BEST OF THE WEEK: Bullets in the Brain

My favorite and in my opinion the most interesting thing we did last week was read the short story Bullet in the Brain. To begin, I believe the writing done by Tobias Wolff was absolutely brilliant. Not only was the story compelling and funny, it was also interesting and really made you think deeper into the material you were reading.
The most enjoyable (yet unfortunate) part of the reading for me was when Anders burst out laughing and was ultimately shot in the head. All these so-called important things in his laugh didn't flash by him. It was a moment in time when this book critic who's job is to demoralize people didn't speak up. He was worried that people would take his humor the wrong way. That was a purely aesthetic moment.

ART: What I Believe it Really is...

As you saw it earlier in class last week, my definition of art was in polar opposition to that presented by some of my fellow classmates. I believe the role of an artist is to make his/her patrons think deeper and critically into what they are viewing, listening, or reading. Whether it is Bruce Springsteen, Scott Fitzgerald, or Ario, I believe they all are the exemplary epitomes of what artist are supposed to be. They all make us not only enjoy what they provide on the surface, they compel us delve deeper into our mind. Those who say that such things as, "This isn't art because It doesn't sound good to the ear" or "Anyone can make that" are not able to see beyond a sheer image and think deeper into the artistic production, thus rendering them incapable of grasping the true meanings of the piece.
For example, Earth People by Keith Thronton, under the alias of Dr Octagon, is not a well known song among the unfortunately pop cultured music scene. But many people involved in the underground hip-hop believe it's one of the rap's most influential and beautifully written songs. Although the lyrics seem very odd at the first glance, the listener must critically go deeper into the songs in the album in order to understand and appreciate the plot in Keith Thronton's story.

Here are the links for the songs and above are Ario's works.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjKHQeRSvjk

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfmLhRzgVMU&NR=1