Done!

I finished my portfolio and it's looking pretty good. Should have my grade in a little over three hours. Then, I can sleep.

Schindler Analysis

Schindler’s List is pretty high on my all time favorite movies list. There is something special about this movie among all of my other favorites. While other movies have spectacular special effects, this one isn’t even in color. There are no major action sequences with guns blazing, but there is are scenes with quite enough death. What makes this movie so enjoyable to watch? This movie is built completely around the development and evolution of the main character, Oskar Schindler. The man that we meet at the beginning of the film is not the man that we leave at the end.
At the beginning of the film, Schindler is nothing but a typical businessman. He tries to cut all of the corners he can in order to make a few more dollars. He bribes others so that he can do what he wants and get away with it. However, as the film progresses he begins to change. He starts bribing not so that he can get away with things, but so that he can save lives. He starts a campaign to save as many Jews from the Nazis as possible. By the end, the same greedy businessman is crying over not saving as many people as he possibly could have. Although he has saved hundreds by letting them work in his factory, he is not satisfied.
One has to ask the question, “How true to the real Oskar Schindler was Liam Neeson’s character?” From the Crowe readings, I can see some similarities, but also some differences. For example, the real man truly did save a lot of Jews from death in the Nazi work camp. But did he really care about them enough to cry because he didn’t save them all. I don’t think so. I think his motivations in the real world were more for own self-appeasement. He did not like the Nazi SS at all, and what would make them more mad than saving a few Jews. He also saved a lot of money through employing the Jewish population because they would work for much cheaper.
The movie falters in a few other areas as well, such as when it makes up scenes such as when Schindler watches Jews being murdered from the hilltop. There are no records to ever indicate that such an event happened, and even if it had, I don’t think that the true Oskar Schindler would have been effected. No matter what his true motivations were, his actions did save the lives of hundreds of Jews, and for that he deserves to be honored.

Tiger

As anyone who has been anywhere near a TV, magazine, computer, another person, etc. knows, Tiger Woods is in some trouble. As more and more women come out and say that they had been with him at some point, more and more stories are run through the news. I am really getting tired of hearing about it. I do not agree at all with what Tiger did, but I think that the whole situation is getting carried away. There has to be at least one other news story that has some actual influence on the world.

Elie Weisel

Elie Wiesel has become the face of Holocaust remembrance, and rightfully so. He lived through some of the worst that the Holocaust had to offer. What sets him apart from other survivors, is the amount of dedication he has given in his life towards Holocaust awareness. He has a great passion towards the entire tragedy and this is obvious in the speeches that he has given and the books that he has written. In Night, he gives so much detail and paints such a vivid picture when he writes and speaks that he stirs emotions up inside his audience. "Our line now had only fifteen paces to cover. I bit my lips so that my father would not hear my teeth chattering." By giving details such as this, Wiesel shows the sense of fear that came over everyone in the situation. In his speech "Universal Lessons of the Holocaust" he is absolutely right in the fact that we have to remember the victims of the Holocaust. If we don't remember, a tragedy similar to this might occur again. We must not let history repeat itself.

Red Wings

So, a few weeks ago I had to go to DMC for a check up and when I was there a social worker of some kind came up to me while I was waiting in the office and asked if I was a Red Wings fan. Of course I am, you can't live this close to Hockeytown and not be. So she said she might be able to get me some tickets for one of the home games. Well, natually I was excited when I found out that I had gotten tickets for free for last night's game. However, it wasn't just free tickets. Before the game we had go to the suite holders entrance where we were meeted by the PR rep of the Wings. She then led us down the hall to the Red Wing's locker room where we got to meet Coach Babcock and sit in his office and talk for a little while. Although intense, he seemed like a really nice and down to earth guy. He signed a few pictures for us and gave me a bag full of Red Wings stuff, which also had a puck signed by Johan Franzen. Then, we took the elevators up to the game and thoroughly enjoyed a 4-1 wings victory. All in all, it was a really cool experience.

I'll have to post some pictures later.

Advice about Black Friday:


DON'T GO!!!!

Actually though, I headed to Best Buy this morning to get a few deals, nothing big but just a few little things. The line there at 5:30 really moved fairly quickly. Then, I made the mistake of going to Target... WOW! That's the only word to describe the amount of people there. The line went all the way from the front of the store to the back of the store and weaved back and forth multiple times. It was like a maze made out of people. Needless to say, I didn't need anything that badly from Target.

Thanksgiving

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and once again I feel like I have eaten enough food for the next whole year. The amount of food that both sides of my family prepares is pretty ridiculous, so much so that we get the opportunity to eat the leftovers for the next week. And if this year is anything like the years leading up to it, I'll be tired of turkey by tomorrow.

Another thing:

It's amazing how much attention you can get if you let your hair grow a little bit. Both sides of my family made a huge deal out of my medium length hair because up until recently it was short for the entire first 18 years of my life. Yeah, my mom didn't want me to change too much through the years... But now it is a little longer and I had to hear about it all day. So if you want some attention, change your hair. lol

Tire Issues

Having a tire blow out on your car is a pretty bad event in itself, but what makes matters even worse is when it happens on I-94. Thats what happened to me today. I was going down 94 almost to Telegraph when all of the sudden I heard my tire blow and saw smoke billowing from the right side of my car. Thankfully there were not many cars near me and I was able to get it over to the right side of the road. Then came the hard part...changing the tire. Prior to today, my tire changing experience was sitting at a solid one time. Well, I never thought that my second time would occur in a place where cars and trucks were buzzing by at 70 mph. I called my Dad and he told me to just change it. Alright...I'm not sure how. Of course he said I would be fine and so I changed it. To make my luck even worse, last night was the first night it had rained all month! That was great. It was wet and windy, but I got it changed successfully. I didn't feel very safe on the spare tire, though.

Them Crooked Vultures

Them Crooked Vultures is a new band that just released their first album today. The band consists of Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters, and John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin. The "supergroup" has a sound unlike anything before and I would highly recommend that you check out at least one of there songs.

The White Rose Quickwrite

The White Rose: Long Live Freedom written by Jacob G. Hornberger told what I thought to be a really amazing story. When I was reading about how three college students had the bravery to stand up to the ideas of the entire Nazi party, I was blown away. Passing out flyers of protest during this period in history was like committing suicide. However, by doing this, these young people performed some of the most admirable acts to come out of the entire period of history. If others had done what these students did, many lives could have been saved.
The members of the White Rose were not afraid to do what millions of others were too frightened to do. Most of the people just went with the flow and believed "it was the duty of the citizen to support the troops by supporting the government". They protested against the cruel and merciless government of the time and did not falter in their beliefs. As she was walking towards the guillotine a witness accounted that she approached it "without turning a hair, without flinching". Not many people could do that. Because they did not relinquish their stance on the issues of the times, they made an even bigger statement. Their word spread to a lot of people in a short time just by a few flyers. Imagine the reach that a large group of people could have grown to be. There were not enough people like these kids in the world at that time.
Which brings us to present time. If an atrocity like this were to happen today, would there be a lot of people to stand up and fight it? I really don't think that there would be. People these days do not like to put themselves out there if it goes against the flow. We tend to like to keep to ourselves, and this is a problem. Who is going to fight for the helpless and defend the weak? I hope that we never find ourselves in a situation like this to find out.

Amazing

I was browsing around Youtube today and came across this amazing video...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSnUwA6c67k&feature=related



The fact that this guy can play an instrument with his feet better than a ton of people can with their hands is truly amazing. This guy should be an inspiration to everyone to never give up on your dreams. He was born with no arms, but he overcame a great challenge and is now a very talented musician.

Driving...

I love driving. No matter where I am headed, I like to just sit in the car, turn the radio on, and head towards my destination. However, there is one thing that makes driving a more painful process. CONSTRUCTION. It seems like every road in Michigan is in the process of being worked on, yet nothing ever gets finished. I-94, Southfield Fwy, the whole mess by the school...it all works towards making driving a pain. Everytime I see one of those orange barrels it makes me cringe. Speaking of the barrels, I'm curious about how many there are in the state of Michigan. This past weekend I drove to Kalamazoo to visit some friends going to Western, and in one mile of I-94 there were 67 barrels. That was only on one side of the road and on one direction of the highway, and that particular work went on for 16 miles straight! Sometimes I think they decide to put them out there because there isn't anywhere else where they can fit them...

Old Friends

Alright, so this weekend I am finally going to go and see two of my best friends from high school. They go to WMU and so this weekend I'm going to spend the night over in Kalamazoo for a few days. I've texted them a few times but haven't actually seen them or hung out at all so it should be pretty fun. I haven't had too much to do lately so it will be good to get away from the house for a while.

The Four Freedoms

"I have called for personal sacrifice, and I am assured of the willingness of almost all Americans to respond to that call." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech in 1941 was a very powerful speech with a dominant message of the freedoms that we have and that the rest of the people in the world deserve to have. I hold this to be one of the greatest speeches in the history of this country, right up there with Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” and Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”. Why do I think that it is so great? The ideas presented in the speech are the principles on which our whole nation was founded upon and stand for. He uses articulate language to increase the patriotism in the hearts of the listeners. At its root, the speech is a call for all Americans to give all that they have in order to make our society and the entire world a better place for all. However, if you look past the first layer and delve deeper into the speech, it is easy to see that Roosevelt is trying to join the whole country together as they head into a brand new war. He realizes the importance of unity as a nation. People of all races, from all different backgrounds, and from all different lifestyles are required to come together at a time of war. Only then will our efforts not be in vain. Only then can we succeed to spread peace throughout the world.

Mid-term Evaluation

Comp 105 has been going pretty good so far. I feel that it has helped to transition me from a high school mind set to more of a college thinker and writer. I had no idea coming into college that the style of writing required and expected would be so different. It hasn't been that hard to change, however, thanks to comp. I have really learned a lot about how to not just summarize but actually analyze and express my opinions about the things that I read. I have also learned that it is better to read with a pencil rather than just read page after page. Marking things as I read has helped me to get more out of the material and it also helps when analyzing and writing papers. This is something that will continue to help me for the rest of my college years and beyond.
I think moving forward in the class we should continue to work on adapting to the kind of assignments that we will need throughout college. So far the class has been really helpful and has been pretty interesting to go to every day.

RRRRRRoll...

Alright, if you have ever had practically any foreign language class you are aware of the fact that rolling your r's is a very crucial part of pronouncing things accurately. Yeah, I know, it doesn't make a difference at Taco Bell, but in the real world it might. Well, anyway, after having three years of high school Spanish, I could never figure out the correct way to roll my r's. It always ended up sounding like I was hacking something up. Today, my sister came home and guess what she was doing... rrrrrrrrolling her r's! Needless to say I was not happy.

Technology

I was thinking today about how many amazing pieces of technology have arisen in the last twenty years. The average American home looks extremely different than it did not too long ago. In living rooms, televisions keep getting bigger and bigger. The term DVD was non- existent, and these days, Blu-ray is starting to push DVDs from the shelves of stores. Perhaps the biggest invention of modern days is, of course, the internet. Today, nearly anyone can get information about anything with the few clicks of some buttons. Hybrid cars are beginning to gain prominence, and plug in electric cars are coming in a year or two. Music used to be bought on audio cassettes, but today mp3s are the main way people get their music. Everyone has a cell phone in their hands today and can talk to anyone anywhere in the world at anytime. There are thousands of more inventions of recent years that are everywhere today. This makes me wonder, how different will the world be in twenty more years? Will all of these inventions seem old and outdated?
I think that that is inevitable. Day to day new technologies are being invented all around the world. Stuff from science fiction movies seem to becoming realities right before our eyes. A few months ago I read a story about a cloaking device on the internet. Thirty years ago, people would have said that that would be impossible. You can't make something just disappear. Well, newsflash, apparently you can.
It amazes me all of the time how far we have come in the technological world. It really makes me wonder how we can advance beyond what we already have. Of course, I'm sure that the people living in the stone age thought that when the wheel was invented too. It just goes to show, the human mind has been graciously blessed by God. How else can you explain the amazing things that we have accomplished?

Noise

I just recieved news a few days ago that my sister is going to try and learn how to play the flute. Well, she had her first lesson today and was told to practice at home tonight. In case you don't know, a first time flute player is a terrible noise to hear. It sounds kind of like a wounded animal, and maybe not even an animal from this planet. The fact that she doesn't know any real notes yet doesn't help matters at all either. She was told to just practice lip positioning and actually getting a sound. There is definitely a sound coming out of her room, but it's one that is making my whole family cringe.

Come Together...

For some reason, for the past two days I've had "Come Together" by the Beatles stuck in my head. I don't know where exactly I picked it up, but I must have sung it in my head like a hundred times over the past couple days. Hopefully since I wrote it here I'll stop.

Ugh...

What are the Tigers doing?!

The Book Thief

The Book Thief has been filled with tons of good quotes. However, one that stuck out to me the most occurred on page 208. When Max arrives at the Hubermann residence, he is forced to live in the basement to avoid being seen. The living arrangement is not the best, and Hans goes as far as saying that it is pathetic. Max doesn't seem to mind and is still thankful. He then says, "'Better than nothing,' Max assured him. 'Better than I deserve- thank you.'" This quote really stuck out to me because it seemed as if not only the Nazis were looking down on the Jews, but even the Jews themselves were not proud of who they were. Max views himself as not being worthy of the luxeries that the others have throughout Germany. This once again emphasizes the power of words. Not only did Hitler's words turn Germans against the Jews, but it also made the Jews look down on themselves. When you don't like yourself, how do you expect others to view you any better?

Nazi Article

This country that we live in was created over 200 years ago on the basis of freedom and equality for everyone who lives inside its borders. One of the main reasons for people even moving over from Europe was the idea of religious freedom.The Nazi regime in the thirties and forties, however, stood for the complete opposite. Their ideology was based on thoughts of racial superiority of the Aryan race over all others. They wanted to exterminate the entire Jewish population in Europe without any good reasons. There is of course a very obvious contradiction between these two societies, and I don't believe that one can or should be allowed to coexist with the other. Recently, this subject has become a topic of debate in the form of what to do with old Nazi party members that are now living in the United States. There is controversy surrounding whether they should be left alone to finish out their lives in this country or whether they should be deported and put on trial in other countries.
Personally, I think that it would be an insult to all of those who were treated horribly or killed during the thirties and forties to just let these men off of the hook. They committed terrible crimes through torture and murder of innocent people. Some might argue that some of these men were not actually the ones shoving thousands into the gas chambers, but that doesn't mean that they did not have an opportunity to protest what their peers were doing. They could have stood up to their superiors and spoke out against the crimes instead of doing what they were told. People also argue that these men didn't have a choice, it was either do what they were told or run the risk of being killed. I believe that some things are worth the sacrifice. I don't know how someone could do these horrible "crimes against humanity" without any reason. I would say that risking your own life to save innocent people or set an example is well worth it.
Even though this genocide occurred over 60 years ago, that doesn't mean that they should be off of the hook. They did terrible things to people without any reason and did not have to pay for there crimes. This idea to me is in itself un-American. If someone hurts someone else, they should have to pay the consequences at one time or another, not just get away with it. If we let them get away with it, what reason does that give to stop it from happening again to others?

Winston Churchill

"Let us therefore brace ourselves for our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'"

-Winston Churchill, http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/churchill-hour.htm

There have been many great speakers in the history of the world, and I would definately include Winston Churchill in the top of that list. The Prime Minister of Britain had a wonderful way of writing and delivering speeches that were able to keep an entire country's morale up even as the world around it was falling apart. The quote from above is the conclusion of a speech made on June 18th of 1940 to the House of Commons. The speech was delivered just days after France had fallen to the German Army and the British were seemingly alone as the last defense in Western Europe. The situation was beginning to appear hopeless, but the words and the organization of this speech were able to inspire many people in Britain to keep on fighting. By telling the troops that people one thousand years in the future will remember what they did, he gives them reason to keep on going while also sharing the importance of the "Battle of Britain". Another thing that made the words even stronger was the fact that he included himself with the people he was speaking to. By saying "Let us therefore brace ourselves for our duties" instead of "brace yourselves" it made him easier to relate to and understand. Without a great leader like Churchill and his powerful speeches, the war could have turned out much worse.

Ernie Harwell

I don't know how many baseball fans there are in our class, but if anyone watched tonight's Tigers game you would know that tonight was a game dedicated to Ernie Harwell. Ernie was the broadcaster and so-called "voice" of the Detroit Tigers from 1960 to 2002. He is a Hall of Fame announcer and rightfully so. During his announcing years he helped to introduce and make the baseball games exciting for a lot of people. The signs being held by the crowd made the love of the fans known. There were countless displays of "WE LOVE YOU ERNIE!" displayed in the stands. During the 3rd inning he made an emotional speech thanking all of the fans for their support and for letting him be a part of the Tigers association for so many years. Ernie was recently diagnosed with untreatable cancer at 91 years of age. He is an amazing guy and I wish that I would have been able to listen to him more the the few years before he retired. God Bless the voice of the Detroit Tigers, Ernie Harwell.

PS- It's about time the Tigers beat the Royals.

A Great Morning...NOT

Well, I successfully escaped it last week, but today the rumored horrible parking situation at UMD hit me. This morning I wasted quite a bit of my precious time driving past parking spot after parking spot, all occupied by cars, of course. I finally gave up and drove all of the way over to the parking structure. I guess this did add one exciting thing to my morning... I got to experience the thrill of sprinting from the parking structure all the way to the CASL building in under seven minutes. Hopefully that is the only time I experience that thrill for a while.