it wouldn't feel like a heroic act but as an outside realizing the sacrifice how can you not say it's heroic. Then in the same sense I think he was foolish. He was foolish to give up his life to just live for bearing the alien's offspring. 

But of course as soon as I say that we have to get into the idea of humans and the fact the so many people give up almost all they have to their children. I don't think people should have to feel that way. If having a child makes someone so unhappy because they have to leave their old life, then don't have one. There is nothing worse than making someone feel regret for something they cannot change. Though that's sort of another subject entirely.

Another aspect of the story that I thought was different was the connection between the main character and the alien. Sure he grew up being shown diagrams, he sort of accepted the fact that his life was planned out for him. He lived in the reserved pretty much like a caged animal, sure he was safe, sure he wasn't going to be given away to a stranger and these situations seem great because either way his fate was sealed. He had this bond with the alien, and it was strong enough for him to do what he needed to do and not resent her for it. I guess that's what I think was so odd about their relationship, the fact that there wasn't any resentment. How can you feel the same about someone if the only choices they give you are negative. Either you let my children feed off of you and when they are ready to come out it could kill you or your sister gets it. Then you think about it what does being upset about it do for you, bitterness? If she asked him for such a sacrifice then why didn't she sacrifice her children. She wanted to watch him grow up that's why she chose him, he basically was her child, how can you put that type of burden on someone you love just for your own sake. 

I enjoyed the brother as a character. I think he was the easiest to relate to about how I felt about their situation. Yet I pity him, he wanted out, he didn't want his fate to just be like everyone else's. I'd like to think that maybe he changed his fate but since the story was about survival I know that is unrealistic. There really was no way for him to run away no matter how hard he tried. I still admire his spirit to want more. This is something I rarely say because I usually find something to relate to in people but I despised the mother, she was weak in my opinion. She felt that she owed the alien one of her children because the alien introduced her to her husband. Could she not realize that the alien was practically breeding them there was nothing selfless in her actions. So she just stood aside, practically ignoring the fact that her sons were being given up as incubators.

The story was written a little gory, I enjoyed how the alien's children were refereed to as grub. That was a nice little touch, made them seem like leeches. I didn't really think about the author as male of female, I guess we could say that it's much more likely that a female would write about birth but I don't think we can completely rule out that fact that a guy could write this story. So I did like this short story, there was a lot to think about and I always think that's a positive thing.

the future.

I'm a bit torn about how I feel about the future and where technology is going and how they are going to effect each other.

In some ways I wish technology would stay the way it is now, but I know that isn't going to happen. Then there is another part of me that can't help but deny that some of the future technology will be extremely beneficial to us.

I'm one of those people who grew up without technology as well as with it. Meaning that I didn't start getting into technology till I was in middle school. I lived in a smaller city, which at that time there was more land than houses but of course now it is no longer that way, and we didn't really get that into computers till later. Once DVDs started coming out both my sister and I tried to deny the fact that they were going to replace VHS but now that DVDs are popular we like it that way, same with blu-rays. We also still have never had tv channels at our house so we're used to not watching tv.

But I feel like there will be types of technology that will help us such as replacing legs, arms, or other body parts. Then there are things that I feel are unnecessary, such as 3D tvs. I'm really not excited to see where tv technology is going to go. I guess that's because I don't watch tv. Since I do watch a lot of movies, I still feel a dislike for 3D. I already get really wrapped up in movies and I think too many directors will chose to or be forced to make 3D movies and they will rely on that 3D effect rather than focus on better story plots.

I also know that with the way the world is heading involving the environment we will probably need to change our technology so that we can continue to function.

So as I mentioned before, I'm torn because I understand that somethings I just won't be able to change, other things I wish I could change, and then there's also those things that I know we need because everything is changing.

Aye & Gomorrahby Samuel R. Delany [short story 2]

At first as I was reading this short story I felt so confused, and slowly I felt less confused and then at the end I realized I still felt confused. Then I thought about what I had just read and realized I wasn't as confused as I thought I was. I actually felt like I really understood something important about the story and after listening to what other people had to say about it in class I know what that important thing was. After reading this and figuring it out I feel as if I've learned something about myself. The actions in the story itself don't reflect in my life in any way but the motives to those actions do.

I thought this story was about desires. In my mind it almost played a role of celebrity vs a fan. You have these characters who are Spacers; they are desired, there's a much more limited number of them compared to the Frelk, they're a bit of an outcast as a group, people want them but at the same time don't want them around. Then you have the Frelk who make it part of their lives to desires these Spacers. They pay them for whatever it is that they desire. They can't actually be with the Spacers, they can't actually do much of anything but at the same time they want something from them and it's something the Spacers are incapable of giving, even if what they want is just some sort of emotion. I don't think the Spacers are capable of giving emotion to the Frelk. The way they conversed about them amongst themselves in the story seems as if they think very low of the people who think very highly of them.

It was interesting to read the story from the point-of-view that it was given, even if it did make it confusing. I liked how when the Spacer and the girl were talking they tried to understand each other a little. She didn't want to be a Frelk but she came to terms of the fact that she just couldn't help it. She wanted someone who couldn't possibly want her back. At the same time the Spacer sort of felt like "he" [I'll use the word he because he was a male before becoming a Spacer] wanted something from her but even though money was the most common thing that they wanted from Frelks he didn't want money from her. Even though the Spacers don't have desires in ways I think they do. I just think they don't act on those desires, they almost don't know what they are, and they certainly don't let it shape who they are.

The one thing I still don't understand about this short story is why so many people wanted them to leave. I guess I understand why the girl, at the end of the story, wanted the Spacer to leave, possibly because she knew she had nothing to give in return. Also maybe she was just so used to being lonely that she wanted to just end her fantasy because he couldn't give her anything and the only way to end that thought is to do what you can to get rid of it, by asking it to leave and hope that it does go away.

11/20/10 class notes

What makes it Sci-Fi; my idea of sci-fi

• space adventure
• adventures
• ranks on a ship, usually mostly about the operating group
• mysterious planets and the adventure there
• a mission given to the spaceship
• new technology, technology in general
• spaceship
• isolation, usually
• unknown force they have to go against, usually a new monster
• a lot of the planets looks the same, dry & dusty, so areas might have more greenery
• sometimes new races/creatures, but usually the main race is human

In-class ideas

• the future
• robots, artificial humans
• I Robot
• Post-apocalyptic
• Aliens, cross species relationships
• Good/Evil
• Fashion of space
• time travel

Star Light, Star Bright By Alfred Bester [Short Story 1]

I enjoyed the way this short story started out. It really got to the action and point quite quickly. What I liked the most about the beginning of the story was how the main characters name continued to changed but I liked how the author added all those names together so that you could better realize that it was the same person. I think it was an interesting way to make you really wonder what this person was doing. Such as why he was interviewing these people with the same last name. And why he was asking them as a different person with a different occupation and what seemed to be different motives. As I was reading I knew there had to be a pattern in his questions and then I soon realized that it was strange that a man acting as someone from the Science Institute, Association of National Broadcasters, and the Better Business Bureau would ask so many questions about the families kids.

The next thing I liked about this short story was that the main character who is a teacher who is looking through fifth-grade homework about a very common subject, their vacation, and reads this story that seems completely exaggerated and he actually believes the child. I like that we get to read the child's homework to better understand what it is that the main character is looking for. What I think is strange that he not only believes this child but he wants to find him for money. I'm not sure how many people would invest in such a crazy idea about this ten year old boy who could have just made up. What I also think is that this idea is kind of sad that they want to take these kids and use their powers that no one fully understands and sell, or control,  them for money. I'm sure the children don't really think about using their power except for things that only kids are worried about such as having to eat stuff they don't like or if they're a lazy children then they worry about having to get up and walk somewhere. There are much more dangerous things that they could be using it for and those things are what adults would use the powers for. I know these children don't fully realize their powers and of course they never mean to hurt anyone all they know is protection and realize what they need to do to keep who they love and themselves protected.

Kiki's Delivery Service & Hayao Miyazaki

Kiki's Delivery Service, Hayao Miyazaki

I use to watch Kiki's Delivery Service during the summer when I went to visit my grandma because we never, and still don't, have tv channels at my house. But I remember Kiki's Delivery Service coming on. Back then I probably didn't realize what a work of art it is as well as the rest of Hayao Miyazaki's films are. I actually didn't really learn about him till last year when my sister practically made me watch Howl's Moving Castle. I really liked Howl's Moving Castle, at first I was just like wow this is a great movie but then I found myself needing to watch that movie. It was my favorite Miyazaki movie for a while till I watched Spirited Away, which was actually just a few days ago. I found that movie to be so amazingly captivating. I'm actually a little lost for words when trying to even describe his movies.

One thing that feels so great about going to an art school is that you find people feel the same way about things that a huge majority could care less about. It's not that maybe those people wouldn't like those things but they don't want to try anything new to appreciate something that they only think is going to be dumb. Being around the people at school has really opened up my eyes to new things and enhanced the things I was already interested in. I have bought all the books that we were suggested to read and I have found that I have liked each one. I'm happy to have been opened up to new books because I probably would not have found them on my own. I know the people from my high school would probably look down on me for enjoying animes or mangas, or probably even Hayao Miyazaki's movies.

One small thing I enjoy about Miyazaki's movies are the cute little characters that play little side roles. Like the cat in Kiki's Delivery Service, the baby who turns into a mouse, a little black bird, and the balls of ash in Spirited Away, or Turnip-head and the dog in Howl's Moving Castle. They have this comic relief to the serious parts of his movies. They are so adorable and sometimes you see them off to the side making these faces that are part of their personality. I just want to hug each and every one of them.

He has powerful characters, environments, and storylines. His storylines sometimes actually have me a bit confused. I love the needs and desires of his characters. How they really want to be good people and always have good goals. Of course the scenes are beyond beautiful. I find it so amazing how full of color they are but never appear over the top.

Anansi Boys [Novel 6] & Stardust [Movie 2]

Anansi Boys

I am reading Anansi Boys right now. I'm a few chapters into it and I really enjoy Neil Gaiman's writing style. It's quite captivating. After watching his interview from when he was at MTI today in class I really enjoy him as a person and a writer. After hearing that Fat Charlie and the rest of the characters are indeed of an african decent, I feel it should have been obvious to me, especially when Mrs. Higgler told Charlie an African Tale that seemed to relate to them and yet it wasn't obvious to me. I wish I could comment more about the book but I just feel as if it's one of those books where nothing is as it seems. Such as, when Fat Charlie talks about his father I feel this deep sense of dislike when I think about the father. But since I don't know that whole story yet I feel as if that feeling might change throughout the book, or maybe not at this point it's just a hunch. I enjoy how the story is flowing. We get the here-and-now, an ancient African Tale, past experiences, and past lives all within a few chapters. It's a nice and refreshing flow.


Stardust

I actually stumbled upon this movie a couple of years ago in a movie rental store during the summer and I thought it was a great movie. I don't find it cheesy at all. If it is at all cheesy the story flows so well that it doesn't bother me. The characters are lovable, maybe a little crazy but enjoyable. There's a lot of little messages in the movie like be who you are, what you always want is not always what you need, and other little messages. I like how there's this wall that no one thinks about crossing but really there's this whole other place/world just on the other side of that wall. My favorite character is Tristian. He sort of has no idea what he wants out of life. It's like he feels he has this life to live and so he begins to chase after this girl who is so wrong for him. I like how his adventure betters his life and it makes him happier than what he thought would happen.

The Golden Compass [Novel 5], Narnia, & Harry Potter & Inkheart

The Golden Compass 

Even though this book was written from a younger age group than myself, I still enjoyed it. The fact that it was easy to read meant that it was easier to get lost in the story much quicker. There were so many interesting ideas brought up in this book. 

My favorite being the daemons that the human race had. It's like everyones' soul was out in the open, there was no hiding it, there was no getting away from who you truly are. I think the author made a good choice in having the daemons in an animal form. It's something that is easily related to, we all have heard or been asked the question "what kind of animal would you be?". Philip Pullman could easily answer that question in behalf of his characters. 

I also like how he decided to use places that are actually in our world and places that he creates. It gives it a more on earth idea but still gives us the other world, it's like he's letting us have the best of both worlds. 

I have to say that I enjoyed the movie as well. The only thing about the movie is that at the end I felt like they just cut off the storyline and there was no sense of closure. I could have maybe let that feeling pass if they had/or planned to make the next two books into movies. 

Narnia

My favorite, fantasy place. I first saw the movies. Prince Caspian is probably my favorite movie. When I first saw the Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. I was shocked at how much I liked it but it really was a great story, in my opinion. The world was so intense, and to know that a world like that could be in something as simple as a wardrobe [which I found out later from reading the books that it wasn't just simple]. I defiantly loved the acting as well, as a whole the movie was presented well.

After watching the movie I wanted to read the books, so I did. I really liked The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, & The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Maybe I just liked those four stories the most because they tie so well into each other. The one big difference between the books and the movies is the religious point-of-view. The Religion part is much stronger in the books. At first I didn't realize all the ties into religion that the stories had till I read the books. Also it amazed me how short the stories are. The movies have a lot of details that were not mentioned in the books.

Harry Potter

It wouldn't be a true fantasy talk if I didn't talk about Harry Potter. Again, I watched the movies before I read the books. Though I did attempt to read them after the first movie came out but I started with the fourth, which is strange even to me now because it was, at the time, the longest book. I finally got around to reading them a little of a year ago. I really enjoyed them but it also made me see how much the movies were leaving out. 

I do indeed love the world of Harry Potter that Rowling created. It is a special place and I think all the growing characters is what gave her idea the special quality. 

Inkheart

I just wanted to briefly talk about this book, which is now a series by Cornelia Funke. This was my first favorite book, and the movie wasn't too horrible but it was no where near the experience that I felt with the book. I really liked the whole idea of the book. That there was this daughter and father loved books. Their whole world was based off their love for books. The father's job was to repair books and their entire house was just cluttered with books. Then we come to find out that when the father reads out-loud objects and characters can appear in the real world and something from the real world is put into the book's world. But the story is about the daughter, Meggie, and she finds her special power and goes on this adventure in learning the truth about her family, herself, and the world around her. 

The Hobbit [Novel 4]

This was the first time that I have read something by J.R.R Tolkien. I enjoyed reading the Hobbit. I get really wrapped up in fantasy books, novels, stories, movies, and tv shows. There's just this idea that the fantasy subjects give off, the idea that there is something more. Something more to keep fighting for, something more to learn, something else out there. I feel like the genre of fantasy makes me hope there is something more out there than the every day to day life. Of course I don't expect that something to be as extreme as a world like Lord of the Rings or Narnia. But one can hope.

I enjoyed the Hobbit because I like the adventures they go through and how he was so against the idea of going on an adventure because "hobbits don't have adventures" but found himself going anyway. After every new obstacles he kept thinking he wanted be back in his warm hobbit hole. Yet in the end even though he was glad to be home, his life changed a lot from his adventure and he found that he loved that as well. It's pretty interesting that the dwarfs and Bilbo have this adventure but Gandalf seems to tag along but also directs them along the way. He's a little bit of a guide to them as well as a protector because he constantly is the one to get them out of their troubles. I don't mind that the book starts out a little slow, actually I don't really this it starts out slow, I think the beginning events and the lots of detail is necessary because for some people J.R.R. Tolkien's world is new to them, but I also think having loads of detail is unique because author's are afraid to give too much.

I would defiantly like to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy after reading the hobbit because I like the characters/ creatures, personalities and world that Tolkien developed. I've seen the movies and they are really intense and I enjoyed them much more than I thought I would. I really had this idea that they would be kind of cheesy but I was wrong.

A Wild Sheep Chase [Novel 3]

I wasn't really sure what to expect from a book about a sheep chase, but I was surprised how the book was. Since I have never read J. horror before, I think this book showed me a little bit about what J. horror is about.

The horror genre for American culture is much different than Japanese horror. I have never really been into the horror movies that came out here. But seeing the two movies we watched today in class made me really like how Japanese horror is set up. I like that there's this slow build up so that we find out about the characters in everyday life, how they view themselves, and get along with others, rather than how they just act when something strange is going on, or when they are facing their death. Which is what our horror movies are mostly like. Our horror movies are pretty typical and it's not that the horror industry no longer scares me, because they do, but I just don't enjoy the type of horror that they put on. Especially in the recent years.

A Wild Sheep Chase was very much like the movies we watched today, slow moving but we found out who the main character was internally. We also discovered a lot about the events in his life as well as the people in his life and how they effected him as well as his life.  Since I only read half of the book, and from what I heard in class the book starts to pick up and I would defiantly like to finish this book because I want to know how the main characters actions and decisions affect him at the end of the book. Like was mentioned in class, I liked how the author didn't use name in the book. It sort of opens it up so that we can believe this persons life could be anyones. Which from what I read his life was fairly normal. What I also like about everyone being nameless is that we have names for everything, for everyone and it's shocking and interesting that someone can write an entire novel taking away what is part of everyday life.

Van Helsing [Movie 1]

Since I didn't get around to reading Interview with the Vampire for this week, I decided to watch Van Helsing and comment on how it connects with our theme for the week which was Vampires.

I've seen Van Helsing once before, but it has been quite some time. As I was watching it what I noticed was how the movie tied many different horror characters into the story, the beginning mostly. Such as Dr. Frankenstein as "the mad scientist" and his monster. Also Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde made an appearance.

While watching the first few minutes of the movie and watching the part that implied the story of Frankenstein. They didn't use the book version that we read for the first week of class but the Frankenstein version that most people know. This movie made me remember what I thought the book Frankenstein was going to be about. A mad scientist that creates this monster. Then the monster mourns over the death of his "father" because people thought that he was mad and made this crazy invention that is his monster. 

Of course I knew that Van Helsing was more than just a character in a movie so I decided to look up where the character for the movies came from. I didn't know that Van Helsing was a character in the book Dracula. I found that kind of interesting because it made me realize why the main vampire's name was Count Dracula. 

This movie also brings up an interesting subject; what kills a vampire? One thing that I have really noticed about vampire movies and tv shows, since I don't really read many novels with vampires in them, is that in each movie and show their are different ways to kill a vampires. In Van Helsing, one of the characters make a special bow and arrow invention. But in most shows it's usually a stake to the heart. I just find it so interesting how many different shows and movies play-up what effects vampires in different ways, such as the sun or being killed.

For example:

twilight:

• can go in the sun but becomes glittery
• has marble-like skin
• pale-skin
• special power

true-blood:

• can't go in the sun
• has a drink called trublood that they can drink as a substitution
• has to be invited into a house each time they want to enter
• is much more organized; with sheriffs
• can control people

vampire diaries:

• some can go in the sun with special rings, most cannot
• has to only be invited into a house once
• can control people

vampire knight:

• can take tablets for blood substitution
• has a hierarchy
• has vampire hunters
• vampires who are not noble turn into different creatures called level E's
• sun hurts them but doesn't kill them
• all have special powers

I think the idea of a vampire really is just the idea that they suck human blood, but their always is a sort of substitute, wether it's animal blood, a tablet, or a drink. Also what I think makes a vampire is their strength, speed, and are affected by the sun in some way. The fact that there are so many different elements that can be played with makes vampires popular. Their a monster in human form, some have to fight their nature, which is a struggle I think even most people go through, some just love to go with it. Vampires are extreme but also capable of emotion. 

I think Vampires are the extreme of what humans could be, that's why I think they are so popular.

Class Notes for 9/8/10

Vampire variants:

dracula

buffy

van helsing

underworld vampires

trueblood

vampire diaries

vampira

nosferatu

daybreakers

vampire knight

blood +

class vampire variants/class convo.:

blade

trueblood – southern gothic vampires

sesame street “the count”

spiderman vampire

anime vampires

I am legend

twilight series

30 days of night

from dusk till dawn

blood & choc.

Mercy Tomson

lost boys

Monster Island by David Wellington [Novel 2]

This was my first time reading a zombie novel. It's not that I don't like zombies, I've just never gotten into reading about them but I was surprised that I liked Monster Island as much as I did.

I had a feeling I would like the book because the title is pretty intriguing but I liked it much more than I thought I would. The story was very well developed and I find it so interesting that he wrote the book as a blog. I think it'd be quite challenging to write an entire book, and series, in the form of a blog. It just seems like you type out all of your ideas and then go back and read the book as a whole to make sure it makes sense. Since he did each chapter separately it's quite amazing that the story flowed so well.  I enjoyed how the chapters switched off between the two narrations, but perhaps that worked for his benefit since he wrote it as a blog. Where one chapter would be about the main character and the next would be about the main zombie character. For most books this type of format would be distracting because it wouldn't follow the story as nicely but I think it worked for this book because the chapters were on average about 4 pages in length. Every time I came to a new chapter it didn't feel as if I was confused but more like I was moving to a different place in the city of New York, where the main action takes place. I know someone in class mentioned that it felt like they were reading a scrip which in some aspects I can understand that. Since the chapters were short and they switched characters it felt like in a movie when the scenes change.

I enjoyed the story of Monster Island. This idea that the most civilized places would be the first to be overcome by an epidemic is interesting. It's defiantly a new take on aspects and zombies. Such as the Gary who is highly intelligent but is still a zombie. Or the teenage females who protected the adult males. This book had a lot going for it when it switched up how must ideas are viewed. I would really recommend, and have already, to anyone who is of course into zombies or people who like adventure, or suspensive stories.






I think the biggest theme for this novel is survival. Even though the characters didn't have much left to fight for they continued to try to do what was necessary to survive. For most of the characters we never really found out what they were fighting for. Especially when considering the younger girls who were trained to fight since they were even smaller. It makes you wonder what they felt they had to go on for. We know that in the main character's case he had a daughter to keep living for, other than that maybe he wouldn't have thought life was worth fighting for anymore. Considering the doctor who turned himself into a zombie, he did it for survival as well. He knew that with such a decline in the number of people surviving that his chance of ever being saved were slim. Then being one of the few zombies with a brain he decides it's best to team up with another smarter zombie to rule over the other zombies. Which if he had that power is a really smart idea when considering how your going to keep going. It meant that he would always be fed before the others.

Class Notes for 9/1/10

Why are zombies so popular?

I think zombies have become so popular because of the idea that people rise from the dead or that they can not be killed. We always hear that people are afraid to die or afraid of death so I think the idea of zombies, since they are dead but as in monster island they are the “living dead”, then that threatens the living because they have this hunger for meat. Which then makes people fear for their life even more than before and as the zombie population grows the more people hide away and the more fear people have. Also I think zombies are easy to relate to for people because in ways they make zombies feel like our own human race. They experience feeling of hunger and of course they don't really have the brains but we still understand their desire for food.

Ideas from class

• endless supply of something to kill
• the idea that something like zombies is more possible now than ever before with illnesses and crisis, like a test for survival
• fascinated with the idea of bring something back to life

Class Notes for 8/25/10

I think the aspect of the horror genre are usually suspension or mystery. A lot of films add usually death or gore but I don't think that these things make up horror films. They mostly just add to either the suspension or aspect of horror films. Also horror films are known to have the antagonist as a mystical being or a being that we don't usually see, usually characters or character personalities. Such as a monster like in Frankenstein.

suspension

mystery

paranoid

certain theme music – for movies

they use lighting to either give the feel of dark or bright colors to make you feel as if something is wrong [set design] – for movies and scenery for books [such as bad and extreme weather]

fear

obsession

desperate needs

hope

a character to connect with

the unnatural or unusual

elusive- mystery or secrets

suspicion

extreme situations, extreme characters, extreme scenery by weather and colors

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley [Novel 1]

I've always wanted to read Frankenstein, to know the real story. I think too many people, including myself, believed that Frankenstein was the monsters name and the name still gets thrown back and forth. A lot of things that were brought up in class are things I realized as well, or as they were being brought up I realized new ideas on who the characters really were.
It's interesting to know how much of Mary Shelley's history affected her book. That fact that she was a teenager when she wrote it probably affected the emotions that were reflected in Frankenstein. Like the monster many teenagers go through feeling like they are discriminated against or an outcast. I think is some ways her characters were like her. I'm sure there were times in her life where she left discriminated against or felt as if she wasn't really apart of society the way others were.
Overall I liked Frankenstein, my favorite part of the book was the monsters story about his observations of the world. When I first started reading the book I found it hard to get into because I wasn't sure what Walton had to do with the story. After getting into Victor's story and then into his monster's, it felt as if you had to peal back the necessary layers to get to their stories. By the time I got wrapped into the monster's story I had already forgotten about Walton. I think the character Walton was there to comfort Victor so that the end of his life didn't seem as lonely. Victor lost everything at the end and the only thing he had left was his desire to kill what he gave life to. The monster's life is easy to feel sad for because it's hard to imagine the type of isolation that he felt. In the end Victor felt the same way. They reflected each others feelings well. Both felt great hate for the other to the point where they wanted revenge and it was the end of both of them. Maybe that's why Walton was there as well, to confirm that they both indeed existed once and that he knew their stories, and now, so do we.




I think a main theme to this story is responsibility. Victor should have realized that he needed to teach his creation how to live peacefully in the world. That's really all the monster wanted, and he wanted to be accepted. Without Victor guiding the monster, how could he have known what his responsibility was. When he killed one of Victor's relatives and framed it on that girl, he didn't feel any guilt just anger. A lot of times we hear how children learn things from their parents but it's interesting to also realize what happens when someone doesn't have a figure to guide them.