The Magical Mystery Kind

The song "40 Day Dream" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes tells the story of Edward Sharpe in a relationship with a woman who is his everything and more. They are living in a surreal dream like world where everything, including their relationship, is perfect and amazing. The song has a theme of love happiness and contentment. In "40 Day Dream", Alex Ebert, the lead singer of Edward Sharpe uses a lot of metaphoric verses and imagery. When Edward turns his girl's gold doorknob eyes, he sees what he truly longs and what he always wants.

Because of this symbolism, the song is able to have many different interpretations and various meanings. Though one may believe the "magical mystery kind,' is the sort of love that Edward Sharpe shares with his girl when really he can be high of a magical mystery kind of drug that he "inhaled just a little bit." which gives him, "no fear of death." The meaning of the song is truly up to the decision of the listener/reader like any good work of poetry is. And oh, now I can die.

               40 Day Dream - Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes

Oh I've been sleeping for forty days and Yeah, I know that I'm sleeping cause this dream's too amazing She got gold doorknobs where her eyes used to be, yeah One turn and I learned what it really means to see, yeah  It's the magical mystery kind Must be a lie Bye bye to the too good to be true kind of love Oooooh I could die Oooooh now, I could die  Now I've been sleeping for sixty days and Nobody better pinch me Bitch I swear, I’ll go crazy She got jumper cable lips She got sunset on her breath I inhaled just a little bit Now I got no fear of death  It's the magical mystery kind Must be a lie Bye bye to the too good to be true kind of love Oooooh I could die Oooooh now, I could die  It's the magical mystery kind Must be a lie Bye bye to the too good to be true kind of love Oooooh I could die Oooooh now, I could die

On the Reservation

Life on a Native American reservation is a very different lifestyle than the modern lifestyle of Americans. Reservation life is very rural and contained. After the much mistreatment of Native Americans in the United States, it was declared that they would have an area of land where they would be allowed to live outside of the rules of the government. Although this may seem all peachy, most of the land that was given to the Native Americans was extremely undesirable. Many reservations are located on soil that is not fit for farming, very far away from other forms of civilization, and in terrible climate zones.

How would you feel if you were a Native American living on one of these reservations? Would you shared the same hatred and bitterness that others do for Americans and the United States government for taking away their land? 

Be Back Later to Finish.

Modern Propaganda 2011

Propaganda as defined in Webster’s Dictionary is information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation etc.; a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position, but as I see it, it’s definition is a modern day four letter word -  S-P-I-N and during this very heated mayoral race in Chicago,  the spin is out of control!  

Every time I turned on the television in the past week, there was one of the candidates pandering to the camera in a commercial, in a debate or in an interview. Each one attempting to be more charming and believable then others.  Each one claiming that they are the only candidate who promises to tackle unemployment, revamp Chicago’s school system, and put more cops on the beat if elected.  Each one claiming the others have no interest in the poor and working class of Chicago.  In fact, one candidate claims another wants to actually raise the taxes on the poor, while giving the wealthy a pass on paying taxes!  Another candidate claims her opponent is a self proclaimed crack-head!  

I realize mayor of the City of Chicago is a very desirable job, but do the candidates, or should I say their spin doctors, really think the voters believe this stuff?  Do they really think the voters believe that their candidate is the only one that wants safer streets,  smarter kids and booming businesses?   I guess they must, or is it the only way their candidate will get noticed!!

Beat Street

Beat Street is a 1984 drama film, featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. The movie focuses on break dancing DJ-ing and graffiti. From 1984-2011, hip hop has changed drastically.

When hip hop was first forming, it was a new underground style of music, fashion, dancing; a new way of life. It was new to many people outside of urban areas and Beat Street was able to introduce hip hop to the world. Hip hop was about smooth beats, rhythmic delivery, and the clever rhyming of the lyrics.

Now, instead of funky beats, wild outfits, and spinning on your head on linoleum, hip hop, or rap, artists talk about getting high, getting girls, and getting money. The substance beats that started this movement have been replaced by bass rhythms and auto-tune. It seems now that rappers and hip hop artists make music no longer for what they believe in, but for what will sell and make them famous. No longer do they sport puffy jackets and crazy sunglasses; instead they wear their pants at their knees and tattoos as their attire.

Has the original hip hop movement that once was only found in the Bronx move on and forever been transformed into something else? Has Beat Street been closed?

Hungry for Attention

In Black Boy, by Richard Wright, we see from the very beginning, how young Richard does crazy, outlandish things in order to receive attention, positive or negative, from his mother, father, brother or anyone else around him. He accidentally burns the house down, kills a kitten, and complains of hunger all in order to win over the attention from his family members which is being used on something else. Although Richard's actions are extreme, are we all really so much different from him?

Are we all just hungry for attention? Do we strive for acknowledgment and recognition to make our life complete and satisfy our search to be noticed? Attention is the feeling of approval, that someone cares to give you their time and respect. All people have a narcissistic craving for the world and all of the people in it to revolve around them, the "American Hunger," which Richard clearly amplifies. 

So look into yourself. Do you feel a part of you is always craving the attention of others? Don't fall under Richard's spell where it becomes your life. As we read on we will see how Richard evolves and matures, seeing if he is always starving for attention.

Response: On Being a Mexican American

"On Being a Mexican American" is told from the viewpoint of a man looking back on his childhood. He was raised in America, but being a Mexican immigrant, he always was told to remember his Mexican culture and roots. The author, Mendoza, reflects on how by living in America, he has forgotten parts of his Mexican culture and customs and taken to new Americanized ones.

We recently discussed this essay and this idea in class. Do we all leave behind the culture that we once had? My teacher referred to this idea as a melting pot, where all sorts of ingredients are thrown in but end up mixing and melting together. Is America a cultural and social melting pot? 

Other people said America is seen to be more of a salad bowl, where everyone is their own person and unchanged in any way. Personally, I see America as a kind of chopped salad, like the kind you would find at Portillo's where you can see what the ingredients but they are mixed together as well. Americans try to be their own person and hold on to their cultural roots, while at the same time finding commonalities with others and taking to new ways of life as well. I consider myself an American citizen with Polish ancestry and heritage. How do you see yourself? Have you been stirred into the melting pot or do you lay free in the salad?

Response: Children of the Sea

"Children of the Sea," is a short story in a book entitled Krik, Krak written by Edwidge Danticat. Danticat is a Haitian-American immigrant who frequently chronicles issues or even personal vendettas occurring in Haiti. Haiti is a country in such a depressing state of turmoil that not many people are aware of.

In "Children of the Sea," Danticat writes as two young Haitian lovers writing letters to one another. The boy is on an illegal boat hoping to find it's way to America while the girl remains in Haiti with her family. The boy is fleeing from the corrupt and propaganda filled terror that is the Haitian government. He writes of the hardships of life on a small makeshift boat, over crowded with people, sickness, and little to no food. She tells him of the terrible happenings in Haiti with people being slaughtered and tortured for speaking out against the government. As you read on you find that they are not receiving these letters which is truly heart wrenching and depressing.

Above all in this except is the lawless love the two share. Their unknowable separation makes their love the only thing and everything they have left to share. They fight to live on only for the one last hope they have which is each other. 

Dantitcat writes in an a compatible essay, We Are Ugly, but We Are Here, that on small boats, such as the one the boy is voyaging on, people would throw themselves into the water after days of hardship and starvation, to sacrifice themselves to the Gods. They give up their life to God because they seek the love and power that a new life can give to them, while the boy Danticat depicts sees to it to stay alive for as long as he can because the love he shares with his girl in Haiti is more powerful that the love of God. When you have nothing, to have something, or someone, is more than everything.