Cognitive Dissonance

Here is my assignment on Cognitive Dissonance.

Songs for the People by Frank Gracia

Songs for the People

By Frank Gracia

I apologize in advance for not knowing all your names and not choosing a song or poem for all of you. I have chosen songs for people that have stood out for me and hope the rest of you are not offended. I would consider it a disservice to choose a song for someone I barely know. What I have decided to do was pick the people that I think I have gotten clues to their personality and have also done songs for characters in my writings.

Andrew: What would I choose for a fellow U2 fan? While stating the obvious, I chose Vertigo because your life seems to be very similar.

To the guy who sits on my left side I chose the song “The Mark Has Been Made,” by NIN. It is a nice piece without lyrics, but a haunting flow that goes into a hard upward rise and ends with the same eeriness it began with. It was chosen because there are no words that I can use that would properly delve into personality, but given that you are a fan of NIN, I thought it proper to pick a song from there collection of talent.

To the track star I picked out “Pokarama” by Weird Al Yankovic. This song is a medley of different other songs done to a high beat polka style frenzy. You have a well rounded sense of humor and you have a great talent for comedy.

To the wrestler with that impressive number of broken bones sustained through life, I chose “I Want It All,” by Queen. This song speaks to your competitive nature and pursuit of dreams.

            To our fearless leader I have chosen “We Are All Made of Stars,” By Moby. This song is about growth, change, and perseverance through challenges. The role of a teacher is to inspire new growth in knowledge, talent, and ability. To challenge the students to do what was impossible yesterday.

            For my character John from Q&A I chose “Golotha Tenement Blues,” by Machines of Loving Grace. This song speaks to John’s stone eyed calm and instinctual intensity that he brings to his work. The interrogation John conducted that started with a simple question and ended with a bloody mess that was just another day on the job.

            I now feel the need to be a little arrogant and choose a song for just for myself, but I will be moderately arrogant and choose two songs for the simple reason that I am aware of all my personalities. When I am in a good completive mood the song that firsts comes to the foreground is “The Name of the Game,” by The Crystal Method. The song that plays when I am down and out is “The Man Who Sold the World,” by Nirvana.

Here is my gift of song and poetry to all of you.

·         “Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn,” by Jack White of the White Stripes is for Andrew.  Like Jack White (to whom I attribute heaps of respect for resuscitating quality rock-and-roll), Andrew is a Renaissance Man.  I especially hope Andrew will soon hop a plane and get himself to the isles of Thistles and Cill Rimhinn because the ancestors are assuredly calling him home. 

·         To Ashley I bestow the confidence  imbuing poem “Imagine a Woman” by Patricia O’Reilly.  It is meant to be read and reread throughout our life.  I hope Ashley similarly takes this poem and gifts it to all of her women friends.

·         To Joshua  I gift “National Anthem” from one of my all time favorite albums Kid A by Radio Head.  The driving base rhythm supports the brilliantly orchestrated layers of dissonance, electronic, voice, and horns in this composition.  When I recently watched Josh sprint around the track I thought of this particular composition because it has both control and sublimated power.

·         To Kelli I give “Soul Shaker” by Sean Hayes.  It speaks to losing a soulmate who is before his time in this world, a spirit that is bigger than this world is yet able to comprehend.  The onus of epitaph falls to that person who can singularly understand his mark on the world. It is an overwhelming responsibility and Kelli has done a remarkable job conveying her friend’s gifts.

·         To Charity I gift “The Moon” by Cat Power.  I especially like Charity’s genuine voice when she reads her own work, and I wish she could hear what it is I like. There is a genuine, distinctive, and ageless quality about it that catches the ear very nicely.  I have become a recent admirer of the slightly husky, atonal quality of Cat Power’s recordings that sound like the artist is using home style pre-digital recording technology.  The overall impression isn’t sanitized.  Like Charity, she sounds real.

·         To Meredith I gift Frazey Ford’s “Firecracker” from Obadiah .  I very much enjoy these lyrics and I feel that Meredith is well-suited to the character sketch Ford has created.  Meredith has the ability to start her own fire and through her ceaseless imagination, she is able to rise above the cold, shrude people below, laughing all the way. It is a gift we all need to grab hold.

·         To Kelly I give Jonsi’s “Go Do” .  It is vibrant and uplifting directive of sorts to help get one up and moving and doing.  It seems like this piece would be fun to turn the volume up and drum along to on your recently unpacked drum set.

·         To Gordon I give my all time favorite poem, “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver.  This is the one poem that I would like read at my wake.  I think back to Gordon’s friend the tree and that singular leaf.  I think about finding affinity in new homes and finding a sense of place because of those natural beings—trees and geese-- that provide us with a compass, a sense of belonging  in the world.

·         In its hay day I admit I got sick of hearing Natalie Merchant’s “Wonder” because it became overplayed. Thankfully enough years have passed.  When I think about Amy the lyrics make new sense;  this is definitely the only song that I can choose for Amy.  What can I say--Amy confounds me.

·         For Richard I gift “Lucky Man” by the Verve.  I know that Richard possesses a creative voice, intelligence, and reflective nature that is not due to luck. He has analytical skills and a range of voice in his own writing that is remarkable; this type of genius comes from hard work.  I think it is in part because Richard is a particularly good listener that Richard will prevail in whatever he chooses.  Whoever is lucky enough to have Richard in his class is truly blessed.

·         To Frank I gift Gogol Bordello’s “My Companjera” from Trans-Continental Hustle .  I love the Gypsy music renaissance that has taken off recently, especially this group’s emotional sounds, stage antics, story, and global plight.  Frank’s beautiful high top red converses that perfectly compliment his black-red checked tie and bandanna are a welcome gypsy scene to  me.  I admire Frank for gathering and supporting the companjeras in his vet circle every week.

·         Kesia, you were really, really tough for me.  Your own voice seems to be still evolving.  As I have told you, I am especially impressed with your ability to carefully and honestly interpret your classmates work.  You have a great foundation of learning which has provided you with an especially open mind and provided us some valuable guidance I think.  So to you I gift Tori Amos’s Corn Flake Girl because you are a distinctly unique unabashed philosophical tinkerer:  pure gold.

·         Noelle gets “ Imitosis” by Andrew Bird because there is a whimsicality to his music that reminds me of her dialogue piece and her love for the quirky actors.

       I also chose this because of lyrics:  “Painfully shy”:  When I was your age, I took a class from Professor Hatsantonis, a Medieval and Dante Scholar at the University of Oregon.  Intimidated by the surrounding Greek and Italian speaking classmates, I rarely piped up in class.  One day he openly called me a “Vaz”.  He said that like an empty vase I only swallowed the surrounding knowledge, but would never display my blooms of insight to the class.  Remember that you are never “basically alone.” Show us your blooms.

·         To David I gift Trombone Shorty’s Backatown from Big Red Cotton.  I think you will really enjoy his muscular sound and energy and reinvention of Louisiana big band sound.  I like it when tradition persists because someone has invested the energy to pull forward with him the greats against all odds.  I saw that concept in your wrestling video.  Wrestling has sustained some major blows; schools continue to shave wrestling from their athletic program. A reinvention and reinvigoration of tradition was a theme that I caught in the slides you shared.  

·         To Wayne I give the instrumental “Ocean” from the John Butler Trio.  Here is an environmental activist who works extremely hard (and eloquently) in order to get us to stop being “ridiculous” as Kelli so aptly put it.  Who in his right mind would attempt to capture the ocean?  See what you think of this instrumental. It reminds me how blessed we are to be near the ocean.

• Cat is a rebel, much like Sibelius who sought to get us out of our comfort zones where we don't do any mind expanding. Growth can be painful but it is worth it. To Cat I bestow Luonnotar (OP 70) by the Classical Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Sibelius experimented with diatonic dissonance--capturing a range of light and dark. Innovation and creativity come from our ability to expand and encompass rather than (falsely) reconcile or avoid dissonance. See what you think. 

Where you should post assignments

Please post assignments and projects to your personal blogs, rather than the CRW blog page. If you don't like this way of turning in assignments, then you can email them to me or leave hardcopy in my mailbox. It is helpful for us as a class to witness and respond to each other's interpretations of these assignments...especially when you are absent or we do not meet as a class.

Racer(X), Cantcatchthis, Noelle, Wayne, Amy Axel all still need to post or email me URL's so that I can link you up.  Noelle, I looked, but I do not have your URL.

Hi guys :)

Assignments for November 18 - 23 and for the week beginning November 24

You will write a character who is struggling with a singular idea or issue that causes him or her or it "cognitive dissonance." You will describe how that character confronts, processes, denies or resolves the  cognitive dissonance he has been experiencing. Providing inner dialogue as well as the outward physical manifestations for evidence of this struggle is essential to this character sketch.  (3 page minimum).  Post or email this to me no later than Wednesday, November 23rd.

For the Week of November 24 you will redraft, revise, improve a previous paper that has been workshopped in class.  Please bring hardcopy to class.  The revisions must indicate more than sentence-level attention.  You must have worked to significantly change or experiment with the previous draft.  You will attach to this revision a 250 word explaination of the changes you made and why you made them.  You will also address what you intend to do next, what you would like to see this draft become...what is the next evolution.

Homework Assignment for week of 11/11

http://andrewlossing.blogspot.com/

My personal blog, with the assignment.

Assignments: November 4 - 17

1.  Email me your URL for your blog, so that I can link your blog as a separate assignment page. I need to do this for grading purposes.

2.  Your assignment for this week is to find or revisit a book of fiction that you think is an important read for today's adolescent, then  tell us why in a 500 word blog.  We presently have an epidemic of struggling and non-readers, ages 12 through 19.  At about fourth grade, readers transition from learning to read to reading to learn. It is at 5th grade that reading interest and comprehension abilities severely fall off, and this continues through high school.  Your job is to consider a favorite or important book and tell us how the story (or specific elements, themes, conflicts in the story) is relevant or helpful to today's youth culture. While writing this book review, I think you should not only address specific sociocultural issues affecting today's youth, but  also consider the Why of youth turning away from reading.We will not have class November 10th, but this review is due November 9th at midnight.

3.  Assignment for November 10th - 16th:   you will gift one song, poem, or even non-lyrical musical composition to each of your blogmates. Consider what you have learned about each other as writers, reviewers, critical thinkers, characters in the classroom. Provide a couple sentences as to the reasons you have chosen that particular composition.

3.  You will submit your digital stories in class November 17th. Bring a flashdrive with your story.  We will also workshop Wayne, Kelli, and Ashley's work on November 17th.

See you in two weeks!

Bridget

My First Digital Story - Allison Inman

Set to the backdrop of a happy-go-lucky piano tune, Allison Inman's first digital story begins with an old black and white picture of herself. For the first 40 seconds the camera slowly pans inward towards her face, as she reveals the little nuances of her life. Although seeminly irrelevant, her random comments help pixelate her personality. The next picture shown is an off-set photo of her dad, poking out from the bottom of the photo. This image is a great representation of their former relationship, because her father was always there for her, yet not fully present. My favorite part of the story was the list of things she secretly loves. She notes that even though she isn't outwardly affectionate, she is constantly in love. The repetitious clip of her walking down the street attributes to all the smaller things in life that she has come to appreciate, such as: "pigeons, they're so psychadelic and colorful, so underrated" and "skinny old ladies dragging carts down the sidewalk". The ending of her story tells how her father's trip to the ICU has brought them closer together, and made them more comfortable to express affection towards each other. The link to Inman's Digital Story is listed below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY4JZrU-o3Y&feature=related

Mad as Hell - Aaron Leming

Probably the best example of kinetic typography I came across was Aaron Leming's "Mad as Hell". Taken from the hit 1976 movie "Network", character Howard Beale's emotional speach urged people to stand up for whatever they were passionate about. Unlike other videos I watched, "Mad as Hell's" text placement packed alot of symbolism. Leming used many cool effects to convey Beal's message. When the character raised his voice the words were larger, when the topic changed, the sentances would stop, and then head another direction. Towards the end, the camera began to shift back and forth slightly on a stationary text to resemble Beale's heavy breathing. My favorite visual metaphor was a rectangular arrangment of the quote "we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had 15 homocides, and 63 violent crimes". The way the statement was presented reveals the continuation of crime, and how the media has "sheltered" it in a sense. The link to Aaron Leming's kinetic typography is listed below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNxoLJy3m3s&feature=related

Black spot

I found this one very interesting.

Minimalism

The typography was based on a poem that, when recited made one think about the words chosen for the expression. Combined with the typography and the simple creativity, this piece was extremely well done and thought provoking. The piece looked as though it had been worked on for a while, but was simple in its grandeur, almost expanding on the simplicity of the piece that was being recited.

Empathetic Civilization

The RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts) produces some great illustrations/cartoons to accompany notable talks given by notable people. It's a fascinating way to keep the listener engaged. This one resonated with me probably because it was the first one that I viewed. Their site- and YouTube- has others on a variety of subjects. The editing, "camera" work, and drawings are are very entertaining and effective in my opinion. The subject of this particular piece is a great introduction to our ability to empathize with fellow human beings, and the speech itself is quite enlightening. Enjoy, fellow travelers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7AWnfFRc7g

Requiem

I'll admit to this particular piece being a few years old, but it is still quite effective. It's a promo site for the film "Requiem for a dream," which is an amazing film by Darren Aronovsky (he also did a film all about the number Pi). This website is intentionally confusing, leading to places that go nowhere, appearing to "crash," and generally tells a story about the premise of the film. It's a fun exploration of the technology, and how we interface with our online world. If you pay close attention, it has a storyline, an arc, character development, etc., but it takes some looking around to really get a feel for the movie.

If the site leaves you confused, unnerved, or a bit jittery, that was the intent from the filmmaker. His film is no less intense, and lives up to its name "Requiem."

Source: www.requiemforadream.com

Mad World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4nqFL2o5Cw

This one had some interesting bits. I think I like kinetic typography better with music than prose or poetry, possibly because visuals and music have always blended so well. The majority of this is just transcribing the lyrics as they're sung, which I think might not be entirely effective (it doesn't sustain the viewer's attention, and gets predictable), but this is a good representation of getting the right visuals to match the theme of the piece. Also there are some creative moments that are pretty impressive.

Words and Pollution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVPfTlpCKaw Ok, after reading your guys' posts I went looking for a video with a more 'story line' likeness. out of the ones that I found I liked this the most. I think it's a great visual story about pollution destroying nature (not that I'm for that, I'm just saying that it's a good representation of that). It could even be powerful if watched by the right person.

Anywhere but here...

27 People One Question from stevegarfield on Vimeo.

I like this video because I think that everyone at one point or another has wanted to be anywhere but where they were in that moment. Or asked themselves or others "If you could be anywhere in the whole world, where would you be right now?". One of the men in the video says that he wants to be exactly where he is already and that says a lot about his life and outlook on things. He is happy with where he is no matter what problem he has to face or has already faced. And to find that tranquility in life today is encouraging, it makes me think that maybe I could possibly find that inner peace and happiness as well. I'm not sure what it is but something about these digital stories and the reality they possess fascinates me.

What Matters Most

I got this in an email while I was serving a mission in Connecticut. Not only did it remind me that my family was the most important thing in my life, but now that I was away from them for two years, it helped me learn to love the people I was now around. I love the simplicity in not only how the message is worded, but how it is supported by the effects to reinforce the message.

Live Out Loud

To view this Kinetic Typography visit this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAAoaNMM-xc

It's short, but it gets the point across. It brings in a lot of imagery of course but the added sound effects at the end sort of catch you by surprise the first time you watch it. I really liked it. I was not expecting to actually be yelled at. It brings about a literal sense behind the title and lulls you out of that trance you tend to fall into when watching a piece that is visually stunning. I also like that it is so short. Some might be critical of this but I think that it clearly states the author's purpose. Plain and simple, he is here to Live Out Loud.

-David

Bye Bye Birdie (I could not resist)

When I first viewed "Letting Go" by Leonard Thong I was amazed how a simple story could capture one of life's most important lessons, that to truly love one must first be be able to let that thing or person go. Life is all about growth and wanting the best for others we truly love. The imagery of a bird flying away borders on cliche but is universal and translates well to different cultures.

Gord

My Nervous Breakdown (Lost in the Labyrinth) (2010)

An interactive story is akin to a voyage of discovery. Dr. Alan Bigelow takes us along a tour of the human brain with a mesmerizing soundtrack and sketchy and jittery images that entices you to explore more into our own psyche. We begin with an image of the brain and can explore four different areas, such as "What my Therapist Said." Although the sound gets monotonous and the images repetitive the overall impression is to leave the viewer with their eyes and ears stimulated. This unique presentation is at "Webyarns.com"

Gord

anxiety and calm

I really liked this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAVt-TDXq4g
What i liked about this video was how it used so many senses, like site and sound, and took advantage of them. One can clearly see what is going throught the author's mind. She has the feeling of anxiety and that her life is just one big mess. I believe that this is something that we can all realite to as college students or as just humans in general. Life isn't easy, we all go through our own anxieties and fears. However, like the end of the film, most of us find a way to the calm and confidence in ourselves and can hope for a new sort of future.

Critical Reflection 2: Social Life, With Friends

Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjXHRUlKe_M&feature=related and watch this simple kinetic typography show while you listen to Kenneth Koch read his poem "Social Life, With Friends".

     I find this to be a  simple yet effective animation that lends nicely to Koch's simple, sparse poem with a big message.  First of all I like the tumult effect of typography and I think it works well for this spoken piece. I like the minimalistic stylization of black and white with animated juxtapositions of large to small blocky text and circles. I even like the silly swinging lockets that provide a 1950's impression. These juxtapositions seem to mimic the anecdotes Koch is using to support his case against our ability to have all 3. The single rhyme scheme and animated text backdrop is at once both funny and, well, sadly true. We have talked about how poignancy can be created through applying  counter punches in tone or mood or humor and drama. The animated text and the final serious implications of the chosen 2 creates a kind of "hurts so funny" effect.
     I know that I would prefer the typography to any attempt at illustrations or images for this particular poem. Sometimes when attempts are made to illustrate poems, I find the pictures distracting or having the potential to move too far from the poem's essence. That said, I think that the number of poems that would work well with kinetic typography might be limited as it has the potential to appear gimmicky.

I  would like to see the potential of using kinetic typography to help remedial readers.  Remedial readers, in my experience, are getting older and older.   I think this might be another way to capture the attention and help guide a struggling reader through a difficult text.

  

My Critical Reflection 1: Loss of Grasp: lossofgrasp.com/

This is an interactive kinetic text installation that I found interesting, entertaining, and self-revealing. Go to lossofgrasp.com/ to watch.

     When one is thrown into an unfamiliar digital landscape it can be very displacing, frustrating, unnerving-- especially when the landscape does not come with the traditional guide posts and instructions.  This text does not allow us to passively watch a story unfold, but rather we must take part in the interpretation.  Upon an initial swipe of the mouse, the interactive reader sets out to learn how to read and turn the pages, so to speak, and the progression of interactive tasks compel reader to experiment with different actions that will move the story forward or deepen the story.
     The text is stimulating and at times surprising; the rewards compel the reader to acquire additional modes of interaction. The reader must work, experiment, employ problem-solving skills to figure out how to navigate in order to discover meaning at the surface and subtext.  There is the illusion of linear progression with the "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6" at the bottom of the page, but these are not in the reader's control.  In other words, we can't skip ahead because each page presents a new level of interactivity that we must assimilate in order to accomplish the next page.  I think this interactive story  is investing our personal lack of comfort with new mediums, technology, and change in general. I think it speaks to our desire for what is familiar and for what we can control. This piece also raises a few questions?  Is it reassuring or disconcerting how quickly we can reorient ourselves in this new environment and move from confusion to comprehension? And, really, who is getting manipulated, the digital story or the reader?  Having not "gamed" since Mrs. Pacman was around in the early '80's, I am also curious as to whether you gamers in the class ever felt a "loss of grasp" while learning how to navigate these six pages?  Did figuring out the rules of the road seem effortless for you?