Captured Thought: Historical Rumors

I watched a good episode of The Simpsons the other day. It was the one in which Lisa discovers that the man who founded their town, Jebodiah Springfield, was actually a murderous pirate and not the hero he was made out to be. She tries to convince the town about her findings, but everyone is so lost in the story of Springfield. So, in the end everyone still believes Jebodiah to be a hero despite the truth of him being a terrible person.

This made me realize that it is quite possible that fragments of history, that people hold on to and adore, could easily be a lie, covered up by the person/people recording it for the books. I know that most things in history can easily be proven just by all the artifacts left behind (Ex: Mayan civilization, the Civil War), but there are also things that could be made up, just historical rumors. Things like who first landed on the Americas and who first landed on the moon.

It might seem like this is not big deal because it does not change our current status, but it is. It means that everything that is supposed to be true and hold validity, could easily be dismissed as false just because of our ignorance.

Looking back, I notice that I have been thinking about things like this for a year or two. I would always ask myself, as I looked through a history book, "What if this stuff isn't true?" But I would ignore that question because I was convinced that, "Oh, it is in a history book, it must be true." But now I realize that things are not always as they seem.

iMedia:Tom Waits Music Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo4Y0TxW41g&feature=related

This is a music video for The Ramones' song "I don't want to grow", performed by Tom Waits, and directed by Jim Jarmusch. The reason I chose this is because I've been listening to a lot of Tom Waits lately and I'm also a fan of the movies that Jim Jarmusch has directed(Stranger than Paradise, Deadman).
I think that this video does capture the ideas presented in the song, but it is also simplistic and boring. The idea of the song is quite obvious, Tom Waits doesn't want to grow up. This is presented in the video in two ways. It cuts between clips of Waits riding a tricycle and of him performing on a stage a few sizes too small for him. While it is sort of entertaining watching Waits -who I see as a total badass- ride a tricycle with a devil costume on, it does get old pretty quickly. There isn't much variety in this video and that's my only problem with it. They could of added some more shots of him on swing set or anything just to change it up a bit.
What I do like about the video is it's use of color and how it plays around with size. During the bike scenes the sky is a redish purple that emulates the same colors as when he is performing. I also enjoyed him playing on a small stage, and the use of the magnifying glass to throw off his image. Overall it's a pretty good video because of the visuals but it does end up being a bit simplistic.

Metacognition: Mind Garden

When starting a paper, the first thing I do is sit down at a computer open up word and try to come up with something to write. Like it's that easy. It's not possible for me to do this, even though it is always how I try to start an essay. After about ten minutes of wallowing in the fact that the only words I've written are "George Cadkin" I decide to take a new approach. I go upstairs, put on some tunes, sit in my comfy, cushiony chair, and start to brainstorm. I think and think and think until I can't think NO MO'! Then it hits me like a brick that hits, which is quite painful (if you can imagine)! I finally get an idea. Then from this single idea I start thinking more.

It's almost as if I planted a seed while thinking, and then the idea was the flower blooming. After I found this single idea, I started planting more seeds. I found quotes, thought about the structure, and began to write. Pretty soon my little seed, turned into a flower (awww they grow up so quick), which turned into multiple flowers, which turned into a garden. My mind was a garden of thought, growing bigger and bigger with all the attention I was giving it. After I found a nice place to set my garden, in the sun with, I finally finished my essay.