Mask Project V2
Alright, I admit, I didn't do too well last year and I had to retake a class or two, but that won't stop me from keeping this "memorial from another era" up-to-date. So here it is, my new mask from the Animas High Mask Project and Exhibition.
Here's the essay:
What do we generally think of when we hear the word “sports”? Maybe you think of the tools used in some sports, such as Soccer Balls, Footballs, Hockey Pucks, Hockey Sticks, Baseball bats, Baseballs, or you might think of the places where these sports are played, such as a Baseball Diamond, Football Field, a huge stadium, or even a small sandlot. Now let’s shift our focus away from the tools used in sports and the places these sports are played at and focus on the people who use those tools and perform at these places. I’m going to make a wild guess and say that when I mentioned sports, your mind skipped over everything I listed above and it came back to this part. You couldn’t care less about a list of wood, string, cloth, and cotton sewn together to be thrown and smacked around repeatedly in a huge building full of chairs and lights. What really gets people's attention are the guys who use these things. Everyone cares about the players and what they do and what happens to them. The reason guys like Peyton Manning, Michael Jordan and Tim Tebow are so well-known is due to the fact that they are practically legends in what I would refer to as the “Sports World”. And because this “Sports World” has become such a huge part of our culture, practically everyone knows about it and what happens within it. You might have no idea what Football is, (and I mean American Football, not European), and you’d likely know or have at least heard the name Peyton Manning, or heard the name of the team associated with where you live, such as the Denver Broncos. Women and girls are often ignored not just in sports, but are often overshadowed when it comes to a large portion of today’s society. But there is something missing from this picture, something that is so big, yet so easy to overlook, but what? Well, let’s look back. I hope you payed attention to all of the names I used in the previous paragraph, for the names I displayed are commonly known to be names for men. Peyton is an exception, but you get the idea. We tend to overlook women in our society so much that it gets to the point where they become invisible. Let’s veer towards the “Sports World” again. There’s the Men’s Sports League, and then there’s the Women’s Sports League. Let’s take a look at one of America’s most popular sports: Baseball. Ever since the year 1867, women have been paid to play the “Ol’ American Classic” in organized teams. But until recent years (And by recent I mean since 2003 when Women’s Baseball became an official sport), people either didn’t notice, pretended not to notice, shunned it, or just plain hated it. Even now, most people tend to overlook it and other womens sports. In fact, when it comes to at least 80% of...anything really, women are often ignored. Another area in which women are ignored is gaming. Ever since the release of the first ever game console, the “Magnavox Odyssey”, (released in 1972), video games have cornered the market and have also become one of the biggest industries we know today, with several companies a part of it, such as Ubisoft, Nintendo, Konami, EA, Sega, and Take-Two Interactive. (Take-Two owns the gaming companies Rockstar Games and 2K games). Instead of focusing on the companies and the games they publish, let’s focus on how said companies get their games onto the market. You know how I said that sports are known basically everywhere in today’s society? Video-games are advertised twice as much. “How so” you ask? I think I can sum up the reason very easily; “Why watch something happen when you can be the one to make it happen?” Okay, we’re going to stay away from sports for a while and focus on gaming. If you grew up in the 1980’s-1990’s, you probably saw some advertisements showing off the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Atari 2600, or the Sega CD. From the perspective of a kid back then, you probably just focused on the game and the stuff you needed to play it. You obviously saw the kid in the commercial looking like he was having the time of his life playing the latest Mario game, or Sonic game, or a game with something completely new and fresh. But to me, someone who didn’t grow up during that time, I just saw a boy playing a game with a loud announcer in the background, which was then followed by some cheesy line like, “Nintendo! Now you’re playing with POWER!” Notice how I said “boy” instead of “kid” there. Even in the 1980’s, games have been marketed towards guys. Early games like Contra, Wolfenstein 3D, and Castlevania we’re made and advertised for guys. Of course, it didn’t attract just guys, some girls got into it. Today, the guy gamer to girl gamer ratio is 60/40 (60 being guys and 40 being girls). Back then though, it’d probably be along the lines of 95/5, (you can guess the ratio here). It’s just a general thought to say that gaming is a guys territory, but in reality it’s not. There have been attempts in the past to make games for the feminine side of gaming, but the turnout was horrible. Barbie, Rugrats, and Bratz games have been made, but they had so little effort and control put into them, the games looked like they were trying to scare off girl gamers. Nowadays, it’s not the case, but since video games cause so much controversy and are constantly battered by the news and overly-concerned parents that’ll believe anything, anything else is generally overlooked. Alright, I’ve touched up on topics on how women have been ignored and socialized, but now to focus on how people today are socialized around girls and women in general. The way I see advertisements is like this: Women are oversexualized, fragile, and independent objects that are always looking to be the most desirable amongst jaw-dropped guys. This is terrible in my opinion, and I say that today's society has some major issues, I mean, I’ve seen most people my age, and even younger, constantly act dirtier and more immature than most drunks out on the street. This society has evolved and with it, it's stereotypes. The reason that this matters to me enough for me to write this much about it is because this issue has steadily changed from women being ignored in our society to women getting all the attention for all the wrong reasons. Constant commercials on TV featuring over-sexualized women showcasing products to make women even more over-sexualized, schools organizing sports in which genders are completely separate, games basically always showing content by guys, for guys. The gender gap between most activities people perform today has very slowly but surely decreased, but at a rate much too slow. |
Song Analysis Project
Another long post......darn.
The purpose of this mini-project is to learn to use figurative language that will also help us in the upcoming Shakespeare project. What we had to do for this project was to take a song and do one of the following: 1. Write our own song using imagery. 2. Rewrite the song using imagery and tell it from a different perspective 3. Rewrite the song so that is has the same point of view, but change one major event or feeling. The song I chose was Short Change Hero by The Heavy Here's the original lyrics: Comma's indicate either a new line or a pause in the song. I can't see where you, comin' from, But I know just what you, runnin' from, And what matters ain't the, "Who's baddest", but the, One's who stop you fallin' from your ladder, baby, And you feel like you feelin' now,, Doin' things just to please your crowd, When I love you like the way I love you, And I suffer but I ain't gonna' cut you 'cause, This ain't no place for no hero, This ain't no place for no, better man, This ain't no place for no hero, To call "home", This ain't no place for no hero, This ain't no place for no, better man, This ain't no place for no hero, To call home, Every time I close my eyes, I think, I think about you inside, And your mother, givin' up on askin' why, Why you lie? And you cheat? And you try to make a fool outta' she? Now I can't see where you, comin' from, But I know just what you, runnin' from, But what matters ain't the, "Who's baddest", but the, One's who stop you fallin' from your ladder 'cause This ain't no place for no hero, This ain't no place for no, better man, This ain't no place for no hero, To call "home", This ain't no place for no hero, This ain't no place for no, better man, This ain't no place for no hero, To call "home", This ain't no place for no hero, This ain't no place for no, better man, This ain't no place for no hero, To call "home". We also had to write down some things for the project, (answers to questions on a packet), such as what people, places, objects, events or feelings the arise when I listen to this song, and here is what I think: A. Write down what imagery arises when you listen to your song. For people, no one in particular really, I can't really explain it until I get to another part here in a second. For places, anywhere in a sort-of apocalyptic situation. Any gamers out there that have played The Walking Dead, The Last of Us, Rust, or DayZ know what I'm talking about. For objects, pretty much the same as for places. For events, it could be either in a gritty urban battlezone, or just a full-out zombie swarm like in World War Z. For feelings, I don't know what to feel, just a huge mixture of maybe 3-7 different emotions that are difficult to make out individually as I'm typing this, but the song delivers all this in a weird........but good way. B. In your own words, describe in detail (using complete sentences) the feeling(s) the song created in you, and how what words the singer/band used to create those feelings. I had a feeling of.......isolation........that I can connect to my past. I also had a feeling to go out and just pick a fight with someone, not out of anger, but to be either appreciated, or feared. This song guides my ind to my past when the lyrics get to the chorus: "This ain't no place for no hero, This ain't no place for no "better man", This ain't no place for no hero, To call 'home'." In middle school, I was the lone wolf. I kept to myself, because no one gave me a choice to step out. I was mocked by everyone in the school, and I mean EVERYONE. As a result, I almost never talked, (one time, I didn't talk for 3 straight weeks). This song reminds me of that experience, but it doesn't deliver a sense of overwhelming dread and depression, other songs that I listen to that are somewhat related to this one. The feeling altogether is so complicated in my head, yet so very simple. On a final note, this song is amazing, and I never stop listening to it. |
Here's a random animation I found using the music.
I felt like putting this up. Made by LoneWolfHBS. Animated in Source Filmmaker, a free program made by Valve. The video has some blood and violence, but nothing too bad. |
Model United Nations Exhibition
This is going to be a long post......just to give you a heads-up.
We started this project with an introduction to the North Korean Nuclear Crisis, Project Wrap-up Questions: 1. What would you tell another student if they asked why he M.U.N Project was important? I would say, "If you ever want to learn how the U.N works, are curious about politics and world issues, or if you want to learn how to sound professional when speaking in public, you'll be taught a portion of each of the above said during the project." 2. Think of this project overall - which habit of heart and mind were you most proud of during the conference? I think I could be proud of Perspective, it was hard to find any evidence for the country that I was representing, but I found some eventually. 3. What was the greatest challenge you faced in the project and how did you work through it? The country I was representing at the conference was Mexico. Why was this my greatest challenge? Well.....Mexico had no official opinion on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, so I had do a lot of digging. Eventually though, I found some stuff thanks to my Humanities teacher. 4. What was the most interesting speech, resolution, amendment, or comment by one of the delegates? I cannot remember at this exact moment....but from what I can remember, a lot of them were very interesting and well put together. |
I just put some words onto the U.N flag.
|
U.N Poster Mini-Project
This was a sort of side-project to go along with our Model U.N project.
What we had to do was either Photoshop or hand-draw a poster that demonstrated an Article that was part of a document for the United Nations (sorry if it's wrong, getting this in at a late time.). Here is what I did to the right. (Note, I did not Photoshop every single word onto the image, just some of it. But still, pretty cool right?) |
Graphic Novel Project
Technology Paragraph/Essay
So, I was asked to write a paragraph or essay (can't remember which) on some new and upcoming technology that is being introduced by someone of your choice, and what I chose was the brand new and extremely versatile computer, the Google Glass. If you are asking "What the heck is this?" It's the most recent variant of a wearable computer,(the concept was officially introduced in the late 1970's by a guy named Steve Mann, although there were variants dating back to the 1600's) and has received good reviews from the people that tested it. Along with being a computer, it has a picture and video camera, can make calls and watch videos, and it even has apps designed for it. This computer has a lot of potential, it needs a good amount of improvement, but it has potential.
Fictional Essay
Don't know if I should put this up, but I'm going to.
Night of the NetherWorld
Jake Weaver
It's been ten years, since the true apocalypse came; clouds that never went away, spores that raised the dead, lava ravines everywhere, and more events that basically made 2012 come true. There are only about 2 billion people left on the Earth. No one knows how this happened, a lot of people don't want to know, they just want to survive with what little they have. I was 3 when this happened, and I remember it like it was 10 minutes ago. Then there are people who try to take this to their advantage, that's where I come in. I use my skills, all my weapons, just to find a decent meal, and maybe, to walk on the grounds of a new world. This is the NetherWorld.
It's tough, the Earth is just one giant chain reaction of events; a ravine opens, buildings and people fall in, explosions follow, which in turn causes more and more buildings to fall to the abyss full of magma below. I'm one of probably 15 people that live here, and we've formed a sort of Brotherhood, we're one of the only known functioning groups within 100 miles. Our only purpose, is to find out what happened that caused all this. We are planning to set out for the place where the apocalypse first hit. It was called Vegas.
(About 2 days later)
Having finally arrived after days of sneaking around some of the toughest gangs that live on the side-roads that lead to Vegas, and somehow getting out alive. You would think that a 13-year-old kid would be easy to spot, you thinking skills need to improve if you plan to find me. The condition of Vegas is better than I thought; most of the buildings are burnt, but strong enough to stand, some lights still barely work, and there aren't nearly as many ravines as there were back at the old hideout. This place would seem promising if there weren't so many idiotic guards walking around.
Night of the NetherWorld
Jake Weaver
It's been ten years, since the true apocalypse came; clouds that never went away, spores that raised the dead, lava ravines everywhere, and more events that basically made 2012 come true. There are only about 2 billion people left on the Earth. No one knows how this happened, a lot of people don't want to know, they just want to survive with what little they have. I was 3 when this happened, and I remember it like it was 10 minutes ago. Then there are people who try to take this to their advantage, that's where I come in. I use my skills, all my weapons, just to find a decent meal, and maybe, to walk on the grounds of a new world. This is the NetherWorld.
It's tough, the Earth is just one giant chain reaction of events; a ravine opens, buildings and people fall in, explosions follow, which in turn causes more and more buildings to fall to the abyss full of magma below. I'm one of probably 15 people that live here, and we've formed a sort of Brotherhood, we're one of the only known functioning groups within 100 miles. Our only purpose, is to find out what happened that caused all this. We are planning to set out for the place where the apocalypse first hit. It was called Vegas.
(About 2 days later)
Having finally arrived after days of sneaking around some of the toughest gangs that live on the side-roads that lead to Vegas, and somehow getting out alive. You would think that a 13-year-old kid would be easy to spot, you thinking skills need to improve if you plan to find me. The condition of Vegas is better than I thought; most of the buildings are burnt, but strong enough to stand, some lights still barely work, and there aren't nearly as many ravines as there were back at the old hideout. This place would seem promising if there weren't so many idiotic guards walking around.