Flashbulb Memories and Vlogbrothers

John and Hank Green are so brilliant in their vlogging that I have decided to write a bit on them.

John and Hank put up videos to each other, talking about various things (the latest being about flashbulb memories and memory storage, which was incredibly interesting). They go by the name vlogbrothers on YouTube (subscribe!) and it is... wow.

If John Green seems familiar to you, yes indeed, it is the acclaimed author of books such as Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, An Abundance of Katherines, and the latest, Will Grayson Will Grayson co-authored by David Levithan.

Most likely, I will later write some review on Looking for Alaska and Will Grayson Will Grayson, both which I enjoyed very much.

So according to Wikipedia, flashbulb memory is...

Flashbulb memories are highly detailed, exceptionally vivid 'snapshots' of the moment and circumstances in which surprising and consequential (or emotionally arousing) news was heard. Flashbulb memories have six characteristic features: place, ongoing activity, informant, own affect, other affect, and aftermath. Flashbulb memories are believed to be highly resistant to forgetting. Arguably, the principal determinants of a flashbulb memory are a high level of surprise, a high level of consequentiality, or perhaps emotional arousal. Flashbulb memory is an appropriate name for the phenomenon in that it suggests surprise, an indiscriminate illumination, and brevity. The name is inappropriate, however, in that an actual photograph, taken by flashbulb, is indiscriminate and preserves everything within its scope. Flashbulb memories, in actuality, are only somewhat indiscriminate and are far from complete.

Yes, interesting indeed? Well to me it is. Argue if you must!

Damien Hirst's Sadistic Art?

So to start off, I read this...:

I am gay and married to an incredible man. We just adopted a six year old girl. Today, a woman called us a disgrace. Our daughter bravely looked at the woman, and said, "Nuh-uh! My daddies are the best ever, and there isn't anything wrong with them!"

It was on a GMH (Gives Me Hope) status on Facebook. This is unbelievably wonderful. :) Brings a smile to me.
And also, Damien Hirst. Heard of him? Well he's this artist who likes to put dead animals in formaldehyde, give it a name, and then sell it for millions. Now, how is that ART?
I mean, he does sculptures, and canvas paintings, but come on, animals in formaldehyde? Sorry man, I don't agree.
True, his other works, such as a diamond-covered skull, is interesting enough to be modern art (though like others, I think modern art has gone a bit out of hand as far as simplicity and dullness goes), but the animals+formaldehyde thing just got me thinking... "Man, I don't like this..."
Some have even considered Hirst as a sadist, including PETA. If you'd like to read an interesting article, go here.
However, Hirst has said something I found rather interesting-- grisly as it is. He was talking about 9/11, a day before the one-year anniversary, and as quoted, he said,

"The thing about 9/11 is that it's kind of like an artwork in its own right. It was wicked, but it was devised in this way for this kind of impact. It was devised visually... You've got to hand it to them on some level because they've achieved something which nobody would have ever have thought possible, especially to a country as big as America. So on one level they kind of need congratulating, which a lot of people shy away from, which is a very dangerous thing."

After outrageous uproar, he replied,

"I apologise unreservedly for any upset I have caused, particularly to the families of the victims of the events on that terrible day."

The outrage had to have come from the anger that what the people heard was true-- that it was an incredible thing for those terrorists to have done, getting into the US and ramming that tower. But the people who lost loved ones and friends in that crash had a reason to dislike that claim made by Hirst-- had it happened to me, I would've disliked him as well. But not being a victim, all I have to say that I find the quote interesting and deep in a way that people are afraid to listen to it.
Please don't say that I agree with this. I don't fully agree with Hirst's statement, but he has a point on an aspect of it.

Over and Out

~1~ Franz Ferdinand

As a band, Franz Ferdinand is pretty wicked, but I am here to rant about Alex Kapranos, the half-Greek, half-English singer who has interestingly captured my attention.

Eh-hem.

Anyway, surprising to me, was that even though Franz Ferdinand is a Glasgow-based band, the members don't have thick Scottish accents like I'd assumed. According to Kapranos and Bob the bassist, Paul has the thickest accent.

Even if, the band is still brilliant, and even though I only have about ten songs by them, I'm still loving the band. I hope to see them on tour sometime soon, but for now, I can just roam around in my books and songs.

Playlist:

1. No You Girls

2. The Lobster Quadrille

3. Take Me Out

4. Michael

5. Ulysses

6. This Fire

7. Lucid Dreams

8. Can't Stop Feeling

9. Walk Away

10. Dark of the Matinee

#1: Struts and Frets

Struts and Frets is a new book by author Jon Skovron. Amazon.com's description of Skovron says "Jon Skovron a writer of magical fiction and technical manuals. He abhors sweets, only has nine fingers, and has highly prized blood. His first novel, Struts & Frets, will be published by Abrams Amulet in the November of 2009. He is at work on another YA novel right now.

He was born in Columbus, OH, and now lives, with his wife and two sons, outside Washington, DC by way of Pittsburgh, PA, Phoenix, AZ, London, UK, Brooklyn, NY, and Seattle, WA. He swears he is staying put for awhile."

Okay, nine fingers... well... that's something I didn't know until now, ha, ha. The highly prized blood can certainly come in handy if he's luring in vampire-wannabes in his new novel, but let's hope that he isn't. The Twilight craze has gone so far that people are now writing vampire novels to catch the attention of hordes of teenage girls (Some my age. This just upsets me).

Being the reader that I am, yes, I have read Twilight and all its sequels, though I would like to point out that I read the dreaded romance novel in 2006, and its sequels soon after, my last purchase being Breaking Dawn when it was released in (was it) 2008. I've only watched the movies to compare it to the books, but honestly, the craze is just too much. So I'm no screaming 'Twihard'. I'm just a fan of the books, though I haven't purchased anything by Stephenie Meyer since my purchase of Breaking Dawn.

Back to Struts & Frets! Lost track for a moment there...

So in this novel, Sammy, who is seventeen as I remember, is having trouble with his band, Tragedy of Wisdom (He wanted it as Tragedy of Reason, but the band's singer, Joe, is not someone to mess with. What he says goes.), and he's thinking about whether to enter them in a Battle of the Bands competition that a local radio station is hosting. The winner will get a song recorded and played on the radio station it seems, which would make it great for the publicity of Tragedy of Wisdom. Joe forces Sammy into it when he's still skeptical, and his other band-mates Rick (crappy bass player) and TJ (brilliant drummer) have nothing to do except to follow Joe.

Sammy (guitarist and lyricist) is upset over this, and also for other conflicts, which include his best friend Jen5 having a crush on him, and his grandfather, who seems to be getting mentally ill.

Sammy and Jen5 (getting her name because there were five other Jennifer's in her class and they all chose names like 'Jenny', 'Jen', etc., that the last possible nickname would've been something like 'Niffer', so the last Jennifer chose Jen5) are also being pushed around by their parents about what they'll do when they grow older-- Jen5's mother isn't supportive of her decision to be an artist, and Sammy's mother doesn't want him to become a musician.

This book is funny, often sexual in language, and adventurous. It's a great coming-of-age book, and for people who love music, well, this is for you.

The music backdrop for this book is mostly Indie rock, and a song list is even at the end of the book, noting such bands as Modest Mouse, The Pixies, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and Death Cab for Cutie. The book is stated as "art based", and that is how the cover and chapter pages look, making it look like it was made just for teens.

Read the book, see how you like it, and argue with me if you must. I thought it was quite awesome.

You can find Jon Skovron here.

Good bye

Ironically, this post's title is 'good bye'. 'Hello!' or 'Good day!' or 'Welcome!' is just too typical. It's completely dull. I just thought I'd mess around with society's mind today. Just in that kind of mood.

Well speaking of moods, I'd just like to point out (for the record) that I am sixteen, just turned about two months ago. That speaks for itself, doesn't it?

All right, all I want to really do on here is to review books and movies, maybe criticize people, complain, and uh... complain.

This is just a hey-yo to y'all... (no I'm not Southern. I'm in California, have lived here my whole life, and just URGHHHH).

Peace out homiessssss