Evil Afoot in LOTF

Well, as the title obviously implies, my topic to "track", so to speak, is evil. We see a lot of not necessarily evil things going on, dissent and some minor feuds. However, there is an instance where the word evil is actually used to describe some sinister looking trees. It seems also to show in this book that on that on the whole, the night is full of terror and fear and is driven by some evil force. This said "evil" seems to spread fear among the boys, giving them nightmares and also just spooking the living bejeezus out of them. I

If I really had to guess who would end up the main "villain" responsible for this evil, it's probably gonna be the ever-irksome Piggy or that shifty guy Simon who seems to just disappear for a while to suddenly come back, though he never says what he as been doing and really doesn't say much at all. One of those two, I bet, is going to end up killing one of the boys, or doing something malicious and bring the hand of evil upon them. Well, thanks for reading.

~Charles

Midterm Review

I am pretty clear on much of our material studied in class, but I think a refresher course on things like theme and writing processes would benefit me and many of my classmates, frankly because it was late and everyone was exhausted, a big biology test, among other stress issues made it difficult to focus. Reviewing this material, which I'm sure will be on the exam, seems like a good idea. Also, since we did short stories what seems like forever ago, I'd request we go over on it. Basically, a short version of this blog is that we should do just a general overview of all that we've done thus far, at least as far as short stories go.

Reading Times-
Tuesday November 22nd- 1 hour
Wednesday November 23rd- 1.5 hrs.
About 100 or so pages

I read a bit ahead in Lord of the Flies and also found my Feast for Crows book and read that.

LOTF-In Class Mayhem

Well, things in class didn't really go so well once we were let loose to think up our survival plans. No one really seemed to focus on the essentials, like food and fresh water, and we ended up trying to vote on what sort of governmental structure we would have. Things got nuttier all the while, with suggestions and cannibalism all being thrown around. If we were seriously thrown onto an island, however, I think things would either escalate very quickly to "survival of the fittest" if we lost our cool, or would go pretty well if we stayed calm and rational. We have some great minds in our class, but we also have some sadly naive ones as well, and unless they faced up to harsh relaity, we'd be in some deep trouble.

I find the subject of kids on an island and human nature to be extremely interesting, as understanding the human psyche and the true, primal feelings deep down seems just so complex and intriguing to me. An issue I can foresee us having is the urge all humans have, to mate. At this point, it goes into speculation, so buckle up. The girls would probably be bullied into harvesting fruits, etc, while all the guys go out and  hunt. Now, what's going to happen if one of the guys in our camp just up and decides to rape one of the girls? What kind of law enforcement would we be able to deploy? And what happens if the whole camp descends into anarchy and thievery and rape and even murder occur? Surely, we'll have  to end up spreading our population across the island, but it should be in some form of consensual engagement. Truthfully, I put our chances of  obeying the laws and everyone  surviving at about 20%. If we don't cooperate, how will we function? Another thing that will probably happen-the class will divide into sects, at least into "Nerds" and "TryHards", perhaps even further than that, who knows? In either case, there would need to be separate rulers and separate villages, and trade would have to be established. It could all get very complicated here, but it's all guesswork, eh? So, no worries, no ones standing over you in the middle of the night with a sharpened coconut shell............................................................just yet.

Reading Times-
Sunday-2.5 hrs
LOTF
Deadman Wonderland Manga
Total Pages- About 215

The Wubz

Dubstep is a relatively new genre of music, but is quickly gaining momentum as more and more people are drawn in by its powerful "drops" and the innovative new syncopation. Dubstep is, I'd say, kind've like hardcore Electro. The songs usually have no singing, an interesting feature that some artists defy and some do not. Many dubstep songs are remixes of other songs, though artists like Tristam and Skrillex and others do original pieces. Dubstep songs are usually pretty darn long, lasting from around 3-11 minutes each. Some groups, such as Monstercat, bring a collaboration of dubstep artists and their best songs together into hour-long mixes. One of my favorites- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqTD1jfPUMw

Dubstep is about as controversial as My Little Pony (which I also recommend) on the Internet, with fanatics and haters widespread. Oh, and I almost forgot the structure of Dubstep. Usually the songs start out with a trance (slow repeating beats), followed by some rising tension until the song reaches its climax at the "drop". Dubstep drops are always the fastest, heaviest, and most powerful beat section of the dubstep song, and sometimes the song can have more than one. I highly recommend dubstep to all reading this post, as it is a growing and ever-improving music genre that is exclusive to the Internet and it needs as much support as it can get.

~Charles Out

Reading Response

Well, looks like its back to reading responses. I think its high time SOMEBODY said something about manga. I am relatively new to manga and Japanese culture in general, so if I make a mistake don't hesitate to correct me. While I LOVE reading books like "Game of Thrones", I sometimes dislike having to think of totally everything myself. Sometimes its nice to sit back and enjoy fights and understand concepts with the aid of images. Manga utilizes pictures, yes, but not in a childish manner. These pictures are often necessary to portray a certain scene or moment in the story.

Seeing fights drawn out, seeing the sweat and blood caking a corpse's face, wondering at beautiful bolts of lightning streaking across the page....well, that's just what reading is meant to be. I am a huge supporter of books and manga alike, so please don't everybody go nuts. The way the artist behind Naruto (Masashi Kishimoto-san) does his work, he really wants to convey a message of tolerance and of never giving up, and as a Brony I stand behind him. Everybody go check out Naruto the manga and the anime as well, I promise you won't regret it!









Reading Times-
Monday-15 mins
Tuesday- 20 mins
Wednesday- 15 mins
Thursday-10 mins
Friday- 1 hr
Today (Saturday)- 30 mins

I read mostly Naruto manga and Game of Thrones this week- about 200 pages.