In the stairwell section, the stairwell begins to expand. Becoming longer and with it, taking Reston Creating a greater distance from the others. In Johnny Stituation he talks about how the walls and time continue to change. It is in these two sections one could draw parrellels between the two.
In both their sections the length at which the text is written is expanded. In Reston's section the text takes up a bunch of pages to explain this. In Johnny's the text is close together and small which takes up space and time as well.
Another interesting thing is that both characters are being dragged away from the world. It's in Johnny section that an abstract item is holding backa and keeping him from his friends. In Reston's event it was the staircase itself that did the pulling away taking Reston before. Both lost their connection to the ouside world.Both got pulled into this idea whether or not they agree with it.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Crying of Lot 49
In Oedipa's experience with the Demon Machine, she trys to communicate with it. She watches through the corner of her eye for the piston to move. There is a moment where she feels it move, but plays it up to an illusion. It is through this illusion that we understand how the machine and reading this book relate; both make fun of the reader.
In the book people go there to tell whether or not they are sensitive. They sit there for hours trying to talk to this machine whose purpose is to make fun of them. Same goes for the reader of this book. When reading the book we think we are sensitive to it. We feel we understand what it's trying to say, but we don't. We read way to much into everything the author gives us. To understand the book we must understand that we aren't sensitive to it.
After Oedipa trys for hours the scientist tells her to come watch T.V. and have sex with him. The only other purpose that machine is for is to help the old man fuck women. The only purpose of this book is to fuck the reader.
In the book people go there to tell whether or not they are sensitive. They sit there for hours trying to talk to this machine whose purpose is to make fun of them. Same goes for the reader of this book. When reading the book we think we are sensitive to it. We feel we understand what it's trying to say, but we don't. We read way to much into everything the author gives us. To understand the book we must understand that we aren't sensitive to it.
After Oedipa trys for hours the scientist tells her to come watch T.V. and have sex with him. The only other purpose that machine is for is to help the old man fuck women. The only purpose of this book is to fuck the reader.
Mollory
Two movies that deal well with the inward journey a character takes are Identity and The Uninvited. Both deal with characters that aren't the typical characters. Both their characters start off crazy and then end crazy. The characters behave like Mollory.
In Identity, the main character is a man on death row. Then the movie switches scenes and perspective to eleven different characters. Each has their own back story, but each are trapped in this hotel. At the hotel people start to die. Now as this story is going on you have the story about the man on death row. Only later in the movie do you find out that those eleven people and the man on death ow are the same. The man has multiply personality disorder and those other people are his personalities. The arguement was made in class that Mollory and the other guy were the same people. That Mollory part should go second. Well this moive plays with the different perspectives and later tells you that they are all the same person.
In The Univited, the main character is in an insane house we don't know why or when. She is released from the hospital and is sent home. There she is forced to remember what happened to her in the past. As she searches for the truth, the crazier she gets. The character's mind starts to play tricks on her by summoning her dead mother, boyfriend, and sister. It is only in the end that we realize the truth. By that time she has gone completely insane again. This movie reminds me of the second portion of Mollory more than the first. She starts off normal, like the man. As both get closer to the truth their minds play tricks on them. By the end both are crazy and making no sense.
Both these movies have similar aspects of the book within them. Both using different parts as well. I thought it was a nice representation of what we were talking about.
In Identity, the main character is a man on death row. Then the movie switches scenes and perspective to eleven different characters. Each has their own back story, but each are trapped in this hotel. At the hotel people start to die. Now as this story is going on you have the story about the man on death row. Only later in the movie do you find out that those eleven people and the man on death ow are the same. The man has multiply personality disorder and those other people are his personalities. The arguement was made in class that Mollory and the other guy were the same people. That Mollory part should go second. Well this moive plays with the different perspectives and later tells you that they are all the same person.
In The Univited, the main character is in an insane house we don't know why or when. She is released from the hospital and is sent home. There she is forced to remember what happened to her in the past. As she searches for the truth, the crazier she gets. The character's mind starts to play tricks on her by summoning her dead mother, boyfriend, and sister. It is only in the end that we realize the truth. By that time she has gone completely insane again. This movie reminds me of the second portion of Mollory more than the first. She starts off normal, like the man. As both get closer to the truth their minds play tricks on them. By the end both are crazy and making no sense.
Both these movies have similar aspects of the book within them. Both using different parts as well. I thought it was a nice representation of what we were talking about.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Johnny 'Truant'
Something I hadn't really noticed until I finished reading all of Pelafina's letters is that Johnny's last name is Truant. Pelafina's last name is Leivre, or something similar. While he would probably take on the last name of any of his adopted families I don't remember Johnny ever actually mentioning doing so. His last name is often not mentioned or spaced out entirely in letters to him from the institute.
The letters made this more apparent when I reached the one that mentioned Pelafina receiving notices saying JOHNNY IS TRUANT. Truant means to be intentionally absenst from school without permission. Basically ditching classes. So his last name is a word that possibly suggests he is not where he belongs, or a humorous take on his constantly being kicked out of school. Is it possible there are other reasons for this? Why is it that his last name happens to be a word that only appears in Pelafina's letters?
The letters made this more apparent when I reached the one that mentioned Pelafina receiving notices saying JOHNNY IS TRUANT. Truant means to be intentionally absenst from school without permission. Basically ditching classes. So his last name is a word that possibly suggests he is not where he belongs, or a humorous take on his constantly being kicked out of school. Is it possible there are other reasons for this? Why is it that his last name happens to be a word that only appears in Pelafina's letters?
Doll Face
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl6hNj1uOkY
Over the course we learned about simulacra, an image based on nothing that is treated as reality, is very present in our culture. There are idols on TV who are not themselves but personas that really only exist as images. To meet the person in real life would not be the same as meeting the persona because they are not a pure image anymore. But so long as they remain as images they are more believable.
Often people will emulate the images they see in media, especially on TV. The video, Doll Face, comments on this imitation and with an unpleasant result. As one attempts to meet the image a person can lose sense of the differences between the image and limitations of reality. Although the video suggests attempting to push the limits of reality can be dangerous, is it?
What other messages could this video be trying to get across?
Over the course we learned about simulacra, an image based on nothing that is treated as reality, is very present in our culture. There are idols on TV who are not themselves but personas that really only exist as images. To meet the person in real life would not be the same as meeting the persona because they are not a pure image anymore. But so long as they remain as images they are more believable.
Often people will emulate the images they see in media, especially on TV. The video, Doll Face, comments on this imitation and with an unpleasant result. As one attempts to meet the image a person can lose sense of the differences between the image and limitations of reality. Although the video suggests attempting to push the limits of reality can be dangerous, is it?
What other messages could this video be trying to get across?
Violence of the Beast
After referring to the monster lurking within the house I remembered an animation I watched in high school called "The Cathedral" which involves a man exploring through an abandoned cathedral in space where faces a part of the structure. When he comes to the edge of the cathedral, the land becomes violent and takes over the man and he becomes one with the cathedral.
I felt like this was relevant to House of Leaves especially when the monster becomes violent and kills. "Navy said it felt like he was running into the jaws of some big beast about to chomp down...and as you saw later on, that's- that's exactly what that ugly fucker finally did" (341). In The Cathedral the man enters the belly of the beast so to speak, the building chomps down more or less making him a part of it.
-Josh K
I felt like this was relevant to House of Leaves especially when the monster becomes violent and kills. "Navy said it felt like he was running into the jaws of some big beast about to chomp down...and as you saw later on, that's- that's exactly what that ugly fucker finally did" (341). In The Cathedral the man enters the belly of the beast so to speak, the building chomps down more or less making him a part of it.
-Josh K
Second In-Class Writing
When the stairwell stretches the text becomes stretched out and shifted around the page. This forces the reader to slow down and emphasize each word as they go, sometimes each letter. This scene really ends with Navidson by himself as the bottom of the stairs. His text is at the bottom of the page in a clump while, on the next page, Reston's text is at the top of the page.
Johnny comments on the part where the rope snaps with a story about his trip to Tex's that he'd forgotten. Tex tells a story about sinking ships and then Johnny loses himself to the image. At first things are fine, but soon the ship is aflame and the crew lets water into the boat to put out the fire. But they let too much water in and the boat starts to sink. It kills the crew. But one man locked himself in an air pocket, a room within the ship. As the ship falls to the bottom of the ocean the darkness, cold, and pressure close in on the solitary man. There is nothing to see so he drops the flashlight, letting it break, and waits to die.
Both of the stories are about a seperation of impossible magnitude. Somebody is left all alone in the dark at the bottom. What makes these two stories matter is that Johnny , the old him, is the person who was left behind in the dark. He could not remember Ashley because he was eighteen when he met her at Tex's and by the time she found him again he was already gone. Did he leave the old him behind or was it out of his hands, or an unfortunate accident like in the stories? The person he is now is locking himself within the air pocket of his mind and slowly drifting downward as the darkness, cold, and pressure close in on him.
Johnny comments on the part where the rope snaps with a story about his trip to Tex's that he'd forgotten. Tex tells a story about sinking ships and then Johnny loses himself to the image. At first things are fine, but soon the ship is aflame and the crew lets water into the boat to put out the fire. But they let too much water in and the boat starts to sink. It kills the crew. But one man locked himself in an air pocket, a room within the ship. As the ship falls to the bottom of the ocean the darkness, cold, and pressure close in on the solitary man. There is nothing to see so he drops the flashlight, letting it break, and waits to die.
Both of the stories are about a seperation of impossible magnitude. Somebody is left all alone in the dark at the bottom. What makes these two stories matter is that Johnny , the old him, is the person who was left behind in the dark. He could not remember Ashley because he was eighteen when he met her at Tex's and by the time she found him again he was already gone. Did he leave the old him behind or was it out of his hands, or an unfortunate accident like in the stories? The person he is now is locking himself within the air pocket of his mind and slowly drifting downward as the darkness, cold, and pressure close in on him.
Leonard Part 6: A skeleton that will never leave Bill Cosby's Closet
We all know Bill Cosby as comedian and television actor, one that has made a few generations laugh at comedy skits about Moses and the Lord and other humours bits. Earlier this evening, I had the privilege of sitting down with a few friends to watch a movie starring this comedic gentleman, titled "Leonard: Part 6." Well, to begin with, the movie pokes fun at several things, the most obvious and ironic of them being the deconstruction of the iconic "Spy" movie genre, like Samuel Beckett deconstructed the Detective novel and regular story structure in Molloy. The goal of this particular post isn't to compare the two; rather, to divulge in how moronic and absurd the film is as a whole.
So, Bill Cosby's character, Leonard Parker, is a divorced ex-spy now restauranteer who must get back in the game when his ex-wife and daughter's lives are threatened by the evil Medusa Johnson, a vegtarian egotistical broad who tries to take over the state of California, using telepathic control over animals. First off, the movie has no five parts preceding it. The movie randomly has "Part 6" in the title to ensinuate the comedic notion of the film. This messes with your typical fiction series, because you can't really have the sixth segment without any preceding plot points to help viewers along the way. The story is narrated by Parker's faithful servant, who assists his master in every way possible. Also, to inhance the mundance portions of the film, crudely animated bullets and animal movements (Parker rides an ostrich later on in the film) make their way onto the screen, while famous classical pieces, like 1812 Overture, resound in the background. Now, I'd only heard of this film in passing, and for me, the silliest part has to be when Johnson's henchmen get third degree burns when meat patties are placed against their skin, as Parker tries to ward them off during the resurgance to save his ex-wife.
The film was made in 1987, which sounds like such a long time ago, but does a film have to be old in order to fool around with basic plot structure or advancements that border on insane? On IMDB.com, the film scored a 2.1 out of a possible 10 points, but in order to love this movie, as my friends seem to do, you have to be ready for all the Coca-Cola product placement and frogs lifting a full-sized automobile and throwing it into the nearby bay. I give credit to the director for taking a chance with a sure-fire flop, but the more important thing to consider is that fact a movie can just be "Part 6" without any prior engagements is cool, even if it appears to ruin the career of a loved and well-known comedian.
Here's the Youtube link for a sample scene from the beginning of the movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD4bk776a-0
So, Bill Cosby's character, Leonard Parker, is a divorced ex-spy now restauranteer who must get back in the game when his ex-wife and daughter's lives are threatened by the evil Medusa Johnson, a vegtarian egotistical broad who tries to take over the state of California, using telepathic control over animals. First off, the movie has no five parts preceding it. The movie randomly has "Part 6" in the title to ensinuate the comedic notion of the film. This messes with your typical fiction series, because you can't really have the sixth segment without any preceding plot points to help viewers along the way. The story is narrated by Parker's faithful servant, who assists his master in every way possible. Also, to inhance the mundance portions of the film, crudely animated bullets and animal movements (Parker rides an ostrich later on in the film) make their way onto the screen, while famous classical pieces, like 1812 Overture, resound in the background. Now, I'd only heard of this film in passing, and for me, the silliest part has to be when Johnson's henchmen get third degree burns when meat patties are placed against their skin, as Parker tries to ward them off during the resurgance to save his ex-wife.
The film was made in 1987, which sounds like such a long time ago, but does a film have to be old in order to fool around with basic plot structure or advancements that border on insane? On IMDB.com, the film scored a 2.1 out of a possible 10 points, but in order to love this movie, as my friends seem to do, you have to be ready for all the Coca-Cola product placement and frogs lifting a full-sized automobile and throwing it into the nearby bay. I give credit to the director for taking a chance with a sure-fire flop, but the more important thing to consider is that fact a movie can just be "Part 6" without any prior engagements is cool, even if it appears to ruin the career of a loved and well-known comedian.
Here's the Youtube link for a sample scene from the beginning of the movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD4bk776a-0
False Image Worship
Now I know Eric has talked about how Braveheart created a false image of Scottish history but there's a more prominent false image in our present day. In Japan there's a type of music called idol. Where young girls usually teenagers sing and dress up cute to attract a large male audience. But, in this time of technology there's a virtual or false image of this genre called Vocaloid. One vocaloid idol for instance, the very first, Hatsune Miku, has become a phenomenon in Japan and the anime community.
Here's a little information on Hatsune Miku from the vocaloid website: "'HATSUNE MIKU' is computer music software that enables users to create synthesized singing of unprecedented quality and remarkable realism by just typing in lyrics and melody. Powered by YAMAHA's VOCALOID(= Vocal + Android) technology, HATSUNE MIKU was developed by Crypton Future Media, Inc. in Sapporo, Japan, and released on August 31st, 2007. Since then, there have been more than 100,000 songs and movies about HATSUNE MIKU posted on popular video sharing websites such as YouTube and Nico-Nico-Douga(Japan)" (http://www.crypton.co.jp/mp/pages/prod/vocaloid/cv01_us.jsp).
Now worshiping a program by buying her music is all nice and dandy but Japan has gone a step further than that. Recently they've created a hologram of Hatsune Miku and she's been touring around Japan and even out of the country with a live band as backup. I find it odd that a program created out of real people's vocals has become such a popular thing in Japan. But, she does everything a real singer does and it's not like we're not used to lipsyncing anyways. I just think it shows how we can all conform to a certain image and forget what the person behind that image really is.
It just goes to show you that we see famous people or people in the entertainment world as public figures and not private people because I doubt people see an actor/actress as a person. They mainly associate the actor/actress with his/her roles not his/her behavior. Like in Mao II we blend people into a mass and can lose our individuality in the process. Below is the first song Hatsune Miku performed at her concert.
-Josh K.
Here's a little information on Hatsune Miku from the vocaloid website: "'HATSUNE MIKU' is computer music software that enables users to create synthesized singing of unprecedented quality and remarkable realism by just typing in lyrics and melody. Powered by YAMAHA's VOCALOID(= Vocal + Android) technology, HATSUNE MIKU was developed by Crypton Future Media, Inc. in Sapporo, Japan, and released on August 31st, 2007. Since then, there have been more than 100,000 songs and movies about HATSUNE MIKU posted on popular video sharing websites such as YouTube and Nico-Nico-Douga(Japan)" (http://www.crypton.co.jp/mp/pages/prod/vocaloid/cv01_us.jsp).
Now worshiping a program by buying her music is all nice and dandy but Japan has gone a step further than that. Recently they've created a hologram of Hatsune Miku and she's been touring around Japan and even out of the country with a live band as backup. I find it odd that a program created out of real people's vocals has become such a popular thing in Japan. But, she does everything a real singer does and it's not like we're not used to lipsyncing anyways. I just think it shows how we can all conform to a certain image and forget what the person behind that image really is.
It just goes to show you that we see famous people or people in the entertainment world as public figures and not private people because I doubt people see an actor/actress as a person. They mainly associate the actor/actress with his/her roles not his/her behavior. Like in Mao II we blend people into a mass and can lose our individuality in the process. Below is the first song Hatsune Miku performed at her concert.
-Josh K.
5 Fingers to a 6 Fingered Instrument...
The Embed was disabled, so I wasn't able to give you a video that I find both impressive and disgusting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB3ZIHS63Lo
I'm an avid player of the Rock Band series and enjoy playing a fake guitar every now and then, because I sure as hell can't play a regular one. However, the video gives viewers a great sense of what certain simulacra has given humanity - a chance to be a rock star in your pajamas, without all the girls, drugs, or annoying agents. (If I'm repeating any former posts in regards to video games, please don't hesistate to call me out). What does remain is the ego factor involved with these games; on Xbox Live, there are contests associated with weekly downloadable songs; a call is sent to players to achieve the highest score on the charts, where probably some 30-something living in his mother's basement is playing bass in your band instead of getting off his ass, going outside, and getting a job.
It's understandable if you have an actual musical instrument talent (I once played Bass and regular Clarinet for marching and concert band) - You actually commited notes to memory, like countless muscians before you and can play organized sheet music. Games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero keep flooding the store shelves, but when it comes to retaining their value, they suck completely (A copy of GH 3 in Gamestop I saw once would've cost me three bucks or something near there).
But why do people flock to virtual worlds like this? Is it because they can escape from the dulldrums of a meaningless life? Or, do they believe that this make-believe dimension is more realistic thant the one they live in now? That answer depends entirely on how you interpret Baudrillard. One thing is definetely for sure: I won't be simulating this my life time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB3ZIHS63Lo
I'm an avid player of the Rock Band series and enjoy playing a fake guitar every now and then, because I sure as hell can't play a regular one. However, the video gives viewers a great sense of what certain simulacra has given humanity - a chance to be a rock star in your pajamas, without all the girls, drugs, or annoying agents. (If I'm repeating any former posts in regards to video games, please don't hesistate to call me out). What does remain is the ego factor involved with these games; on Xbox Live, there are contests associated with weekly downloadable songs; a call is sent to players to achieve the highest score on the charts, where probably some 30-something living in his mother's basement is playing bass in your band instead of getting off his ass, going outside, and getting a job.
It's understandable if you have an actual musical instrument talent (I once played Bass and regular Clarinet for marching and concert band) - You actually commited notes to memory, like countless muscians before you and can play organized sheet music. Games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero keep flooding the store shelves, but when it comes to retaining their value, they suck completely (A copy of GH 3 in Gamestop I saw once would've cost me three bucks or something near there).
But why do people flock to virtual worlds like this? Is it because they can escape from the dulldrums of a meaningless life? Or, do they believe that this make-believe dimension is more realistic thant the one they live in now? That answer depends entirely on how you interpret Baudrillard. One thing is definetely for sure: I won't be simulating this my life time:
Paradigm City - The New San Narciso?
As I was completing my final paper, I came across a source that depicted Oedipa Maas as a Detective character, the main protagonist from The Crying of Lot 49. She does try to solve the truth of Tristero on her way to co-executing the will, using sleuthing skills she more or less obtains along the way, like "the private eye in any long-ago radio drama, believing all you needed was grit, resourcefulness, exemption from hidebound cops' rules, to solve any great mystery" (Pynchon, 100). It also reminded me of an Anime series where a character goes after a personal truth in the same manner, but for more darker reasons.
But before I can explain him to you, I must explain the premise of the series.
The Anime series I'm referencing is titled "The Big O." It takes place within the confines of Paradigm City, a domed metropolis situatied in a world that was affected by a cataclysmic event that happened 40 Years ago, and in the aftermath, every citizen and android lost their memories of anything that happened prior to that day. Our main character is Paradigm's top negotiator Roger Smith. He's a respectful gentleman who solves his clients' cases and essentially protects the city when the local police force can't, which is when a giant monster or robot happens to be stomping around for one reason or another. In those situations, Roger utilizes his own giant robot, referenced heavily as a Megadeus, called Big O. Together, they keep things in order. However, the character I wish to analyze is a villain of the series who tries to instill a certain kind of fear within Paradigm's citizens.
The mummy-looking man featured here goes by the name of Schwarzwald. Before he donned this persona, he was Michael Seebach, a newspaper reporter for Paradigm Press. Like Oedipa Maas, he became obsessed with finding the truth of things he was reporting; more specifically, his interest in the Event of 40 Years ago and that possibly, megadeuses were involved somewhere in the Event's process. The research nearly cost him his life, leaving him forever disfigured. He wishes to spread his findings to others in Paradigm, to expose Paradigm Corporation, the government of the city, for trying to get citizens to forget their pasts and deny the reality of the city's nature regarding the Event and for silencing him (they try to pay him off with a generous severance pay). Roger Smith is given the assignment of negotiating with him, but is called "a corrupt dog on the city's leash," for accepting the case designed to exponge his words of "Truth," something that must be known to Paradigm's inhabitants. There are three instances in the series where Schwarzwald appears:
1. In Episode 4, viewers first learn of the maniacal villain. He explains himself for diving down this apocalyptic rabbit hole, in pursuit of memories and things associated with the Event of 40 Years ago. Roger Smith is able to subdue him, but in the process, it's presumed that he dies in a fire before the episode's end.
2. In Episode 8, viewers see Schwarzwald getting serious about his claim of spreading the Truth, by inniating a Megadeus fire-fight inside a dome against Roger and Big O with a robot of his own - Big Duo. There is a significant amount of property damage. The battle ends with Big Duo being blown apart and a defeated Schwarzwald questioning a critical concept that develops later in the series regarding those giant robots.
3. In the 2nd season of the series, in Episode 17, Schwarzwald tries one more time to spread the truth, this time spreading his propoganda to the people, though he himself physically leaves the city for the wastelands of the desert, where he ultimately dies. However, from the desert comes a Megadeus associated with his propoganda: The Leviathan (After which the episode is titled). Throughout the remainder of the episode, he rants in voice-over fashion about ideals spawned from a three and a half minute speech he provides at the beginning, in a dire attempt to gain the audience he so desperately sought. The snake-like robot does make it to Paradigm City and Roger is able to defeat it before more damge can be done.
Provided below is that speech from Episode 17. Enjoy. (Note - Roger is in the Black robot, Schwarzwald in the Red one. The woman in the beach chair is a prominent female character in the series named Angel)
But before I can explain him to you, I must explain the premise of the series.
The Anime series I'm referencing is titled "The Big O." It takes place within the confines of Paradigm City, a domed metropolis situatied in a world that was affected by a cataclysmic event that happened 40 Years ago, and in the aftermath, every citizen and android lost their memories of anything that happened prior to that day. Our main character is Paradigm's top negotiator Roger Smith. He's a respectful gentleman who solves his clients' cases and essentially protects the city when the local police force can't, which is when a giant monster or robot happens to be stomping around for one reason or another. In those situations, Roger utilizes his own giant robot, referenced heavily as a Megadeus, called Big O. Together, they keep things in order. However, the character I wish to analyze is a villain of the series who tries to instill a certain kind of fear within Paradigm's citizens.
The mummy-looking man featured here goes by the name of Schwarzwald. Before he donned this persona, he was Michael Seebach, a newspaper reporter for Paradigm Press. Like Oedipa Maas, he became obsessed with finding the truth of things he was reporting; more specifically, his interest in the Event of 40 Years ago and that possibly, megadeuses were involved somewhere in the Event's process. The research nearly cost him his life, leaving him forever disfigured. He wishes to spread his findings to others in Paradigm, to expose Paradigm Corporation, the government of the city, for trying to get citizens to forget their pasts and deny the reality of the city's nature regarding the Event and for silencing him (they try to pay him off with a generous severance pay). Roger Smith is given the assignment of negotiating with him, but is called "a corrupt dog on the city's leash," for accepting the case designed to exponge his words of "Truth," something that must be known to Paradigm's inhabitants. There are three instances in the series where Schwarzwald appears:
1. In Episode 4, viewers first learn of the maniacal villain. He explains himself for diving down this apocalyptic rabbit hole, in pursuit of memories and things associated with the Event of 40 Years ago. Roger Smith is able to subdue him, but in the process, it's presumed that he dies in a fire before the episode's end.
2. In Episode 8, viewers see Schwarzwald getting serious about his claim of spreading the Truth, by inniating a Megadeus fire-fight inside a dome against Roger and Big O with a robot of his own - Big Duo. There is a significant amount of property damage. The battle ends with Big Duo being blown apart and a defeated Schwarzwald questioning a critical concept that develops later in the series regarding those giant robots.
3. In the 2nd season of the series, in Episode 17, Schwarzwald tries one more time to spread the truth, this time spreading his propoganda to the people, though he himself physically leaves the city for the wastelands of the desert, where he ultimately dies. However, from the desert comes a Megadeus associated with his propoganda: The Leviathan (After which the episode is titled). Throughout the remainder of the episode, he rants in voice-over fashion about ideals spawned from a three and a half minute speech he provides at the beginning, in a dire attempt to gain the audience he so desperately sought. The snake-like robot does make it to Paradigm City and Roger is able to defeat it before more damge can be done.
Provided below is that speech from Episode 17. Enjoy. (Note - Roger is in the Black robot, Schwarzwald in the Red one. The woman in the beach chair is a prominent female character in the series named Angel)
A new era for storytelling: Smart Games
In this post, following G-Hero's Alan Wake discussion, I am going to address what I like to call "Smart games" and how they are impacting the world of video games and making some game design companies rethink before they launch their game(s).
Gaming has come along way. From eating tiny orbs and fruits with a little yellow man and his wife while being chased by ghosts(?) to high octane first person shooters and even now where the controller is no longer needed and the body of the player becomes the remote (Kinect). Gaming has broken from the traditional form of storytelling and allows the player to experience the story instead of only reading and interpreting it. In the beginning, games like Mario and duck hunter gave the world of gaming a bad name. Yes they were loads of fun to play and experience but they lacked a sense of narrative and carried no worth after the control was put down. The player would simply turn on the console, play the game, loose or win, then replay it or shut it off. This left no room for any sort of educational value or even any attempt to entertain the player with a well thought out and written story. These games had little worth in the eyes of academics or parents who saw gaming, and still do today, as a waste of time. But gaming has proved itself worthy and after all, playing a well scripted game is like watching a film except you, the player, are in control of the story and the characters within it.
Eventually game designers caught onto the idea of writing better story lines for their games with hopes to attract more people into the gaming craze. People who would see video games a silly hobbies or means to waste perfectly good time to read or watch a film. Games such as Zelda, Halo, and Medal of Honor brought about new methods to tell a great story while keeping the player enthralled into the game and enjoying him/herself all the while. But even still, during a time where graphics and gameplay had made a landmark statement by improving tenfold since the previous consoles such as Sega Saturn. Nintendo 64 and the Playstation and evolved into systems such as the xbox360 and the PS3. Using these new and intense operating systems, gamers were now immersed into worlds far more graphically enhanced than in the past.
Gaming has become the new frontier for story telling. Not as an absolute but as a new doorway into the vast methods of storytelling. As spoken word turned into literature and literature into film and film into video games (obviously not directly), video games have now evolved into "smart games" a.k.a. well-scripted gaming experiences.
An example of this sort of game would be Bioware's Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect or M.E. has revolutionized the way gaming companies form, create, an tell the story of games by introducing the concept of you, as the player, as the hero. YOU are required to make choices that can shape or misshape the world, in this case the entire galaxy and then some. YOU are in charge of a team that can only function if you have taken the time to talk with each and every character. The game is full of characters both human and alien and the graphics alone make this game a landmark achievement for visual aesthetics in a video game. But the real genius of the game comes from the script which the player has a wide selection on different variations of response for each dialogue moment throughout the entire game. This brings a whole new dynamic to gaming. Allowing the player to feel as though they are truly communicating with each person they come across and having these conversations that may ripple across the game and the story, which can be altered all the way to the end-- in other words if you as the player d not make the right choices throughout the game or take the time to assemble a proper team then you may die in the last segment of the story.
Also, games such as Mass Effect and other smart games whose designers and producers have hired voice actors both celebrity and free lance enhance the feeling of gameplay and truly bring out a "realness" in the dialogue.
It's games like these, like Mass Effect and other games like Assassins Creed (1 & 2) that address a high demand for proper story telling in a game that brings video gamers away from being judged for wasting time playing some meaningless game with no plot and instead transporting them into a story, as film can do, and immerse the player, virtually, into a story that they play a part in and feel at the end like they have either learned something new about the real world or enjoyed a great story such as the feeling once gets when finishing a great film or fine work of literature.
Nick
Mass Effect website incase you wondering or curious:
Mass Effect 2 trailer
James Jean: A Love Letter
The art style that I believe James Jean practices is something that may artists in this medium have found themselves achieving careers in. Things like video game art, both in concept and in-game. Things like story boarding for films both live action and animated. There are so many new mediums for fine artists and animators to pursue. Even the world of graphic design has become invaded by illustrators who wouldn't mind their characters and art style promoting a certain product or company. James Jean is a perfect example of this. First, making the covers for Fables for 75+ issues (that means he created 75+ original covers for every issue and thats not counting the concept art in the back which he also took part in). After that James Jean found himself being asked by companies like Prada and an AIDS awareness campaign where he made posters for condoms, which are amazing if you can find them. For Prada, Jean illustrated several posters as well as animating a short film showing off a Prada clothing line that features his art printed on shoes, shirts and jackets. James Jean accepted these commissions while continuing to draw for fables and attending comic-con and some how, amongst all of that, he still found time to draw in his moleskins and paint for himself.
James Jean's art features surrealistic narratives that feel as though they move across the canvas when no one is looking. Some of his earlier work shows off his perfection in realism and his later work reflects the more experimental edge that sets him apart from most modern and many classical artists. The works contain an essences of rawness, they float in a space that can be both haunting and inviting all at once like the first plunge we take upon entering a dream. These pieces of Art challenge what it means to draw and paint works that may appear like the fan art from some game or the concept art from a movie but are actually original images. Artists such as James Jean take on the experimental realm and illustrate our dreams so that we may look upon them and remember where our minds took us the night before while we slept. In a time where art is being molded into so many different shapes, it is a relief to see new artists who approach classic art with open arms while wielding their surreal imagination simultaneously. If you enjoy James Jean then I highly recommend a footstep-follower of his named Joao Ruas. I would also recommend subscribing to magazines like Juxtapoz and Hi Fructose.
Nick
James Jean:
Joao Ruas
Are you afraid of the Dark? Alan Wake is... (Warning - Contains Spoilers)
The Poe song "Haunted," when mentioned in a previous class, reminded me of an action suspense thriller video game called "Alan Wake." What you are about to see is my interpretation of how I think the game is a form of post-modernistic story-telling.
1. The levels of the game itself are formatted into "episodes," like a bizarre television show. They all begin with "Previously, on Alan Wake," and a cinematic flashback reminding you of events you've completed so far. The levels end with a present cinematic sequence and then fades to a mock title screen, while playing a song from the in-game soundtrack. Poe's "Haunted" specifically plays after you beat the second "episode," in which Alan meets his wife's kidnapper in the deep dark woods and saves his literary agent and friend from a flock of evil birds (more about that later). Other songs include David Bowie's "Major Tom," Poets of the Fall's "War," and Roy Orbison's "In Dreams." The main game is six episodes long, plus two Downloadable Content Episodes, which continue the plot after the main game ends.
2. The plot arc of the game is something straight out of a horror novel. Alan Wake, a once famous writer, and his wife Alice arrive in the sleepy secluded town of Bright Falls, where they're on vacation from the big city. In the first episode, Alice, who has a phobia of the dark, is taken by the antagonistic ethereal presence called The Dark Presence, which comes from an ethereal world called the Dark Place. This force can consume people and birds and turn them into mindless thralls, which are the main enemies you encounter (outside of large, possessed machinery that the Dark Presence can manipulate). The rest of the game is about finding and rescuing Alice, while at the same time learning about what the Dark Presence is and what it's capable of.
3. 90% of the game takes place at night-time. You will also be by yourself 95% of the time throughout the game. Your only method of sight is a flashlight, which also burns away the darkness inside your enemies, making them vulnerable to your weapons, which include a pistol, hunting rifle, and in some spots, a flare gun and search light. Your enemies are possessed people of size and stature (the bigger they are, the harder they are to kill). And when you're walking around in the woods, in the game's completely beautifully rendered environments, wind blowing through the trees and rocks falling at random will scare the crap out of you. The contrast of light and dark in the game is paramount, obviously because you're trying to beat back the Dark Presence with light.
4. Outside of the plot arc of the game, Alan Wake's journey is partially a "text" that has been "authored" by another creative person - a fictional character named Thomas Zaine. He appears to you in an old fashioned diver's suit, and is the physical manifestation of light in the game, where as the Dark Presence is manifested as a woman in a mourning dress and veil. Zaine was a poet who tried to resurect his dead wife using the power of the Dark Presence, infusing it in his poetry to make the action happen (long before Wake arrives in the game). However, because his resurrected wife was tainted by the Dark Presence, he undid his action, but gave his life in the process. The spirit of Zaine comes forward later in the game, providing Wake a page he wrote, describing how Alan would defeat the Dark Presence.
* Before meeting or hearing about Thomas Zaine, at the start of the 2nd episode, players come across pieces of a manuscript Wake wrote, but had no memory of writing. These pieces relate to events that have already happened, while others are major foreshadowing elements of events to come.
The game itself spent five years in post production, so the game could be completed to its utmost potential, so players could feel like they were the protagonists of a deranged and wild suspense film. Exclusively for the XBOX 360, Alan Wake is hidden gem that takes convential gaming and morphs it into a surreal, complex story that has made it into one of my favorite all time games.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auw3_z9EyRg
1. The levels of the game itself are formatted into "episodes," like a bizarre television show. They all begin with "Previously, on Alan Wake," and a cinematic flashback reminding you of events you've completed so far. The levels end with a present cinematic sequence and then fades to a mock title screen, while playing a song from the in-game soundtrack. Poe's "Haunted" specifically plays after you beat the second "episode," in which Alan meets his wife's kidnapper in the deep dark woods and saves his literary agent and friend from a flock of evil birds (more about that later). Other songs include David Bowie's "Major Tom," Poets of the Fall's "War," and Roy Orbison's "In Dreams." The main game is six episodes long, plus two Downloadable Content Episodes, which continue the plot after the main game ends.
2. The plot arc of the game is something straight out of a horror novel. Alan Wake, a once famous writer, and his wife Alice arrive in the sleepy secluded town of Bright Falls, where they're on vacation from the big city. In the first episode, Alice, who has a phobia of the dark, is taken by the antagonistic ethereal presence called The Dark Presence, which comes from an ethereal world called the Dark Place. This force can consume people and birds and turn them into mindless thralls, which are the main enemies you encounter (outside of large, possessed machinery that the Dark Presence can manipulate). The rest of the game is about finding and rescuing Alice, while at the same time learning about what the Dark Presence is and what it's capable of.
3. 90% of the game takes place at night-time. You will also be by yourself 95% of the time throughout the game. Your only method of sight is a flashlight, which also burns away the darkness inside your enemies, making them vulnerable to your weapons, which include a pistol, hunting rifle, and in some spots, a flare gun and search light. Your enemies are possessed people of size and stature (the bigger they are, the harder they are to kill). And when you're walking around in the woods, in the game's completely beautifully rendered environments, wind blowing through the trees and rocks falling at random will scare the crap out of you. The contrast of light and dark in the game is paramount, obviously because you're trying to beat back the Dark Presence with light.
4. Outside of the plot arc of the game, Alan Wake's journey is partially a "text" that has been "authored" by another creative person - a fictional character named Thomas Zaine. He appears to you in an old fashioned diver's suit, and is the physical manifestation of light in the game, where as the Dark Presence is manifested as a woman in a mourning dress and veil. Zaine was a poet who tried to resurect his dead wife using the power of the Dark Presence, infusing it in his poetry to make the action happen (long before Wake arrives in the game). However, because his resurrected wife was tainted by the Dark Presence, he undid his action, but gave his life in the process. The spirit of Zaine comes forward later in the game, providing Wake a page he wrote, describing how Alan would defeat the Dark Presence.
* Before meeting or hearing about Thomas Zaine, at the start of the 2nd episode, players come across pieces of a manuscript Wake wrote, but had no memory of writing. These pieces relate to events that have already happened, while others are major foreshadowing elements of events to come.
The game itself spent five years in post production, so the game could be completed to its utmost potential, so players could feel like they were the protagonists of a deranged and wild suspense film. Exclusively for the XBOX 360, Alan Wake is hidden gem that takes convential gaming and morphs it into a surreal, complex story that has made it into one of my favorite all time games.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auw3_z9EyRg
Monday, December 13, 2010
Linkin Park & Art
So while we were talking about interesting things to bring to discussion from outside in the world, I thought of Linkin Park. I remember reading the LP to their latest album and something struck me. So here is a quote: "We were not making an album.
For months, we'd been destroying and rebuilding our band. The experiments that resulted filled the studio hard drive with diverse, abstract sounds, amorphous echoes, cacophonous samples, and handmade staccato merged into wandering elusive melody, each track felt like a hallucination.
We didn't know if any of those unorthodox ideas could be incorporated into a traditional album, but we knew we didn't want our next album to be predictable. Sitting together in the same studio where we made our first record, all six of us voiced a commitment to going out on a limb, to making something truly daring. We asked ourselves: were we all earnestly willing, more than ever before, to abandon the precepts of commercial ambition in pursuit of what we believe to be honest art?
The inclination to begin writing conventional songs for a conventional album came and went, the temptation to adjust our creat vision to fulfill expectations beyond our studio walls yielded to the audacious ambition of what we hoped to achieve as a band. The two years of making A Thousand Suns marked our exhilarating, surrealistic, and often challenging journey into the creative unknown.
One the eve of its completion, this body of work, assembled through unconscious inspiration and unmitigated exertion, has revealed to us notions both stirring and surprising. The imagery personified herein is neither dogma nor political premeditation, the emergent themes and metaphors illuminate a uniquely human story.
Oppenheimer's words resonate today not only for their historical significance, but for their emotional gravity. So, too, A Thousand Suns grapples with the personal cycle of pride, destruction, and regret. In life, like in dreams, this sequence is not always linear. And, sometimes, true remorse penetrates the devastating cycle. The hope, of course, springs from the notion that the possibility of change is born in our most harrowing moments."
I want to start with talking about the "sound" of Linkin Park. A lot of fans have expressed their dislike for the "new" Linkin Park music because it is not the same. That old teen angst, Rock + Rap, sound is gone. Replacing it is a lot of socio-political jargon. On Minutes to Midnight there were a few very political songs, some even going just shy of calling President Bush out on a few things. The music from that album still had a Rock feel, but not as intense as previous albums. On this new album there are some songs that feel Pop like, maybe even Pop-Rock. On top of that are some experimental sounds, as they suggest, that come together with weird language.
Here there is something different. There are still a lot of political undertones, but it seems from reading the quote above that the mission was to talk about human things. I want to bring in Foucault who I think it was that talked about power being the master of language (I might be wrong, I can't seem to find my notes from this, but only remember what Monica has repeated a few times). In that case it makes sense that when talking about humanity one finds themselves leaving traces of politics and government, the source of power. Its interesting trying to decipher the lyrics to this new album where there are songs that bleed into each other. Famous quotes from Oppenhiemer, Savio, and King that occupy whole songs or parts of songs. On the LP the text is presented in surrealistic and unclear ways. Layers upon layers on top of each other. Animations going on in the background. Mirrored text on top of regular text. Awkward spacing and repetition. Ink blots and shadowing that interferes with a conventional reading of the lyrics. That is okay because the lyrics are easier to understand from just listening to the music now that Chester's voice has become less scream-o and intense.
I would definitely say that this band has grown in the way they suggest. Exploring new sound and new vocalizations, trying to fully tie together language and music into an art form.
It's also ironic that their "call-to-fame" single for this album is the theme song to Call of Duty: Black Ops. Catalyst (the single) is a song about the mistakes of our past and repeating them. Call of Duty is a first person shooter game about the war in the Middle East, which had the ability to play as a Taliban agent taken out because people didn't like that you could kill "Americans" in the game. It's very interesting the ties that Linkin Park has made: trying to be "struggling" artists against a corporate industry, while their music appears in things like Transformers (1 & 2) and CoD. And that's not even getting into the trippy nature that their music videos have begun to delve into:
"New Divide" - LINKIN PARK from Linkin Park on Vimeo.
On "New Divide" notice the random cut scenes not from Transformers 2?
Sunday, December 12, 2010
The Simulacra of Major Tom
In 1969 David Bowie released his single "Space Oddity." The song tells the story of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut who gets trapped in space. While the song proceeded to become one of Bowie's most recognizable works, the character Major Tom wasn't given any particular emphasis as a persona figure or part of a larger narrative at the time.
Despite this, the story and even characterization Major Tom spread, first from Bowie himself and later from other artists.
Years later (1980), Bowie would go on to release Ashes to Ashes. The song is noted for immediately recalling the listener's memory of "Space Oddity"
"Do you remember a guy that's been
In such an early song
I've heard a rumor from Ground Control
Oh no, don't say it's true"
From the beginning, the song requires us to recall his prior song in order to understand who Major Tom is. By the time the chorus begins, Major Tom is explicitly mentioned by name:
"Ashes to Ashes
Funk to funky
We know Major Tom's a junky"
What is interesting though is the change that takes place. The fictional adventurous Major Tom becomes a drug addict in this version. It is one thing for an artist to recall a prior work, it is another to create a character that becomes an encompassing decentralized figure.
In 1983 Peter Schilling released Major Tom (Coming Home)
It is from here onward that Major Tom seems to take a life of his own. Though a fictional astronaut mentioned initially by one artist, Major Tom would go on to be referenced in at least five other songs by seperate artists including KIA (a Canadian Electronica band) "Mrs. Major Tom" in 2002 which continues the story of the original "Space Oddity" but from the perspective of Major Tom's wife.
In addition to music, Major Tom has been characterized in various shows. Notably, the popular cartoon series The Venture Brothers. The clip below features the character Major Tom, The Action Man (from "Ashes to Ashes"). The end result is a giant reference to fictional song characters, who themselves reference the song they came from.
Grad Student Deconstructs Take-Out Menu
http://www.theonion.com/articles/grad-student-deconstructs-takeout-menu,85/
The (il)logical result of too much deconstruction. Arguably also a deconstruction of deconstruction itself, as it shows just how difficult life would be if one were to question everything. The simplest and most routine tasks can be deconstructed, if one were inclined to do so. But things like eating and holding a conversation could become very difficult.
After all, sometimes a whale is just a whale.
The (il)logical result of too much deconstruction. Arguably also a deconstruction of deconstruction itself, as it shows just how difficult life would be if one were to question everything. The simplest and most routine tasks can be deconstructed, if one were inclined to do so. But things like eating and holding a conversation could become very difficult.
After all, sometimes a whale is just a whale.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Everything Connects to Everything
I promise, this is my last House of Leaves specific post. I hope.
Last night, driving in the car after finally making it to the Appendices (I read straight through the narrative portion without skipping ahead to any referenced appendices, and last night I finally finished the narrative chapter style portion), I had a playlist on my iPod made of my normal assortment of music mixed with the Poe I recently downloaded. These are the order the first several songs popped up in:
Amazed -- Poe
They're Coming to Take Me Away --Dr. Demento
Feel -- Matchbox Twenty
Inside Out -- Eve 6
For Whom the Bell Tolls -- Apocalyptica
I don't list these just to show off my excellent taste in music (I'd recommend every song up there). It was the eerie connection each song had to inner feeling or madness that struck me (For Whom the Bell Tolls almost didn't make the list, it was the transition back to normalcy) and made me think of House of Leaves. I had this eerie feeling that I've felt a lot these past couple weeks while reading this book that to comprehend it you have to understand everything you perceive in a whole new light. This is because I strongly feel trying to write about the entirety of House of Leaves is like our discussion about trying to write a complete scientific report (earlier in the semester). No matter what the original experiment being reported on was, the report, to be fully complete, should include every constant of the known universe, because every constant hinges on every other constant in a complex web of interconnectedness. I really believe it is so with House of Leaves as well -- in order to write an analysis touching on every aspect of this book (at the end of the day for my own sanity I have to believe it is a book) you would have to write an analysis of the entire interconnected mess that is the universe as we perceive it. And even that statement is flawed, because I perceive the universe differently than every one of you. We agree on enough constants of how it works to refer to each of our perceptions as humanity's perception of the universe, but could mine really be different on a fundamental level from yours? I've been taught purple looks like what I call purple because humanity feels the need to be a cohesive whole, rather than individuals wandering about perceiving their own way (how would we be able to interact if we couldn't agree on the base similarities of our perceptions?). What if we were marooned as infants, and grew up separate not only from human culture but from any culture (by which I mean to say that I am not referring to Romulus and Remus, nor Tarzan)? Would we define the universe for ourselves, or fall back to the shared constants modern humanity uses to describe the universe's workings because we can't bear to think we are utterly and completely alone?
I had been debating whether or not that list of songs would really constitute a good post when I got on an internet tangent today through a fantasy jewelry website, which led me to a blog about divinatory Elder Futhark runes and then to a dictionary.com definition of first "mana" and then "manna" (I became curious about the etymological differences). Under the second definition of "manna", this is listed:
" 4. a sweet substance obtained from various plants, esp from an ash tree, Fraxinus ornus (manna or flowering ash)."
Ash trees of course being mentioned many times in House of Leaves, and the house itself being on Ash Tree Lane.
The fact that I can make it from HoL to music to Facebook to jewelry to runes to mana to manna to ash and back to HoL[i]
is pretty freaky to me, I won't lie. I think it also supports my idea of the book being parallel with a scientific experiment, in that it can't be truly analyzed without including every truth we understand about the universe. We can only write more and more lab reports, more and more assumptions that have to go unfounded because it would take lifetimes to add in the explanations for every accepted constant. (I certainly don't mean to say writing about House of Leaves is an impossibility, I just think the difficulty inherent in writing an all-inclusive analysis should be acknowledged. If it didn't take multiple lifetimes, I think it would certainly take a whole one. Not to mention that House of Leaves is just an analysis of "The Navidson Record" anyway, and admits that it is not even an all-inclusive analysis of that. Perhaps my idea here is actually that in order to write an all-inclusive analysis of any work, you would have to include the entirety of human universal perception and the explanations that we've come up with to suit that perception.)
Which makes sitting down to finish this paper feel like an even more daunting task than it originally was (in case you were wondering, I'm writing about Mao II).
I wish good luck and sanity to any of you choosing to write a paper on House of Leaves, and I welcome your comments if you don't believe it as difficult/impossible a task as I do.
Chelsea
Sunday, December 5, 2010
William Wallace "FREEDOM" Statue
Inspired by the 1995 depiction of Scottish knight Sir William Wallace in the movie "Braveheart," a mason created the above statue and leased it to the town of Stirling, the town by the location of Wallace's 1297 victory at Stirling Bridge. The statue faced repeated backlash and even vandalism due largely to the fact that the depiction of Wallace and the First War for Scottish independence in the film is so inaccurate (visually, progression of events, characterization, motivations and even roles/relationships of the characters)that it was considered insulting by many.
While I could go on with a listing of the numerous inaccuracies, the important part here is the fact that someone created a monument depicting the visual style of an entirely false depiction--a monument commemorating a false image. The Scottish highlander image boosted by the movie (kilts, face paint, etc.) was never worn in that era and yet it is a ubiquitous image associated with that time by many. Even the word "Freedom" as cried out by the Scots (and carved into the monument) would not have been used.
What is even more interesting is how an entirely false depiction of history created actual political repercussions, even helping to create a unilateral Scottish Parliament separate from the UK. Such is the power of a false image that it helps to sway an entire political landscape.
Hyperreality and Mass-Media in "Network" (1976)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTN3s2iVKKI
"[...] The tube is reality and your own lives are unreal[...]"
Howard Beale's ramble echoes mass media as depicted throughout the various readings. The erasing of Clementis (p.10) in The Book of Laughter and Forgetting both from the photos and from people's minds as they are bombarded by more news of different events. It rings of Baudrillard's "The Ecstasy of Communication" in that anything that comes from the television has the power to alter society while never having to be real.
The mentioning of corporate control is similar to Foucault in the sense that he reveals that television serves power.
"[...] The tube is reality and your own lives are unreal[...]"
Howard Beale's ramble echoes mass media as depicted throughout the various readings. The erasing of Clementis (p.10) in The Book of Laughter and Forgetting both from the photos and from people's minds as they are bombarded by more news of different events. It rings of Baudrillard's "The Ecstasy of Communication" in that anything that comes from the television has the power to alter society while never having to be real.
The mentioning of corporate control is similar to Foucault in the sense that he reveals that television serves power.
In-Class Post
The monster seems to stalk Tom throughout the transcripts. Even though it is never seen, the idea of its absence becomes oppressive. The shadow puppets become the perfect receptacle for the idea of the monster throughout:
"Born out of the absence of light, shaped with his bare hands, seem able to exist in that place, though all of them are as immutable as letters, as permanent as fame, a strange little beastiarity lamenting nothing, instructing no one, revealing the outline of lives really only visible to the imagination." (261)
Tom never sees the monster. It is always something formed out of the absence of anything there. A sense of restlessness and weirdness is ultimately the driving emotion of the scenes. In the same way, Johnny's meeting with "Johnnie," the strange woman in the following footnote, that is also characterized with this overlying sense of weirdness. There is nothing to suggest anything sinister about Johnnie until Johnny begins to have an unusual vibe about her. The joke about the dwarf having sex with the penguin (259) also mirrors the varying sexual exploits of Johnny and Lude in the notes. Just as Dopey learns the truth about his encounter, so too does Johnny peel away and deconstruct the uglier aspects of the woman he and Lude have been with as shown on page 265. Most of the jokes themselves are sexual in nature, the monk, the punker and the old man, and the dwarves at the Vatican all resonate with with the sexuality of Johnny and Lude. Strange encounters with strange creatures. Johnnie is, if anything, the ultimate example of this. She takes an ultra sexualized form and shares the same name as Johnny. In the encounter with the dog, Johnny compares it as a projection of himself (267) only to see it destroyed. In this sense Johnnie is a sexualized version of himself, attempting to destroy his vulnerability.
"Born out of the absence of light, shaped with his bare hands, seem able to exist in that place, though all of them are as immutable as letters, as permanent as fame, a strange little beastiarity lamenting nothing, instructing no one, revealing the outline of lives really only visible to the imagination." (261)
Tom never sees the monster. It is always something formed out of the absence of anything there. A sense of restlessness and weirdness is ultimately the driving emotion of the scenes. In the same way, Johnny's meeting with "Johnnie," the strange woman in the following footnote, that is also characterized with this overlying sense of weirdness. There is nothing to suggest anything sinister about Johnnie until Johnny begins to have an unusual vibe about her. The joke about the dwarf having sex with the penguin (259) also mirrors the varying sexual exploits of Johnny and Lude in the notes. Just as Dopey learns the truth about his encounter, so too does Johnny peel away and deconstruct the uglier aspects of the woman he and Lude have been with as shown on page 265. Most of the jokes themselves are sexual in nature, the monk, the punker and the old man, and the dwarves at the Vatican all resonate with with the sexuality of Johnny and Lude. Strange encounters with strange creatures. Johnnie is, if anything, the ultimate example of this. She takes an ultra sexualized form and shares the same name as Johnny. In the encounter with the dog, Johnny compares it as a projection of himself (267) only to see it destroyed. In this sense Johnnie is a sexualized version of himself, attempting to destroy his vulnerability.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
One Week Ago, in a House of Leaves far far away...
In this second in-class blog post, the assignment is represented by two seperate, yet equally important characters: Navidson's friend Tom and Johnny Truant. These are there stories.
Chung-Chung.
So, what do these two characters have in common, these men speaking at once between pages 251 and 268? Well, let's look at Tom. He's being a good sport by relaying messages between Navidson and Karen, but deep down in the nitty-gritty pit of his thoughts, "I don't want to be here...I'm not a hero. I'm not an adventurer (251). Tom just wants to live his existence in a way that doesn't endanger himself. But what is he doing hunkering down where the much discussed "Mr. Monster" is lurking? (251). He keeps himself busy by telling inappropriate jokes and having conversations with the alleged thing that's down there with Navidson and company; a mysterious "it" that shreds neon markers, which represent a source of light. Tom is in the presence of darkness and it's slowly turning him insane, while at the same time eliminating the bright shining feeling that is "hope" that Navidson's case will be quickly solved.
Now, let's look at Johnny. In the eight pages that the reader has with him, we learn about his sexual encounters (in addition to Lude's expansive list of partners in the past month). However, the sexual mentions are there to divert the reader's attention from examining the thing with lips "stuffed with god knows how many layers of tissue collected from the ass of some cadever" (266). The thing's name is Johnnie and she's the center of Truant's attention in this tiny anecdote. He tells the reader outright that he's afraid of the woman, with all her monstrous features about her, like her fingernails and the size of her breasts. He's actually happy he didn't get to lay the Gorgon-esque being who gives him a lift home. However, the Pekinese stray they picked up doesn't live happily ever after: "...I heard a thump... an eerie awful sound. Not too loud. Slightly hollow, in fact (267). The scrappy pooch bites the dust at Johnnie's will, and Truant's not quite sure how to handle the sudden impact of death. The woman's a physical manifestation of darkness, capable of taking life. Though our current narrator isn't trapped in a bad situation, he experiences the "evil" wandering the world, crushing all the light and good things it can find* Both Tom and Johnny Truant live in a world where they experience the unknown representation of what causes fear within them. They walk along the line where light and darkness is completely blurred, and if either of them isn't careful, they'll be consumed by it.
* A brief aside on the symbology behind The Pekinese, according to
http://www.pekingese-dogs.net/pekingese-information/history-lore : The Pekenise Breed originated in China. An ancient emperor named Han Ming-Ti experienced a visionary dream that led to his involvment with Bhuddism, which quickly spread to throughout the country. Statues of Lions began popping up everywhere outside public places. Within Bhuddism, the lion is a powerful, prominent creature associated with LIGHT and justice. The problem was that no one knew what a lion looked like, except for the foreigners who shared their tales involving them. Then, it was discovered that dogs could be bred to look like these ferocious animals, and thus, the Pekenise breed was born. The tiny toy breed swiftly became infused with Chinese royalty and was to be treated like a king. However, the breed left the Orient when Allied forces invaded China during the Second Opium Wars, where the dogs were taken as war trophies back to England, where they eventually circulated into mainstream society.
Chung-Chung.
So, what do these two characters have in common, these men speaking at once between pages 251 and 268? Well, let's look at Tom. He's being a good sport by relaying messages between Navidson and Karen, but deep down in the nitty-gritty pit of his thoughts, "I don't want to be here...I'm not a hero. I'm not an adventurer (251). Tom just wants to live his existence in a way that doesn't endanger himself. But what is he doing hunkering down where the much discussed "Mr. Monster" is lurking? (251). He keeps himself busy by telling inappropriate jokes and having conversations with the alleged thing that's down there with Navidson and company; a mysterious "it" that shreds neon markers, which represent a source of light. Tom is in the presence of darkness and it's slowly turning him insane, while at the same time eliminating the bright shining feeling that is "hope" that Navidson's case will be quickly solved.
Now, let's look at Johnny. In the eight pages that the reader has with him, we learn about his sexual encounters (in addition to Lude's expansive list of partners in the past month). However, the sexual mentions are there to divert the reader's attention from examining the thing with lips "stuffed with god knows how many layers of tissue collected from the ass of some cadever" (266). The thing's name is Johnnie and she's the center of Truant's attention in this tiny anecdote. He tells the reader outright that he's afraid of the woman, with all her monstrous features about her, like her fingernails and the size of her breasts. He's actually happy he didn't get to lay the Gorgon-esque being who gives him a lift home. However, the Pekinese stray they picked up doesn't live happily ever after: "...I heard a thump... an eerie awful sound. Not too loud. Slightly hollow, in fact (267). The scrappy pooch bites the dust at Johnnie's will, and Truant's not quite sure how to handle the sudden impact of death. The woman's a physical manifestation of darkness, capable of taking life. Though our current narrator isn't trapped in a bad situation, he experiences the "evil" wandering the world, crushing all the light and good things it can find* Both Tom and Johnny Truant live in a world where they experience the unknown representation of what causes fear within them. They walk along the line where light and darkness is completely blurred, and if either of them isn't careful, they'll be consumed by it.
* A brief aside on the symbology behind The Pekinese, according to
http://www.pekingese-dogs.net/pekingese-information/history-lore : The Pekenise Breed originated in China. An ancient emperor named Han Ming-Ti experienced a visionary dream that led to his involvment with Bhuddism, which quickly spread to throughout the country. Statues of Lions began popping up everywhere outside public places. Within Bhuddism, the lion is a powerful, prominent creature associated with LIGHT and justice. The problem was that no one knew what a lion looked like, except for the foreigners who shared their tales involving them. Then, it was discovered that dogs could be bred to look like these ferocious animals, and thus, the Pekenise breed was born. The tiny toy breed swiftly became infused with Chinese royalty and was to be treated like a king. However, the breed left the Orient when Allied forces invaded China during the Second Opium Wars, where the dogs were taken as war trophies back to England, where they eventually circulated into mainstream society.
Post Tally
So, I tried to count how many posts each of you has completed. Here's what I have. PLEASE tell me if I am in error.
By the way, the posts are EXCELLENT.
Chelsea: 5
Nick: 3
Alan: 1
Josh B: 1
Josh K: 3
Andy: 0
Stephanie: 2
Emmett: 4
Jacob: 2
Jess: 11 (done!)
Ken: 0
Colleen: 0
Eric: 5
Jodie: 4
Once again, if I missed any post, please tell me. I tried my best to be accurate!
- Monica
By the way, the posts are EXCELLENT.
Chelsea: 5
Nick: 3
Alan: 1
Josh B: 1
Josh K: 3
Andy: 0
Stephanie: 2
Emmett: 4
Jacob: 2
Jess: 11 (done!)
Ken: 0
Colleen: 0
Eric: 5
Jodie: 4
Once again, if I missed any post, please tell me. I tried my best to be accurate!
- Monica
Sn -- a-- p
During the rescue after Exploration #4, Navidson's lifeline, the rope Tom sent down the staircase to haul the rescue party up, snaps. At this point (page 296) Johnny makes a footnote on how his lifelines are snapping too.
His job? Lost. Contact information for everyone he knows? Thrown away. Ability to keep track of time? Gone. Just as Navidson is alone in the dark and silence so is Johnny. While only Navidson's situation is physical as well as mental, it is no more real than Johnny's. Navidson has something practical to occupy himself with: escaping the house. Johnny cannot escape. Navidson has one section of his life where reality does not apply. Johnny's entire life is being stripped of its reality. Unable to escape, Johnny instead turns to ensuring that what marks of reality that he still possesses remain. He insulates his studio to prevent hearing the house's growl and puts down measuring tapes so that he knows if the demensions of the studio change. Abnormal behavior, but with the intent of preserving normalcy. Every other lifeline in Johnny's life has snapped. If he clings to the few that have stayed whole, is it really so strange?
In the same footnote Johnny includes what, at first read, appears to be an unrelated and rambling story about a ship called The Atrocity. The story of The Atrocity is just another way to tell Navidson's story, and so another way to tell Johnny's. Instead of buying the wrong house or visiting Zampanò's apartment, this story begins with a small puddle of oil and a wayward spark. Yet it has the same result: being lost in the dark. In the end, Johnny is left questioning if he remembered the story correctly or if it even happened, much as the reader questions Johnny's and Navidson's stories. Even the reader is not free from breaking reality.
It isn't until the end of the footnote that Johnny really acknowledges that his relationship with reality is snapping. "I'm lost inside and no longer convinced there's a way out. Bye-bye Ashley and goodbye to the one you knew before I found him and had to let him go"(page 300). In many ways Johnny is lost worse than Navidson is. Navidson has the labyrinth to help him find himself. Johnny has no physical labyrinth and can only get lost deeper and deeper within himself. Navidson accepts his changing reality, yet does not give into it. Johnny cannot do the same. By the end of Chapter XII, both Navidson and Johnny are lost, yet Navidson is the one more likely to find his way out.
His job? Lost. Contact information for everyone he knows? Thrown away. Ability to keep track of time? Gone. Just as Navidson is alone in the dark and silence so is Johnny. While only Navidson's situation is physical as well as mental, it is no more real than Johnny's. Navidson has something practical to occupy himself with: escaping the house. Johnny cannot escape. Navidson has one section of his life where reality does not apply. Johnny's entire life is being stripped of its reality. Unable to escape, Johnny instead turns to ensuring that what marks of reality that he still possesses remain. He insulates his studio to prevent hearing the house's growl and puts down measuring tapes so that he knows if the demensions of the studio change. Abnormal behavior, but with the intent of preserving normalcy. Every other lifeline in Johnny's life has snapped. If he clings to the few that have stayed whole, is it really so strange?
In the same footnote Johnny includes what, at first read, appears to be an unrelated and rambling story about a ship called The Atrocity. The story of The Atrocity is just another way to tell Navidson's story, and so another way to tell Johnny's. Instead of buying the wrong house or visiting Zampanò's apartment, this story begins with a small puddle of oil and a wayward spark. Yet it has the same result: being lost in the dark. In the end, Johnny is left questioning if he remembered the story correctly or if it even happened, much as the reader questions Johnny's and Navidson's stories. Even the reader is not free from breaking reality.
It isn't until the end of the footnote that Johnny really acknowledges that his relationship with reality is snapping. "I'm lost inside and no longer convinced there's a way out. Bye-bye Ashley and goodbye to the one you knew before I found him and had to let him go"(page 300). In many ways Johnny is lost worse than Navidson is. Navidson has the labyrinth to help him find himself. Johnny has no physical labyrinth and can only get lost deeper and deeper within himself. Navidson accepts his changing reality, yet does not give into it. Johnny cannot do the same. By the end of Chapter XII, both Navidson and Johnny are lost, yet Navidson is the one more likely to find his way out.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Shapes of self
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp3fmAYbiO0
After watching this short clip, do others shape ourselves or are we free to create what we want from our minds? For instance, in House of Leaves many of the characters become alone or isolated. Is this isolation a cause an effect that ultimately leads to their twists on reality? Within the house, are their decisions and thoughts provoked by the hallway, stairwell, etc. that leads to the monster within.
-Josh K
After watching this short clip, do others shape ourselves or are we free to create what we want from our minds? For instance, in House of Leaves many of the characters become alone or isolated. Is this isolation a cause an effect that ultimately leads to their twists on reality? Within the house, are their decisions and thoughts provoked by the hallway, stairwell, etc. that leads to the monster within.
-Josh K
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Fear of the Dark in HoL
You knew this was coming.
(To allow this post to have the most effect on you, you should play the song "Fear of the Dark" by Iron Maiden while reading.)
I had to write about having a fear of the dark, partially because I experience it a lot myself and also because Johnny seems to in a similar capacity (only with more hallucinations).
According to my brief Wikipedia research, this fear, when pathological, can be called nyctophobia, scotophobia, lygophobia, or achluophobia. All their roots relate in some way to night, or darkness. The opening paragraph to that article also states very concisely what I actually fear: "Fear of the dark is usually not fear of the darkness itself, but fear of possible or imagined dangers concealed by the darkness."
For many years I was severely plagued by this fear of monstrous possibilities lurking just out of my peripheral vision, to the point where I would run up the stairs from the dark living room, not necessarily because I was hurried to get there, but because a genuine thrill of fear went through me and caused adrenaline to happen. It was bad.
When I moved away from home, this response calmed a lot (I lived on the second floor, there were more people around, etc). I was able to tuck it away in the back of my head and be fine. I still never did well with completely dark rooms, but I could survive without running everywhere.
I made the mistake last weekend of reading House of Leaves with only a single lamp on in the apartment, night fully set in outside, and boyfriend out of the house. I was alone, with this book, and my fear of the dark. Because the fear is innately enough woven into my mind that sitting here with the TV blazing away and boyfriend right next to me, I can picture eyes peering out of a dark doorway in my head and be frightened. Almost to the point of glancing around. So, sitting alone, reading about Holloway appearing around corners and people's flashlights dying and Tom crouched stationary in a tent, I was way freaked out. I try to save on electricity by shutting off lights and my computer when I leave the house--I left them all on. I couldn't stand to turn my back on that much darkness, or even exist in it for the time it would take me to make it to the door.
Anyway, this isn't supposed to be about me. I only mention it at all because the darkness is so prevalent in this book that it reawakened my previously suppressed fear. The darkness in this book is the divine presence, it is as pervasive. Every character we encounter has noticed the dark, or mentions it--Karen's claustrophobia verges on fear of the dark, Tom's issues, how drained Jed and Wax and Holloway are after Exploration #3, Johnny's attack in the back room. When I identify with him during a section he's written, I can't help but fearfully exclaim, "Johnny, you dumbass!" He doesn't avoid the dark despite all these terrible visions of attacks happening to him, nor does he attempt to open his home more, let in the light. He shrinks into dark alleyways and bars and covers his windows with foil and lets his electric go unpaid. I can't believe it...I'd be even less able to sleep than he is.
I'm not breaking it down here as conclusively as I would in an essay, but the darkness literally touches every section of this book. I'm almost certain I could tie it to any section you can think of. The monster in the labyrinth of the house? Maybe a minotaur. Maybe just the house. It's the possibility that's so frightening.
Basically, trying to write about this book is like that idea we wrestled down at the beginning of the semester. Trying to write a scientific report that actually contains everything related to it is impossible, because everything relates to everything when discussed scientifically. Trying to write about House of Leaves is not impossible--but trying to write about every idea contained in House of Leaves probably ranks right up there with a complete scientific report on the scale of impossible things. The best we can do is what we have done--write a body of criticism that is infinitely expanding and covers a piece of it at a time.
Onward and upward.
Chelsea
In Class Post(superscript 1)
1A blog post about footnotes should be written in a footnote.2
2Or a few footnotes.3
3I decided to write this post differently. In addition to the smartass opening, I wrote this post in a more segmented fashion, because I feel the footnote containing Johnny’s story (pages 296-301) relates to many things in addition to the section it succeeds.
For starters, it does refer back vaguely to the section ahead of it (pages 292-296, mostly blank space, in which the staircase expands and leaves Navidson impossibly far down). The end of that section is:
“Navidson makes a desperate grab for the only remaining thread connecting him to home, but he is too late. About ten feet above the last banister [the rope snaps]…
…Time has accelerated and I’ve done nothing to mark its passage.” (p295-296)
There is a key juxtaposition here between the staircase stretching, becoming longer and Johnny’s few weeks becoming a day, suddenly shrinking. This is an example of how the footnotes aren’t necessarily connected by being similar—sometimes they are connected in that they are opposite. However, these lines are not only spatially connected. There is a similar element of denial—Johnny shows up at work like nothing’s happened, in denial as to how quickly he’s lost the time just like the grieving group in the house have trouble accepting Navidson is gone.
Then there’s the element of survivalism present. This footnote almost looks ahead to the succeeding passage where Navidson makes a long trek home when Johnny writes, “Right now the only thing that keeps me going is some misunderstood desire to finish The Navidson Record.” (p297) He fights on through the difficulties of his life just to finish the book, like Navidson will find supplies and climb the stairs despite having no real hope of making it back. This is also related in that similar to Navidson not knowing if he’ll even make it home, Johnny has no idea if he even has anything to learn about himself from finishing Zampano’s book, or if “…when the answers arrive the questions are already lost.” (p297)
Lastly, the story he tells (fabricates?) about The Atrocity sinking relates back to his own story of the boat that sunk in Alaska when he worked there, as well as the growl in the house. The line I’m referring to is: “…a grinding relentless roar, which like a growl in fact, overwhelms the pumps…” (p297) He describes a similar roar in the Alaska story, as well as details about the two incidents being similar (fire on board, water rushing in from everywhere). There is certainly a resonation between the two events in his mind (if The Atrocity even counts as an event). The word growl also relates it to the house, perhaps on a level of things tearing apart—ships tearing apart in his mind, like the house tearing itself to stretch and grind into different shapes and sizes. I for one do hold the belief that there is no creature in the depths of the house, there is only the sound of the house moving and changing, grinding on itself. So far I have seen no indication other than that sound that there is something living in it, and the idea of the house moving against itself to create a resonating growl sounds plausible.
Many of the other footnotes which contain Johnny stories are this same way—they relate to the section they succeed on a very broad vague level, and they also tie back to one another and ultimately to Zampano and how he discovered the book. Johnny always writes about how reading this is affecting his life, in one form or another.
Chelsea
Monday, November 22, 2010
In Class Blog Post
In Danielewski’s House of Leaves, the text appears to connect to one another (in context, form, information, etc.) as well as to outside sources. I use the word “appear” only because that nothing can be for certain in House of Leaves, for nothing can be taken for face value or deciphered and understood simply. The form of the text takes different shapes and evolves as the manuscript continues, however, the supposed separated interior context (paragraphs versus footnotes) is only an illusion. Each can stand alone, but they also relate to one another. In my opinion, as House of Leaves is meant to also be authored by the reader, the connection between varying sections must also be determined by the audience as well.
Tom’s Story is written in the form of a screenplay, but also is reminiscent of personal journal entries. These words, or entries, are to be witnessed and absorbed by readers. Johnny’s footnotes also have the same purpose, where we, as the audience, are meant to read and understand what Johnny is transcribing to us. This purpose is not the only similarity between the two sections. The diction and pacing is also similar in that both sections read fast, but convey a vast amount of information to process in a short amount of time. Johnny states, “I was in some weird kind of jittery daze,” this jittery daze reflects to the confession-like voice Tom has in his screenplay (261). Both Tom’s and Johnny’s words, or confessions, convey stories to the audience. Again, the audience is meant to help author, and determine, which information is more vital and valid.
I find the greatest significance that connects and makes both Tom’s and Johnny’s words able to coexist in close proximity to be the references to the monster, a monster, or creature (depending on how you perceive the information).
“Did you expert oration Mr. Monster? Or perhaps a little expectoration” describes the audiences want for expectoration, or expansion, on knowledge of the monster’s being and existence. The monster’s action, in Tom’s section, acts and exists but what happens is not clear. The monster’s in itself, in existence, is vague. The only concrete image is that the monster turns “into a dragon…a flesh eating dragon” (260). Johnny also refers to a creature, “born out of the absence of light, shaped with [Toms] bare hands, [is] able to exist” only by Tom’s doing. Also, within Johnny’s footnote, the monster is the woman herself, but also reflects back to Johnny in namesake.
The most concrete relation between Tom and Johnny’s words, in my opinion, is the reference and description of the monster, or creature. The monster in itself is perceived as horrible, a brute, dangerous and yet is not clear. What is the monster’s purpose? The monster is unseen, but heard. We as readers know that something exists, but the true purpose of the monster can only be better understood as more of the text is covered.
Tom’s Story is written in the form of a screenplay, but also is reminiscent of personal journal entries. These words, or entries, are to be witnessed and absorbed by readers. Johnny’s footnotes also have the same purpose, where we, as the audience, are meant to read and understand what Johnny is transcribing to us. This purpose is not the only similarity between the two sections. The diction and pacing is also similar in that both sections read fast, but convey a vast amount of information to process in a short amount of time. Johnny states, “I was in some weird kind of jittery daze,” this jittery daze reflects to the confession-like voice Tom has in his screenplay (261). Both Tom’s and Johnny’s words, or confessions, convey stories to the audience. Again, the audience is meant to help author, and determine, which information is more vital and valid.
I find the greatest significance that connects and makes both Tom’s and Johnny’s words able to coexist in close proximity to be the references to the monster, a monster, or creature (depending on how you perceive the information).
“Did you expert oration Mr. Monster? Or perhaps a little expectoration” describes the audiences want for expectoration, or expansion, on knowledge of the monster’s being and existence. The monster’s action, in Tom’s section, acts and exists but what happens is not clear. The monster’s in itself, in existence, is vague. The only concrete image is that the monster turns “into a dragon…a flesh eating dragon” (260). Johnny also refers to a creature, “born out of the absence of light, shaped with [Toms] bare hands, [is] able to exist” only by Tom’s doing. Also, within Johnny’s footnote, the monster is the woman herself, but also reflects back to Johnny in namesake.
The most concrete relation between Tom and Johnny’s words, in my opinion, is the reference and description of the monster, or creature. The monster in itself is perceived as horrible, a brute, dangerous and yet is not clear. What is the monster’s purpose? The monster is unseen, but heard. We as readers know that something exists, but the true purpose of the monster can only be better understood as more of the text is covered.
Code Breaking and Hidden Meaning
In House of Leaves, there are many hidden messages, usually acrostics (often referred to in the community as Pelafina's Code for the use in her letters) that can give a deeper understanding of a character, or the whole book, or sometimes just lead to more layers of questions we have as the reader. For example, chapter VIII contains a lot of Morse code, particularly spelling out SOS, or in many cases, "SO?" At one point the code spells out "FUCK," while on the same page Johnny says "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck you. Fuck me. Fuck this. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." 3 short, 3 long, 3 short. SOS.
In footnote 119 though, in response to a "SO?" we find a more hidden Morse code if we look hard enough. There are long and short passages, broken up by dots. Letters are broken up by hollow dots (as we've seen earlier in the chapter). When you puzzle it out, eventually you get: Long Short Short Short/ Short Short Long/ Long/ Long/ Long Long Long/ Long Short/ Short Short Short. This spells "BUTTONS"
So what? Sew Buttons.
At many points I have seen people question how much of the code Danielewski actually put in the book on purpose, and how much has been discovered that he didn't intend. What many of these people fail to realize is that is the point. By putting even one code into this book, and he put many more than one, Danielewski actually opened up an entire world for his readers to find new things every day. We will never find all of the codes in the book because new ones can always appear. The death of the author indeed, he is entirely unnecessary, and with each new analysis of the book it grows into a new shape, and new additions are made. The book is ever growing, changing, expanding, much like the hallway, the house, the characters.
Not to be content with the simple and easy codes to find, readers have found relevant words all over the book in acrostics. On page 77, "thinking, has another missing year resolved in song?" spells out Thamyris, an ancient mythical bard who challenged the Muses to a singing contest. (He lost of course.)
One speculator noticed that if we turned each letter into a number, (A=1, B=2 and so on), and then add up the numbers that make up Johnny, you get 86. And if you add up the numbers that make up Zampano, you also get 86. 86 is actually a diner slang for "gone," "non-existent," or, "to be gotten rid of." Such as "The tenderloin special is 86ed, table 12 ordered the last one."
Who cares if the author meant to do that, it works for the text, and even if he "didn't mean to," he did it. With the dreamlike feeling of this book, many parts of it could be said to be subconscious, which according to psychoanalysts is able to reach parts of ourselves that we don't see.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Webcomics and The Meaning of Art
First off, check the link.
This is a webcomic I discovered today. I felt it was somewhat related to the discussions we've had of what art is for as believed by the modernists and postmodernists.
Is art only art if it ends in art? Is it still art if it is used for some other purpose (like a game, or even a decorated fountain or a house)? I believe it still is. I think the writing in video games and webcomics as well is just as valid writing as any novel or article is. If anything, the fading that's occurring between comics and novels (creating the realm of the graphic novel) shows that quite well--words and images are mixing more and more. Many graphic novels could still function with the words removed, just as that writing could work without the images, though they work much better together.
To reference another recent element of pop culture, I've recently gotten to watch someone play through the video games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. These games are excellently well written--the plot is well executed, logical and intriguing, the space marines' dialogue is snappy and hilarious at times, and above all the universe is worth exploring. My point is, the writing in this game could allow for the material for countless novels. It is just as valid art as the novel would be, despite being a game, something where the end result is not art.
I realize the statement at the end of the comic is jesting, but it speaks to the day that might well be coming (or could already be here) when the art we create no longer fits our definition of art.
Chelsea
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The Crying of Lot 49: Name List
While discussing The Crying of Lot 49 in class, we have spoken a lot about name meanings, both connotative and denotative. I thought it might be interesting, and fun, for us as a class to try and make a blog-posting list of names, name meanings (implied and sourced meaning), and what everyone might think the significance of the name is in relation to the novel itself.
Names: The tip of the Iceberg or a Facade of a Character
Analyzing names and Possible Significance to The Crying of Lot 49
(Please note I am using the same website for all name meanings for origins and meanings, everything else is analytical/debatable so feel free to give your own input and/or add to the list!)
Name: Thomas Pynchon
In relation to the author himself, Thomas, has a Greek origin (which one might believe is not coincidence when looking at the protagonist’s name and origin of story), as translates to “twin.” This, is analyzed, can give suggestions of duality, incompleteness or overabundance. Thomas Pynchon, in the novel The Crying of Lot 49, gives an incredible amount of information to readers. The information can sometimes come in waves, and make the pursuit of the story hindered. An overwhelming amount of small details and facts are unneeded, but are given for a reason. Whether or not this reason is to hinder or help can be debated.
Name: Pierce
Pierce is the “charactered” form of bait for the protagonist, Oedipa. It is Pierce's words that drive Oedipa to search for meaning, one might believe he is the source of her “quest,” of her “hero's journey.” Pierce looks like the word pierce, to puncture, to injure, to prod. Pierce does seemingly prod Oedipa to continue on, even if he is not present, and he is able to puncture her conscious mind into thinking of trying to figure out the “truth.” But does truth exist, is there actually a goal, a success at the end? Oedipa, at the end of The Crying of Lot 49 is frozen, injured, paralyzed. Pierce, in origin, is French (however this is debatable) and is a “Form of Peter.” Peter, in the bible, was a “speaker,” as he was the first to reveal Jesus was the Messiah. He is also known for his betrayal. Pierce speaks to Oedipa, becoming a driving force, like a voice of conscious.
Website used: www.namemeanings.com
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Specificity vs. Identification
Here's a quote from Mark Z. Danielewski: "I've always wanted to create scenes that verge on the edge of specificity without crossing into identification." How do you interpret this statement as you read House of Leaves?
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Maxwell's Demon
Oedipa's experience with the machine is that she is told that it will unlock the ability for her to move the piston with her mind. The explanation for how it works can easily be taken as an explanation of the expectations of a novel.
"Communication is the key" Nefastis says as he begins to describe the process (84). The "billions of molecules" can be seen as words and letters in a novel. Just as Nefastis explains how the molecules are interpreted on a psychic level, so too must the reader interpret of thousands of words and millions of letters to make sense of the whole. In the process of trying to perform the necessary mental actions on the piston, she thinks she has done it but only finds her initial reaction false. The novel reads much in the same way. The reader constantly expects a meaning to become clear and, at times, the novel seems to be heading in the right direction only to have it take an unexpected turn. The images of Yogi Bear, Magilla Gorilla and Peter Potamus (85) all act to demonstrate how the novel consistently thwarts the reader with trivia and bizarre pop culture rather than acquire the specific result.
Even Nefastis helps act as a symbol of this misleading. in explaining the demon, he constantly loses Oedipa's understanding and, when she fails to move the piston, Nefastis's seeming comfort only turns out to be a sexual advance (86). The novel leads the reader on, posturing the idea that there will be an explanation before yanking the presumption out from underneath the reader.
"Communication is the key" Nefastis says as he begins to describe the process (84). The "billions of molecules" can be seen as words and letters in a novel. Just as Nefastis explains how the molecules are interpreted on a psychic level, so too must the reader interpret of thousands of words and millions of letters to make sense of the whole. In the process of trying to perform the necessary mental actions on the piston, she thinks she has done it but only finds her initial reaction false. The novel reads much in the same way. The reader constantly expects a meaning to become clear and, at times, the novel seems to be heading in the right direction only to have it take an unexpected turn. The images of Yogi Bear, Magilla Gorilla and Peter Potamus (85) all act to demonstrate how the novel consistently thwarts the reader with trivia and bizarre pop culture rather than acquire the specific result.
Even Nefastis helps act as a symbol of this misleading. in explaining the demon, he constantly loses Oedipa's understanding and, when she fails to move the piston, Nefastis's seeming comfort only turns out to be a sexual advance (86). The novel leads the reader on, posturing the idea that there will be an explanation before yanking the presumption out from underneath the reader.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Maxwell Demon Machine
To Read the novel in comparison to the Maxwell Demon Machine:
The Maxwell Demon, as described by Koteks is “a tiny intelligence…[it] sat and sorted” (68). The Maxwell Demon system itself, “you wouldn’t have put any real work into,” Koteks explained (68). When described, the machine is misleading in context, “the Nefastis Machine contained an honest-to-God Maxwell’s Demon” (68). However, how can something be “honest-to-Go” when numerous individuals have no faith in such an omnipotent presence? When compared to reading the novel itself, no individual can believe there is an absolute truth to be found and understood, if there is no possibility of an absolute truth to exist.
It is explained “two fields [that] were entirely unconnected, except at one point: Maxwell’s Demon” (84). The Maxwell Demon acts as a tissue that connects two different entities or thoughts. By connecting two entirely different ideologies or “fields,” the Maxwell Demon acts as the small symbols and information dribbled throughout the novel that connects one moment to another. The novel, in context, is in fractions. These fractions need to be connected by something otherwise they would stand-alone and have no possibility of any meaning or use. When reading the novel, we, as the audience, act as the sorter. We must separate the fast and slow molecules, or pieces of information, to determine what is valid, important and vital to our understanding. Although the system “was said to lose entropy,” or information, it was “offset by the information the Demon gained” (84). This mimics readers as we lose information, or get lost in the novel, but new information is gained as the novel progresses.
“One little movement, against all that massive complex of information” is all a reader needs to begin new understandings, or quests for truth while reading the novel. One small movement, or piece of information, is enough to bait readers to want to know, understand, and seek truth.
The novel in itself, like the Maxwell Demon machine, is misleading. Readers want a truth to exist, or want the Maxwell Demon to exist, but it is entirely possible that no truth or Demon exists in the novel. We, as readers, are led to believe the Demon does exist if noticed by sensitive individuals. But how are we to know of its true existence, if we cannot devote all of our senses to seek out the demon, if we must focus on another image.
“’Watch the picture,’ said Nefastis, ‘and concentrate on a cylinder. Don’t worry. If you’re sensitive you’ll know which one. Leave your mind open, receptive to the Demon’s message…’” (85). This quote epitomizes readers’ process of reading the novel. We as readers must leave our minds open to the possibilities, but our mind can be clouded by the façade of what we believe is to be the essence of the novel. We must seek information, not truth, we must never devote ourselves to one want or we will not gain any understanding in the novel at all.
The Maxwell Demon, as described by Koteks is “a tiny intelligence…[it] sat and sorted” (68). The Maxwell Demon system itself, “you wouldn’t have put any real work into,” Koteks explained (68). When described, the machine is misleading in context, “the Nefastis Machine contained an honest-to-God Maxwell’s Demon” (68). However, how can something be “honest-to-Go” when numerous individuals have no faith in such an omnipotent presence? When compared to reading the novel itself, no individual can believe there is an absolute truth to be found and understood, if there is no possibility of an absolute truth to exist.
It is explained “two fields [that] were entirely unconnected, except at one point: Maxwell’s Demon” (84). The Maxwell Demon acts as a tissue that connects two different entities or thoughts. By connecting two entirely different ideologies or “fields,” the Maxwell Demon acts as the small symbols and information dribbled throughout the novel that connects one moment to another. The novel, in context, is in fractions. These fractions need to be connected by something otherwise they would stand-alone and have no possibility of any meaning or use. When reading the novel, we, as the audience, act as the sorter. We must separate the fast and slow molecules, or pieces of information, to determine what is valid, important and vital to our understanding. Although the system “was said to lose entropy,” or information, it was “offset by the information the Demon gained” (84). This mimics readers as we lose information, or get lost in the novel, but new information is gained as the novel progresses.
“One little movement, against all that massive complex of information” is all a reader needs to begin new understandings, or quests for truth while reading the novel. One small movement, or piece of information, is enough to bait readers to want to know, understand, and seek truth.
The novel in itself, like the Maxwell Demon machine, is misleading. Readers want a truth to exist, or want the Maxwell Demon to exist, but it is entirely possible that no truth or Demon exists in the novel. We, as readers, are led to believe the Demon does exist if noticed by sensitive individuals. But how are we to know of its true existence, if we cannot devote all of our senses to seek out the demon, if we must focus on another image.
“’Watch the picture,’ said Nefastis, ‘and concentrate on a cylinder. Don’t worry. If you’re sensitive you’ll know which one. Leave your mind open, receptive to the Demon’s message…’” (85). This quote epitomizes readers’ process of reading the novel. We as readers must leave our minds open to the possibilities, but our mind can be clouded by the façade of what we believe is to be the essence of the novel. We must seek information, not truth, we must never devote ourselves to one want or we will not gain any understanding in the novel at all.
Maxwell's Demon Machine
Oedipa sits, staring at the Maxwell's Demon Machine, trying to communicate and more importantly to understand. Like her, we the readers also sit, waiting for some sort of understanding or meaning to come out of the novel. When she thinks she sees a piston twitch, she can't get her mind off it, hoping to have actually communicated with the machine. In the same way, we look and try to find one small bit of meaning, we hope when we find it that means we've managed to communicate with the text.
She's told that if she is truly sensitive she will be able to accomplish this, and she wonders if a "true sensitive" would feel and understand more. We, as readers, wonder as well if we're missing a hidden meaning, a point which the "truly enlightened" reader would understand. We believe that the novel is trying to communicate with us and that we are trying to communicate with it, but that the messages aren't getting across except in those brief moments where we see a piston twitch.
When Oedipa can't find meaning or communication with the machine, she becomes frustrated, not only with the machine, but with herself, and with the man who introduced her to the machine, one might say the author of the machine in her mind. He consoles her, tells her that it's okay, she probably wasn't going to see anything anyways. She decides that the only "truly sensitive" people are those that shared in his delusions. Perhaps he was even the only one who got the piston to move at all. Likewise, the author Pynchon, is the only one who would truly understand the novel as it was meant. But even that isn't true, because he meant to eschew meaning and prove that search futile. Likewise perhaps the man behind the machine knew it would never work and used it to disillusion those coming to search for the Maxwell's Demon.
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