A Preview of John Dos Passos

What intrigued me about John Dos Passos besides the fact that both of my teachers hold him is such high regard, was his journey to success. I couldn't fathom how someone could seemingly choose random subjects, throw in some indentations, and this work ultimately become globally renowned. Though, after reading one of his works Newsreel XVII, I came to acknowledge Dos Passos' work not as nonsense but writing of a rare creative sophistication. A passage I thought was completely representative of this creativity came in the third full paragraph:

"Austrians leave hot rolls in haste to get away giant wall of water rushes down valley professor says Beethoven gives the impression of a juicy steak"

Its actually like a game reading Dos Passos' work. It's a puzzle of sorts where one subject ends and another begins and the reader must decipher when that occurs.

Believe it or not Dos Passos was not just a weird guy trying to play around with sentence structure. He was the one of the founding fathers of the lost generation, possibly one of the most important eras of American literature. The other key figures of the lost generation include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway. This "lost generation" was a result of World War I, as the morale of most Americans at the time following the war was low, this prompted the eccentric writing from writers of the time.

Is there a new "lost generation" of today? What circumstances do you feel would create such a thing? Would Dos Passos' style of writing, if reproduced by writers today be appreciated?

Vick in the Shadows

Surfing the channels, something caught my eye that I was not really expecting. The Michael Vick Project, which premiered a few weeks ago, documents Michael Vick's journey from an NFL icon turned convict to a normal law obiding citizen. But seeing this on television got me thinking about the publicity that Vick has gotten since his release from the federal penitentiary. I think it would be fair to say that if you don't follow the NFL and didn't see Vick playing for the Philadelphia Eagles this year, you may not even know that Vick was out of prison.

This leads me to believe that he has a team of publicists working tirelessly to build Vick's image somehow back to the level it was when he was playing in Atlanta. He was, as Doc Oc said in his August post compared to "another Hitler" by some clearly irratic critics and is now taking a more gentle approach to his integration back into the limelight of professional sports, that is if he can find another team to take a moral leap and sign him after his 1-year contract with the Eagles expired.

I also think it is interesting the outlet Vick (or his publicists) chose for his "redemptive" series. The series is airing on Black Entertainment Television, or BET. I don't know if Vick is trying to speak to a specific audience by airing the show on this network, or if BET was the only channel to take on the show.

I personally feel that Vick is taking the right approach to the "reconstruction" of his image. I won't dive into my feelings of his initial arrest but I certainly feel Vick deserves another chance. He has done his time and I believe, has the talent to make it in the NFL today.

What do you think, does Mike deserve another chance? What do you think of his attempts at integration and the rebuilding of his image?

Brainwashed? Not Me

I'll be the first one to argue that advertisements have no bearing on how me personally as a consumer. I will admit to watching numerous hours of television as a child and being exposed to the billion dollar industries of brand development. I have been making these claims for years but only through reading this recent article that we were assigned did I really contemplate the truth of my assertions.

The article more or less dives into the neurological aspect of commerical consumption by people today; "the amygdala, the hippocampus and the hypothalamus are dynamic switchboards that shape the decisions people make." The brain is entirely responsible for decision making, including the decisions we as consumers make on the types of things we will buy. If the trigger to our decision making lies in our brains, then that is where the marketing wizards of the worlds biggest corporations will aim their advertisements. Sound like brainwashing yet!

If you're not convinced consider this other bit from the LA Times Searching for the Why of Buy. Pepsi and Coke, two of the largest brands on this planet, have been perpetuating their advertisements for decades on the nation's youth. But what we rarely think about is: Pepsi and Coke are the same thing! They are like the article said, "based on a single sensory theme: sugar and water." So why do people ever get in the habit of buying coke rather than pepsi or visa versa, when despite minor taste differences, they are essentially the same thing. Unfortunately, this compulsion to buy a certain way boils down to one thing and one thing only, ads. Reading this LA times article has made me less adament in believing I am immune to advertisement because when I think about it I have numerous brands that I prefer to others. This lead to think why I would ever think I was immune to advertisement when I was clearly not. Are you immune, and do you, after reading this, consider advertisement to be a socially acceptable form of brainwashing?

Why Can't Illinois Get it Right?

In today's discussion Doc Oc briefly touched upon the corruption that this country has seen even in the past year. I am always appalled to find out of the new scandals in government. I decided to take a look at our great state of Illinois, which has argueably, in the past 10 years encountered more political contreversy than any other state.

Recent Illinois scandals began with Dan Rostenkowski in 1996, who served thirty-six years in Congress representing Illinois. He was convicted for mail fraud, but was specifically known for sending government payroll checks to non employees that did him personal favors. He was sentenced to seventeen months in federal prison.

There was also Governer George Ryan who was charged with awarding business friends state contracts for projects in exchange for gifts and money. He was indicted in '04 and in '06 was sentenced to six and a half years in prison under the official charges of racketeering, conspiracy, tax fraud, mail fraud, and lying to the FBI while under oath. His legacy plagued Illinois politics until he was one up-ed by his predecessor, Rod Blagojevich. We'll call him Rod for typing's sake. Rod, in a spontaneous fit of genious, decided to auction off Barack Obama's vacant seat in the Senate to the highest bidder. Needless to say this isn't quite legal. He is now awaiting trial and sentencing.

My only question is why Illinois. Is it the cows, the plains, or the vast expanses of corn fields that prompt corrupt politicians to come here. Maybe the policies are more lax here and allow for such corruption to occur. Something must be wrong as nearly all corruption related political contreversies have taken place in Illinois in recent years.