f0UR & f!V3 :: f!GHt.

Hollywood stories inspired by books are exactly that. They are inspired. I've never once in my little life seen a movie that was exactly as the book. And even if there is one out there, it's still completely different, because the magic of books is that you see the story in your head your own way; and essentially, subconsciously, you see it the way you want it to be. Prince charming is your prince charming. The beautiful princess is your idea of beautiful. For example, before the Harry Potter movies came out, every little kid I knew was running around with a different, magnificent, imaginative way of seeing the characters as J.K. Rowling's words popped off the page. All of a sudden everyone in the world sees Daniel Radcliffe as the face of Harry Potter. All of a sudden, no one can remember what they envisioned him as before, and this will never change. In a way, movies based on books destroy the imagination. Sad.

In Troy, Hollywood made Paris out to be mister wonderful. They did a decent job in picking Orlando Bloom to play Paris in that he's a good looking guy. But nonetheless, relating to what I sad before, Orlando Bloom isn't my version of the most beautiful man in the world, which is who Paris is meant to be. Paris wasn't mister wonderful. He won Helen of Troy and of course he wanted her, as she is the most beautiful woman in the world, but he didn't necessarily love her. And on her part, she did not love him or want to be with him. She was content in Troy. But in Hollywood's version, Paris swept her off her feet and she gladly helped him start a war by leaving Troy to be with him. A little romance always gets an audience going I suppose.

In the film, Menelaus is killed by Hector once Paris falls to the ground, crawls to Hector's feet, and bats his pretty eyelashes at all the big scary men. In the Iliad Menelaus lives throughout the entire war. He's angry the whole time that he never ends up finding Paris. Paris is a bit of a coward in both the Iliad and Troy. He basically has to be forced to fight for his homeland.

+HR33 :: & then a hero comes along.

Real-life heroes to me are people who help others. And therefore a hero really shouldn't have to do anything differently from other people. They're human, and people should accept that any type of hero can have flaws. If they don't then you can't relate to them, and recognizing that you relate in some ways to a hero can help you try to be more like them. But people will always feed off of other's imperfections, which is sadly the downfall of most heroes.

Walt Disney's Aladdin is a specific hero who's known and loved by all. It's obvious that he doesn't care about materialistic things, but what's on the inside. People remember this to be true even when he gets caught up in image and riches for a moment, and as I mentioned before, a hero rarely mistakes. Like Aladdin, a hero that makes a mistake and yet is still viewed in a magnificent way is truly a hero. His heart is huge, and his head is strong. There's many qualities to his character that causes everyone to be able to identify with him. He's a hero in every respect. He would be considered a hero in today's society because he's not about fighting or causing problems but will do his best to help those who need it if these issues did come up.

Achilles was a hero in his day. If he lived today, I don't think he would be respected in a heroic fashion. His brutality (the only way he thinks something can be accomplished) and his lack of honor because of his ego are his core traits, and those aren't the traits of a hero. A hero can accept authority because it's there, it's a part of society, always has and always will be. A hero is kind hearted and wants the best for others. A hero will defend those incapable of being able to defend themselves because he cares about them, because he wants to, not because he wants his name to live forever.

In relation to Agamemnon, Achilles is more of a supercilious killing machine rather than a hero. Agamemnon fights for what he believes in, for his family and his home, and  only fights because he must. Achilles fights because he can, because he is stronger and faster than others. A trait that they share is their aspirations: that they will be remembered.

xo

+wo :: this is SPARTA.

I love Spartan society. As stated in my previous post, I constantly joke about raising my children, whether they are boys or girls, to be Spartan warriors. 300 is one of the rare movies I can watch thousands of times without becoming bored. I used to be very interested in learning about Spartan history and society, but as my interests moved into a more artistic field I didn't look into as much. I love the way both men and women were raised and generally continued to try to live to their upmost point of physical capacity. Everyone was a warrior. Spartans were the leaders of the combined Greek forces and the boys military training started for them at the age of seven. Women were also educated and although less intensely trained militaristically, Sparta was the only city-state in Greece that educated women at all.

I love that women in Sparta were powerful and respected, unlike anywhere else in this time period. This is the main difference I see between Athenian and Spartan society. They could own properties, they weren't forced to marry and didn't usually marry at a young age, the laws for men and women were the same, they could inherit whatever was rightfully theirs, they could wear what they pleased and go where they want.

Spartans are just pretty much badass.

xo

0N3 :: GR33k My+H0L0Gy.

My younger brother has always been obsessed with Greek Mythology. He would sit for hours reading books on it and attempting to get me to engage in conversation with him about the topic. I picked up bits and pieces of knowledge about the subject from him, but not much that stuck with me since it wasn't a significant interest of my own. I have always loved the movie 300, and have possibly seen it around 300 times. I probably know more about Spartan life individually than I do about Greek Mythology as a whole. I've always joked that male or female, I'll raise my children as Spartan warriors.

I know stories of gods such as Zeus and Aphrodite, half gods like Hercules and Achilles, and tales of creatures such as Sirens and warriors such as Agamemnon. Learning in school when I was younger about events such as the Trojan War lead up to hearing about pieces of Greek Mythology but whether my teacher never elaborated or I simply forgot the information I'm not positive. Bits of movies growing up, stories in Middle School history classes, my parents and my brother are pretty much the only reason I'd know anything about this subject.

xo

+HR33 :: (@ND!D3

Satire. Satire tends to be witty, but through the way it's conveyed it expresses insults. It's a way of using irony and sarcasm to scorn. Something is satirical if it succeeds in doing this. As it's become very popular to intelligently delve into creatively insulting things such as society, religion, and peoples values, satire has become a literary genre within itself.

Voltaire's Candide is a perfect example of a satirical novel. He blatantly ridicules the hypocritical society he lived in. How the rich knew nothing of the troubles with the poor, for example. The perfect example of this is Candide himself. Then before he knew it, his perfect world was completely shattered and he was just another peasant - with very bad luck. He went from being naive, thinking he had everything he needed and therefore nothing else mattered, to very quickly becoming pessimistic, having nothing in comparison to before being kicked out of the castle and not appreciating the small things, like the companionship he achieved. His situations worsen and worsen.

The Jerk is set up very similarly to the plot of Candide. Navin invents an eyeglass attachment that brings him in a huge income. He is rich. And therefore "happy," not having any worries or thoughts about what's going on in the world around him. His happy situation, too, shatters completely. He burns through all the money and ends up homeless, living a severely less than lavish lifestyle. Money making people "happy" is satire within itself.

I'd say that certain people going through the current recession are responding very like Candide and Navin did when they lost everything, because they were so money-happy and naive in the first place. Both Navin and Candide simply didn't know what to do when they entered a world new to them, one they hadn't realized had been outside their front door all along. 

+wo :: V!S!0N

My vision..I can't really describe it, nor do I really put that much thought into what I want people to think about while viewing my work. My work isn't for an audience, it's for me. It's an expression of myself. I am my vision, the way I think and the way I believe is my vision. The way I see things is what comes out of what I create. And I think it's beautiful. Other people can think what they want of it. I predominantly photo document people, I enjoy indulging in cultures I'm not a part of and don't know a lot about. I'm interested in people in third world countries, because of the way I've seen them work so beautifully and peacefully together. I rarely ever set up photos. They're a glimpse at something going on around me. They're what's happening, right at that moment. They present themselves. And , thorough my work of exposing poverty and whatnot, one may think I am doing it for an audience, for a reaction, but what I put out there is what I put out there no matter what. People will take from it whatever they want. It's always about what I'm getting out of it. Other people don't really concern me.

A lot of my work is not planned, it occurs by accident or through circumstances that present themselves. What I do in order to work is prepare myself for random presentation; I'm always ready for something to present itself. You have to realize these things, otherwise they'll slip by. In any case, I work through my personality. I'm extremely curious. I ask too many questions, I often get in the way. But people tend to be charmed by curiosity.

My beliefs are pretty simple. My spirituality goes hand in hand with my political beliefs. Through my work, I'm trying to show what I don't believe the world takes enough time to think about. Broken people. Beautiful human beings beaten down by poverty. Animals with not much more time to thrive before the depletion of their species' existence. Anything that needs more help or attention than it's getting. And in some cases, at the point that some of these people or animals are at, it doesn't matter how much more help they get. They're pretty much screwed. But the things I have seen and can tell people through stories or journals or photos will stay with them forever. And that's good enough for me. Appreciation, knowledge, sympathy. Any sort of reaction that shows they are thinking about what I've seen other people go through is good enough.

I enjoy art that says something powerful and meaningful, but then again, the art I'm thinking of has said something powerful and meaningful to ME. I have no idea what it's said to anyone else. In some cases I know the artists intentions were to express something powerful and meaningful, but that doesn't mean they're going to reach everyone in that way. That's the most beautiful thing about art; it is what it is, no matter what anyone feels when they're under the impression of it. It's why the audience doesn't concern me with my work. Because you'll never be able to make every single person that sees some form of art feel the exact same way. You just have to put out there whatever it is you're feeling, and wish for the best. I don't believe in censorship. I'm far too obsessed with self expression to be able to agree to restricting anyone's beliefs.

There is no point to art, art is the basis of thought and expression. My ideas vary greatly on what art is. I believe it's too complicated to say. But I'll try... Art. Art. Art. Art. Art.

Art. Is craziness. It's absolutely any creative way for any individual to express themselves. Whether it be what they're thinking at the time, what they believe, something they want others to think. It's a way to open our minds at how we look at the world, how we look at each other and ourselves. It is beautiful and rich, vibrant and alive.

Art does not judge.

Art should not censor.

Art is there to set fire to your brain.

0N3 :: The Girl with the Balloons

Well hello there. My name's Kate. And I suppose this is my first (sadly late) entry about, well, myself. I was born and raised in Queens, New York, twenty minutes outside of the city. I went from a run-down spot in the very Irish area of Woodside, to where my family currently lives, Douglaston. I never liked the suburbs. I was always going into the city with my parents and began to adventure there on my own when I was about 11. I loved the bright lights, the crazy, uninhibited people, the culture.

I was always artistic, but have only developed a true passion for photography over the past few years. About that, from the age of 15 until I was 17 I was trapped in Provo, Utah, for reasons I'd rather explain to people personally. But when I was there I managed to grab two wonderful opportunities.

I went to Nicaragua in September 2007 to work with people in poverty. It was the second most wonderful

time in my life. Difficult, both physically and emotionally, excruciatingly hot, and over

all pretty upsetting. But it has made me a much stronger person. I was there for a month, living in Ocatal with a wonderful family. I am still terrible at Spanish. Every morning at dawn we would go to some field and hoe out the entire place, plant trees, move trees, build houses.

I met a little boy named Carlo. He was, like many, many of the children there, homeless, left to fend for himself. He began to follow me and he loved learning English from me. I bought him icecream and shoes. We spent so much time together. He looked like he was 7, maybe 8 years old. Turns out he was almost 13. He was emaciated and always so dirty. I'll never forget, the day I was leaving and he helped me put my bags into the truck, begging for me to take him with me. I would have if I'd been able to, in a heartbeat. The place was inspiring. I've never seen such broken, beautiful people in my entire life. And I thought I never would again. Until I went to Thailand.

I stayed in Phuket, Thailand for a month in February 2008. It was the most wonderful experience of my life. Here I worked with people in poverty as well as endangered Gibbon apes and elephants. The culture of Thailand has really stuck with me. I'm extremely interested in Buddhism, and relate to it more than any other religion, as I'm spiritual, not religious. I know a little bit of Thai, and am working on learning more. I'd love to live there for a while.

The work in Thailand was more intense than that in Nicaragua. We were building cages in the last protected rainforest on the island of Phuket. It was rigorous. We had to cut out steps into the jungle floor and cement over them. Cement we had made ourselves and lugged up through the disheveled forest. It was hot, work days were long, and my hand got very badly injured by a Gibbon named Sam who hated women because of the abuse they'd put him through before he'd been rescued by the Gibbon Rehabilitation Program (GRP). I had to get stitches in my hand, (the video of which is on facebook if you're interested), and just putting it out there, Thai doctors in the medical shacks of the jungle have never heard of anesthetics. Our English translator told me I'd just have to "man up." That was interesting.

In Thailand I met people who, once we were on a communicative level (they absolutely loved learning English), told me about being in National Geographic. I'd always loved that magazine, and never in my life did I think I'd be in a place, surrounded by people who, many times over, had been the topic of it. The stories I have from and photos I took in Thailand and Nicaragua are the core of my portfolio that got me in to SVA, as well as the basis of my passion for photo journalism. I aspire more than anything to be someone who gives these people I've spent time with help and hope and comfort and companionship.

On a lighter note, I've been out of Utah and back in New York for a little over a year now. My mangled life has been put back together.

Fall in New York is my absolute favorite time of year. I love being outside and am kind of a hippie at heart. Music is my inspiratio

n for almost everything in life. I play the guitar, sing, and write music and lyrics. I'm in a band, Crazy James. We play in New York so maybe you'll come see us sometime. We're pretty good, not gonna lie. I listen to a lot of different types of music. A lot of alternative, ambient, electronic, rock, but most that doesn't fit any sort of genre. I work a lot (at Dempseys bar on 2nd avenue between 3rd and 4th street), so if I have time to read it's mostly memoirs. And some of my favorites in general are The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Only Revolutions, Fight Club, The Lovely Bones, and Naked Lunch.

xo