Expect the Unexpected

On Thursday  went to the University Fair at Saint Thomas Aquinas in Russell. I had to get dropped off at 7:00am because my dad had to go to work. So I waited there for 2 hours until it began.

When it began, I went around to each booth asking each representitive of the Universities questions about their Programmes, Location, accommodations, costs and Extracurricular activities. (PLACES, an acronym that we learned while we were there). To my surprise, I actually learned a lot. I was able to narrow down my list of potential Universities by half, just due to the fact if they offered Journalism. Trent, Dalhousie, Guelph, Ryerson and York are my choices, but I am still looking in to others. Carelton is also very promising and is a University which I didn't even begin to consider, However in order to be considered for their Journalism programme, you must have at least an 85 average in English. This proves to me that it is very competitive programme to get into, but I feel as though I can achieve it. My marks are better than I expected this year, so I am quite happy about that.

Finally, the end of the fair came and as I walked out I sat down waiting for my peers to give me a ride back to the school. However after about 25 minutes of waiting and no one showing up, I proceeded to text one of them to ask where they were. He said that they had all left already, thinking that I had a ride back (which I didn't). After I said that I was stuck there, he felt bad about the whole situation. I told him that it wasn't his fault (which it wasn't) and I proceeded to call my father to come pick me up. It took over 1 1/2 hours for him to finally arrive, at that point school was nearly over. I still decided to go back because it was expected that we all had to be back for the second half of the day. By the time everything was said and done, I was tired and overwhelmed with mixed emotions.
I won't name anyone in particular, but I can't say that I was completely surprised that it happened. A long time ago I trained my myself to expect the unexpected and not to trust other people. To think negatively about a situation rather than positive. It sounds bad, but that is just the way I have to think now because of everything that has happened in the past.
Story of my life...

But on a better note, Last night was quite the night. I attended a Halloween/surprise Birthday party with the "Dream Team", consisting of Kia, Josh Chartrand, Ben Cirne, Junior Gunduz, along with Cheyenne Hall. We ate, watched creepy videos, played Brawl. However, the thing that creeped us out the most was a game called Slender. For those of you who don't know, Slender is a game involving collecting 8 notes while a man, who is all-white with no face stalks and tries to kill you. The game as a whole isn't that scary, but it is the mix of concepts and mind tricks that do. The game starts off with you in the forest, equipped with nothing but a flashlight as you wander around looking for the notes. All the while hoping that Slenderman isn't right behind you. The thing is that you don't know when he'll show up, so you can never prepare yourself for what is coming. As the game progresses and as you reach nearer to "Slendy" as Ben Cirne called him, the loud, deep booming commences. Which at that point you become increasingly paranoid that Slendy will show up right in front of you. At that point you have to attempt to escape him. However it is near impossible as you are completely shocked and scared out of your mind to even move the mouse. And finally, you fall into his hands and die following the loud static noise. In other words, this game is not for the weak of heart.

Playing this game while submerged in complete darkness on a 50 inch T.V and the volume blasted adds to the terrifying effect. And proved to be extremely challenging for us to complete.
ben went first, but he ended up screaming like a little girl so Junior and Josh had to take over. Kia, Cheyenne and I couldn't bring ourselves to play it. As we all sat there on the floor staring at the dim Television screen, we hoped that Slendy wouldn't show up. However, we all just sat there in horror, knowing that wherever we went Slendy could be right there. As we kept playing, the music intensified and our nerves were becoming increasingly weaker, We continued wandering the forest until we finally collected one note, at that point we continued into the scariest part of the game, the house. It is more like a run down shack or something you would see from those horror movies. It had hundreds of possible pathways that you could choose, down any of which Slendy could have been. After what seemed like an eternity, Ben walked towards a small room. As he peered around the corner ever so slightly, Slendy showed up right in front of our faces. When we all saw the terrifying figure on the screen, we screamed at the top of our lungs. Ben was too scared to attempt to run away and that is when the static noise and high pitched whirring overpowered the room.

by the end of the night we were all paranoid that Slenderman would come to get us.

I suggest you all try to play it and you'll see what I mean. Even others are terrified by this game. See for yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcUbteUtgkQ (skip to 5:40 to see their reaction. It was basically the same as ours).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDEhB_vq_Po&feature=related (1:12 is the creepy static noise that is at the end)

You can turn the corner and that is what you will see, Slendy himself

At the end this is what the screen looks like. Equipped with the deafening static and high pitched whirring.

So anyways, that is what my weekend consisted of. Reflections of post-secondary studies, heart-stopping gaming and learning to expect the unexpected.

-Shannon

An analytic week...

It has been a relatively analytical week for me. A week full of philosophical interpretations of my real-life situations.
First off, my group presented our New Criticism project last week. I felt as though it went very well, but I felt as though I could have improved myself in some ways.
Next, in class this week, as a part of an assignment we had to watch “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”, a movie about 3 prospectors on the hunt for gold. At first glance it would be a movie which most would consider to be a cheesy Western adventure film (well for me anyways). However, as the movie progressed it became more philosophical and analytical and I started to see certain aspects of the movie which reflected various morals.

Soon thereafter, I was told that I wasn’t going to go to school on Friday. At first I was hesitant to the whole idea of missing school, but once Friday came upon me; I realized that it is not something to get worked up about. Normally I would be panicking over missing a day of school, due to the fat that I hate changes in my everyday schedule. Also, I found out that I have to resubmit one of my online assignments due to the fact that I overwrote it. Normally, I would be crying (literally), devastated over the fact that I failed or got a less than pleasing mark, however when I read it, I didn’t do anything. I simply moved on and rewrote it. It was a strange feeling which overpowered me during these two times. A feeling that can only be described as “impassive”, emotionless, like it was nothing to get upset up about. Also I felt a feeling which is highly unfamiliar to me, the feeling of relaxation. This in itself was a breakthrough for me and my progress to becoming a healthier minded person. 

So on Thursday night, I went to go see Rush in Montreal for their "Clockwork Angels tour 2012/2013" (the reason I was not at school on Friday). By and far, it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. With the combination of amazing special effects, lights, and sound, it proved to be one of the most remarkable shows I’ve seen to date.

Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, and Neil Peart of Rush

The first part of the show was very atypical. It was opened with a video which featured them as post-apocalyptic androids. It also contained Carnival and Frankenstein vibes, hence the various videos throughout the show. The whole theme was very mind-warping and surreal. It almost reminded me of a cross between Pink Floyd (another one of my favourite bands) and Steampunk.
But while I was listening to the rhythm of Neil Peart's legendary 360 degree drum set, the tenors of Geddy Lee's astounding voice and the pulsation of the incredibly loud speakers flowed through my ears, I was able to sit back and listen to the lyrics and interpret them for what I thought they were. 

Neil Peart's drum set (bird's eye view)

The first song they opened with was “Subdivisions”, one of my favourite Rush songs of all time. It is about a teenager feeling like an outsider among conformity when prospects of diversity of escape are bleak. I believe that this song expresses that conformity is a social disease which affects everyone. The reason why I adore this song so much, despite the amazing beat and lyrics, is because I can relate to it. Being a social recluse in a world full of conceited people.

The second part of the show proved to be a spectacle in itself. They ramped up the lights, visual effects, and even brought in a string section, the Clockwork Angels themselves. They played some of their older songs including “Spirit of the Radio” and “Tom Sawyer”, which is about a rebellious individualist, named Tom Sawyer who is eager to learn. It is said that this song is highly influenced by the works of Ayn Rand. Tom Sawyer represents Howard Roark from The Fountainhead. Tom Sawyer could be linked to Mark Twain’s literary classic, entitled the same. Although part of the lyrics, don’t make an entire great deal of sense, some of the lines in the song reflect hidden meanings. For example, taking the 6^th stanza of the song: 

No, his mind is not for rent

To any god or government

Always hopeful, yet discontent

He knows changes aren't permanent

But change is

It can be said that “his mind is not for rent”, can be indicative that Tom Sawyer is not willing to be owned by society, or its means of transforming individuals into something that they are not.

Also, the following lines can be interpreted as describing the world and its portrayal in relation to Tom Sawyer himself how he is seen in society.

 The world is, the world is

Love and life are deep

Maybe as his skies are wide

Today's Tom Sawyer

He gets high on you

And the space he invades

He gets by on you

 Next, the song “Limelight”, they use the theatre as a metaphor for life. The phrase "in the limelight" means being the center of attention. In the early days of theater, a limelight was a device used to brightly illuminate the front of a stage, which put the main performer in a spotlight, hence where the name came from. I believe that this song is about the bands difficulties with coming to terms with fame and a sudden lack of privacy and sudden demands. It can be a representation of them all being stuck in the ‘limelight’, but just wanting to do what they love, making music without all the drama.

Finally the song called “2112”, which is structured like a story, which is performed in multiple parts like Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”. This song to me is society and how it is corrupted by the discovery of an historic artifact. It seems as though the ‘narrator’ of the song had an epiphany about the way society should be and is only awaking to a stark reality which he finds is intolerable, and in desperation commits suicide to stop the pain. This song proves how overbearing society can become and how it destroys individual’s minds. Unfortunately his hope was lost too soon to see the dream come to reality.

My sister ended up getting some pretty good videos of the concert which portray the whole vibe of the concert that night. That's only if she decides to post them. Once the concert was finished, I walked out of the Bell Centre deaf. Everything was muffled and quiet, even though the streets were filled with thousands of rowdy fans. After walking around Montreal until 12:30am, we got back to the hotel, where I immediately fell asleep once my head hit the pillow. The next morning, driving back took us nearly 3 hours. 3 hours which seemed endless, being stuck in a car with your sister, who is a Mac Miller-loving wanna-be gangster, blasting rap music out the window. And a father, who thought it was a good idea to drive around looking for a parking spot in downtown Montreal. After about an hour we ended up finding one, but it resulted in a long, unpleasant walk through a massive downpour of rain.

Nonetheless, it was an incredibly enjoyable experience which I hope to do again soon. It provided me with a sort of release from all the stress I have been experiencing lately.

So anyways those were the highlights of my week. I hope you were satisfied with this week’s post and I hope you'll continue to tune into more weekly provided by yours truly.

Until next time,

-Shannon

A post-Thanksgiving reflection

So for this week's post, I cannot say much as opposed to the fact that half of the class has presented their Literary Criticism projects.

First, Kassie, Allison and Kate did their presentation on Impressionistic Criticism. So far I found it to be the most interesting type of criticism, just due to the fact that everything is so philosophical and deep. It is basically the complete opposite of our Literary Criticism (which was New Criticism), so it allowed me to analyze a piece of literature from a different perspective, being subjective rather than objective. 

Next, Sam, Melinda and Tanysha did Reader Response, which is the type of Criticism I am most familiar with, due to the fact that I have used it numerous times in the past. I like the way they presented it in an informal manner in order to make it more relaxed for the class.

Finally, Josh, Ben and Will did Mythopoeic Criticism, which involves the analysis of a story, using various character archetypes. Most of us learned about archetypes back in grade 10, however I didn't realize that it could be related to an actual type of Literary Criticism. In fact, I had just read in my Psychology book about Carl Jung's use of archetypes a few days prior to their presentation. Therefore, I was able to understand the overall concept behind their theory. 

On another note, things have been quite dull at my house due to the fact that my mother is in Beirut right now.  She informed me this morning that she landed in Beirut after about a 1 1/2 day trip. She said that everything was so beautiful and that she met a lot of great people there. She also met the animals that she is rescuing: Winston, Tina and Angel. She flies back tomorrow so I am really excited to hear about her experience when she returns.
 

Winston, who has a broken spine

Tina (right), who was shot

Angel, the kitten

I have realized today that I have one important thing to be thankful for. Having such an amazing mom who is so selfless and caring and a family who supports me and love me for who i am.

So anyways, I am off to go enjoy some Tofurky and all the fixings, so I will leave you all to your Thanksgiving plans. I hope today has got you all thinking about what you are thankful for this year and I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving..


Happy Thanksgiving!
-Shannon