Feb 05 2010

Der Nachtfalter

Befriended Blogs #2: The Chinese Talberts

Filed under Befriended Blogs

Recently I added a new blog to the blogroll links, and I thought I would briefly highlight it in a blog post.

“The Chinese Talberts,” Dave and Des(iree), teach English at the Shanghai Institute of Health Sciences, also known as something else in Chinese. Both graduated from BJU in the mid 2000s. Dave’s parents are missionaries in Canada, and Des . . . well I don’t really know much about her family. We’ll say they’re wealthy nobles in Northern England who breed poodles.

One of the fun (and sometimes frustrating) aspects of teaching English classes to lower level American students is being able to read plenty of compositions containing humorous (generally for all the wrong reasons) sentences. Now imagine getting those sentences from people to whom English is a second language. Dave and Des’s blog shares many comical examples from their teaching experiences as well as covering broader aspects of life in China, becoming a new parent, and even some poetry.

Here’s an excerpt written shortly after the birth of their daughter Chloe.

I have a theory: that being born is kind of like being shown onto the deck of the U.S.S. Enterprise. “Here’s your ship!” the attendant says, and then walks out, leaving you with no crew and no instruction manual. So you spend the next four or five years pushing buttons and pulling levers more or less at random, trying to figure out what to do in order to reverse the polarity on the deflector array or reprogram the warp nacelles or something. Occasionally you figure out that this sequence of buttons does this thing, and eventually, everything works so well that you can’t remember not being able to do things (like we are as adults). But in the meantime, the captains of the vessels around you have a good laugh at your expense as you beam the mess hall into space, shoot yourself with your own phasers, and commit other various indignities.

Besides being English teachers and good Christian friends, Dave and Des also enjoy the occasional round of fantasy gaming. Whenever they get the chance to visit Greenville, Dave’s sisters and several other friends get together for an entire day of twizzlers, pizza, ice tea, passing the baby around, and saving the world from evils so horrible they would make the brains of lesser men claw their way out through their eye sockets at the thought.

Their blog is located at chinesetalberts.blogspot.com. Unfortunately, those of us still at BJ cannot access it blogspot blogs directly. One can see their most recent blog posts, however, by googling “the Chinese Talberts” and clicking the “cached” button for their blog (which comes up as “Shanghai’d”).

So check out their blog–you won’t be sorry!

But you don’t have to take *my* word for it.

(cue Reading Rainbow music)

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Jan 29 2010

Der Nachtfalter

Top Ten List #7: Animated Movies

Filed under Top Ten Lists

10.The Hobbit (1977): Better suited for a children’s animated movie than the trilogy (yes I know it was supposed to be one volume, stop trying to show off your superior knowledge of Tolkiensia and get over it!), this adaptation stays fairly true to the plot and spirit of Tolkien’s book. Between the spiders, wood elves, dwarves, goblins, a dragon, and late 70’s folk minstrel music, there’s plenty to keep a viewer interested. It sadly leaves out Beorn though.

9. Peter Pan (1953): One of the few animated movies in which the music had a part in my selection. “Following the Leader” is incredibly catchy (in fact, it will probably be in my head for the rest of the day), and “What Makes the Red Man Red” is pretty cool, if possibly politically incorrect these days. Of course it’s the classic Peter Pan story complete with its darker moments (the Mermaids), and a surprising amount of romantic tension between Peter and Wendy and Tiger Lily.

8. 9(confusing isn’t it) (2009): On the exterior, 9 is an innovative post apocalyptic fairy tale. Unfortunately, the setting masks a story which is actually far less novel than several of the other movies on this list, and the movie fails to give believable motives for some of the main characters. Nonetheless, it’s an exciting and enthralling movie with a few beautiful (and several extremely creepy) moments. Who wouldn’t want to watch a movie that includes one of the main burlap doll characters being killed and then used to create a grotesque and freaky snake/spider/scorpion doll that hypnotizes the other dolls and sews them up inside of itself?

7. A Bug’s Life (1998): Between the insane grasshopper, Thumper, the young ant’s gruesome “play” celebrating the bug warriors, the “flaming death!” circus act, and Hopper’s gruesome end, I think this movie wins the award for most morbid Pixar movie (though it’s certainly nowhere near as twisted as 9). The tone of the movie, however, is light and at its heart lies colorful and funny characters and an engaging twist on a classic plot (dubbed “the bugnificent seven”).

6. The Iron Giant (1999): Despite some liberal leaning themes (anti-gun, mainly), this movie’s main theme teaches that actions are chosen by individuals, not forced by other influences. Instead of relying on cute animation tricks like talking woodland animals, it tells a story that would be equally at home in a live action movie. In a setting soaked in 1950’s paranoia and sci-fi images, the Iron Giant and the boy become symbols of freedom and sacrifice.

bakshi5. Lord of the Rings (1978): From a production and marketing perspective, this film was a disaster (renaming Saruman, “Aruman,” making Aragorn look like a native American scout, lots of poor editing, a ridiculous looking balrog, and not telling theater goers it ended in the middle of the second are just a few examples of poor execution), but what the movie gets right almost makes up for it. The best part of the movie is the tone: unlike other adaptations it’s not a kid’s bedtime story and it’s not full of pointless physical humor. It’s dark, scary, and violent. When I read Lord of the Rings for the first time as a first or second grader, I found them to be pretty scary (at one point my dad had to reassure me that none of the hobbits or Aragorn or Legolas or Gimli died), and despite its many shortcomings, this adaption captured that sense of child-like fear more than any of the other attempts. Plus it has an epic poster. :D

4. WALL-E (2008): One of the interesting things about this movie is the long stretches without conventional dialogue. It feels highly experimental, somewhat like a 100 minute long Pixar “short.” But, perhaps thanks to their experience with short films, Pixar does a great job at telling a story through sounds and images. WALL-E is a plucky and devoted hero made all the more lovable by his (its?) unexceptional abilities (he’s really just a trash compactor after all). The story may contain anti-consumerism messages, but it has a much more optimistic and human tone than most movies with similar messages *coughavatarcough.*

3. Ratatouille (2007): Pixar’s innovation continues–who else would make a movie about a rat . . . who likes to cook gourmet food? There are no epic battles, no evil uncles or step-mothers, no saving humanity or some other race, and no life or death stakes (though probably plenty of steaks), only lots of chefs and rats, but the movie still draws the viewer in. The ending is tastefully (ha!) understated yet uplifting and is a commentary on art and life. The film manages to be anti-elitist without abandoning the importance of quality in art (and food), and maintains the highest quality of animation, imagination, and humor itself.

2. Up (2009): The second phase of this movie centers on the adventures of Carl as an old man, and is very good, but the opening scenes of the movie really make it special. Goofy Carl meets spunky Ellie and the two fall in love. Fortunately, Up avoids the sappiness that bogs down many other movies in similar situations. The next few minutes of the movie accomplish something incredible. In WALL-E, Pixar seriously experimented with dialogue-less story telling techniques; in Up, Pixar perfected it. Using only music and picture, the movie follows Carl and Ellie as they age together, showing their dreams, but more often their broken dreams and hardships that they manage to face through their love for each other. In just a few short minutes, the movie portrays a more poignant and beautifully heartbreaking love story than can be found in almost any full-length Hollywood movie. The rest of the movie is funny (though at times you have to forget two of the main characters are 78 and . . . at least 100) and involves a touching symbol-filled story about letting go of the past and enjoying the present, but that part is really just the icing on the cake.

1. Beauty and the Beast (1991): Despite being the only animated movie to ever be nominated for a rose-jarbest picture Oscar (that will almost certainly change this year with Up), Beauty and the Beast doesn’t top many lists of best animated or even Disney movies (people more commonly choose The Lion King, one of the Toy Story movies, or an older movie such as Snow White, Fantasia (1940), or Pinocchio), but I have a lot of nostalgia for it. Some parts of the movie actually went a ways toward the formation of my personality. But aside from personal aspects, I still think Beauty and the Beast is the best Disney movie when one considers the atmosphere, music, characters, and story. It’s a classic that has stood the test of time and has become one of my favorite movies of any genre.

Honorable Mentions: The Return of the King (1980), Robin Hood (1973), Chicken Run (2000), every other Pixar movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937), The Emperor’s New Groove (2000).

Dishonorable Mentions: Valiant (2005), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), Balto (1995), Shark Tale (2004).

Animated Movies I haven’t seen but want to: Spirited Away (2002), Waltz With Bashir (2009), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Pinocchio (1940), The Black Cauldron (1985), Fantasia (1940).

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Jan 22 2010

Der Nachtfalter

Beauty and the Beast: Sublimity in Art

Filed under Art

What do most Mozart music, rococo  paintings, and Jane Austen novels have in common? They exhibit Burke’s concept beauty. What do Mahler’s music, most abstract art, and Moby Dick have in common? They are sublime.

According to Kenneth Burke*, the characteristics of beauty are:

First, to be comparatively small. Secondly, to be smooth. Thirdly, to have a variety in the direction of the parts; but, fourthly, to have those parts not angular, but melted as it were into each other. Fifthly, to be of a delicate frame, without any remarkable appearance of strength. Sixthly, to have its colours clear and bright, but not very strong and glaring. Seventhly, or if it should have any glaring colour, to have it diversified with others.

He certainly describes what I think of when I think of Mozart or Austen. Fine, smooth, intricate, delicate, bright, dainty, elegant, without any remarkable appearance of strength . .

Sublimity, on the other hand:

For sublime objects are vast in their dimensions . . . the great [is] rugged and negligent . . . the great in many cases loves the right line, and when it deviates it often makes a strong deviation . . . the great ought to be dark and gloomy . . . the great ought to be solid, and even massive.

Dark, strong, rugged . . . guess which approach to art I prefer.**

Consider this painting:

Return of the Bucentoro to the Molo on Ascension Day

Return of the Bucentoro to the Molo on Ascension Day

This is an excellent example of the beautiful: lots of small intricate details, photo-realism, elegant colors, and everything in perfect clarity, but this painting transmits no real emotional or imaginative impact. The painting communicates that its subject are in a rather ordinary emotional state and perhaps a bit frustrated even (look at the guy in the middle of the foremost boat). The demeanor of the subjects is intellectually stimulating considering the picture represents activity on the feast day of Ascension, but the style of the painting itself does not stimulate an emotional or imaginative response from the observer. The painter gives the observer no emotional tie to the subjects or even any indication one is needed. His artistry lies mainly in the this skill with which he paints small accurate details; it produces admiration, but not love or fear or warmth or coldness. It is lukewarm.

By way of comparison, these paintings by Boccioni are some of my favorite paintings.

States of Mind I: The Farewells

States of Mind I: The Farewells

States of Mind II: Those Who Leave

States of Mind II: Those Who Leave

States of Mind III: Those Who Stay

States of Mind III: Those Who Stay

These paintings, which describing partings at a train station, conform more to Burke’s notion of the sublime. They transmit emotion without sacrificing intellectual interest. The first one visually depicts the emotions of saying goodbye combined with the hectic activity of making the train and the physical aspects of the train’s smoke and noise.

The second painting uses horizontal lines to convey the movement of those whisked away by the train. There is sadness, but also light (the squareness of the yellow squares suggests light entering through train windows, no?). Though the composition suggests pensive qualities (there’s not much to do in a train car but think), these people are going somewhere and doing something, in contrast with those who are left behind.

The third painting portrays, through the heavy horizontal lines, the sadness that presses down on those who are left behind. They shuffle quietly home from the station to a life that seems drab either after the excitement of a visit from friends or in disappointment over not being able to go somewhere with others.

The marriage of emotion with visual elements creates a deeper artistic experience. The undefined nature of the pictures stimulates imagination and thus emotional response as it draws the observer in, forcing him to create a interpretation around himself rather than merely viewing someone else’s clearly defined interpretation.

Burke defines discusses the difference between the emotional effects of clarity and obscurity:

It is one thing to make an idea clear, and another to make it affecting to the imagination. If I make a drawing of a palace, or a temple, or a landscape, I present a very clear idea of those objects; but then (allowing for the effect of imitation, which is something) my picture can at most affect only as the palace, temple, or landscape would have affected in the reality . . .

[Non-pictoral descriptions] raise obscure and imperfect idea[s] of such objects; but then it is in my power to raise a stronger emotion by the description than I could do by the best [photo realistic] painting.

Burke is actually comparing paintings in general (abstract and non representational paintings not having been introduced by that time) with verbal descriptions, but the same principle applies to the difference between clarity and obscurity within the genre of  paintings as well.

Tolstoy said, “Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that other people are infected by these feelings and also experience them.”

His definition may be simplified, but certainly bears much truth.

One might ask if emotion is a large part of art, why would one prefer art which emits horror, tragedy, sorrow, or fear? Burke posits that emotions based on pain are necessarily stronger than those based on pleasure. I am not so sure of his theory, but I find that I am generally a happy person who finds life on a whole quite enjoyable. A painting then that is only happy or bright or cheerful does nothing to move me from where I am.  If art does not move a person more strongly than ordinary life, then what is the point of it being art?  Besides, the happiest things benefit from proximity with darker things. A novel which starts, progresses, and ends happily is less moving and memorable than a novel with much sadness and suffering that overcomes the darkness and ends up happy.

I am not altogether unappreciative of photo-realistic paintings. For instance, this one appeals to me very much.

Abendstummung in der Campag

Abendstummung in der Campagna

While photo-realistic in style, the painting contains several aspects of the sublime. The clouds are brooding and onimous, and the landscape is vast and ruinous. Its conveyance of emotion is less direct than Boccioni’s paintings, but the picture produces a strong sense of atmosphere.

*Thinks he has rambled long enough* I am sure many people have extremely different opinions, but I think this fairly accurately describes what I enjoy in the visual arts.

*The entire text of Burke’s work on aesthetics can be found here.
** Disclaimer: I know nothing about art and the following is to be taken as my opinion and personal approach, not as objective truth.

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Dec 25 2009

Der Nachtfalter

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! (Top Ten List #6: Christmas Carols)

Filed under Top Ten Lists

Everyone likes Christmas, and everyone likes top ten lists so . . . my ten favorite Christmas carols!!! No numbers this time though, I like them all too much!

Second Tier–Six carols I love but wouldn’t be tempted to call my very favorite.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Lo, How a Rose
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Once in Royal David’s City
What Child is This
Wexford Carol

First Tier–Depending on the day I might say any one of these four carols (six+four=ten!) is my very favorite Christmas Carol.

Carol of the Bells
In the Bleak Midwinter
I Wonder as I Wander
The First Noel

I hope everyone has a great Christmas!

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Dec 24 2009

Der Nachtfalter

Lux Aeternam: Coriander’s Heroes

It’s time to introduce some of Coriander’s heroes and simultaneously describe some of the religious atmosphere of Coriander. While Coriander is my own fantasy world, it’s sort of based on and compatible with Dungeons and Dragons settings. Like the gods in DnD, most of the gods worshiped in Coriander’s world are similar to Greek gods in power, perhaps even slightly weaker. Their personalities range from lawful and good to chaotic and evil. However, even the lawful good gods receive worship illegitimately since only the creator of the universe has the authority and right to receive worship. Coriander is one of few nations that allow open worship of the true God, in most nations Only a small minority worship the true God, and they suffer fierce persecution from those who worship other gods. The servants of the true God recieve power similar to that granted the heroes of the Old Testament and early church. As such, prophets and great holy warriors still battle evil in ways no longer found in our world. Lux Aeternam is a band of twelve of these heroes who are roughly analogous to the twelve disciples or twelve tribes of Judah.

Since the characters are based on Dungeons and Dragons character concepts, I’ll have to explain a few things before showing you the twelve heroes. The first thing is the concept of character “role.” In DnD, characters work together as a team and have different jobs in combat. The more balanced a team is between different roles, the better equipped they will be to face a wide variety of dangers. There are four roles in Dnd. Each class fulfills a specific role and also has a secondary role which the character fills less efficiently.

Character Roles

Show/Hide Combat Role Explanation

Classes

Classes correspond to a broad description of what a character does. Gandalf is a Wizard, Conan the Barbarian is a . . . well . . . Barbarian. Each character has a main class (possibly hybridized with another), and one or two multiclasses which represent the character’s dabbling with different skills and powers.
Show/Hide Class Descriptions

Race Descriptions

Finally, the description of the characters in Lux Aeternam introduces a few races that I haven’t talked about in Coriander yet. Several of them would just be variations of a single race in Coriander, but in the DnD universe they are separate, so they appear as such in the character snapshots.
Show/Hide Race Descriptions

The Heroes

Finally, here are the members of Lux Aeternam. The corresponding characters don’t always fit perfectly, but hopefully they will be a quick way to paint their personalities. I chose the corresponding tribes based on the blessings in Genesis 49.
Show/Hide Character Portraits

Whew. For the record, that took a while to make the hide/show text work. If anyone’s curious, I mostly followed the instructions on this page.

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