Into the Wild

1. He found that being in the wild didn't make him as happy as he thought it would and decided that he would be happier not being in the wild so it convinced him to attempt to make it home. He learned from being in the wild what really made him happy. He learned that what would really make him happy is a family and a home on a farm in the country side. Having purpose and meaning something to someone and starting a family. So with all that in mind he realized that the wild couldn't give him all that so he decided to go home.

3. I can see it go either way. True going out there doesn't make you a better man but at the same time it was a very brave thing to do because he saw the life style that he thought would make him happy and he went after it. He knew that he wasn't fully prepared and he knew that the trail had killed hikers before him and he still went so in that sense he is stupid. I do think that he is justified to have gone on his own in the wild putting his family through that pain because if you want something in this world then you have to go after it. Its what you want, not what anyone else wants for your life. What ever makes you happy and he thought it would make him happy so in his mind and my mind he is justified enough to leave.

Professional Exhibition

If you are having a professional organization exhibit your work:

1. Link to the San Diego Coastkeeper Wiki/Main Site

http://www.sdwatersheds.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.sdcoastkeeper.org/

2. Still have to find someone to get in touch with to talk about possible linking to our own media saves the beach.

Telephone	(619) 758-7743
Fax	(619) 224-4638
Email	info@sdcoastkeeper.org

3. Date: 12/11/09 Place: Possibly, most likely on the Coast Keeper site.

4. So far we have not contacted them at this point. But sometime later this week, we will either walk down to their NTC office, inquiring about possible web site sharing/linkage.

Gatsby

The American Dream as defined by the Declaration of Independence expresses the idea that all men are created equal and each person has the right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In the story The Great Gatsby the example of the American Dream is heavily corrupted by numerous characters in the book. First and most obvious is Mr. James Gatsby. He corrupted the view of an American Dream by rising to the top, becoming rich and powerful, in so doing he proved that money cannot buy happiness. Even when he had it all he was still not content. Another person who showed corruption of the American dream was Tom Buchanan. He walked all over people throughout the entire book because he was so cocky with all his money and all his strength that he just bossed people around and treated everyone with no respect. Daisy Buchanan was also an example of a corrupted American dream. She married rich Tom and just acted like she was so much better than everyone else.

In the beginning of the story the first character that we meet that is corrupted is Tom. He is described to have been a football star in his glory days. Thirty years later he is rich and is married to Daisy. Even though he is married he has another woman behind Daisy, Tom pushes everyone around and acts like he’s more of a man than everyone. He shows very little respect to anyone except himself. Later in the book he punches out one of the guests of his party and even later he set up Gatsby with the murder of Mrtyle. Throughout the story he never gets any more noble or any more respectable. He shows how with all the money you get it doesn’t give you a sense of triumph or a sense of respect for hard work, all it gave him was the urge to be a dick. No one really likes him.

The second person we meet is Daisy Buchanan who is married to Tom. She’s better than Tom in the sense that she doesn’t think that she is better than everyone else. She seems more like the kind of girl that uses her qualities to get what she wants out of people. When we first meet her she is laying on a table in a seductive fashion when she greets Nick. She isn’t exactly completely content and knows that her husband is cheating on her and still does nothing. Later in the book she and Gatsby meet again and they rekindle their relationship, she plays him and makes him completely fall for her. In the end of that she chooses Tom over him. She chose Tom knowing that he cheated on her numerous times. With all the money that she and Tom have she has no need for a good husband she can just get whatever she wants with the money. She buys whatever she wants.

Gatsby is a perfect example of corruption of the American dream. At the beginning of the book, not much is known about this “Great” Gatsby. All that is known is that he throws extravagant parties that are widely renown which attract people from all over different places. Some travel for hours to go to these parties that are held every Saturday at his enormous mansion. Sounds odd but reasonable right? Nick attends one of the parties and he gets the pleasure of meeting the one and only Gatsby. The two of them become friends, and later in the book we discover that the reason for Gatsby’s purpose of everything is to try to win over Daisy. He only has these parties so he can get Daisy’s attention. All the luxuries that he buys and shows off are because he thinks it will get Daisy to like him more. The location of his mansion is directly across a small body of water from where Daisy lives. Doing all this he seems like he would be pretty smooth but he abuses his money. He went from a man who had everything and lost is all because he got played by a little girl. He had very little respect for hard work and made his money off of the organized crime industry, or so everyone says. He sells alcohol at his parties and just buys useless things to wave around his money then shows is off to the masses. In the American Dream he has everything a man could want but has no happiness. He shows that the hard working people out there can easily be beaten by crimes. He shows that honesty wont get you anywhere and the only way to the top is by breaking the law. Even after everything he still never gets what he was always after, Daisy. By the end of his story they found his corpse floating in his pool and his killer dead beside him.

All these rich and powerful people, you would think that the all would have worked really hard to get where they are. You would think they would have respect for those that they see working harder than them and not making the money. The truth of the matter is that they see them as less than them. With all their money it doesn’t buy them happiness, just an over sense of pride.

The American Dream grants people the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I don’t see people that are supposed to have the high life with what the American dream shows. All it shows is materialistic prideful people. If thats what the American Dream grants us then I don’t want it.

msb organization

Clean Ocean Foundation

In the ocean borders are just lines on someone's map. We all share the one ocean and its health and fate is at one with our own. Around the world there are many groups fighting to give the ocean a voice. Clean Ocean Foundation is this voice in Australia.

In the 21st century the pollution of our ocean and waterways is increasing exponentially. In Australia the worst polluters are the 144 ocean and estuary outfall pipelines that daily dump a toxic cocktail of more than three billion litres of semi-treated domestic, industrial, trade and abattoir waste onto or near the shoreline.

Clean Ocean’s prime objective is to protect our ocean ecosystem, establish sustainable water management practices and close Australia’s ocean outfalls. These wastewater outfalls are the single greatest source of ocean pollution in Australia, yet virtually every Australian would have swum, surfed or fished near one of the 144 outfalls around our country

Freshwater from inland areas is piped to our coastal cities, used once, then dumped into the ocean via environmentally damaging outfalls. It’s a completely unsustainable practice during Australia’s worst drought on record.

The Foundation is establishing a National Database for every outfall in the country. This will be the blueprint for communities, local, state and federal government to move toward closing these pipes forever.

gatsby 1-4

Gatsby is like nick in the sense that not many people know much about him and both of the two characters are rather quiet and mysterious. Gatsby seems like the man though and nick seems more like the guy just telling the story that no one really cares about.

The Great Gatsby Chapter 1

1. Nick is the narrator. He seems on the shy side of things and his biases are against tom because he talks about him like hes some sort of player mean type of dude whos really cocky and rich.

2. i think he gets a sign of someone whos not directly involved with everything but has an opinion on things. its a way to tell the story from a semi outside view and semi not.

Professional Example

1. It doesnt stick with one scene for too long which makes it easier to watch even though its educational. This technique works because when theres one thing on the screen alot or something interesting isnt happening then your crowd often loses their attention and dont get everything your video has to offer.

2. The message is to talk about whats happening under the sea like the wildlife, and the archetecture of the rocks and the sea floor. I know because its what the whole video is talking about

3. This is intended for anyone who is interested there is no set age limit. You know because its not over simple and its super complex, a third grader can learn something and its complex enough for a high school student to learn something from it.

4. They all flow together nicely and gives off the message in an easy way to understand and fun to watch.

5. Facts that flow together to sound un scripted, it was used to make a topic more interesting and more educational so you arent bord while learning about whats going on under the water.

6. I chose this video because its from national geographic which is a company thats famous for its documentaries about animals and wildlife and i thought it would be a great video to get some ideas from. Why not take some tip from the best right?

Newspaper and Media Saves the Beach

In the newspaper we covered how to write a current informational article to get all the info out to the reader in the easiest and least amount of words. For media saves the beach something that i can use from the newspaper is getting all my ideas out quick and to the point to make my project more enjoyable. I learned how to make things sound more interesting than they really are with word choice and placement as well. If i decide to make a documentary word choice wont really help that much but getting all my ideas out quick is something good i can do. Bottom line getting info quick and word choice will be something useful for most of the different products that i could do.

Media Saves the Beach People Groups and Organizations

surfrider http://www.surfridersd.org/BWTFabout.php

Donna Wolf
she is the volunteer coordinator, she would know alot about volunteering to benefit the beach and what people can to do help.

San Diego Coast Keeper http://www.sdcoastkeeper.org/

Alicia Glassco, Marine Debris Coordinator
I presume that she would know the most about trash and waste in the water


Bruce Reznik, Executive Director
Seeing as how he is the boss of the company its safe to assume that he knows a great deal about what his team is doing to help the ocean and how the organization works.




Council:

Sherri Lightner http://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd1/

she is the council member for district 1 and she wants to to preserve and enhance our quality of life, to protect our coastline and other natural spaces which is what our project is about so she will be pleased to see our final products.


Kevin L Faulconer http://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd2/index.shtml

works in the fields of tax dollars and coastal services and protection. and is passionate about it.


Donna Frye http://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd6/index.shtml

judging just by her page she is mainly serving the ocean and its well being and knows a lot about how to save it

Media Saves the Beach Plans, Ideas, Critiques, and more

From Brent's blog questions, i saw the idea of interviewing people of their thoughts when they saw what was happening instead of what they know about what is going on. On my own project i was just thinking of asking people if they know whats going on not how they feel about it. if i end up doing a documentary i will take their feelings into consideration.

http://bspringer-brent.blogspot.com/2009/10/msb-questions-and-resourses.html


From D'Vaughn's blog, I realized that we aren't just limited to beach protection organization and people on the beach for interviews. we can use government and people of power to strengthen our arguments. If i end up doing a movie or even a photo essay it would be valuable to get the input of someone on staff for the city.
herewego-dmccrae.blogspot.com

From Hallie's blog, I realized that it wasn't only fish and small bird being affected by the pollution in the water. Her blog posses the question of how does the trash affect the larger animals such as whales and i never thought about that because they aren't as often talked about when it comes to pollution. If at all possible i might change one of my questions to have something to do with trash in the larger animals.

http://halliechavis.blogspot.com/

Possible Media Saves the Beach Products

Photo Project:

A photo project that answers the question of the seriousness and effects of the run off in san diego.


good example: mediasavesthebeach.org photo essays yoselin lopez.



Her artist statements are all pretty good and on track and most of them are to the point and don't drag on. They look like each one went through numerous critiques and fine tunings to get them where they are on the final product. Each picture looks well thought out and planned none really look staged.



Documentary:

I prefer not to work with movies but if the photo essay doesn't work out then i will do a video documentary of everything that happens when it rains.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5xBCrbax0s

This documentary is easy to watch because its fast paced. on my documentary what i can do is have music going in the background the whole time just to keep people listening. Its good in a movie to have movie instead of the whole thing be talking. this has interviews with a wide variety of people normal and professional.

Media Saves the Beach Questions and Resources

How serious are the affects of runoff and littering?

how does littering affect us as humans?
how much does runoff affect the overall quality of the beach?
ways to lower damage done by trash and runoff

http://www.portofsandiego.org/environment/stormwater.html

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2006/12-05/water-pollution-effects.htm

http://www.cee.vt.edu/ewr/environmental/teach/gwprimer/group18/urbanr.htm



i know that i want to do a picture project because there is less room for technical errors. the three articles give me info on what is run off, what are the different types of it, what worsens and helps it and how we can do to stop it. its a small but good collection of articles to start out with

Industrialization and Coastal Environments

"In a striking change of direction, the California Coastal Commission yesterday voted 8-4 to give San Diego its third exemption from pollution standards set by the federal Clean Water Act."


Issue: California Coastal Commission voted giving San Diego third exemption from pollution standards.

Whats missing: theres only 1 interview from someone who voted and she cant speak for everyone. this article needs to have in my opinion at least 3 or 4 of the people who voted interviewed.

Follow up: What san diego is going to do next. are they going to go at it again with another vote are they just going to accept that it got declined, are they going to raise the san diego standards a little but not enough? theres quite a few things that they could write about next.

Questions Media Saves the Beach

1. Effects of trash on animals linking to humans. I'd like to talk about how the animals are trapped and injured by our trash in the ocean and how the animals we eat out there can affect us after being affected by trash.

2. Sunset cliffs on the residential area. I don't really know too much about it so I want to know what the big deal is and I know that most people don't know whats going on either so its a good opportunity to inform people whats happening.

3. Chain reaction of trash on the street with the rain and the ocean. Everyone is talking about it like its a huge deal but i want to do some research and find out what is really going down.

Civil War Still Happening

“YOU DUMB NIGGERS WE’LL KILL ALL OF YOU!”
“BRING IT ON CRACKER I’LL SEND YOU TO HELL!”
In southern United States, these are the types of conversations you will find between whites and blacks, KKK and BBB, skinheads and gangsters. All the groups have different names, but the same cause, to be the better race, and to eliminate the inferior races. Most of the hatred links back as far as the civil war and judging by the hostility of the people the war is still going on.
The two races would go to the extreme to protect what they consider theirs. They kill each other over race, power and respect to prove their superiority. In the story Confederates in the Attic, (chapter: Dying for Dixie) a portion of this hatred is displayed when a high school student is murdered by some of his black classmates. He got murdered for what? Money? Disrespect? None of that, he got killed for hanging the school flag out of the back of his pick-up truck. Granted, the school mascot was a rebel so their flag was the confederate flag, something that offends blacks, but nonetheless it was their school flag. Michael Westerman think twice about it, the flag was just something he grew up with. To the blacks it was an offensive signal toward them.
This quote from Mr. Westerman “They say that war ended a long time ago. But around here it’s like it’s still going on” suggests the idea that after all these years of racism, people aren’t willing to come to some form of compromise. The war has long since been over, but the people of the South are still at war with each other for small petty things that don’t even matter, things like flags, ethnicity, and religion. Because of all the tension between races a number of clans, gangs, and organizations have been started. These organizations are like modern day confederate and union. They keep the civil war going today by causing all sorts of hate crimes and executions. As always it’s blacks vs. whites
In Tony Horwitz’s journal when he explains his trip to the sight of Michael Westerman’s murder, he describes himself going into a biker bar. In this bar he finds bikers, skinheads, white supremacists, and just all around mean people. He was treated with hostility and hatred. He asked a simple question to a patron at the bar and the patron was ready to start a fight over this small harmless question. His question was, “What does the acronym FTW stand for?” He was answered with threats on his life that sent him scrambling out of the bar. These scenarios happen every day at these types of bars, it’s not in some distant land and it’s not a thing of the past it’s happening right now.
Things like this happen everywhere, but in the southern America it happens more than other places and the roots of all this hatred can be traced all the way back to the Civil War times, back when blacks were slaves and whites were fighting over the future of blacks in slavery. The war lasted for 4 years, Union vs. Confederates. Millions of dollars were spent on the campaign for both sides of the battle. At the end of the war the Union was victorious but both sides were at a huge financial loss. After years the Union states recovered and flourished again. As for the Confederate states, they recovered slightly but after all these years they still aren’t fully recovered
Hate crimes, gangs, and race related killing happens everywhere, in some sections it’s even more prominent than in the South. The only difference between the South and other places that have all these crimes going about is their roots. The South still has great pride for the confederacy and still wave Confederate flags.
To some in the south the flag is a sign of patriotism but for blacks, its a sign of white supremacy and racism. In other words, to a black man the confederate flag is a threat. It’s saying that they support slavery, in some black people’s minds.
The South has too much pride to care for the people that actually live there hatred and killing happens everyday and there’s little that anyone can do to stop it. The states are just too broken from the civil war and recovery doesn’t seem like its going to be in sight any time soon.

Works Cited

Horwitz, Tony. "Dying For Dixie." Confederates in the Attic Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War. New York: Vintage, 1999. 89-125. Print.

Class notes

Reconstruction

Reconstruction was the time after the Civil War where the United States was doing terribly financially because the war cost so much. It was a time where the US had to rebuild itself after being broken down, the government had to amend the constitution. Something good that came out of it was the Freedman's Bureau it attempted to help with black people plight which later led to the establishment of the 15th amendment which gave blacks the right to vote. Something that didn't turn out that great was the reconstruction of the south which is still going on today. The south never recovered and doesnt have as good of education, money, or property as the rest of the united states. Because it never recovered there is still a lot of racism going on in the southern states. Theres hate crimes still happening today, for example Tuesday September 29 in Baltimore Maryland 3 white supremacists beat a 76 year old black man while he was out fishing:

"the three defendants beat James A. Privott with a stick and shouted racial slurs in an unprovoked attack last month as he fished in a waterfront park in south Baltimore...Mr. Lockner told investigators the attack would not have happened if the victim had been white"

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/29/metro-briefs-19650787/

Media Saves the Beach in the News

"A state panel with the grandiose title of California Ocean Protection Council wants to tax or ban a wide array of everyday products – from takeout food containers to disposable cups to drinking straws to plastic shopping bags – in hopes of reducing pollution."

The issue that this article is talking about is the pollution of our beaches and how to solve the problem. The government thinks that they should raise taxes on beach equipment and items that are normally found on the beach so less people will buy them and in turn less will end up as pollution. This is concerning what we are doing because our project is about whats happening to the beaches and how you can help and that sort of subject. This article came off of union tribunes website.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20081203/news_z1ed3middle.html

Media Saves the Beach

The thing that really caught my attention in the project was the filming, editing and music for the thing. I'm not really sure how my project is going to be or what direction I'm going to take it but those are the things i'm most interested about for this project. An idea i have is a sorta report on what beaches are the safest and why and what it does to you if its not safe.

American Icons Final

Pupil of a Blind Pianist

In the beginning of my piano career I was never that good. I couldn’t coordinate my fingers to play the right notes, and I couldn’t play much of any real songs. Even though I wasn’t the greatest at playing the piano the idea of playing it just fascinated me.
I was three the first time I saw a piano; the shine on the glossy black wood and the polished keys showed my reflection back at me. I was drawn to it, intrigued by it, and when my grandmother played it, I fell in love with it. The magnificent sound of chords and scales had me hooked.
The first time I played the piano I was four. I banged on the keys wondered and questioned how to make beautiful sounds like my grandmother made. Years went by and my curiosity appealed to my parents and they signed me up for piano lessons at the age of 7. I tried and worked at it for about a year and decided that it just wasn’t in me to learn how to play it.
On the way home one day my parents and I were listening to the radio when the DJ announced “The best of the oldies, here is Ray Charles….” “Well, I got a woman. Way over town, that’s good to me. OH YEA”. My mom told me that Ray was blind at the age of 7 because a disease called Glaucoma, she told me that he went on to be a great pianist. I still pondered if I should stick with the piano or not. When we got home I sat down to practice, my mother looked me dead in the eyes and said “Marcus, this piano can be your future. Ray never gave up on his dreams and he was blind. I’m not going to make you stick with it but you need to think over your decision about quitting over some more”.
I decided to buy some of his albums and listen, his voice rang in my head as I practiced and got better. “You will never be able to overwhelm an instrument. It can take you as far as you want to go only if you push it to your limits”. That was the quote I played by. It stuck with me for years. I realized his determination, many people told him that he was wasting his time because he was blind but, he never gave up.
As I listened to him play my love for the piano got stronger, my passion grew, and the music started to flow more clearly. Rough days would always come for me though, one day I got really frustrated and stormed into my room, I smacked the power button on my radio. The sound of one of Ray’s piano solos soured out of the radio and filled the room. Again his skills drew me back to the keys. He always changed it up, he mixed different styles of music to make something new, he would mix blues with jazz with gospel music to make something undefinable.
As I grew older so did my skills and I was able to play more advanced pieces. Many people noticed this and were amazed as they saw my fingers fly across the board. Even on my best day I did not have the skill to play one of Ray’s songs, they had more meaning to him than I would ever know. It was if he made these songs especially for only his fingers. Despite this I still tried to attempt one of his songs and in so doing I taught myself how to freestyle and go solo. I wrote a few of his songs down and kept them over the years. Sometimes I’ll pick them up and refine to make them to sound better.
Being handicap for Ray was almost a plus. It made him more determined, it seemed like he couldn’t see failure, or wrong notes. He made his music project into his eyes and soul and back onto the keys to make something all his own.
His dedication and talent is inspired many people but alas all great things must come to an end and his end came June 10, 2004.
Ray is gone but his music still keeps going and his influences won’t ever stop. I don’t hope to become as good as he was but his music and state of mind keeps me going every time I think about quitting. Whenever things just get too hard in my music world I would lie on my bed and listen to his best works and let his soul set me right and take me away.

Bibliography


Robinson, Ray Charles. "Ray "The Greatest" Charles." Interview. Youtube. Youtube. Web. .

Lord, Tom. "Ray Charles." Legends of American Music History. Jazz Discography. Web. .

American Icons Reflection

In this project I discovered that my writing turns out better if its a topic i'm actually passionate about and really set my mind to. I also discovered that i actually have potential to be a decent writer.

At the beginning of the project during the first two drafts i had a bad habit of using "ing" verbs that took away from my product. I later learned that using those types of words, at least with how many i had, wasn't good at all for my paper. I minimized how many I had and it made my paper easier to read and right to the point.

I wouldn't do anything if i could have a new draft because I'm happy with all the changes I made. if i could make it longer i would have stuck with my third or fourth draft though because it went into more detail and i thought it was just an all around better paper but it wasnt one page so i couldnt use it.

"Whenever things just get too hard in my music world I lay on my bed and turn on his best works and let his soul set me right and take me away." It stood out to me because i showed exactly how i felt instead of telling. Its a line that tells the reader how i felt when i would listen to his works and how it helped me just climb out of a rough spot in my music world. It was very well put together and powerful

My Picture

Tell me what you think

Artist Statements and Critiques

Today in class my peer critique told me that it was good but to add a little bit more detail and show a few more facts in my writing. I came in after school and Randy told me to show not to tell and gave me a few nudges in the right direction with my organization and to talk more about my experiences. I came up with new ideas about showing a little about me progressing in skill and the different things I did and where my skills went to. its still a work in progress though

“No no no, Marcus, your playing a B when you need to play an A… That’s more like it”. Throughout the beginning of my piano career I was always one of the worst people at the instrument. I couldn’t coordinate my fingers to play the right notes, and I couldn’t play much of any real songs. The idea of playing the piano just fascinated me though so I didn’t pay too much attention to how bad I was.

I was three the first time I saw a piano; the shine on the glossy black wood and the polished keys showed my reflection back at me. I was drawn to it, intrigued by it, and when my grandmother played it, I fell in love with it. Not so much her piano skills so much as the magnificence of sound of the chords and scales, basic yes, but just enough to catch my attention.

The first time I actually played the piano instead of just looking was when I was four. I banged on the keys wondered and questioned how to make the sounds beautiful like my grandmother made them sound. Years went by and my curiosity appealed to my parents and they signed me up for piano lessons at the age of 7. I tried and worked at it for about a year and decided that it just wasn’t in me to learn how to play it. I decided to just give up.

On the way home one day my parents and I were listening to the radio when the DJ stopped the music to announce the next song “The best of the oldies, here is Ray Charles….” “well, I got a woman. Way over town, that’s good to me. OH YEA, say I got a woman…”. I asked my mom about Ray and she told me that he was blind at the age of 7 by the disease Glaucoma and she told me that he still went on to be great. At the time I still pondered if I should stick with the piano or not. When we got home and I sat down to practice my mother looked me dead in the eyes and said “Marcus, this piano can be your future. It can make your dreams come true, Ray never gave up on his dreams and he was blind. I’m not going to make you stick with it but you need to think your decision about quitting over some more”.

That was it, I bought some of his albums and listened to all of his most famous songs, his voice rang in my head as I practiced and practiced and got better and better. “You will never be able to overwhelm an instrument. It can take you as far as you want to go only if you push it to your limits”. That was the quote I played by and it stuck with me for years. I realized his determination, many people told him that he was wasting his time because he was blind, he never gave up and didn’t let anyone turn him into a cripple he always tried his best.

As I listened to him play on his songs my love for the piano got stronger, my passion grew, and the music started to flow more clearly. Rough days would always come for me though, one day I got really frustrated and just locked myself in my room. I just needed something to take my mind away, I smacked the power button on my radio. The sound of one of Ray’s piano solos soured out of the radio and filled the room. Again his skills drew me back to the keys. He always changed it up, he mixed different styles of music to make something new, he would mix blues with jazz with gospel music and combine that with even a little bit of country which some of his music is undefinable and always catchy.

Ray wasn’t always the amazing piano player that he turned out to be. He started off just playing around with Mr. Wiley Pit at an old cafe down by where Ray lived, it wasn’t until he got into the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind that he started to actually practice and develop his skills. While learning the piano he was inspired by early blues artists like Charles Brown, and Nat King Cole. He never thought he would ever turn out to be a pianist though.

I grew older and my skills grew and I could play more advanced pieces. Things that most people would look at me with big eyes and watch my fingers fly up and down the board. My skills even at their peak weren’t good enough to play one of Ray’s songs, they were just too personal to him as if they were written so only his fingers could play them. I still tried to match him and in so doing I taught myself how to freestyle and how to solo. I wrote a few of them down and held on over the years and still pick them up from time to time to refine and make them better.

Ray’s special problem set him apart from all the rest of the players and even though it was a handicap it made him that much more determined and that much better, almost like it helped him because he couldn’t see failure, he couldn’t see wrong notes or off beats. His music projected into his eyes and soul and back onto the keys to make something all his own.

His dedication and talent is inspired many people other than me but alas all great things must come to an end and his end came June 10, 2004.

Ray is gone but his music still keeps going and his influences wont ever stop. I don’t hope to become as good as he was but his music and state of mind keeps me going every time I think about quitting. Whenever things just get too hard in my music world I lay on my bed and turn on his best works and let his soul set me right and take me away.

Photography Techniques

Over Exposure and Under Exposure: This technique calls for the photographer to mess around with the lighting to give the main idea a more eerie or more mysterious look. if the light is behind the object then the object appears to be black up against the light. If the light is behind the camera then the background that the object is in is darker and the object is brighter. In some cases it can make the picture look mysterious and when used in the right way it can make it look staged but at the same time not staged.
Reflection Technique: This is when the main idea of the photograph is reflected with something to add more emphasis to the main idea. It makes it look like the main section of the picture stands out more and looks bigger and better.

Rule of Thirds: This technique puts the main focus of the image slightly off and if there were a grid it would snap into the perpendicular lines of the grid. what this does to the photo is makes it a little off centered so it doesnt look as staged and looks more legit.

American Icon Resources

Ray Charles

This is just an example of one of his solos that I like

Interview with Ray Charles: This video tells a small amount about his origins and his thoughts on making music in your own way. There are lots of videos on youtube with his interview but this one is just and example of one of them.


The Movie: The movie (Ray) shows Rays life in a nutshell although with a little bit of hollywood in it still is a good source for getting ideas and getting a understanding of all the things he went through


http://www.swingmusic.net/Ray_Charles_Biography.html


A Biography about him and his rise through all of songs, his hardships, and his fortunes.



Martin Luther King Jr.





His Famous "I have a Dream" speech. This speech is what he is most well known for and this is a video of it.





http://www.mlkonline.net/

Kinda like his own personal website. It has many of his speeches, a biography, his quotes and facts about him and why we celebrate Martin Luther King day.

http://www.martinlutherkingjrarchive.com/Home.aspx

A giant archive with all the newspaper articles about MLK Jr. what he did, how he did it, what happened afterwards. Everything that was a cause of his doing on the days that his actions made the newspaper.

American Icons - Ideas

This man's name is Ray Charles Robinson. In America he is famous for his piano skills, but what makes him stand out more than the rest of the thousands of piano players in the world is that he is blind and learned how to play the piano while he was blind. He reshaped the face of the blues/jazz industry because he mixed a combination of jazz blues and gospel music to make something that no one had ever heard before. This man is my inspiration for playing the piano, I have been fascinated with him ever since I found out his special problem. I listen to him play and then I play something and I just hear birds sing with his piano solos, fills, and ability to write a song while he plays it and make it sound perfect. He became important to me when I was still new at the piano and the songs I would play would just be really hard. I would always think of quitting then I'll hear a song of his (my parents listen to him all the time) and remember that if anyone had a reason to quit piano because of how hard it was it would be him and that just kept me going and going.

Martin Luther King Jr. aka MLK Jr. He's famous for the role he played in stopping segregation among blacks and whites but was murdered because of it. MLK didn't really inspire me I just admire his courage and determination to stand up for what's right. He led the bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama in the 50's which gained the right for blacks to ride on the bus without having to give up their seat to anyone who was white. His most famous act would have to be when he gave his "I have a dream speech" it's what he is most recognized for. For America as a whole his biggest contribution was that he was one of the leaders that stopped segregation, and helped bring people of different races together. Other people helped but he was still one of the more well known and a very important person of the act.

ROCKBAND! Everyones favorite party game. Now it's moved up to bigger and better things, their newest game featuring the Beatles is what game critiques are calling one of the most influential and impacting games to date. It has the combination of fun musical gameplay that all the kids love but has the oldie songs that the parents love and it brings gamers and non gamers together. It's not so much influential on America as a whole but in many households you have the kids who play the games and parents who work all the time. What EA has done was make a game that even people who don't like video games will be entertained by because who doesn't like the Beatles right?

Response to Welcome Back to School

What i hope to gain: From this year at HTHMA i hope to expand my writing skills because last year writing essays and papers were my weakest quality.

Goals: My goal this year is to attempt some honors courses to the best of my ability to maximize my learning.

Hope to accomplish and learn: Towards the end of last year my work started to get better and better and more professional particularly in english/humanities class. I hope to accomplish an even higher level of professionalism in my projects. I hope to learn better techniques for essay writing and little tricks and tips that make me better at putting my ideas on paper and make them sound good.

What I hope to develop: This year i hope to develop a greater appreciation for literature.