I picked “If I Never Knew You” a love theme from Pocahontas, because it relates to “Romeo and Juliet” a book that we read this year. If you don’t know the background of the classic Disney movie, it is about English settlers coming to America and encountering the Natives that live there. During the voyage, the main character, John Smith, falls in love with the chief’s daughter, Pocahontas. However, this is a forbidden love because both sides hated each other and wished to kill the other side. Before this song begins, Pocahontas apologizes to the death-sentenced John Smith for getting him in this mess. John replies by saying “I would rather die tomorrow than live 100 years without never knowing you”. Hearing this quote and lines within the song like

“I never knew that hate could be so strong
all they'd leave us were these whispers in the night
but still my heart is saying we were right”

reminds me of the hate between the two families, Montague and Capulet and how Romeo and Juliet were willing to give up their lives for their love. This song shows the power of love between two individuals and how it can, like it did it in Romeo and Juliet and Pocahontas, overcome the strong emotions of hatred.

I choose the song “Colors of the Wind” from the movie Pocahontas because it represents the views of the gorilla in the book “Ishmael”. In the book, the gorilla believes that humans often believe that they are the master the species and that the earth was made for them. During the book, the Gorilla explains to the human that he is missing the idea that humans are just a phase of life on earth and that they are suppose to coexist with life. This idea of coinciding with other live is portrayed in the song sung by Pocahontas when she says:

“Come roll in all the riches all around you
and for once, never wonder what they're worth

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends”

She, the Gorilla, and I all believe that humans should coexist with the other species because we are all “brothers” and “connected”. Pocahontas also uses the circle archetype to express her view on how humans are just one part or one phase of a never ending circle of life.

I chose Kanye West’s “Diamonds are forever in Sierra Leone Remix” because of its relevance to the topic of “Diamond trade in Africa” that I explored for my Global Citizen Project at the beginning of the year. When looking into the many political problems in Africa at the beginning of the year, I found the “Conflict Diamond Trade” in Africa very interesting. The song describes the situation pretty well.

“Good Morning, this ain't Vietnam still
People lose hands, legs, arms for real
Little was known of Sierra Leone
And how it connect to the diamonds we own
When I speak of Diamonds in this song
I ain't talkin bout the ones that be glown
I'm talkin bout Rocafella, my home, my chain
These ain't conflict diamonds,is they Jacob? don't lie to me mayne
See, a part of me sayin' keep shinin',
How? when I know of the blood diamonds”

Kanye also connects the diamond wars to the drug wars we have in the U.S. when he says

“Though it's thousands of miles away
Sierra Leone connect to what we go through today
Over here, its a drug trade, we die from drugs
Over there, they die from what we buy from drugs
The diamonds, the chains, the bracelets, the charmses
I thought my Jesus Piece was so harmless
'til I seen a picture of a shorty armless”

Obviously, both Kanye and I believe that the Diamond Trade in Africa is a very important issue. I believe that he is spreading knowledge of the conflicts in Sierra Leone because he knows that a lot of people’s life are being ended or ruined because of it and that we, as Americans, are hurting the cause when we could easily put a stop to it by not buying diamonds. This is an important world issue that could easily be ended if more people were aware of it.

I chose the song “Sk8er Boi” because the lyrics in the song represented the “forbidden love” in Romeo and Juliet. The song talks about a love that never existed between a skater boy and a ballerina girl because of their friends and backgrounds. The quote

“He wanted her
She’d wouldn’t tell
Secretly she wanted him as well
But all of her friends
Stuck up their nose
And they had a problem
With his baggy clothes”

This situation is a modern day situation, though not as dramatic, of a love affected by backgrounds and family. This song was also chosen because it reminded me of the love shared between Emily Webb and George Gibbs. However in the “Our Town”, George chose to stay and live life with Emily. This song was what I envisioned the outcome of George and Emily’s life would have been if they hadn’t stayed in love.

“Five years from now she sits at home feeding the baby she's all alone.
She turns on TV and guess who she sees.
Sk8er boi rocking up MTV.
She calls up her friends.
They already know
And they've all got tickets to see his show”

This is what would have happened with George in Emily if they had given up their love for their differences in interests and backgrounds. George might have gone on to become a great baseball player while Emily stays home and lives an uneventful life.

I chose the song “Watching the River Run” by Loggins and Messina because it shows similar views to the character Siddhartha and because it talks about the topic of “The river”, a topic common in the book Siddhartha. Both in the book and in the song, the beauty and elegance of nature and rivers is emphasized.

“And we have just begun watching the river run.
listening, learning and yearning to
run, river, run.

Winding and swirling and dancing along,
We pass by the old willow tree
Where lovers caress as we sing of our song,
Twisting together when we greet the sea.”

In this line of the song, Loggins and Messina also talk about “listening and learning” from the river. This idea of listening to the river was an idea emphasized by Siddhartha. This song talks about a simpler life involving nature. The simple life aspect of this song also reminds me of Our Town another book we’ve read. In Our Town the author, Thornton Wilder, emphasizes simplicity of life. The idea of simplicity of life is also present in this song as Loggins and Messina talk about listening to rivers and enjoying nature without mentioning more modern or sophisticated things.

I chose the song “Sunshine in a bag” by the Gorillaz because of its relevance to Ishamel and because it addresses fallacies. I can imagine this song sung by the Gorilla in the book Ishmael which makes it more ironic that the bands name is the “Gorillaz”. Basically this song talks about life as a gorilla and how it is not enjoyable and how he feels he is being mistreated. These were some of the feeling’s shared by the Gorilla in Ishmael near the beginning of the story.

“I ain't happy, I' m not feelin’ glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless, but not for long the future is comin' on
is comin' on is comin' on is comin' on is comin' on”

Despite feeling mistreated and not “feelin’ glad” both the gorilla in the song and in the story knew that they could change their future and become useful. This is exactly what the gorilla in the story did. He became a gorilla that made a difference and became useful by helping spread his views on humans and their influence on nature. The gorilla in the song also mentions the “either or” fallacy when he says

“Rythm, you have it or you don't
that's a fallacy”

By doing this he has changed my view on humanity and nature as well as many other views. Overall, the gorilla in the song and in the story are one of the same in that they are both mistreated at the beginning but become useful and important in the future.

The song I chose to describe my year in academy was “Space Oddity” because of its correlation to my freshman year. At the beginning of the song, the tune is very solemn. The line “take your pills and put your helmet on” seems to represent the jump I made from middle school to high school. After the countdown, there is a key board solo. This solo represents my first social studies test of which I did not do very well. “Now its time to leave the capsule if you dare” refers to my year at the point where I realize that habits have to be changed and that I must put in more effort in order to achieve the best results. “The stars look very different today” explains how I felt about high school life at the beginning. Life during high school was more hectic, busy and difficult. This quote thus is similar to “Life is very different today” which is what I gathered after being in high school at the beginning The refrain represents my emotions about myself in high school. Participating in band, choir, sports, jazz band, and academy, I have a schedule like no one else. “Here am I sitting in a tin can, far above the world” represents to isolation I felt and the loneliness of my high school experience as there were not a lot of people I could relate to. After the refrain there is a musical break. This musical solo (somewhat upbeat) seems to represent my success in the second and third quarters. After, David Bowie says “Though I’ve crossed one hundred thousand miles, I am feeling very still”. This quote talks of my progress at GBS. Although I have gotten much better at French and understand how to write better and what I need to do to do well on social studies tests, my grades did not seem to show it as they were the same as the first semester. The last line of the song “Planet earth is blue and there’s nothing I can do” relating it to my life means that high school and life in general is difficult, but that is something I cannot change. Instead, I should just work harder. Overall, I look forward to next year despite my grades this year. I felt I have learned a lot about each of the subjects. Now at least I know what to expect for next year. Hopefully, I can learn just as much while receiving better grades. Perhaps next year’s song will be a song about success.

College Football

Over the past weeks there has been a lot of talk about college football. Whether it be about things like trophy winners, or great games, or fantastic teams, to players shooting themselves in the leg, the conversation is really stirring up the town. In the next view weeks the football season will come to an end with a series of bowl games. This system is very unique and is completely original to College football. The system consists of vast number of bowl games, (games played once between two teams and the winner receives the trophy), that take place all over the country. These games can range from the Holiday Bowl, to the PapaJohns.com Bowl. All the bowls are of relatively equal importance with the exception of the BCS Bowls. The BCS Bowls consist of the Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl, and the BCS National Championship. These bowls are the coveted prize in college football especially the National Championship. Each year the contenders for each bowl are different. Every year, with the exception of the National championship that automatically picks the top two ranked teams, each bowl choses who it wants to play for it. Usually it is the most prestigious bowls, like the BCS bowls, that pick their teams first. After each game has been decided the games are played on various days between december and early January. The last bowl game to be played is always the national championship. With a new game every day between two great teams, causes for major excitement and entertainment in my life.

Although I have to admit that the end of the season is the best part of college football I also like watching football during the regular season. Even during the regular season there are still some great games. Being a Notre Dame fan I go to many of there games. If you have ever been to a game you would know what I am talking about. The crowd is always lively and yelling (especially the student section) the bands are playing, the cheerleaders cheer leading, the place is filled with noise. This makes for an exciting and enjoyable game even if your team doesn't really stand a chance. Even if you don't care much for football, watching a game with your family or friends is a great way to spend an afternoon.

By the way here's the final plays of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. It was one of the best and excitng games I have seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoZJxi3A0VQ&feature=related

Have you ever been to game? What was it like?
Have you ever seen a game you ever have really enjoyed?
Are there some other sports that you enjoy watching?

My Poem

There I sat in the room with everyone else around me
The first day of school began and there was silence in the room
All the kids were nervious but excited they were as well
For the first day of school was starting just today

The teacher walked in, Mr. Morgan was his name
He came in smiling, happy he was
Because the first day of school was starting today

We introduced ourselves and made new freinds with classmates
And the time we had was very well enjoyed
But soon the day came to an end
Everyone was sad
But then I smiled right then and their
Because I knew the firstday of school was starting today