IR Blog Post #3 – Huffington Post 1

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-scarborough/the-zero-sum-game-of-feli_b_786958.html3

3 Facts

- Felicity Nove painted two portraits that are analyzed in the following paragraphs.

- It was said that her work was made to express the feeling of chaos which is made by splattered and tattered images with various color schemes.

- Then the last paragraph discusses how she has something pulling each one together to bring a snese of fulfillment after looking at her paintings.

2 Questions

- What inspired her to paint that?

- What other types of media does she use?

1 Supported Opinion

- http://www.artslant.com/ny/artists/show/26733-felicity-nove ; this shows that she uses the media to try and portray a specific feelings or emotions. She enjoys the poured paint look, because that is her little trademark. She feels as though it just flows naturally. She tries to keep the paintings refreshing and clear.

New Vocab:

Gestural - A motion of the limbs or body made to express or help express thought or to emphasize speech.

Aesthetic - A branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty

Cataclysmic - A violent upheaval that causes great destruction or brings about a fundamental change

Skirmishes - An episode of irregular or unpremeditated fighting, esp. between small or outlying parts of armies or fleets.

Disparate -Essentially different in kind; not allowing comparison.
IR Blog Post #2 – New York Times- Music 1

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/arts/music/28wu.html?_r=1&ref=music

3 Facts

- Wu Man came into America to produce music on the rare instrument known as the Pipa.

- She started as a nobody who did not speak any English and worked her way up to make a CD of her playing this exquisite music.

- Ms. Wu can play a variety of different styles and genres of music with her uncommon instrument.

2 Questions

- How did Ms. Wu learn English?

- Who taught Ms. Wu how to play the Pipa?

1 Supported Opinion

http://www.philmultic.com/pipa.html ; This particular article shows how old the instrument is. An instrument being this old- can be hard to teach yourself how to play which shows how impressive Ms. Wu is.

New Vocab:

Ethnomusicologists - a branch of musicology defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts.

Deciphered -

1. Convert (a text written in code, or a coded signal) into normal language.

2. Succeed in understanding, interpreting, or identifying (something).

Pipa - is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument.

Soloists - a person playing music or singing alone

Boisterous - Noisy, energetic, and cheerful; rowdy

Panoply - Ceremonial attire

Enliven - To make lively or spirited.

IR Blog Post #1 – Lens 1

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/earning-the-trust-of-haitians-with-h-i-v/

3 Facts

- Andre and the author have been going to Haiti for months now to report the HIV/A.I.D.’s problem.

- They met many people, and interviewed them and asked them what they were planning on doing with their futures and many of them were unable to answer.

- They made people feel comfortable around them so that they could record what they were saying, which got them many firsthand accounts of what was going on with the aftermath of the earthquake on top of the HIV epidemic.

2 Questions

- What were some of the techniques they used to make people more comfortable talking to them?

- What were their reasons for wanting to become more personal with the author as opposed to ‘detached’ as they describe it?

1 Supported Opinion

- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31755066/ns/health-aids ; This shows that the epidemic is slowly getting better and that people are not as hopeless as the article makes them out to be. There is hope for the community of Haiti. Just by reading that one young lady’s story, you can see that even someone that is going through it can be hopeful.

New Vocab:

Sensationalize-Present information about (something) in a way that provokes public interest and excitement, at the expense of accuracy.

Voodoo priest- is a type of practitioner of traditional healing arts.

Serovie- a grass-roots organization that provides for the gay and lesbian population.

Camaraderie- Mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together.

Independent Reading Blogs
1.) http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/pictures-of-the-day-wall-street-and-elsewhere/
( History, Politics, & Current Events)

2.) http://www.nytimes.com/pages/arts/music/index.html
(Sports, Entertainment, & Leisure)

3.) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/18/robert-de-niro-honors-fat_n_785727.html
(Arts and Academia)
Online Reading
I do not do enough online reading as I probably should. I am more of a paperback/hardcover book kind of girl. I sometimes follow news with tumblr and other times I read up on a small news site. But not too much.