The French Farter

Now, this hour was INTERESTING and yet a little disturbing. We watched a documentary of the french professional farter and entertainer Joseph Pujol, otherwise known as Le Pétomane. This guy could "fart at will" by using his abdominal muscles. It was BIZARRE to see that he had became such a sensation in Europe . Does his art (debatable) represent his times? Perhaps the vulgar nature of his work, that dealt with such an "indecent" part of his body, could have aided in the paving of the way for the sexual revolution that was to come in the the second half of the century? Debatable topic that one, but whatever the answer is, this man's talent deserves attention. One thing that is interesting is why has so much of our comedy revolved around farts? I just dont get it....

DEGAS

Pretty cool hour this time round. We watched a documentary of Degas, the painter fascinated by ballerinas in the middle of the 19th century. Again, I do not know if I am making precise assumptions, but it seems to me that Degas' art and life represents (yet again) the turning point the 19th century was facing at the time: removal of monarchies with the replacement of governing bodies that would, at least in theory be a REAL representation of the people. Degas' artistic choice to focus on the unseen side of the glamourous ballet, seems to reflect somewhat this uprisal of the REAL. He chose to depict the life of the ballerinas in practice, and not on the stage, in other words he drew what the audience could not see. Aswell, i found it interesting how he chose to surreptitiously include the "patrons" of these young ballerinas in the paintings. The hierachical dominance of patriachal europe was hidden amongst his paintings as these girls depended heavily on the funds given by these men to survive in the world of Ballet. Most of these girls in order to get this money became "girlfriends" to these men, purely for financial reasons, again Degas introduced the reality behind such a seemingly beautiful and purely elegant way of life.

Lauryn Hill - I Gotta Find Peace Of Mind [MTV Unplugged]

Real music changes you. This song changed me. I love it. I love the message it gives to all.

Lauryn Hill

This song is special to me. I can honestly say this album gave my life a new perspective. It really showed me the power music can have on a person's soul. I am touched by Lauryn's lyrics, they seem so very real:
"While today is still today, CHOOSE well.."
"We must destroy in order to rebuild..."
"Rebel" Lauryn says, do not conform...

Truly inspiring and moving music.

Awesome stuff...

Beethoven, the Beatles, and U2

I must admit that the last hour of my Western History lecturer is quite interesting. It is entitled the "Cultural Hour" and it is the time of the lecture in which we watch, or in today's case listen, to something that reflects the period of time that we have studied in the lecture. Today we studied Romanticism and afterwards we listened to Beethoven.

I found Beethoven's 9th symphony quite a powerful piece, one that moved gracefully from moments of fast paced rhythms to the slower and more peaceful parts of the piece. What I found most interesting was the text that followed the last movement. I sourced this from Wikipedia:

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,

Daughter of Elysium,

We approach fire-drunk,

Heavenly One, your shrine.

Your magic reunites

What custom strictly divides;

All people become brothers

Where your gentle wing alights.

From my understanding the period of Romanticism was filled with so a great deal of optimism. That delighful frame of thinking that places the union of humnanity as priortity for the arrival of true peace and happiness. Throughout the lecture Dr Gentes introduced briefly the parallel between this Romantic point of view that ruled the early 1800's to the so called "hippy" movement of the 60's, reflected by the lyrics of the incredibly popular band "The Beatles." I found this interesting as it proves again just how much history repeats itself. The imaginary/Romantics vs the Rationalists seems to constantly crop up. In the early part of the 19th century the romantics was represented by musicians such as Beethoven, in the 60's the flag was held high and proud by the Beatles, and now it seems to be held by the Irish rock band U2.

ok ok...check this website out....and POST there then:
http://www.droppingknowledge.org/

It is a BRILLIANT web site!

I wonder why no one posts....hmm...