Kevin Nguyen
ICS 24
Marilyn
12/8/09
EYE SEE ES TWENTY FOUR
The quarter is at it's end. As I look back on the class, I realized that this was one big community with art, intelligence, support, and best of all, life. The goal of the LinC class was a success. This course along it's classmates really felt like another group of family and friends as it was intended to be. Whoever made it, was a genius. I see that I have changed after experiencing the course material and seeing my colleagues' art, compassion, and existence.
Marshall gave us many assignments in which we have to present ourselves and our art, and take notes of each others works. This was how I got to know a lot of the people in class (besides mingling with them). For example, Fatima made a demon story which told her experience going to the Philippines and how miserable and wet it was. I never knew that about her and now I do. Or when Xang started ranting out lyrics and voicing his dissenting opinion against Marshall's beliefs. That was eccentric since he was the few that openly disagreed, and even more so, that his style of rant was of anguish and EMINEM rap. But then again, there are some things that I found out that I, or anyone else, shouldnt have known at all such as Marshall himself.
This course was a freaking family. Compassion was everywhere needed. As each of us told our stories of past experiences, legacies, and problems, the class was always there, listening and taking it in as each information was presented and revealed. My story, Karissa's American Dream story, Yong's language story, Marshall's dick problems, Marilyn's hippy stories--hell, I realised most of our stories were international experiences or past problems, maybe even prejudices. But the main point is how we can relate to one another and how carefully we have listened and respected each other's views. I became more comfortable with talking out my view points in front of everyone and not pussy foot things like how I once did before in highschool.
But above all, just knowing my colleagues and how they even existed in this world has changed my attitude about it. There is soo much culture, ethics, love, respect, and experiences that none of us knew we had or received. I am more optimistic about America now than I ever was. I finally understood what it meant to be in a community of love, friends, and diversity. The existence of of these communities are what makes America, America. It is a melting pot of everyone and their stories. I am glad to have taken this class with Marshall, Jim, and especially Marilyn. I am more aware of my being and of other aspects and people of the world. I will be missing ICS 24.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Last Essay
Kevin Nguyen
ICS 24
Marilyn
12/3/09
The History Dream
Churchill once said. “History is written by the victors.” This holds true since the conqueror can gloat and glorify all he wants and show the world in his image. The concept of history in Dream Jungle is an interesting one, in which reality and fiction have been merged together in a way that its almost indistinguishable. Jessica Hagedorn merges the Philippine’s dramatic history and the filming of “Apocalypse Now” with her very own fiction and message. She uses scapegoats, and foils for each character and historical contexts to make specific references to each event as it has happened, could have happened, and never happened because history is bound to repeat itself.
The first of a few references Hagedorn makes is the idea or history of “discovery and conquest” in the Philippines. In fact, it is what the first part of her novel is called. The Philippines have been conquered and occupied by foreign invaders many times before. The Filipino people and their resources have been raped, used, and wasted time over time again and again. A good example would be the Spaniards, who have sailed by and conquered the people under their rule in the process centuries ago. Hagedorn included several excerpts from “Primo Viaggio Intorno Al Mundo” by Antonio Pigagetta, who was the travel log recorder of Captain Magellan’s expedition around the world, and she included her own fictional character, a rich Spaniard aptly named Zamora de Legazpi. Zomora de Legazpi represents a parallel foil to the wealthy Spaniards, specifically Captain Magellan and many other conquistadores, who “discovered” a group of natives, “taught” them a lesson, “took” their woman and goods, and thus “conquering” the indigenous people. There have been many references to this from the excerpt of Antonio Pigagetta when he was observing the natives such as “…and those boats resemble the dolphins which leap in the water from wave to wave. Those Ladroni (i.e., robbers) thought, according to the signs which they made, that there were no other people in the world but themselves.”(4) Or when they were in shock and awe, experiencing defeat at the lost of their beloved Captain:
One of them wounded him on the left leg with a large cutlass, which resembles a scimitar, only being larger. That caused the captain to fall face downward, when immediately they rushed upon him with iron and bamboo spears and with their cutlasses until they killed our mirror, our life, our comfort, and our true guide. (106)
Ironic isn’t it? How they referred to their captain as if something great and holy, but he, the captain, along with everyone else, just wanted gold and conquest in the name of God.
Zamora, however, is pretty much the same especially when he bosses around his servants and taking advantage with the young girls like when he was naked and lecturing in front of Rizalina. “Enough about dreams. You’d better go, little girl. Or else your mother will think poorly of me…I’ve lived up to my promise, haven’t I?...You can stop trembling now. The lesson is over.”(49) Or when Zamora is flirty, eager to have sex with many mistresses outside of his marriage such as Celia, his baby caretaker, who just had an abortion because of him. Poor little girls, you can imagine how scared they were and how much of their innocence was lost. And then there is Bodabil, a small Taobo boy Zamora found deep within the uninhabited Philippine mountain regions. This is a reference to the Talibo scam back in the day with the President and false relief fund “PIMPF” in order to gain easy money. But the point is that Zamora claimed that he discovered these indigenous people and that he will save these people from their Stone Age ways for “ who knows what’s sake”. It ended in a terrible way more or less like Captain Magellan and his men, he was soon questioned with the validity of his relief effort, losing his family, losing Rizalina, and slowly dying away, losing his significance.
Zomora’s thirst for lust and dominance is like that of the foreign conquistadores centuries ago whose justification for conquering may be nothing short of “colonialism”, a term mentioned by Ann-Lesley. Legazipi also has an interesting foil of himself, the sadistic Mayor Fritz Magbantay. Hagedorn has created the sadistic Mayor Fritz to show how devious man can be as he lectures in front of his innocent victims (just like how the invaders and Zamora did) right before he does something shameful to them. Nap, Fritz’s driver, thought of this as he witnessed Fritz lecturing to Lina inside the car later on in part two of the book: “What’s the deal with her anyway? She was just a teenage girl, slightly prettier than most, but so what?” (257)
Another reference to history would be the filming of “Napalm Sunset”—the second part of the book—which is actually the filming of “Apocalypse Now” by Francis Coppola. Hagedorn replaces Coppola with Tony Pierce, and Cowboy with Vincent Moody, and many others while keeping authenticity of the hot difficult situation of foreign Americans filming and interacting with the natives in the Philippines. History, again, repeats itself here even though it features different actors and a new scenario. Pierce, Moody, and Fritz are shown how they naturally interact with and exploit the natives. Moody acts like a father to Lina and gets with her after meeting her at a strip club. Pierce hires cheap labor for his production, bossing around everyone alike and disrespectfully considers the surrounding land to be “a venture far too deep into the heart, where savages rule and civilization does not exist” or what ever Marshall was telling us how the director perceived the Philippine land to be—possibly a meaningless toy by the end of the movie. And then you have Fritz, who just wants to sell out his land’s resources to the American actors, and many other dirty businesses. His lusting efforts with Lina mentioned earlier were stopped because of Aling Belen, the protective old lady that watches over the foreigners with condemning eyes. From the book, how she acts is like an ancient spirit and pride of the Philippine homeland, watching over the land, agonized at the sight of the looting and raping of its people and earth.
Now, here comes the validity of history of Dream Jungle. It is true that Janet Pierce did a documentary of the movie and that the actors were partying and screwing around. The Spaniards did have done a lot of things towards the people and so have many other foreigners that come and go. Its also true that there was corruption (even today) with the high ranking officials selling out their people with the Talibo scam, prostitution, outsiders, and many more.
So what is false? The only false things here—but not limited to-- are the story of Zamora and his so called tribes, the diaries, documents and testimonies, the reporter Paz, and especially the old lady Alen Beling. But even if it is false, Jessica Hagedorn creates such fictional characters that to even dismiss it as false, would be dismissing the possibility of ever having such a type of person, attitude, and existence in real life. Lets take, for example, old lady Alen Beling, who represents the ancient spirit of her people’s homeland, and compare her with many of the old Filipino people who have seen the troubles that most young people at first don’t see. How can anyone like her NOT exist? These old people should already know how shameful it is to see their country wasting away by the unguided youth and ill intentioned foreigners. Or another example would be the recorded audio tape from Paz’s mother. What ever the mother was talking about could have happened, happened, or never have happened in this world at all like when she describes how she met Paz’s father. “Purely by accident.” She says (283) How many real life people in the Philippines could say that they did this? So in essence, the way history is in Dream Jungle is cultural, personal, and ethnical subjectivism.
Jessica Hagedorn fully integrates actual history with her fiction and story telling in such a way that it’s a blend of truth, untruth, and the unknown. The possibility that even such a person, place, or thing that existed can go along so well when it is indeed fiction alongside history, is the concept of her novel, Dream Jungle. One can only dream and fantasize with the idea that such and such exists and it may not even be possible, yet it could have happened. Think of it as an equation, where the history is the formula and the variables are humans, young and old. If you replace the setting or its pieces, the history will still be the same on the account that you don’t know IF it would ever not happen. The author does just that and presents to us a story heavily based on recorded evidence and the idea of indistinguishable real life drama scenarios.
Hagedorn, Jessica. Dream Jungle. New York: Penguin. 2003
ICS 24
Marilyn
12/3/09
The History Dream
Churchill once said. “History is written by the victors.” This holds true since the conqueror can gloat and glorify all he wants and show the world in his image. The concept of history in Dream Jungle is an interesting one, in which reality and fiction have been merged together in a way that its almost indistinguishable. Jessica Hagedorn merges the Philippine’s dramatic history and the filming of “Apocalypse Now” with her very own fiction and message. She uses scapegoats, and foils for each character and historical contexts to make specific references to each event as it has happened, could have happened, and never happened because history is bound to repeat itself.
The first of a few references Hagedorn makes is the idea or history of “discovery and conquest” in the Philippines. In fact, it is what the first part of her novel is called. The Philippines have been conquered and occupied by foreign invaders many times before. The Filipino people and their resources have been raped, used, and wasted time over time again and again. A good example would be the Spaniards, who have sailed by and conquered the people under their rule in the process centuries ago. Hagedorn included several excerpts from “Primo Viaggio Intorno Al Mundo” by Antonio Pigagetta, who was the travel log recorder of Captain Magellan’s expedition around the world, and she included her own fictional character, a rich Spaniard aptly named Zamora de Legazpi. Zomora de Legazpi represents a parallel foil to the wealthy Spaniards, specifically Captain Magellan and many other conquistadores, who “discovered” a group of natives, “taught” them a lesson, “took” their woman and goods, and thus “conquering” the indigenous people. There have been many references to this from the excerpt of Antonio Pigagetta when he was observing the natives such as “…and those boats resemble the dolphins which leap in the water from wave to wave. Those Ladroni (i.e., robbers) thought, according to the signs which they made, that there were no other people in the world but themselves.”(4) Or when they were in shock and awe, experiencing defeat at the lost of their beloved Captain:
One of them wounded him on the left leg with a large cutlass, which resembles a scimitar, only being larger. That caused the captain to fall face downward, when immediately they rushed upon him with iron and bamboo spears and with their cutlasses until they killed our mirror, our life, our comfort, and our true guide. (106)
Ironic isn’t it? How they referred to their captain as if something great and holy, but he, the captain, along with everyone else, just wanted gold and conquest in the name of God.
Zamora, however, is pretty much the same especially when he bosses around his servants and taking advantage with the young girls like when he was naked and lecturing in front of Rizalina. “Enough about dreams. You’d better go, little girl. Or else your mother will think poorly of me…I’ve lived up to my promise, haven’t I?...You can stop trembling now. The lesson is over.”(49) Or when Zamora is flirty, eager to have sex with many mistresses outside of his marriage such as Celia, his baby caretaker, who just had an abortion because of him. Poor little girls, you can imagine how scared they were and how much of their innocence was lost. And then there is Bodabil, a small Taobo boy Zamora found deep within the uninhabited Philippine mountain regions. This is a reference to the Talibo scam back in the day with the President and false relief fund “PIMPF” in order to gain easy money. But the point is that Zamora claimed that he discovered these indigenous people and that he will save these people from their Stone Age ways for “ who knows what’s sake”. It ended in a terrible way more or less like Captain Magellan and his men, he was soon questioned with the validity of his relief effort, losing his family, losing Rizalina, and slowly dying away, losing his significance.
Zomora’s thirst for lust and dominance is like that of the foreign conquistadores centuries ago whose justification for conquering may be nothing short of “colonialism”, a term mentioned by Ann-Lesley. Legazipi also has an interesting foil of himself, the sadistic Mayor Fritz Magbantay. Hagedorn has created the sadistic Mayor Fritz to show how devious man can be as he lectures in front of his innocent victims (just like how the invaders and Zamora did) right before he does something shameful to them. Nap, Fritz’s driver, thought of this as he witnessed Fritz lecturing to Lina inside the car later on in part two of the book: “What’s the deal with her anyway? She was just a teenage girl, slightly prettier than most, but so what?” (257)
Another reference to history would be the filming of “Napalm Sunset”—the second part of the book—which is actually the filming of “Apocalypse Now” by Francis Coppola. Hagedorn replaces Coppola with Tony Pierce, and Cowboy with Vincent Moody, and many others while keeping authenticity of the hot difficult situation of foreign Americans filming and interacting with the natives in the Philippines. History, again, repeats itself here even though it features different actors and a new scenario. Pierce, Moody, and Fritz are shown how they naturally interact with and exploit the natives. Moody acts like a father to Lina and gets with her after meeting her at a strip club. Pierce hires cheap labor for his production, bossing around everyone alike and disrespectfully considers the surrounding land to be “a venture far too deep into the heart, where savages rule and civilization does not exist” or what ever Marshall was telling us how the director perceived the Philippine land to be—possibly a meaningless toy by the end of the movie. And then you have Fritz, who just wants to sell out his land’s resources to the American actors, and many other dirty businesses. His lusting efforts with Lina mentioned earlier were stopped because of Aling Belen, the protective old lady that watches over the foreigners with condemning eyes. From the book, how she acts is like an ancient spirit and pride of the Philippine homeland, watching over the land, agonized at the sight of the looting and raping of its people and earth.
Now, here comes the validity of history of Dream Jungle. It is true that Janet Pierce did a documentary of the movie and that the actors were partying and screwing around. The Spaniards did have done a lot of things towards the people and so have many other foreigners that come and go. Its also true that there was corruption (even today) with the high ranking officials selling out their people with the Talibo scam, prostitution, outsiders, and many more.
So what is false? The only false things here—but not limited to-- are the story of Zamora and his so called tribes, the diaries, documents and testimonies, the reporter Paz, and especially the old lady Alen Beling. But even if it is false, Jessica Hagedorn creates such fictional characters that to even dismiss it as false, would be dismissing the possibility of ever having such a type of person, attitude, and existence in real life. Lets take, for example, old lady Alen Beling, who represents the ancient spirit of her people’s homeland, and compare her with many of the old Filipino people who have seen the troubles that most young people at first don’t see. How can anyone like her NOT exist? These old people should already know how shameful it is to see their country wasting away by the unguided youth and ill intentioned foreigners. Or another example would be the recorded audio tape from Paz’s mother. What ever the mother was talking about could have happened, happened, or never have happened in this world at all like when she describes how she met Paz’s father. “Purely by accident.” She says (283) How many real life people in the Philippines could say that they did this? So in essence, the way history is in Dream Jungle is cultural, personal, and ethnical subjectivism.
Jessica Hagedorn fully integrates actual history with her fiction and story telling in such a way that it’s a blend of truth, untruth, and the unknown. The possibility that even such a person, place, or thing that existed can go along so well when it is indeed fiction alongside history, is the concept of her novel, Dream Jungle. One can only dream and fantasize with the idea that such and such exists and it may not even be possible, yet it could have happened. Think of it as an equation, where the history is the formula and the variables are humans, young and old. If you replace the setting or its pieces, the history will still be the same on the account that you don’t know IF it would ever not happen. The author does just that and presents to us a story heavily based on recorded evidence and the idea of indistinguishable real life drama scenarios.
Hagedorn, Jessica. Dream Jungle. New York: Penguin. 2003
The History Dream D1
Kevin Nguyen
ICS 24
Marilyn
12/3/09
The History Dream
Churchill once said. “History is written by the victors.” This holds true since the conqueror can gloat and glorify all he wants and show the world in his image. The concept of history in Dream Jungle is an interesting one, in which reality and fiction have been merged together in a way that its almost indistinguishable. Jessica Hagedorn merges the Philippine’s dramatic history and the filming of “Apocalypse Now” with her very own fiction and message. She uses scapegoats, and foils for each character and event involved and make specific references to each event as it has happened, could have happened, and never happened.
The first of a few references Hagedorn makes is the idea of “discovery and conquest”. In fact, it is what the first part of her novel is called. There seems to be some notion that goes unnoticed until its too late, the idea that the Filipino people and their resources have been raped, used, and wasted time over time again and again. A good example would be the Spaniards, who have sailed by and conquered the people under their rule in the process centuries ago. Hagedorn included several excerpts from “Primo Viaggio Intorno Al Mundo” by Antonio Pigagetta, who was the travel log recorder of Captain Magellan’s expedition around the world, and she included a rich Spaniard aptly named Zamora de Legazpi. Zomora de Legazpi represents a parallel foil to the wealthy Spaniards, specifically Captain Magellan and many other conquistadores, who “discovered” a group of natives, “taught” them a lesson, “took” their woman and goods, and thus “conquering” the
ICS 24
Marilyn
12/3/09
The History Dream
Churchill once said. “History is written by the victors.” This holds true since the conqueror can gloat and glorify all he wants and show the world in his image. The concept of history in Dream Jungle is an interesting one, in which reality and fiction have been merged together in a way that its almost indistinguishable. Jessica Hagedorn merges the Philippine’s dramatic history and the filming of “Apocalypse Now” with her very own fiction and message. She uses scapegoats, and foils for each character and event involved and make specific references to each event as it has happened, could have happened, and never happened.
The first of a few references Hagedorn makes is the idea of “discovery and conquest”. In fact, it is what the first part of her novel is called. There seems to be some notion that goes unnoticed until its too late, the idea that the Filipino people and their resources have been raped, used, and wasted time over time again and again. A good example would be the Spaniards, who have sailed by and conquered the people under their rule in the process centuries ago. Hagedorn included several excerpts from “Primo Viaggio Intorno Al Mundo” by Antonio Pigagetta, who was the travel log recorder of Captain Magellan’s expedition around the world, and she included a rich Spaniard aptly named Zamora de Legazpi. Zomora de Legazpi represents a parallel foil to the wealthy Spaniards, specifically Captain Magellan and many other conquistadores, who “discovered” a group of natives, “taught” them a lesson, “took” their woman and goods, and thus “conquering” the
Sunday, November 22, 2009
blah
frankly i prefer if marilyn showed Apocalypse now and then that Documentary so ppl can get it since the book based itself off of those two movies
Monday, November 16, 2009
Peer Analysis Final
Kevin Nguyen
Marshall/Marilyn
ICS 24
11.11.09
Analysis of Joe-Vincent
Joe-Vincent Estioko made two very fine spoken word pieces: “Sleep to Dream” and Thank You Mom and Dad”. But he chose “Sleep to Dream” as the main one to present with. It is about his feelings and thoughts of Heaven, like how it is to him: “a world of peace” or “where you don’t have to worry about being brutally attacked.” He tried to have emotion and vehemence in his work just as much as Alvin Lau did with his “Asian-American, Where Have You Gone?” In fact, it was this artist that motivated Joe to start his own spoken word in the first place.
The project for him wasn’t too difficult, if not, a discovery. The only problem was figuring out what to write about and memorizing it. Then, the creative piece came to him in an unusual way, “I had no idea what my topic was going to be but one night before I fell asleep, different thoughts were rushing in and out of my brain. Then it hit me; why not talk about a dream.”—and so he did. He basically got it all down within one day; his rhymes, his rhythm, his imagery, his tempo, and his tone were all in the spoken word. An example of his rhyme and rhythm tempo would be when (in his work) he said, “… if your friends have your back, you don’t have to worry about being brutally attacked…” and “…where theres no reason to hurt and no feeling of pain, where friendships are forever and love eternally remains…” Amazing flow isn’t there? But when I asked him what did he wanted to improve on if he had the time, he replied “I wanted to include some alliterations.” and also to “practice more on the movements on the lines.”
His project was pretty good when he first presented it to me and the whole class. His tone was soft, low, and calm—possibly due to his shyness—enough for all of us to hear. Indeed, the beat, rhyme, imagery, tempo, and tone were there, but there was something else, something inside his soul, within the calm tone, there was heart—his heart. Actually, everyone who made a spoken word piece (or any creative project for that matter) included their heart into it, trying to tell us something about something. For instance, Marshall’s spoken word piece about the Asian penis and how everyone kept shunning it away, even from pornography, and treating it differently, was basically a rant-- a rant from deep within Marshall’s soul and belief towards the white world.
I’ve learned quite a lot about social and personal experiences from doing my project and analyzing Joe’s creative project such as how people are not much different from you and that they struggle in the same way as you do. Others’ opinions may be relative for they are another view at the subjective matter at hand. Given the same task, usually there is something that is held in common when many are heading to obtain it. Although he did superb, I believe that Joe-Vincent Estioko’s project was very well made despite some minor mistakes or so he claims. Everyone’s experience may be different but in the end, we all went through something right?
Marshall/Marilyn
ICS 24
11.11.09
Analysis of Joe-Vincent
Joe-Vincent Estioko made two very fine spoken word pieces: “Sleep to Dream” and Thank You Mom and Dad”. But he chose “Sleep to Dream” as the main one to present with. It is about his feelings and thoughts of Heaven, like how it is to him: “a world of peace” or “where you don’t have to worry about being brutally attacked.” He tried to have emotion and vehemence in his work just as much as Alvin Lau did with his “Asian-American, Where Have You Gone?” In fact, it was this artist that motivated Joe to start his own spoken word in the first place.
The project for him wasn’t too difficult, if not, a discovery. The only problem was figuring out what to write about and memorizing it. Then, the creative piece came to him in an unusual way, “I had no idea what my topic was going to be but one night before I fell asleep, different thoughts were rushing in and out of my brain. Then it hit me; why not talk about a dream.”—and so he did. He basically got it all down within one day; his rhymes, his rhythm, his imagery, his tempo, and his tone were all in the spoken word. An example of his rhyme and rhythm tempo would be when (in his work) he said, “… if your friends have your back, you don’t have to worry about being brutally attacked…” and “…where theres no reason to hurt and no feeling of pain, where friendships are forever and love eternally remains…” Amazing flow isn’t there? But when I asked him what did he wanted to improve on if he had the time, he replied “I wanted to include some alliterations.” and also to “practice more on the movements on the lines.”
His project was pretty good when he first presented it to me and the whole class. His tone was soft, low, and calm—possibly due to his shyness—enough for all of us to hear. Indeed, the beat, rhyme, imagery, tempo, and tone were there, but there was something else, something inside his soul, within the calm tone, there was heart—his heart. Actually, everyone who made a spoken word piece (or any creative project for that matter) included their heart into it, trying to tell us something about something. For instance, Marshall’s spoken word piece about the Asian penis and how everyone kept shunning it away, even from pornography, and treating it differently, was basically a rant-- a rant from deep within Marshall’s soul and belief towards the white world.
I’ve learned quite a lot about social and personal experiences from doing my project and analyzing Joe’s creative project such as how people are not much different from you and that they struggle in the same way as you do. Others’ opinions may be relative for they are another view at the subjective matter at hand. Given the same task, usually there is something that is held in common when many are heading to obtain it. Although he did superb, I believe that Joe-Vincent Estioko’s project was very well made despite some minor mistakes or so he claims. Everyone’s experience may be different but in the end, we all went through something right?
8====D~
Okay, What the Fuh...
Im gettin tired of this.....emasculinity and penis talkin..cause..I know that whoever tames the penis..tames the beast..and vice versa.
Today, I just realize Marshall is a complete perv'...I mean..yes, hes Japanese..but really..he seems to derive some sort of excitement and pleasure out of this. Perhaps it has something predominately to do with the lesson and also his biased belief/rant towards the white world. There seems to be a behind the scenes kind of thing about penis's, insecurity, jealousy, and superior dominance going on and Marshall is still fighting all that nonsense-- for one, I am an Existentialist-Realist so you can say it doesnt really matter to me-- just like them old people back then joking and waving around thier dicks and clits.
Clits you say? Well some women have bigger clits than others and does that make them any less hornier? (thats a different topic, I think) But the point here is..the dragon ladys, the female police enforcers and drill sargeants and dominatrixes...what makes them..soo..full of..balls...of steel? No, OVARIES of steel.
Again, all it takes is some female--err feminine i should say--seduction and a way to pleasure the penis and you got yourself some hay rolling and dominance..feh..
Im gettin tired of this.....emasculinity and penis talkin..cause..I know that whoever tames the penis..tames the beast..and vice versa.
Today, I just realize Marshall is a complete perv'...I mean..yes, hes Japanese..but really..he seems to derive some sort of excitement and pleasure out of this. Perhaps it has something predominately to do with the lesson and also his biased belief/rant towards the white world. There seems to be a behind the scenes kind of thing about penis's, insecurity, jealousy, and superior dominance going on and Marshall is still fighting all that nonsense-- for one, I am an Existentialist-Realist so you can say it doesnt really matter to me-- just like them old people back then joking and waving around thier dicks and clits.
Clits you say? Well some women have bigger clits than others and does that make them any less hornier? (thats a different topic, I think) But the point here is..the dragon ladys, the female police enforcers and drill sargeants and dominatrixes...what makes them..soo..full of..balls...of steel? No, OVARIES of steel.
Again, all it takes is some female--err feminine i should say--seduction and a way to pleasure the penis and you got yourself some hay rolling and dominance..feh..
A 3rd Opinion...Marshall has some issues alright...i mean he did also a rant spoken word about his penis and his belief and yeah.
And also..today..there was fan service... Patrick and Shane's intimate act and showing how to pick each other up for sex and what not. I dont like this....not cool you know? Mic was smart..showed the ring..but some guys are just..stubborn...and also poor julie...tryin to pick up justin... but either way...there was this..fan service or some kind of stimulant/horniness/excitedness coming from teh girls as I observe them watching..especially Uyen--she was smiling and all excited and Julie..she was just shy but underneath it all..yeah...in fact...all of us...underneath it all...what is there but uncivilized manners? Theres just..something wrong with teh class lately...
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The American Dream..(Asian Style)
Who says Asians cant be downright gangster in search of thier own "The American Dream"?
(It's a Pun--a joke-- btw)
But also this Anime is awesome cause it features a main character who is a Chinese student/contractor in his twenties and how he handles his current and past problems. Darker Than Black is one of my favorite animes because of its plot line, action, animation, humor, and past-time music.
(It's a Pun--a joke-- btw)But also this Anime is awesome cause it features a main character who is a Chinese student/contractor in his twenties and how he handles his current and past problems. Darker Than Black is one of my favorite animes because of its plot line, action, animation, humor, and past-time music.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Another Interesting Find..
This too, also was found at the end of "The Three Anorexic Sumo Wrestlers".
"Take a look at China. They've got 1.2 billion people. Someone over there is doing some serious fucking!" (pardon the language)
Again, it has the same mindset as what I was talkin about. For instance, a family has 8 kids..who in the right mind would think that they had a busy time? (well actually maybe) BUT the point is, that it is sick, even if they had ONE child or NO child at all and living in the same household.. Some would say they have sex all the time..well woop-di-dooh! I applaud at how detail and thorough you are but really, is that necessary?
Anyway, whoever thinks like that must mean that they are looking down on girls and guys alike (maybe more against girls though). And I dont like that. No respect you know?
"Take a look at China. They've got 1.2 billion people. Someone over there is doing some serious fucking!" (pardon the language)
Again, it has the same mindset as what I was talkin about. For instance, a family has 8 kids..who in the right mind would think that they had a busy time? (well actually maybe) BUT the point is, that it is sick, even if they had ONE child or NO child at all and living in the same household.. Some would say they have sex all the time..well woop-di-dooh! I applaud at how detail and thorough you are but really, is that necessary?
Anyway, whoever thinks like that must mean that they are looking down on girls and guys alike (maybe more against girls though). And I dont like that. No respect you know?
Big Dicks, Asian Men
This is a pretty interesting story so far. There always seem to be about one or three Asian men involved in different plots and they talk about different things about the western culture and themselves.
But what caught my attention was near at the end of the "Three Anorexic Sumo Wrestlers".
A Tourist Said,"...You know earlier at the toilette? Those guys takin the money, one of them said,'I wonder if shes's fucking him?'..."
This just makes me feel bad on the outlook of humankind and relationships..I mean, only players and the such think this way. I mean, what do you really see when you look at a couple? cute? lovey dovey? beautiful soulmates? or do you see them as fuck buddies--shes only gonna fuck him and hes prolly likin it--and the such(again).
But what caught my attention was near at the end of the "Three Anorexic Sumo Wrestlers".
A Tourist Said,"...You know earlier at the toilette? Those guys takin the money, one of them said,'I wonder if shes's fucking him?'..."
This just makes me feel bad on the outlook of humankind and relationships..I mean, only players and the such think this way. I mean, what do you really see when you look at a couple? cute? lovey dovey? beautiful soulmates? or do you see them as fuck buddies--shes only gonna fuck him and hes prolly likin it--and the such(again).
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Safe Space
Aha! something else to write about!
I read this...script(?) of the play "Safe Space" and well it was quite interesting.
All of these characters are very well made.
Vikram seems to be the annoying one with so called "good intentions" to unite all Gay Youths. His character is really flawed as the womans.
The woman there seem pretty deep and understanding to me, but they are still ignorant.
There were..a little boy.."Raj"..and it was disturbing how they love picking on him. Raj prolly looks like a cutesy boy or something. And good grief, hes alreaday selling his body!
And then there was this white guy (Gilbert) who was born in India. He was shunned by Vikram, poor him, this just goes to show racism and good intentions dont ridiculously mix well.
I read this...script(?) of the play "Safe Space" and well it was quite interesting.
All of these characters are very well made.
Vikram seems to be the annoying one with so called "good intentions" to unite all Gay Youths. His character is really flawed as the womans.
The woman there seem pretty deep and understanding to me, but they are still ignorant.
There were..a little boy.."Raj"..and it was disturbing how they love picking on him. Raj prolly looks like a cutesy boy or something. And good grief, hes alreaday selling his body!
And then there was this white guy (Gilbert) who was born in India. He was shunned by Vikram, poor him, this just goes to show racism and good intentions dont ridiculously mix well.
Who Says Asians Can't Kick Ass?
I mean, think about it with this VIDEO
AND THIS
You know how the Asian stereotyping of small dicks and what not ( oh gawd, im soo friggin tired of this emasculinity towards Asians) WELL FSCK IT!!
We are strong, smart, and cunning. Deception is our main weapon, just like how Song played as a woman.
The creators of this game are Japanese and theyve done some amazing engineering and shit --gosh im lazy to type write now-- that everyone now enjoys :P
As you can see, Ryu, the main super-ninja character, is very buff and athletic. He mastered the techniques of his Ancient Dragon Clan and has a duty to fulfill: Save the World. He also scored a sexy blonde partner along the way.
Dont get me started with Asian and Asian-American movie stars and real life martial artists..such as Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Jet Li
AND THIS
You know how the Asian stereotyping of small dicks and what not ( oh gawd, im soo friggin tired of this emasculinity towards Asians) WELL FSCK IT!!
We are strong, smart, and cunning. Deception is our main weapon, just like how Song played as a woman.
The creators of this game are Japanese and theyve done some amazing engineering and shit --gosh im lazy to type write now-- that everyone now enjoys :P
As you can see, Ryu, the main super-ninja character, is very buff and athletic. He mastered the techniques of his Ancient Dragon Clan and has a duty to fulfill: Save the World. He also scored a sexy blonde partner along the way.
Dont get me started with Asian and Asian-American movie stars and real life martial artists..such as Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Jet Li
ATC 103
Today, we are blogging and trying to get the drafts shown to Marilyn. (btw i sent her an email the last night about interesting things)
What were we spose to blog about agian?
oh right, try decorate and make it more spicy with some images, videos, and whatnots. I assume things should be somewhat relative to class..but oh well.
In fact, I've done that already with Thogger; posting pics, videos, and whatnot.
What were we spose to blog about agian?
oh right, try decorate and make it more spicy with some images, videos, and whatnots. I assume things should be somewhat relative to class..but oh well.
In fact, I've done that already with Thogger; posting pics, videos, and whatnot.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
PeerAnalysis 1st draft
Kevin Nguyen
Marshall/Marilyn
ICS 24
11.11.09
Analysis of Joe-Vincent
Joe-Vincent Estioko made a spoken word piece, well actually two pieces, “Sleep to Dream” and Thank You Mom and Dad”. But he used chose “Sleep to Dream” as the main one to present with. It is about his feelings and thoughts of Heaven, like how it is (to him): “a world of peace” or “where you don’t have to worry about being brutally attacked.” He tried to have emotion in his work just as much as Alvin Lau did with his “Asian-American, Where Have You Gone?” In fact, it was this artist that motivated Joe to start his own spoken word in the first place.
The project for him wasn’t too difficult, if not, a discovery. The only problem was figuring out what to write about and memorizing it. Then the creative piece came to him in an unusual way, “I had no idea what my topic was going to be but one night before I fell asleep, different thoughts were rushing in and out of my brain. Then it hit me; why not talk about a dream.” He basically got it all down within one day. He got some rhymes, rhythm, imagery, tempo, and tone in his spoken word. But when I asked him what did he wanted to improve on if he had the time, he replied “I wanted to include some alliterations.” and also to “practice more on the movements on the lines.”
His project was pretty good when he first presented it to me and the whole class. His tone was soft, low, and calm—possibly due to his shyness—enough for all of us to hear. Indeed, the beat, rhyme, imagery, tempo, and tone were there, but there was something else, something inside his soul, within the calm tone, there was heart—his heart.
I learned
Marshall/Marilyn
ICS 24
11.11.09
Analysis of Joe-Vincent
Joe-Vincent Estioko made a spoken word piece, well actually two pieces, “Sleep to Dream” and Thank You Mom and Dad”. But he used chose “Sleep to Dream” as the main one to present with. It is about his feelings and thoughts of Heaven, like how it is (to him): “a world of peace” or “where you don’t have to worry about being brutally attacked.” He tried to have emotion in his work just as much as Alvin Lau did with his “Asian-American, Where Have You Gone?” In fact, it was this artist that motivated Joe to start his own spoken word in the first place.
The project for him wasn’t too difficult, if not, a discovery. The only problem was figuring out what to write about and memorizing it. Then the creative piece came to him in an unusual way, “I had no idea what my topic was going to be but one night before I fell asleep, different thoughts were rushing in and out of my brain. Then it hit me; why not talk about a dream.” He basically got it all down within one day. He got some rhymes, rhythm, imagery, tempo, and tone in his spoken word. But when I asked him what did he wanted to improve on if he had the time, he replied “I wanted to include some alliterations.” and also to “practice more on the movements on the lines.”
His project was pretty good when he first presented it to me and the whole class. His tone was soft, low, and calm—possibly due to his shyness—enough for all of us to hear. Indeed, the beat, rhyme, imagery, tempo, and tone were there, but there was something else, something inside his soul, within the calm tone, there was heart—his heart.
I learned
Today the 11th
ugh..soo I'm startin to get tired of all these acting, seriously. Its soo wrong..tryin to get into the mindset of a female...but its good for psychology and deductive reason and all that.
We did several more plays and I realize...how can this man--this Song-- be a woman for 20 years and all of a sudden show his true self before the Court? Its pretty interesting..he wants to prove the white men--the vast west-- wrong. Asians ain't no bitches..we seem that way but no, we are just humble..and so Gallimard played right into Song's trap...
We did several more plays and I realize...how can this man--this Song-- be a woman for 20 years and all of a sudden show his true self before the Court? Its pretty interesting..he wants to prove the white men--the vast west-- wrong. Asians ain't no bitches..we seem that way but no, we are just humble..and so Gallimard played right into Song's trap...
Today the 10th
We acted each of our own parts and man..Xang was a crazy mofo. He was very...affectionaly touching me (acting only I hope) meanwhile Yong went into complete Homophob.
We wrote stuff on the board and our scene was Act 3 Scene 2 Ending and Scene 3 All.
Then later some people got to present, and well, those who didnt will have to do it some other time. :/
We wrote stuff on the board and our scene was Act 3 Scene 2 Ending and Scene 3 All.
Then later some people got to present, and well, those who didnt will have to do it some other time. :/
Monday, November 9, 2009
He's a Man, Man..
I just finished reading M. Butterfly and man...to quote Austin Powers, "That ain't no woman! It's a man, man! ..." Hes a man the whole time!
I didnt realize it in the beginning, until everything just came during Act 2. (I find it funny how it aroused some ppl at first btw)
But yeah, in the end, that man--Song-- is a foil to what DHW intended, to cruelly repulse the notion of the East and the West and to reverse and perverse what it all stands for in such a wrong way.
Funny, how all it took was some make up and a way to pleasure a penis.
I didnt realize it in the beginning, until everything just came during Act 2. (I find it funny how it aroused some ppl at first btw)
But yeah, in the end, that man--Song-- is a foil to what DHW intended, to cruelly repulse the notion of the East and the West and to reverse and perverse what it all stands for in such a wrong way.
Funny, how all it took was some make up and a way to pleasure a penis.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Joe-Vincent Estiko Project Interview
How you felt when you presented your creative project?
-nevous. dont like public speaking. shy desu.
If you had more time/resources, what would be made better about your project? How?
-made the spoken word longer. practiced more on movements for lines.
What is the most difficult part of your project?
- memorizin the lines and figuring out when to do your movement/forms for the spoken word.
What have others commented about on your project?
-no one really. Marshall's fault -_-.
Have you shown this project to anyone in your family?
-yes, to my cousin and gf.
Why did you chose to do this type of project?
-b.c i was inspired by ALvin Lieu and the class. not good at drawing or filming. spken word is more comfortable(writing not presenting)
How long did it took you?
-a long time since topic was not there. incomplete for weeks. boom. weeks, on and off tho, 10 minutes. thoughts came toegher
Would you like this rpoject to be published?
-yes. this class helped me inspire to do my own artistic work and it will be giving back to the point of thisclass which is asian american literature.
What did you dress?
-Filipino undershirt that can be used for sleeping as well. Basketball shorts too.
What is the easiest part of your project?
-just writing the spoken word. when the thots came, it was just flowing our of the hand.
Did anyone got in your way?
-me
Did anything got in your way?
-procrastination
What form did you wanted for the spoken word?
-i had mostly rhymes and rhythm and temp and alil bit of imagery and tone. wanted to have alliteration.
What movement did you wanted to emphasize?
-emphasized on the fly. whatever i felt like that time.
-nevous. dont like public speaking. shy desu.
If you had more time/resources, what would be made better about your project? How?
-made the spoken word longer. practiced more on movements for lines.
What is the most difficult part of your project?
- memorizin the lines and figuring out when to do your movement/forms for the spoken word.
What have others commented about on your project?
-no one really. Marshall's fault -_-.
Have you shown this project to anyone in your family?
-yes, to my cousin and gf.
Why did you chose to do this type of project?
-b.c i was inspired by ALvin Lieu and the class. not good at drawing or filming. spken word is more comfortable(writing not presenting)
How long did it took you?
-a long time since topic was not there. incomplete for weeks. boom. weeks, on and off tho, 10 minutes. thoughts came toegher
Would you like this rpoject to be published?
-yes. this class helped me inspire to do my own artistic work and it will be giving back to the point of thisclass which is asian american literature.
What did you dress?
-Filipino undershirt that can be used for sleeping as well. Basketball shorts too.
What is the easiest part of your project?
-just writing the spoken word. when the thots came, it was just flowing our of the hand.
Did anyone got in your way?
-me
Did anything got in your way?
-procrastination
What form did you wanted for the spoken word?
-i had mostly rhymes and rhythm and temp and alil bit of imagery and tone. wanted to have alliteration.
What movement did you wanted to emphasize?
-emphasized on the fly. whatever i felt like that time.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
M. Butterfly log 1
As I started reading the first few scenes, I am amazed that Rene Gillamard's character/role is of the comedian--the joker-- or so I think. But actually, as of now it seems like hes just a man that thinks hes got it all. His fame is only his ridicule by the public. He is living his life out just like the Madame Butterfly play and he is applying it to everything in his life. Obsessive, he is.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Analyze Paper Creative Project
Kevin Nguyen
Marshal/Marilyn
ICA 24
10/31/09
Assess the Physical
In the beginning I had a lot of ideas and questions for this project. What could it be? What should it be? What can I do? Would it be like this? And so on. I wanted to do something with comedy—something like Stephen Colbert, or maybe something philosophical and impactful. But in fact I really haven’t thought about anything much since I had too many ideas.
I started writing down storyboards, scripts, back up plans, and ideas just to un-clutter my head. That helped slightly, except, that it led to several failed brain childs. I tried to include what we’ve been learning in class like the rule of thirds, good audio, and flash clips. At first, I initially partnered up with Uyen and attempted to make a stop motion film, but, alas, the lack of resources held me back (not to mention that Uyen was too busy herself). The story was supposed to be about minorities, but it failed.
Then I started to go solo, thinking up of a better content and a way to film. I was thinking of making a philosophical statement about the Farce of Life and how we don’t realize the broader picture. But then, I realize I had not enough time and so I dropped this to make a manga instead. It is far much easier and less time consuming since I can have full control of everything that is going to be shown. The story is a short one that pertains to my recent experiences at a government physical exam.
The difficulties I bumped into during the project were mostly the editing, the content, the story, the acting, and time. In order to do the video, everything must be placed correctly at the right place and so must be the audio. I didn’t really know how to portray it because I don’t have expert film cinematography—not to mention a staff or the resources. And then there’s the script, I wasn’t able to finish that along with any of the films because of time and lack of ideas. I was busy with midterms and had no idea how to implement my creativity. But the solution was the manga which I can control and envision it better than it would be film since it is much like storyboards.
After all this was over, I felt relieved. I don’t have to worry about the final for ICS 24 anymore but just the remaining work and my midterms and projects for the other classes. The project has taught me a great deal. I am too vast on ideas that I need a focus and not to mention a good use of time. And also I need to plan better at directing story arcs, plot, and script.
Marshal/Marilyn
ICA 24
10/31/09
Assess the Physical
In the beginning I had a lot of ideas and questions for this project. What could it be? What should it be? What can I do? Would it be like this? And so on. I wanted to do something with comedy—something like Stephen Colbert, or maybe something philosophical and impactful. But in fact I really haven’t thought about anything much since I had too many ideas.
I started writing down storyboards, scripts, back up plans, and ideas just to un-clutter my head. That helped slightly, except, that it led to several failed brain childs. I tried to include what we’ve been learning in class like the rule of thirds, good audio, and flash clips. At first, I initially partnered up with Uyen and attempted to make a stop motion film, but, alas, the lack of resources held me back (not to mention that Uyen was too busy herself). The story was supposed to be about minorities, but it failed.
Then I started to go solo, thinking up of a better content and a way to film. I was thinking of making a philosophical statement about the Farce of Life and how we don’t realize the broader picture. But then, I realize I had not enough time and so I dropped this to make a manga instead. It is far much easier and less time consuming since I can have full control of everything that is going to be shown. The story is a short one that pertains to my recent experiences at a government physical exam.
The difficulties I bumped into during the project were mostly the editing, the content, the story, the acting, and time. In order to do the video, everything must be placed correctly at the right place and so must be the audio. I didn’t really know how to portray it because I don’t have expert film cinematography—not to mention a staff or the resources. And then there’s the script, I wasn’t able to finish that along with any of the films because of time and lack of ideas. I was busy with midterms and had no idea how to implement my creativity. But the solution was the manga which I can control and envision it better than it would be film since it is much like storyboards.
After all this was over, I felt relieved. I don’t have to worry about the final for ICS 24 anymore but just the remaining work and my midterms and projects for the other classes. The project has taught me a great deal. I am too vast on ideas that I need a focus and not to mention a good use of time. And also I need to plan better at directing story arcs, plot, and script.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Final Midterm Essay--not quite
Kevin Nguyen
ICS 24
Marshal/Marilyn
Midterm
Catfish-Me
Catfish and Mandela, written by Andrew X. Pham, is considered a master piece by Marshall; either that or he was exaggerating. The book definitely does have a unique form of hyphenation as it is used in every chapter title that the book has and it also is discreetly used as a link between chapters. The ways hyphenations are used in Catfish and Mandela are abstract meanings tied together by a thread such as Alley-World, Jade-Giant, Chi-Minh, and Blue-Peace. Their meanings could be anything to anyone person. Marshall told us that even though they may non sequitur, there will still be some kind of meaning derived from it, hence, abstract.
The first hyphenation from the chapters is Alley-World. Both of the words in the hyphenation are quite significant in that it describes a little part of Pham’s childhood. This was when he had to stay alone at home and all he had was an opening which he could talk through to the next door girl on the other side of the back street. They talked about mundane stuff because it was the entire world to them during that point. [P](96). If any one word from the hyphenation were to be missing, the meaning would change and the significance of Pham’s childhood would be null. For instance, the alley is one of the things that separate Pham from the girl next door and that the whole area—alley included---was his world until they have to move back home again.
Another use of hyphenation would be the chapter “Jade-Giant”. Andrew Pham used this to describe a gentle giant man who he had met while staying on an Indonesian compound. The man’s name was Wong, a jade cutter, which Mr. Ling described as “..had been there twelve years and every year he sent an appeal to whatever country he thought he belonged to. Every year he was rejected.” [Q](141). This “jade-giant” however, cracked one day and started a rampage, destroying objects using all of his monstrous strength, and finally committing suicide off the roof of the tower compound.[P](142). To Pham, Jade could possibly mean the jade statue figurines and the making of, and Giant could mean the giant of a man who made all those jade for a living. Again, the author’s hyphenation holds some significance.
The next hyphenation is of the chapter “Chi-Minh”. The words are complete opposites of each other as boy and girl; fire and ice. Chi is the name of Andrew’s long lost sister and Minh is the name of Chi, post gender operated. When Andrew used this hyphenation combo it’s as if there’s a conflicting factor of acceptance of who this sibling really is. “What is the proper etiquette for welcoming home a lost son-daughter?” [Q](296).The only answer is that to accept both truths however conflicting they are which can be referred back to the beginning with Andrew’s dedication quote: “To the memory of my sister, Chi, my brother, Minh, one and the same…if only I had learned to see without looking.” [Q](0)
Speaking of truths, the hyphenations themselves seems to show only half of the truth half of the time. Whoever invented hyphens must have known this; since it turns out to be really useful for classification purposes. For instance, “Vietnamese-American”, the phrase which Andrew has solely been trying to figure out, is nothing more than a half-truth. He is Vietnamese but he is also an American, but with that American side to him, he can no longer be considered a “full” Vietnamese; hence the derogatory “Viet-Kieu”. During his journey, Pham has been finding the differences between the viet-kieu and the Vietnamese to which Calvin truthfully explained:
The real damning thing is the fact that there are viet-kieu, our own brothers, skin of our skin, blood of our blood, who look better than us, more civilized, more educated, more wealthy, more genteel. Viet-kieu look kingly next to the average Vietnamese. Look at you, look at me. You’re wearing old jeans and I’m wearing a suit, but it’s obvious who…who is superior. Can’t you see? We look like monkeys because you make us look like monkeys just by your existence. [Q](330)
But also the contradiction to Calvin’s truth by Son is also true. You are who you choose to be.
Son and Calvin were both correct even though they have differing views. Now, if I were to choose a hyphenation for myself I would choose: Existentialist-Realist since it relates to Pham’s chameleon theory. I can be one thing at a moment and then another completely different thing at another time. I can also move in between categories and become a hybrid sort (which is actually a whole new thing) and yet I am my own. I am solely myself, I don’t think of race, culture, or sex orientation. All that matters now is the clashing of morality, religion, individualism, existentialism, and personality. I incorporate all my philosophies and try to relate and apply it to everyday life. Why are we here? Why is there karma? How can we better ourselves? What’s the moral here? Do we even think considerately at all? It doesn’t matter who we are if we are able to change.
ICS 24
Marshal/Marilyn
Midterm
Catfish-Me
Catfish and Mandela, written by Andrew X. Pham, is considered a master piece by Marshall; either that or he was exaggerating. The book definitely does have a unique form of hyphenation as it is used in every chapter title that the book has and it also is discreetly used as a link between chapters. The ways hyphenations are used in Catfish and Mandela are abstract meanings tied together by a thread such as Alley-World, Jade-Giant, Chi-Minh, and Blue-Peace. Their meanings could be anything to anyone person. Marshall told us that even though they may non sequitur, there will still be some kind of meaning derived from it, hence, abstract.
The first hyphenation from the chapters is Alley-World. Both of the words in the hyphenation are quite significant in that it describes a little part of Pham’s childhood. This was when he had to stay alone at home and all he had was an opening which he could talk through to the next door girl on the other side of the back street. They talked about mundane stuff because it was the entire world to them during that point. [P](96). If any one word from the hyphenation were to be missing, the meaning would change and the significance of Pham’s childhood would be null. For instance, the alley is one of the things that separate Pham from the girl next door and that the whole area—alley included---was his world until they have to move back home again.
Another use of hyphenation would be the chapter “Jade-Giant”. Andrew Pham used this to describe a gentle giant man who he had met while staying on an Indonesian compound. The man’s name was Wong, a jade cutter, which Mr. Ling described as “..had been there twelve years and every year he sent an appeal to whatever country he thought he belonged to. Every year he was rejected.” [Q](141). This “jade-giant” however, cracked one day and started a rampage, destroying objects using all of his monstrous strength, and finally committing suicide off the roof of the tower compound.[P](142). To Pham, Jade could possibly mean the jade statue figurines and the making of, and Giant could mean the giant of a man who made all those jade for a living. Again, the author’s hyphenation holds some significance.
The next hyphenation is of the chapter “Chi-Minh”. The words are complete opposites of each other as boy and girl; fire and ice. Chi is the name of Andrew’s long lost sister and Minh is the name of Chi, post gender operated. When Andrew used this hyphenation combo it’s as if there’s a conflicting factor of acceptance of who this sibling really is. “What is the proper etiquette for welcoming home a lost son-daughter?” [Q](296).The only answer is that to accept both truths however conflicting they are which can be referred back to the beginning with Andrew’s dedication quote: “To the memory of my sister, Chi, my brother, Minh, one and the same…if only I had learned to see without looking.” [Q](0)
Speaking of truths, the hyphenations themselves seems to show only half of the truth half of the time. Whoever invented hyphens must have known this; since it turns out to be really useful for classification purposes. For instance, “Vietnamese-American”, the phrase which Andrew has solely been trying to figure out, is nothing more than a half-truth. He is Vietnamese but he is also an American, but with that American side to him, he can no longer be considered a “full” Vietnamese; hence the derogatory “Viet-Kieu”. During his journey, Pham has been finding the differences between the viet-kieu and the Vietnamese to which Calvin truthfully explained:
The real damning thing is the fact that there are viet-kieu, our own brothers, skin of our skin, blood of our blood, who look better than us, more civilized, more educated, more wealthy, more genteel. Viet-kieu look kingly next to the average Vietnamese. Look at you, look at me. You’re wearing old jeans and I’m wearing a suit, but it’s obvious who…who is superior. Can’t you see? We look like monkeys because you make us look like monkeys just by your existence. [Q](330)
But also the contradiction to Calvin’s truth by Son is also true. You are who you choose to be.
Son and Calvin were both correct even though they have differing views. Now, if I were to choose a hyphenation for myself I would choose: Existentialist-Realist since it relates to Pham’s chameleon theory. I can be one thing at a moment and then another completely different thing at another time. I can also move in between categories and become a hybrid sort (which is actually a whole new thing) and yet I am my own. I am solely myself, I don’t think of race, culture, or sex orientation. All that matters now is the clashing of morality, religion, individualism, existentialism, and personality. I incorporate all my philosophies and try to relate and apply it to everyday life. Why are we here? Why is there karma? How can we better ourselves? What’s the moral here? Do we even think considerately at all? It doesn’t matter who we are if we are able to change.
Monday, October 26, 2009
First Draft and half
Kevin Nguyen
ICS 24
Marshal/Marilyn
Midterm
Catfish and Mandela-Analysis
Catfish and Mandela, written by Andrew X. Pham, is considered a master piece by Marshall; either that or he was exaggerating. The book definitely does have a unique form of hyphenation as it is used in every chapter title that the book has and it also is discreetly used as a link between chapters. The ways hyphenations are used in Catfish and Mandela are abstract meanings tied together by a thread such as Alley-World, Jade-Giant, Chi-Minh, and Blue-Peace. Their meanings could be anything to anyone person. Marshall told us that even though they may non sequitur, there will still be some kind of meaning derived from it, hence, abstract.
The first hyphenation from the chapters is Alley-World. Both of the words in the hyphenation are quite significant in that it describes a little part of Pham’s childhood. This was when he had to stay alone at home and all he had was an opening which he could talk through to the next door girl on the other side of the back street. They talked about mundane stuff because it was the entire world to them during that point. [P](96). If any one word from the hyphenation were to be missing, the meaning would change and the significance of Pham’s childhood would be null. For instance, the alley is one of the things that separate Pham from the girl next door and that the whole area—alley included---was his world until they have to move back home again.
Another use of hyphenation would be the chapter “Jade-Giant”. Andrew Pham used this to describe a gentle giant man who he had met while staying on an Indonesian compound. The man’s name was Wong, a jade cutter, which Mr. Ling described as “..had been there twelve years and every year he sent an appeal to whatever country he thought he belonged to. Every year he was rejected.” [Q](141). This “jade-giant” however, cracked one day and started a rampage, destroying objects using all of his monstrous strength, and finally committing suicide off the roof of the tower compound.[P](142). To Pham, Jade could possibly mean the jade statue figurines and the making of, and Giant could mean the giant of a man who made all those jade for a living. Again, the author’s hyphenation holds some significance.
The next hyphenation is of the chapter “Chi-Minh”. The words are complete opposites of each other as boy and girl; fire and ice. Chi is the name of Andrew’s long lost sister and Minh is the name of Chi, post gender operated. When Andrew used this hyphenation combo it’s as if there’s a conflicting factor of acceptance of who this sibling really is. “What is the proper etiquette for welcoming home a lost son-daughter?” [Q](296).The only answer is that to accept both truths however conflicting they are which can be referred back to the beginning with Andrew’s dedication quote: “To the memory of my sister, Chi, my brother, Minh, one and the same…if only I had learned to see without looking.” [Q](0)
Speaking of truths, the hyphenations themselves seems to show only half of the truth half of the time. Whoever invented hyphens must have known this; since it turns out to be really useful for classification purposes. For instance, “Vietnamese-American”, the phrase which Andrew has solely been trying to figure out, is nothing more than a half-truth. He is Vietnamese but he is also an American, but with that American side to him, he can no longer be considered a “full” Vietnamese; hence the derogatory “Viet-Kieu”. During his journey, Pham has been finding the differences between the viet-kieu and the Vietnamese to which Calvin truthfully explained:
The real damning thing is the fact that there are viet-kieu, our own brothers, skin of our skin, blood of our blood, who look better than us, more civilized, more educated, more wealthy, more genteel. Viet-kieu look kingly next to the average Vietnamese. Look at you, look at me. You’re wearing old jeans and I’m wearing a suit, but it’s obvious who…who is superior. Can’t you see? We look like monkeys because you make us look like monkeys just by your existence. [Q](330)
But also the contradiction to Calvin’s truth by Son is also true. You are who you choose to be.
Son and Calvin were both correct even though they have differing views. Now, if I were to choose a hyphenation for myself I would choose: I-Myself. It represents me since I can relate to Pham’s chameleon theory. I can move in between and become another thing and yet I am my own. I am solely myself, I don’t think of race, culture, or skin (which also brings into the idea of existentialism and individualism) and all that matters is now, and preserving things which needs to be cherished.
ICS 24
Marshal/Marilyn
Midterm
Catfish and Mandela-Analysis
Catfish and Mandela, written by Andrew X. Pham, is considered a master piece by Marshall; either that or he was exaggerating. The book definitely does have a unique form of hyphenation as it is used in every chapter title that the book has and it also is discreetly used as a link between chapters. The ways hyphenations are used in Catfish and Mandela are abstract meanings tied together by a thread such as Alley-World, Jade-Giant, Chi-Minh, and Blue-Peace. Their meanings could be anything to anyone person. Marshall told us that even though they may non sequitur, there will still be some kind of meaning derived from it, hence, abstract.
The first hyphenation from the chapters is Alley-World. Both of the words in the hyphenation are quite significant in that it describes a little part of Pham’s childhood. This was when he had to stay alone at home and all he had was an opening which he could talk through to the next door girl on the other side of the back street. They talked about mundane stuff because it was the entire world to them during that point. [P](96). If any one word from the hyphenation were to be missing, the meaning would change and the significance of Pham’s childhood would be null. For instance, the alley is one of the things that separate Pham from the girl next door and that the whole area—alley included---was his world until they have to move back home again.
Another use of hyphenation would be the chapter “Jade-Giant”. Andrew Pham used this to describe a gentle giant man who he had met while staying on an Indonesian compound. The man’s name was Wong, a jade cutter, which Mr. Ling described as “..had been there twelve years and every year he sent an appeal to whatever country he thought he belonged to. Every year he was rejected.” [Q](141). This “jade-giant” however, cracked one day and started a rampage, destroying objects using all of his monstrous strength, and finally committing suicide off the roof of the tower compound.[P](142). To Pham, Jade could possibly mean the jade statue figurines and the making of, and Giant could mean the giant of a man who made all those jade for a living. Again, the author’s hyphenation holds some significance.
The next hyphenation is of the chapter “Chi-Minh”. The words are complete opposites of each other as boy and girl; fire and ice. Chi is the name of Andrew’s long lost sister and Minh is the name of Chi, post gender operated. When Andrew used this hyphenation combo it’s as if there’s a conflicting factor of acceptance of who this sibling really is. “What is the proper etiquette for welcoming home a lost son-daughter?” [Q](296).The only answer is that to accept both truths however conflicting they are which can be referred back to the beginning with Andrew’s dedication quote: “To the memory of my sister, Chi, my brother, Minh, one and the same…if only I had learned to see without looking.” [Q](0)
Speaking of truths, the hyphenations themselves seems to show only half of the truth half of the time. Whoever invented hyphens must have known this; since it turns out to be really useful for classification purposes. For instance, “Vietnamese-American”, the phrase which Andrew has solely been trying to figure out, is nothing more than a half-truth. He is Vietnamese but he is also an American, but with that American side to him, he can no longer be considered a “full” Vietnamese; hence the derogatory “Viet-Kieu”. During his journey, Pham has been finding the differences between the viet-kieu and the Vietnamese to which Calvin truthfully explained:
The real damning thing is the fact that there are viet-kieu, our own brothers, skin of our skin, blood of our blood, who look better than us, more civilized, more educated, more wealthy, more genteel. Viet-kieu look kingly next to the average Vietnamese. Look at you, look at me. You’re wearing old jeans and I’m wearing a suit, but it’s obvious who…who is superior. Can’t you see? We look like monkeys because you make us look like monkeys just by your existence. [Q](330)
But also the contradiction to Calvin’s truth by Son is also true. You are who you choose to be.
Son and Calvin were both correct even though they have differing views. Now, if I were to choose a hyphenation for myself I would choose: I-Myself. It represents me since I can relate to Pham’s chameleon theory. I can move in between and become another thing and yet I am my own. I am solely myself, I don’t think of race, culture, or skin (which also brings into the idea of existentialism and individualism) and all that matters is now, and preserving things which needs to be cherished.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Midterm First Draft
Kevin Nguyen
ICS 24
Marshal/Marilyn
Midterm
Catfish and Mandela-Analysis
Catfish and Mandela, written by Andrew X. Pham, is considered a master piece by Marshall; either that or he was exaggerating. The book definitely does have a unique form of hyphenation as it is used in every chapter title that the book has and it also is discreetly used as a link between chapters. The ways hyphenations are used in Catfish and Mandela are abstract meanings such as Alley-World, Jade-Giant, Chi-Minh, and Blue-Peace. Their meanings could be anything to anyone person. Marshall told us that even though they may non sequitur, there will still be some kind of meaning derived from it, hence, abstract.
The first hyphenation from the chapters is Alley-World. Both of the words in the hyphenation are quite significant in that it describes a little part of Pham’s childhood. This was when he had to stay alone at home and all he had was an opening which he could talk through to the next door girl on the other side of the back street. They talked about mundane stuff because it was the entire world to them during that point. [P](96). And so, if any one word from the hyphenation were to be missing, the meaning would change and the significance of Pham’s childhood would be null. For instance, the alley is one of the things that separate Pham from the girl next door and that the whole area—alley included---was his world until they have to move back home again.
Another use of hyphenation would be the chapter “Jade-Giant”. Andrew Pham used this to describe a gentle giant man who he had met while staying on an Indonesian compound. The man’s name was Wong, a jade cutter, which Mr. Ling described as “..had been there twelve years and every year he sent an appeal to whatever country he thought he belonged to. Every year he was rejected.” [Q](141). This “jade-giant” however, cracked one day and started a rampage, destroying objects using all of his monstrous strength, and committing suicide off the roof of the tower compound. To Pham, Jade could possibly mean the jade statue figurines and the making of, and Giant could mean the giant of a man who made all those jade for a living. Again, the author’s hyphenation holds some significance.
The next hyphenation is of the chapter “Chi-Minh”.
ICS 24
Marshal/Marilyn
Midterm
Catfish and Mandela-Analysis
Catfish and Mandela, written by Andrew X. Pham, is considered a master piece by Marshall; either that or he was exaggerating. The book definitely does have a unique form of hyphenation as it is used in every chapter title that the book has and it also is discreetly used as a link between chapters. The ways hyphenations are used in Catfish and Mandela are abstract meanings such as Alley-World, Jade-Giant, Chi-Minh, and Blue-Peace. Their meanings could be anything to anyone person. Marshall told us that even though they may non sequitur, there will still be some kind of meaning derived from it, hence, abstract.
The first hyphenation from the chapters is Alley-World. Both of the words in the hyphenation are quite significant in that it describes a little part of Pham’s childhood. This was when he had to stay alone at home and all he had was an opening which he could talk through to the next door girl on the other side of the back street. They talked about mundane stuff because it was the entire world to them during that point. [P](96). And so, if any one word from the hyphenation were to be missing, the meaning would change and the significance of Pham’s childhood would be null. For instance, the alley is one of the things that separate Pham from the girl next door and that the whole area—alley included---was his world until they have to move back home again.
Another use of hyphenation would be the chapter “Jade-Giant”. Andrew Pham used this to describe a gentle giant man who he had met while staying on an Indonesian compound. The man’s name was Wong, a jade cutter, which Mr. Ling described as “..had been there twelve years and every year he sent an appeal to whatever country he thought he belonged to. Every year he was rejected.” [Q](141). This “jade-giant” however, cracked one day and started a rampage, destroying objects using all of his monstrous strength, and committing suicide off the roof of the tower compound. To Pham, Jade could possibly mean the jade statue figurines and the making of, and Giant could mean the giant of a man who made all those jade for a living. Again, the author’s hyphenation holds some significance.
The next hyphenation is of the chapter “Chi-Minh”.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Catfish Midterm paragraph
Andrew Pham's Catfish and Mandala's meaning is in the form of a hyphenation as a book.
One hyphenation would be Fallen-Leaves. Fallen-Leaves could mean the past, or the point where innocence is at its peak or at its end.
One hyphenation would be Fallen-Leaves. Fallen-Leaves could mean the past, or the point where innocence is at its peak or at its end.
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