A little bit of trivia

So for any of you who happened to pick up an exponent this week, you probably skipped to the good stuff, such as the "Ask Time Traveling Sherlock (from the past)" He is like the male version of dear Abby for our school. His most recent inquiry was from an Andy K. and it said:

"Dear Sherlock, I went to Butte for Saint Patrick's Day over spring break, and i somehow woke up in the middle of campus back in Bozeman, without shoes, a shirt or much of my dignity. All I had in my pockets was a quarter, a piece of paper with a number on it, and what I'm guessing was an old man's prosthetic finger. Is there any way to figure out what happened to me that night?"

Now I'm no Sherlock, but there is a certain book from class that this made me think of, how about you? Perhaps this Andy K. could read it find enlightenment.

P.S. if you cant make the connection you should probably drop the class sorry :(

Shakespeare: A love hate relationship

The Tempest, By William Shakespeare

Generally I liked this play, even though it is something I will hopefully, never have to read again in my life. I despise reading Shakespeare. He makes no sense, his characters are dull, and his humor is lacking. Yes I HATE READING SHAKESPEARE!

I love Shakespeare! All of his plays are epic and thoroughly entertaining. Each summer I try to go to Shakespeare in the Parks as often as I can! His words are soulful, his imagery is outstanding, and his humor is knee-slappable.

How is it that something so horrible can be so good? When I watch actors and actresses give life to the characters that are hidden within the depths of the monotonous text, I am always amazed. The characters become dynamic and it is so easy for me to understand what is going on. I know that the voice inflection and seeing the stage directions being acted out are the reasons for my understanding but still. Utter amazement!!

Matrix

Hmmmm what is the Matrix you ask? Well that's a tricky one. Since I am a terrible arguer when it comes to things that circulate back to the original question I shall simply state, I do not know. But since no one is here to fight back at what I say, I believe I shall go on!

The Matrix. In the movie it is explained as a false reality that A.I. created, essentially taking over our world with its virtualistic one. But since humans created the A.I. that created the Matrix, then wasn't it actually the humans that trapped themselves in this unknown state of being? Well I guess this doesn't even matter all that much, one way or another, the A.I. took over and put humanity into this contraption. Back to the Matrix, is it reality? Why not. Obviously it simulates the real world in all the ways that we know and understand to be real, so why not accept this as reality. Or how about one version of reality? Who's to say that it isn't real. If your mind is convinced everything around it is real why can't it be real? If our minds are what make us creatures of reason and are our reason for existence, I don't see why this can't be a reality that will suffice the needs of a human being. Since you can both live and die in the Matrix I think it is safe to say who cares. You still have your "free will", there are killers and teachers and everything else in between, so whats the problem... so what if machines are feeding off of your body, if your mind is happy shouldn't you be?
I understand the whole moral aspect of living in truth and wanting to know what is reality, but technically if you never learned about it, then would it still be real? Like when Neo is struggling with the truth, he would never of had to go through that if he had just been left alone, blissfully ignorant in the Matrix, living his dual life with no care whether it was real or not.
Hmmm I guess the Matrix is what you make it to be... if you do not believe that you are really here, that this life is a false one that is your choice. Personally, I believe that this is my temporary reality, for it could change in the blink of an eye, so I shall enjoy it while I can, and not question its existence. But if other information arises that makes me question this as a reality, I will reserve the right to change my mind without question.

Fiction: truth or lies?

The first time that I watched Stranger Than Fiction, I had no idea what was going on, the only thing I was sure of was that whoever wrote it was on crack. But like any fool I watched the terrible movie again, and low and behold I liked it. Why? I don't know. What changed? I have no idea, but for some reason, it just made sense.

I have not made it all the way through Beckett's stories, let alone gone through them more than once, so I have a feeling that even if I tried, really hard, I would never make a change to liking it like I did with this lower brow movie.

In both of these works, there are constant reminders that these are works of fiction. These elements push the reader/viewer out of the story in order to create an unsettling awareness of the goings-on that they are viewing are fake.