It has been fun writing in this blog. Now the school year is over and its time for me to step away from this blog for the time being. I learned a lot from english 114 and it was fun having the same teacher for a full year. As long as I am interested in a topic I will always write and even possibly on this blog. Thank you for your time and see you all later.

V for Vendetta

The story “V for Vendetta” written by Allan More and directed by James McTeigue, is a story about a masked man named V who was once used as a test subject for the governments wicked experiments. He then escapes and has a mission to give the people of England the freedom they used to have. While doing this he goes out and murders the people who created the man he has become. Throughout the story V uses different symbols that represent important parts of his mission. V uses these symbols to make him feel as though he is not doing the things he does for himself, but for the meanings that they symbolize, he uses three symbols that stick out throughout the story that are his mask, the roses he puts on his victims, and his name. 

Throughout the whole story, V hides his face under a Guy Fawkes mask. V felt that he had to defend England and stand up agains the Government and in order to do that his goal was to blow up Parliament. This was not the first time that there was an attempt to take down Parliament. “On November 5, 1605 thirteen alienated Catholics aimed to blow up Parliament in order to kill the Stuart royal family and the assembled Lords and Commons, trigger a Catholic rising, and install James I's surviving daughter Elizabeth as the figurehead of a Catholic regime.” (Cramsie) Guy Fawkes was the main man who planted tons of gunpowder in the cellars underneath Parliament. He was caught just as he was about to light the fuse. He was a catholic, and was trying to assassinate king James who was against Catholicism. Since King James was the head of the government, the only possible way to bring back Catholicism to England was to assassinate the king. 

This is V’s foundation but instead of fighting for Catholicism he is fighting for freedom. V wears his mask because he does not want to be seen as a human being. “We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world.” (Moore) V wants to leave a legacy that will allow the community to see him not as an individual but as a metaphorical creature portraying the idea of hope. V knows that no single man would be able to take down the government because man can fail but the idea of hope can bring the community together and together take down the government. The people of London seeked hope to be free from the government and to at last live a normal life once more. V’s idea came true and the whole community came together and stepped up to the government. V died before his goal of destroying Parliament was achieved but his idea carried on past him and brought it down. Even though he died, his idea will live on forever. 

Before V wanted to restore freedom he was in a concentration camp called Larkhill. Following World War III, a new fascist regime known as  Norsefire took control of Britain's ruling class. There primary initiative was to eliminate those who were unfavorable to the system of order. Unfavored people were Jews, minorities, political opportunists and homosexuals. Many of them were transferred to relocation centers such as Larkhill. We are never told why V was brought to the camp but while he was there he was selected to be treated for scientific experiments. “Over four dozen prisoners were subjected to the Batch 5 experiments, with barely 25% of them surviving the process” (Treuthardt). V was one of the prisoners who survived the experiments and proved to be a model prisoner. He was allowed to work in the camp’s garden where he grew roses and raised crops for the camps administrators. During this time he was housed in room 5 where he received a note from his neighboring prisoner. This note turned out to be an auto biography of his neighbors life. 

Her name was Valerie and she was in room number 4. She was brought to Larkhill for being a lesbian. Valeria and her lover Ruth were used to live in a small house in London. There Ruth grew roses called scarlet carsons in the window box for Valerie. There home always smelled like roses and were the best years of her life. Valerie and Ruth were separated and brought to the camp. Ruth was interrogated and forced to give up information concerning Valerie. Wracked with guilt over betraying he, Ruth took her own life. Valerie was then later tortured and killed. V received her Biography shortly before she died and has since then set out to murder all of the people who caused them harm. After every murder he leaves a rose with them in memory of many things. In memory of Valerie who’s lover grew them for her, in memory of when V grew them in Larkhills garden, and in memory of roses who were not extinct. 

V uses a mask to make him an idea instead of a person and to complete his image he uses a name that he chose, V. “His name is not even a name at all, it's a letter. Its meaning and purpose changes depending on the context it's used in; it is, in every sense of the phrase, a place to start” (Treuthardt). At Larkhill he was kept in the fifth room, labeled with the roman numeral for five--"V". “Adopting that symbol as his name, V pays respect to the forces that made him who he is” (Treuthardt). By using his room number, V is a living symbol of all the casualties of Norsefire's genocide. He was inspired by the number and his idea of the name “V” became his reality where he could pass on the idea of “V” to the world. 

V died at the end of the story but since he disguised himself, no one knew who he was and therefore made him an idea. This idea carried has since been carried on past his death. Even after he died his idea of bringing down Parliament came to a reality because of what his idea stood for. V was not really a terrorist, even though he committed murder and destruction, his disguise is what kept him from believing that he was a terrorist and instead an idea with a good deed. This good deed is what freed england from the government and united them once more. 

Works Cited

Moore, Alan, and David Lloyd. V for Vendetta. New York: DC Comics, 2005. Print.

Treuthardt, Mark. "V for Vendetta Analysis - Who Is V?" Welcome to the Shadow Galaxy. Shadowgalaxy, 2006. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. <http://www.shadowgalaxy.net/Vendetta/whov.html>.

Cramsie, John. "Remember, Remember: A Cultural History of Guy Fawkes Day." The Historian 69.1 (2007): 168+. General OneFile. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.

Censorship is the banning of public communication in the form of art, books, speech, or other ways of getting across an idea. This idea that is being communicated may be considered inappropriate to the population by the government, media outlet, or other body with control. A good example of censorship in USA is found on the news and on the radio. Words such as f**k and s**t are some of the words censored on broadcasts. Even I have to censor my words on this blog.  That is the most commonly seen form of censorship. Many T.V. stations such as MTV censor many of the words that are used in their reality shows.

Disney California Adventure

    Built right across from Disneyland, California Adventure welcomes you to enjoy the wonders of California back in its glory days with a Disney twist. This theme park opened back in 2001 on top of Disneyland's former 100 acer parking lot. During its early years the park failed to attract crowds and impress the public, but since then the park has grown to become one of the best sister parks to any Disney theme park. From the moment you enter to your end of the day viewing of World of Color, a nighttime water spectacular; you are surrounded in stunning architecture that makes you really wonder if this park was built my man or just pure Disney Magic. The significance of this park is how they can make you feel as if you were in a town far in the desert, a forrest in Yosemite, and in LA back in the 1920’s. All of this brought together is what makes this park special in many ways. 

  When you go to California Adventure and walk into Cars Land, you walk into a small town that is surrounded by a mountain range. The site of this makes you feel as if you have been transported into a desert. “When you go to Disneyland you are transported into a particular place and time, and before the expansion of California Adventure, you were never transported anywhere, said Principal Creative Advisor John Lassiter.” (D23) With the additions to California Adventure people are transported to different places and eras. Cars Land represents the California deserts back in the 1950‘s. This land has the small town of “Radiator Springs” seen in the movie “Cars.” The town is set up the exact same way as the movie from the Cozy Cone Motel all the way up to the Courthouse. As you walk around Cars Land you will notice how much detail there is in everything from the desert trees to the lamp posts that light up the land. One thing that people don't notice is the design of the mountain range. “The mountain range that creates Ornament Valley is designed after Cadillac tail fins from 1956-1962 with the 1959 tail fin being the highest point on the mountain, said Walt Disney Imagineer Kathy Mangum.” (D23) Disney has always paid attention to detail and you can really see it in this land. The diner in the land serves food that is seen all along Route 66 such as pie and burgers. The seating area of the diner is facing the mountain range giving the whole restaurant a spectacular view as guests enjoy a meal. Across the street there are shops inspired by curio shops along Route 66 that sell things such as bobble heads, tin posters, and antenna balls. Next door the Cozy Cone Motel is home to food vendors and with the amount of detail Disney puts into its products, they even designed the food after the Cone theme. Some of the popular food items are Chile Cone Carne, Pop Cone, Cone on the Cob, and Snow Cones. The Cone themed food is a nice touch that enhances the experience to the Land. On the outskirts of the town is where you will find Cars Lands main attraction. Radiator Springs Racers is a ride that takes you around the caverns of the mountain and finishes with a high speed race around the valley. This area of Cars Land is amazingly beautiful with its springs and oasis along with its trail back to civilization. The attention to detail Disney put in this land is outstanding but they didn't stop there. 

    At the Center of California Adventure is Grizzly peak, a land inspired by Yosemite Valley.  This land takes place in the 1940‘s era when mining towns existed and miners were in search of gold. This land has to be the most beautiful part of the park with its massive rocky mountain and red wood forest. There are trails that take you down to a river with water geysers and trails that take you past a waterfall. Everywhere you go in this land the rocky mountain is in site dominating the skyline. “We wanted the mountain to clearly represent the beauty of California’s natural wilderness and along with that we wanted to develop an icon out of granite. The grizzly bear fit the bill perfectly, said Senior Concept Designer Chris Tietz. (Sklar 97) This is why if you look at the mountain from certain angles you can see the head of a grizzly bear. The mountain is also home to Grizzly River Run. “Grizzly River Run appropriately nicknamed “Grr” is the longest, tallest, and fastest white-water-rapids ride ever built.” (Sklar 98) The ride is also the only water ride of its kind to have drops. As you fall down the drop the raft spins making it a thrilling experience. This whole area really does a good job in surrounding you into California's Natural Forests and makes you feel as if you were truly there. None of this great architecture would have ever been created if Walt Disney never created his Company. This next land is in honor of his arrival in California and houses the theater that made Disney what it is today. 

 As you enter California Adventure, you will be transported back to Buena Vista Street, the Los Angeles of Walt Disney’s start. This main entrance represents Los Angeles back in the 1920’s when Walt first arrived in California that led up to him creating his Movie Studio. “Buena Vista Street is a tribute to Walt arriving in California in the 1920’s and 30’s. As you walk down the street, many of the shops and restaurants that you see look as if they could have inspired Walt Disney to create the motion pictures and shorts that he did, said Senior Show Writer Dave Fisher.” (Blue Sky Disney) Walt could have walked down this street and seen Clarabelle ice cream shop and have gotten the idea for his character Clarabelle. All the amazing detail in this entrance has its own story behind it. As you walk down the street you can see the trolley wires over head, the Hyperion bridge crossing over you, the trolleys passing you by and all of this leading you up the the amazing Carthay Circle Theater. “One of the things that was really important to the team as we began to look at this really immersive main entrance was to provide an icon or a centerpiece that would really culminate your journey as you walked up the street, said Senior Show Producer Melissa Berry.” (Blue Sky Disney) This magnificent theater is a replica of the Carthay Circle Theater where Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered that made the Walt Disney Company what it is today. With the success of Snow White, Walt made enough money to create his main Movie Studio along Buena Vista Street in Burbank California and had the funds to build Disneyland. The theater has since been torn down but its replica is the main icon of California Adventure. This main entrance is the true masterpiece of the park because of its amazing architecture LA used to have in the early 1900’s and because of the tribute it has towards Walt Disney. No other Disney Theme Park entrance has been created representing the creation of the Walt Disney company and no other will. Disneyland was the only Disney theme park Created and enjoyed by Walt himself and to honor that specialness Buena Vista Street was specifically built right in front of Disneyland. 

    California Adventure is a Park not to miss the next time you go on a Disney vacation. It transports you to different places in time. From the Cars Land Desert, to the Grizzly Peak Forrest, through Buena Vista street for a 1920’s LA feel, California Adventure truly delivers. Not to mention the other great lands such as Paradise Pier representing the coast of California, Hollywood Land representing Hollywood back in the early 1900’s, Pacific Wharf representing San Francisco Fisherman Wharfs, and Condor Flats representing California Aviation. This park has everything to do with the wonderful state of California and is all mixed with Disney magic. The next time you plan a trip to Disneyland, do not miss out on California Adventure for it will transport you back in time and amaze you in only a way Disney can. 

Works Cited

Surrell, Jason. The Disney Mountains: Imagineering at Its Peak. New York: Disney Editions, 2007. Print.

Lasseter, John.  “Radiator Springs Reality Complete.” D23 expo. Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA. September 2011. Keynote Address 

Fisher, Dave. “Designing Buena Vista Street” Blue Sky Cellar. California Adventure, Anaheim, CA. 4 April 2012. Video Presentation

Universal Studios Hollywood's Ethnography

 

        Universal Studios Hollywood is known to being the entertainment capitol of LA. Located right off the Hollywood freeway in Universal City, Universal Studios is a destination that locals and tourists visit every year. Its located on top of and below a mountain that makes this place a well used space. Houses and antenna structures are built on mountains but theme parks are a different story. Theme Parks are built on flat land so that the guests don’t become exhausted while walking. Since there is limited land in LA county and Universal did not want to move there movie studio, they decided to build their theme park up above there backlot on the mountain. They made the theme park look as flat as possible by elevating rides and creating escalators that take you down the mountain. They used this space wisely and made everything perfect except the entrance. 

        Universal Studies grand entrance is far from grand. Theme parks are supposed to invite you in and amaze you the second you enter. Disneyland for instance has the most amazing theme park entrance in the world with Main Street greeting you and as you walk down it you see the icon of the park, the Castle. With Universal you just walk in and are greeted with an underwelming atmosphere. The only thing people seem to pay attention to is the statue of the filming crew. For such a great theme park you cannot experience its greatness until you walk past the entrance. As soon as you walk into the park you feel as if you were in an outdoor mall with no shade at all. The buildings are unimpressive and the greenery is no where to be seen. They have palm trees but they do nothing to enhance the theme if they are even going for a theme. It would be nice to see their park icon inside the park but sadly its out in the front near the parking lot. Universal is a big time movie company and they couldn't even get their very own theme park entrance right. I have a good idea though on how the entrance should look. The entrance I envision would be costly but would well be worth the money and could potentially bring in more tourism. 

        Universal is know for a lot of its movies and I would like them to bring in a few elements from a variety of movies. When you walk into the park you should be on a street with a lot of trees and a beautiful normal fountain in the middle of the street island. On the rite there will be themed shops as well as an entrance to the Jurassic Park restaurant. Behind these shops will be a huge mountain that towers over the entrance with beautiful trees and plants and a waterfall as well. On the mountain will be a luxurious restaurant themed after the movie Jurassic Park. There will be indoor dining as well as outside dining with a view of the Santa Monica mountains in the distance. As you eat outside you can see a stream of water leading up to a dip creating the waterfall. On the other side of the street there will be more stores but they will be themed to the New York skyline. Universal has filmed a lot of movies in New York and this would be a great tribute the those movies. In front of this store there will be more trees and benches to relax and enjoy the view around you. There will be a marching band performing on the street as well as popular characters roaming the street. This whole entrance will then lead you down the street to an overhead sign that says “Universal Studios” and right beyond that will be the parks icon, the Universal Globe. This entrance will be spectacular and will be a must see attraction for LA. 

        

        Space is limited and the way we use it is important. Universal used space wonderfully by creating a them park on top of a mountain but messed up with the parks entrance. If the theme park wants to be a true competition to the other theme parks in Southern California it needs to fix its entrance. When Disney messes up anything within their parks they fix it and an example of that is California Adventure that is about to come out of its 5 year expansion. The park was a flop when it first opened and was not up to Disney's standards, so for the past 5 years they have been fixing all of those mistakes and when the Park relaunches this summer it will have a new entrance and a new land. Universal should learn from Disney and create a theme park that is complete from the entrance all the way up to the rides. All it takes is money and Universal for sure has the cash to fix its theme park. With the announcement of “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” coming to Universal Studios Hollywood, maybe this is when they can remodel the entrance because after all once Harry Potter opens, the whole world will be watching. 

This is my bedroom. I set it up so that I only have to leave my room to grab food or drinks. I have everything in my room such as my TV, Ps3, VHS player, cable box, Mac, and so on. These things keep me entertained for almost every day of the year. My room even has its own bathroom that connects to my brothers room. On the walls there are posters of my favorite things and o my shelves I have books, dvds, blurays, books, and figurines. I have a desk where I do my homework and keep my school supply. I have 2 windows that look into my backyard and my side yard. The side yard window has a bad view of our junk and sheds and my back yard window has a view of the basket ball court and grass. I have a big bed that is soft and high up. I used to have to jump into it get on it but I have grown in the past 3 years and now its level with me. 

Land is wasted all over the world. Examples of wasted land are dumps and deserted buildings. Over at CSUN a majority of the land is used correctly and not wasted. I consider parking lots wasted space because all you can do with is is park your cars. At CSUN they use their land wisely and have parking structures that have a nice design to them. Parking structures take away the acres of pored asphalt and make it into a small multilevel parking lot.

The CSUN bookstore is not a wast of land for multiple reasons. The whole building is not just a bookstore. Its also has 3 dining locations a mini market, copy center, offices, sit down places, and 2 beverage locations. This whole building has something for everyone and is there for not a wast of land.

The CSUN orange grove is the not a wasted space at all. This is nature and its like a mini forrest. This is where you can relax and do homework while animals and wildlife can live and rome freely. If you are stressed out by a test the pond is a nice place to relax and just watch the ducks. The pond is secluded and if you didn't take time to walk though it you would have never know there was a pond. A majority of the campus never walks through this forest which makes this area peaceful and quiet.While you are here you don't feel like you are on campus which makes all your school stresses go away. 

The SCUN library is another example of not wasted space. Students go here to study, do homework, relax, read, hang out, and so on. The library lawn in front can be used for outdoor events and is used for the graduation seating. This space is used properly and is a good example of how space should be used.