Hey, it's Van Halen!

NYPL-Performing Arts Branch

Instead of going to the Performing Arts Library on Wednesday Brandon, Zina and I decided to go this Monday, May 12. Let me just note that it was a really bad day, with light rain and strong gushes of wind. But it got better by the time we reached Manhattan. When we finally got to Lincoln Center, we struggle a little to find where the actual library is. At first we were heading to the theater, but we found our way eventually; that place looks like a small labyrinth now.

As soon as we walked in we headed straight to the DVD section. The first title that called my attention was the original Dracula with Bela Lugosi. It was a VHS copy actually, but soon after I spotted the 75^th anniversary edition in DVD. I also found a few Alfred Hitchcock films like: The Birds, Saboteur and Sabotage. I was looking for a specific film by Roman Polanski called The Fearless Vampire Killers, but had no luck. I decided to move on to the CD section, and tried to find albums from Pink Floyd and The Beatles, also to find nothing.

We went to the second floor and spent a whole lot of time there. At first I got an intensive lesson on James Bond from Brandon. I never had any interest in those movies but I changed my mind, although I still think the titles are really corny! After, I was taking a look at a book about the best of Horror films. Just looking at the movie stills made me happy. I went on to find more books on old Horror movies (I keep trying to find stills from Nosferatu, I just love them!); a Charlie Chaplin book filled with photographs; a book on Alfred Hitchcock; a Tim Burton biography, containing a few of his drawings; and last but not least Brandon brought me the library’s treasure: a book on Vincent Price and his works. Ever since I saw House of Wax I fell in love with Price.

We had the opportunity to check out the third floor, but I didn’t really get into it. I went back to the first floor and tried to find more interesting movies at the DVD section, while I waited for my group. It didn’t take long before they came downstairs. We decided to leave after that.

I really liked the Performing Arts library, but I need to go there with more time and patience. Going to the library is always the same for me, I feel like I kid in a candy store. I don’t know what to grab first!

One-two-three-faw

4:00 Pm. I grabbed the paper and sat to have a cup of tea. I burned my tongue and spit the liquid when I read the headline for Wednesday, November 9: “Marty Peccaluna DEAD in Car Crash”. I turned on the radio and the station was playing an old interview of his; “When I’m sixty-four I’ll be doing the garden and digging the weeds” said the poor bastard. How sad that he had to die at twenty-four and lose forty years. I didn’t know him personally, but had his poster on the wall. It was getting hard to breath and I decided to leave. On the streets everyone looked lonely, as if they had just lost a best friend, “Just look at them!” I thought. I decided to make a turn in Psych Street and bumped into a man wearing bright purple; “Excuse me while I kiss the sky” he told me. There was something very odd about him; the smoke of his cigarette was getting mixed with the color of his shirt, and it looked like as if he was in a purple haze. I continued walking and a guy with crazy curly hair holding a harmonica said he had seen what happened. He told me he knew the purple man and that he lived in the neighborhood: “No reason to get excited. I know the man. He smoked my eyelids an' punched my cigarette." I smiled back and as I was walking past him I overheard a conversation between two teens: “The teacher is teachin’ the golden rule. American history and practical math, we have to study hard and hope to pass. I’m workin’ my fingers right down to the bone, and that guy behind me won’t leave me alone.” said one of them to the other. It’s very easy to get lost when your journey has no destination. I must have made a wrong turn, and ended up in a dark street corner. There was a man in black telling of a hole in the sky. Women gasped as they walked past him. Across the street, in a store, I could hear the sound of piano playing. The piano man was quite a character, with his blond hair do. The owner of the store was about to kick him out when he set the instrument on fire. Oh, what a scene that was! I ran like hell, and when I stopped to catch my breath I realized I was in somewhere familiar. It was building 98 covered in graffiti, a little place I call home. “I have seen enough for a day” I thought. I went into the building, and up the stairs where I found Jeremy Hillary leaning on my door. He told me he had nowhere to go and asked if he could live with me. “You’re a real nowhere man!” I said “You’re lucky I’m such a sentimental. Come in!” I closed door number 9 behind me, sat on the chair and started telling all about my trip to my dearest friends Dr. Eggman and Mr. Walrus.


In this text there are references to The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. Can you identify all of them?

My parents have been succeeding admirably in contributing to global warming; I have tried innumerous times to change their minds, but all my efforts have proved in vain. The good news is: I have finally found a way to make them greener. It has been taking a lot of effort…from me, and only me, but it seems to be working. I have trying to talk them into it for so long; I have tried to start conversations on the subject, showed them a few pictures, some videos , but the only things these “acts of persuasion” got me was my mom to be horrified for about five minutes, and my father to run away. But I started to notice that if I changed things around the house on my own, they didn’t seem to mind. It started with flicking off the lights when they leave the room, and unplugging appliances. They thought it was a bit weird to unplug the TV, cable, and DVD player at first, but they have finally gotten used to it. I have started to change the light bulbs to fluorescent ones; switched their paper and plastic dishes to glass ones (as long as I am washing them); and have also unplugged all chargers. Little by little I’m making our house a green one.

As for me, I have been researching about how to be a green photographer. I have no idea about what I’ll do. Digital is the best solution, even though it requires a lot of energy consumption, it takes no chemicals. The problem is: I do not like digital photos. Being in the darkroom is very therapeutic for me, and pictures printed manually have a greater quality. I have heard that labs are now using less toxic chemicals, but it is still bad. The best I can do is to shoot locally (using of less transportation, therefore less CO2) and to take pictures that raise awareness about the issue; some anyway.

Another problem I have encountered is Jack, my dog. I have been trying to find alternatives to make her go green, without much success though. I researched a few websites, but didn’t find anything relevant or much different than what I’m doing now. I’ll keep looking for ways to make Jackie “eco-friendly”, until then…

I have been a library rat since I can remember, so needless to say I enjoyed our little trip. I must admit I was not crazy about the Mid-Manhattan Library at first. The first and second floors did not interest me at all. There were a lot of fiction and career related books (which technically I should be interested in, but of course is not the case) all over. I started to get excited when I read the plaque on the wall, indicating 3^rd floor was all about art. And there was my “El Dorado”. I felt like a small kid in a candy store; I just simply didn’t know what to look at first. Unfortunately it was time to go to the other building, and I had to leave the third floor behind. So off our group went to meet with the rest of the class. I have always wanted to visit the New York Public Library but never had the opportunity. The thing that attracted me to it is, of course: its architecture. It’s exactly how would I picture the perfect library to be. I was listening to our guide for the first ten minutes, even though I was being immensely distracted by the walls surrounding me; but he lost me once we entered the McGraw Hall. The paintings; the wood; the reading room…it was just all a (amateur) photographer could ask for. I just let myself get lost in all that beauty and started shooting right away. I even literally got lost from the group once we approached the desks. After everyone left Brandon, Zina and I stayed and checked out some pictures hanging by the “photography room”. I also had some time to shoot more pictures. I most definitely want to go back to the “third floor” and look forward to visiting Lincoln Center.

Following is a picture of the Reading Room in NYPL:

"We all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun"
-Instant Karma, John Lennon

Going Green

Going green is not entirely new to me. For quite some time I have been trying to change my habits, so I won't harm the environment as much. Unfortunately at my house I am viewed as a freak; I have tried countless times to change my parents' point of view, but my all my efforts have proved in vain. Still, I decided not to give up, and continue being green (at least trying to).

I can't tell exactly when it all started, but I remember my first step was cutting down in the use of water. Very basic things like taking faster showers; closing the faucet when brushing the teeth and doing dishes. I also became some sort of "light" patrol. Whenever someone leaves a room and forgets to shut the light, I'll be there to make sure it is taken care of.

Coming from the Eco-capital of Brazil, Curitiba, I am no stranger to recycling. I have always recycled paper, glass, cans, and even rechargeable batteries. Please don't ever throw your rechargeable batteries into the garbage, they are very toxic and can pollute the soil and water. Instead, take them to a place that takes this kind of material to recycle. Usually stores that sell this kind of batteries or manufacturers.

When I moved here I noticed people tend to use a lot of paper plates and plastic cups. I decided to stick to my glass china, the fact they have to be washed after used does not bother me at all. I have also decided to join Greenpeace, even though I haven't contributed as much. I'll admit it, I am a member just for the sake of it. I have tried to be an active member of Surfrider Foundation though, which as the name suggests aims at raising awareness about pollution in our beaches and oceans. I have always loved the ocean and can't stand when people leave garbage on the sand.

Another way of being green is being a vegetarian. This was unintentional, I didn't start it to save the environment, but for the animals. I love them too much to keep hurting them. A lot of water, land and crops are used to maintain livestock. According to Jim Motavalli in "The Case against Meat", an article for emagazine .com:

"More than a third of all raw materials and fossil fuels consumed in the U.S. are used in animal production. Beef production alone uses more water than is consumed in growing the nation’s entire fruit and vegetable crop. Producing a single hamburger patty uses enough fuel to drive 20 miles and causes the loss of five times its weight in topsoil. In his book The Food Revolution, author John Robbins estimates that 'you’d save more water by not eating a pound of California beef than you would by not showering for an entire year.' Because of deforestation to create grazing land, each vegetarian saves an acre of trees per year."

I have recently stopped buying bottled water and got myself my own little bottle. I hope we can all go green safely and don't spoil this idea as we did with all others. Somehow we always try to find someway to make money out of things. I think moderation is key; since consuming things abruptly does not help. I fear that somehow the new Eco- friendly products we have just come up with will be corrupted as well. As long as we are doing it for a good cause and not for money, we should be fine.

"Music is a Safe Type of High"

Could not agree more Jimi (Hendrix), you said it all.

The Beauty of Global Warming

Many may try to avoid it and not consider it a personal issue, but Global Warming is an alarming FACT. As Earth gets warmer it changes: glaciers melt, sea levels rise, hurricanes get stronger, diseases are wider spreaded. We are rapidly destroying our planet, and little by little we have to get more used to the idea of extinction.

Earth’s temperature is increasing due to the great level of Carbon Dioxide or CO2 trapped on Earth’s atmosphere. Solar energy maintains Earth’s temperature, but with too much greenhouse gases generated by human beings, the infrared radiation that is supposed to leave Earth stays; and the results are warmer temperatures. All of this is an effect of industrialization.

Scientists have been carefully observing Earth’s temperature. They mainly use glacial ice, Tree rings and Ocean sediments. According to the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, a gallery in the American Museum of Natural History in New York, when studying ice one can see that there is more dust and salt in ice during cold periods than in warmer periods.

Ocean sediments are used to “indicate seasonal changes”. Therefore lighter layers are formed during warmer summery weather and darker in cold winter weather.

Tree rings “indicate annual climate.” Thicker rings are a sign of growth in a warm and humid year, while thinner rings are a sign of “cold and dry years”.

As Al Gore would say Global Warming is an “Inconvenient Truth”. There’s a very basic reason why we let ourselves get to the point we are today: money, capitalization. Our desire for new technology, new harmful products only grows; without thinking of the future we are encouraging deforestation, pollution of our oceans and soil, and so on. We will consume our ways to extinction. Why there’s still so much prejudice towards green products, or even “green” people? Fortunately we are slowly changing our ways, especially the auto industry with its hybrids. We even have SUVs that are Hybrids now.

Greenpeace is a good site to find out more about "good" companies and Global Warming issues

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy

Before finishing I want to leave you a thought, watch Pearl Jam's Do The Evolution video and give it a thought. Let's try not let it happen to us. Let's stop consuming every piece of garbage they give us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoNmNmXExZ8&feature=related

Neo; One; Aeon

What do you get when an early religion is combined with an innovative sci-fi movie? The answer would be: The Matrix. It does not seem like Andy and Larry Wachowski really tried to camouflage Gnosticism in the movie; on the contrary, I feel like they wanted to leave it pretty explicit for the public to see. All it takes to read between The Matrix’s lines is a basic comprehension of what Gnosticism is.

From my research I found that Gnosticists believe human beings are made of matter and spirit. They are trapped in the material world due to ignorance of the existence of a divine realm called Pleroma. The Pleroma is inhabited by Aeons, which are spiritual creatures, while the material world is the creation of the Demiurge, a creature that is the result of a sin commited by a fallen Aeon. The material world is guarded by Archons who work for the Demiurge; their job is to hide the truth, therefore denying each person a place in the Pleroma. The Saviour, Jesus, is actually an Aeon who looks like a person; he saves by enlightening beings.In the Wachowski version of Gnosticism the real world could be considered as the Pleroma. A place only for those who acknowledged the truth, that the matrix is actually only a computer program. If the real world is the Pleroma, the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar and the population of Zion could be considered as Aeons. They are enlighted creatures who have accepted reality or truth.

We’re left with the matrix, the fake and faulty reality that could be interpreted as the material world. The program was created by machines and are guarded by different agents. They could be interpreted as Archons, working for AI or the Demiurge. The job of the Agents is to keep the idea of the real world concealed.

Neo could only be Jesus, the Saviour. In Gnosticism, Jesus is sent by the Aeons to save individuals by enlightening them. One can only be saved with knowledge, there’s no punishment, there’s no pain. Once one is aware of the Pleroma and the sin of matter, his or her spirit will be able to transcend. Neo like Jesus, does not try to save every person, he is only a messenger of the truth.

The Matrix and the cave

Is Neo trying to escape Plato’s cave? It appears to be the case. The more I dismantle The Matrix, the more fascinating I find it to be. It isn’t enough to see it once; it takes a few times in front of the screen to finally digest everything the movie throws at you. At first, viewers might be overwhelmed with so many special effects and a some what complex plot. You have to choose: either pay attention to the visual effects or try to understand the story and catch some of its analogies. Once one gets passed the visual part and starts to explore the actual story, that’s when the real fun starts.

After researching Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, it was impossible to ignore the similarity between the two. The first sequences of the movie take place within the matrix. Keanu Reeves’ character Neo, whom by this time is still Thomas Anderson, is totally oblivious to the fact he is living a false reality. Just like the prisoners inside the cave he’s chained and unable to look anywhere but to the wall in front of him. His daily routine, from the simple act of sleeping to going to work, was a sham. But just as the prisoners believed the shadows on the wall were true, Mr. Anderson had no problem in believing in it either.

When choosing the Red Pill, Neo commences the process of his liberation from the matrix/cave. After the red pill sequence, we see Neo in a cocoon getting unplugged. This could be interpreted as Neo being unchained and finally ready to flee the cave and look at the sun. The real world in The Matrix could be interpreted as the Sun in the allegory. When opening his eyes for the first time Neo asks Laurence Fishburne’s character Morpheus why his eyes hurt, and he replies it due to the fact he has never used them before, the same pain is experienced by the prisoner when first looking at the sun.

The Sun is the truth, and when both Neo and the prisoner acknowledge the fact they were living a lie, the normal reaction is: be incredulous. How can something as surreal as the sun beat the shadows on the wall? Since birth shadows are the only truth they know, it’s preposterous to be told any different. And just like the prisoner, Neo gets accustomed to the idea little by little, until the sun becomes their reality.


Here's a link to a video inspired by the Allegory of the Cave, enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcS05TdeuYQ&feature=related

Enter the Matrix

Probably the one thing most will agree when referring to Larry and Andy Wachowski's Matrix is that it is a pretty different film from almost anything released before 1999. This blockbuster has a little something for just about every movie watcher out there.

I must admit I am something of a Matrix fan. When the movie first came out it was so innovative and fun to watch, I must have seen it a dozen times. It also caught me at a time when I was pretty into special effects and martial arts; this movie was a very sweet treat for geeks like me. Even today my favorite scenes are the ones containing a heavy dose of visual effects. Scenes like: when the audience first meets Trinity, the Neo and Morpheus fight, the whole sequence of Morpheus being rescued by Neo and Trinity and last but not least, everyone's favorite, the "bullet time effect" scene. These effects, in my opinion, contributed to much of the film's success. The story is also pretty interesting, AI taking over the world and ultimately controlling the human race, why not? If you let your imagination flow, it could be very possible in a few centuries or millenniums. The important thing to state about the plot is that it is not just a crazy, non-basis story. It is not very different from today's reality, you'll only need to substitute a few characters and cut down on the visual effects. Aren't we being told what to think, feel and consume?

For the most part it is definitely a film worth seeing. If you enjoy movie trivia check out this link http://imdb.com/title/tt0133093/trivia

Ex Animo,

Ana.



References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix
The Matrix on Wikipedia