Ethnomusicology Film Review: Al Otro Lado

by Daniel Alexander Apatiga

Ethnomusicology Film Review: Al Otro Lado

The film, Al Otro Lado, documents conjunto Mexican music, which I wrote about in my ethnomusicology background/history essay. The film begins with an opening segment about a musician who writes songs for the guitar and voice, without the aid of notation, about everyday events, such as: local events, women he’s infatuated with or in love, social change he wishes to see occur, and political issues. The musician than talks about drugs he sells “… to the gringos” (Spanish for “whites”) that are illegal in the United States, like cocaine and marijuana (and by their street names). I thought that the film only looks at a narrow view of life in Mexico as not all Mexicans are drug traffickers. In Mexico, it’s illegal to sell cocaine. If one is not quite attuned to stereotypes, this fact might make one predisposed to create them which would perpetuate a negative view of Mexico. Towards the end of the film, a female, which is rare according to the singer, performs a gig in California with some politically charged lyrics about Mexicans in the United States. However, this is incorrect, because there are many female bands and groups in popular Latino music in Mexico. The difference between Mexican conjunto music and American-Mexican music is that in the latter, the music is amped up and in English to reach a broad American audience. While popular among the Latino/Hispanic demographics in the U.S., they still haven’t reached a base among the gringos. Another important fact about this style and musicians living in Mexico begs the question, why aren’t they paid very much? Many of them are talented but they live double lives, working in the fishing industry and at factories. The amount of money they make compared to an American is nearly zilch; it is no wonder they admire the American lifestyle.


That is not my only complaint of the film, which is too short. The coyote who brought the migrants wanting to leave Mexico to the United States across the border seemed like thugs just like the Texan part of the neighborhood watch. He said so himself that he’d leave an “illegal” behind and he knows that in so doing, the chance of one’s dying in the desert increases. The film, however, does a good job of explaining the issues that are within Mexico. The musician who sang about the coke farmers said, essentially, the poor community suffers while the rich live like kings relatively. But in his perspective, American citizens live like kings, which is also not entirely true. In short, this film seems to perpetuate a negative view of illegal migration into the United States from a conservative film producer.


The Texan man who is part of this neighborhood watch program acted like he’s part of the police force—he doesn’t appear to have a real life, although I’m sure he does. He makes it his hobby to make life even more difficult for illegals attempting to cross the border by calling border patrol. The immigration policy in the United States, which this film touches briefly, is a complicated issue because the United States has a flip-flopping immigration policy. It lets some in but others out. I can’t tell whether it’s due to one’s appearance or one’s race. Since this is unclear, I sincerely disagree with the Texan’s all-judgmental attitude. He lacks the authority of a police regimen and he fails to see the larger picture of the strife of these poor Mexican immigrants, making him a moron.


In conclusion, the film does a good job of tying the strife of the Mexican musician to its relevance in both Mexico and the United States. The film, however, fails to look at all sides of the issue of immigration. There is some balance in the film, in that it does a good job of explaining why Mexicans come to the United States, which is to share in the common dream as under the constitution, but it doesn’t pick apart the racism that they face and gross stereotyping that occurs to my knowledge. Also, the film makes little mention of the harsh working conditions Mexicans face by America’s standards, in a society that is placing less emphasis on labor unions and in Southern region of the states, of which people generally seem adept to segregate and exclude those and prison those of non-white appearance, still going on today.

Revised poetry, “The Ruler of Pluto”

A ruler of the dwarf planet Pluto jumps and lands again.

He wins the dark side of the moon battle ten times over.

His Pluto feels so cold, so distant, and so planet-like,

A probe can reach Pluto in ten years to pick him up.

On average, radio signals take five and a half hours to receive.

We think that if the ruler of Pluto exposes himself to the sunlight,

He would be unaffected like the cold color of its sea.

That's why we don't miss him, when we belong on the unique Earth,

And this hurts the ruler deeply.

The green atmosphere, thin, and visible, holds heat like a sheet.

Pluto’s coldness eludes him, because we earthlings infer and assume incorrectly.

The ruler's rock of rocks, ice, and his loneliest of all his possessions, made us yearn for his return.

He and his reflecting moon, Charon, shortened the distance between himself and it.

So Charon, we think, orbits Pluto by a weak gravitational pull—

A stray from the Ort cloud!  But he told us, once, about the Hallucination.

Two other moons that orbit Pluto have less of a mass than Charon.

But as native inhabitants of Earth, 

We never theorized how cold Pluto feels on its dark side, which heats up by the weak radiation.

And Pluto’s moon, Charon, never became known where it came from despite having multiple theories and facts.

Then, one, long, Pluto day, the Sun's rays warmed Pluto again:

The horizon began to disappear and the light side faced the backdrop of stars, nebulae, space,

The ruler of Pluto jumped and didn't land anywhere.

by Daniel Alexander Apatiga

Latin American music history and background: A brief Ethnomusicology Paper

Daniel Alexander Apatiga

Latin American music history and background: A brief Ethnomusicology Paper

In my essay, I will organize Latin American music into its three different historical periods: before the Spanish and Portuguese invasions, the Spanish and Portuguese colonial period, and the pre-modern period. Most of my focus will be on Méxican music; though I will also analyze music from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, looking solely at Spanish conquered lands. Latin American music has many styles, genres, sub-genres, just like the music we listen to that is popular in the United States. But tastes are different from culture to culture, and that is my main focus in this paper—I will describe how music has evolved differently from among the Latin American civilizations, and how they have assimilated one another in terms of music, also taking into consideration Europe’s vast array of styles, genres, and instruments.


The first music of present-day Latin America was far from simple but complex and had many unique instruments unknown to other civilizations. Each geographical location developed differently, musically. Those were the Huehuetl, which was a three foot tall drum that originated in México; the bihuela, which was a guitar-like instrument; the maraca, which originated somewhere in South America and is used for dancing and makes a rattling sound; the marimba, which originated in Central America that sounds a lot like the xylophone, except it's a lot larger. There were many flutes of various complexities, which had a range between 4 to 9 holes, with the majority of them having only 4 to 5. The scales used in this pre-colonial period were pentatonic, which interestingly, were also used in Greece during its early history. In addition to these instruments, there were also horns, seashells, and “little pipes that made a shrill sound” (Hague 6). On the Yucatan peninsula in present day México, the Mayan civilization was on the decline. According to Bishop Landa of Yucatan, some instruments used milk from a certain tree, had rubber (like the ones near the Aztec civilization), used whole turtle shell "that is played with the palm of the hand and emits a melancholy sound" (Hague 4). Like the Aztecs, the Mayans had flutes of reed. Some instruments were made out of bones from deer, and from large snail shells. In Peru, the Incans had many of the same instruments. But they also had panpipes and whistling jars. In addition to the prior materials mentioned, some used in the construction of these instruments: seeds to produce a rattling sound, stone, animal horns, and "gourds with pebbles". Quena is a Peruvian flute which is still popular today. Among the others is the Ocarina, like the one seen in a popular video game made in Japan—The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.


The settings for musical events in the pre-Spanish and Portuguese time period varied. Instruments were used in "war dance" settings, which are still being ritually performed today in parts of México. In these rituals, certain modes (there were "26" not unlike Indian Ragas) would only be used for specific purposes and were not to be used outside of these contexts (Hague 6). Some instruments had a single specific use. For instance, the flute had the specific use of expressing love, and it was not considered a cultural norm to be used in other ways.


In present day México, primarily from Aztec culture, poems were set to music, and these were called the “Cantares Mexicanos” poems. Only seventy-nine are remaining. They are "pantheistic poems"--not Spaniard duple poems as the word “Cantares” would suggest, and were written before the Spanish invasion (Hague 8). After reading an example myself, there are some very beautiful lines a lot like some of the poetry I've attempted to write. The poem referenced Aztec Gods, Pachacamac and Viracocha, in its description of affection for a princess. In the poem, words such as "cup", "creation", and other references to everyday objects and natural events--such as the weather—attempted to symbolize desire and lust (Hague 9).


During the colonial period after the conquistadors from Spain arrived in Latin America, Spain had a unique “western” music background. Spain is a mix of Romans, Visigoths, Berbers (the Moors), and an even earlier group of Jews, who had arrived before the introduction of Catholicism by the Romans (City of Lights). Spain used to be called Al-Andalus, which is Arabic for “Land of Light.” The Berbers successfully conquered Spain and introduced their music and culture, which spurred a great period of innovation in music. Great musicians and composers from all over the expanding Arabian empire traveled and influenced Spanish music, and therefore, the subsequent music of the colonial period in Latin America. When the Spaniards invaded, the Catholic missionaries sought to teach the natives their musical traditions. In doing so, the Spaniards introduced both sacred and secular music, and they introduced the Latin and Castilian languages in their hymns and chants that they sang during church services (Hague 30). Other than these introductions and fusions of music traditions, music in Latin America didn't develop like it did in Europe during the colonial period. Latin music wasn't in any way inferior, but it had its own styles, sub-genres, while using western music as a new starting place, which was considered by the indigenous as something to be embraced.


The various settings for music especially with the introduction of Catholicism changed while the ancient ways were put under the carpet. Additional settings that developed during the colonial period include: festivals of a Christian nature, church services that performed chants and hymns, and religious parties specifically during Christmas where people sang in their homes. While religions changed, the passion in their music remained the same. Folk-music expressed and still expresses secular thoughts of the common folk in dances, which is diverse. There were also dramatic religious plays concurrent with the Baroque period of such contemporaries as Bach and Haydn, written in with a religious temperament. The home was also a place to hear music, but only a few wealthy people who were part of the upper, noble/royal classes had access to expensive, European-designed instruments. Of these instruments, they had harps, pianos, guitars, homemade fiddles, etc. They were either manufactured in México or imported from Europe. An example of a new form made possible by these new instruments is Albazo. It’s a type of sub-genre in Latin American music from Ecuador that is a rhythmic dance, which uses "saxophones, accordion, and a trumpet" (Schechter 2).


Because music in Latin America was already sacred, the Spaniards and Portuguese took an ethnocentric view, disregarding the indigenous’ music as being primitive, backwards, and having an outside appearance of complexity but lacked depth. This was the case with all but a few who respected and wished to learn, like most creoles and mestizos who sought to acculturate themselves. Philip Means, a creole who sought acculturation, wrote that while conducting archaeological work around the Andes, "...the hidden fires of artistic and political fervor still burn within the breasts of this oppressed, this miserable, this despised race… the indigenes of the Andean region are indeed in a tragic plight. Not until true understanding of their genius, of their requirements, and for their practical worth is won, will they come into their own, and in the ingredients of that understanding the materials provided by archaeology will constitute the major part." The natives, out of fear of deviance from the Spanish expectations, assimilated their ways and in doing so, lost many of their practices in music.


During the pre-modern period in México before it had achieved its independence from Spain, the conjunto music style dominated its culture, and it still does today. Conjunto is a style written by the statistically dominant mestizos and creoles, the latter of whom are increasingly rare in México. México did not have slaves as was the case in the United States and the Caribbean, where there were many mulattos and complete mixes of races. Still popular today, conjunto is “music of the poor people" (Peña 114). During my travels to Mexico City, Mexico, I have come across many conjunto bands, usually in restaurants or public locations, of whom are paid usually by tips, not by the hour. They wear traditional Méxican clothing, bandito-like, with sombreros, but no guns or ammunition; they are armed with their instruments and wait for an audience nearby before they begin performing. Usually a typical band consists of at least 4, which can get as large as 12-14. Usually they play with Western instruments such as one or more guitars, one accordion, and maybe one bass, and there are usually at least two people singing simultaneously for the vocals. Their music is secular and folk-like, usually about work or a woman in a distant place. I've rarely seen a woman perform in their ensembles. They are almost always at touristy places, such as the lake in Xochimilco, which is within Mexico City. In my experience, they are always polite and they never beg.


In conclusion, the history and background of Latin American music can be summarized as being nostalgic. All Latin American countries have used themes which attempt to express the "past times, their love of place, their frequent praise for the local—local landscapes, women ways of life, and musical instruments" (Schechter Page 1). Lastly, I wish to conclude with an example that embodies this, which seems to follow a strophic and a meter, which is set to music.

“In a beautiful place

It is getting smokey

you are living

My poor tiny house

It is getting smoky

You will remember.

Beautiful eggbread

It is getting smoky

you are eating

My toasted corn

it is getting smoky

You will remember.”

(Schechter Page 1)

Bibliography


Levack, Brian P., Edward Muir, Michael Maas, and Meredith Veldman. The West. Encounters &


Transformations. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Princeton, NJ: Pearson Education, 2007. Print.


Hague, Eleanore. Latin American Music. Santa Ana, CA: Fine Arts Press, 1934. Print.


Schechter, John Mendell. Music in Latin American Culture: Regional Traditions. New York: Schirmer, 1999. Print.


Peña, Manuel H. The Texas-Mexican Conjunto. 1st ed. Austin: University of Texas, 1985. Print.


The City of Lights: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain. Dir. Robert Gardner. Unity Production Foundation, 2007. DVD.

The Greedy Corporate Pawn

All my employees love me because I pay their salaries.

I tell them what their tasks are and how many things need to get done.

I don’t give them a list, I tell them what to do according to my list.

After all, someone’s got to do it, but not I.

I make sure they aren’t lazy,

They get paid well though less than I,

and I teach them what to say… what not to say.

After all, it’s corporate policy.

And though they would band together to form a union,

I will not let them, for I’m a greedy corporate pawn,

Trying to rise in rank by doing what I know is best for you.

I complain though not for the right cause, but for success,

Even you, a student of promising abilities, will get in my way,

Even you showed up to work late, though that isn't why I will report you.

It's your demeaning, ambivalent, and disagreeing character that affects me.

Against corporate policy you aid an elderly woman, who was incompetent with the computer,

Though we made sure (my boss and I) on various occasions you shall not help anyone.

Afterwards, I told you to do the menial tasks to reach quota.

You immediately disagreed with my “attitude,” but I retorted that

“since my salary is based on your work, we have a problem you and I.”

The next day, after you were rude to a lady who worked there by calling her a “bitch,”

These events cause our boss to fire you,

Since I'm the greedy corporate pawn,
Your worst nightmare.

A poet

A poet, without a girlfriend, liked to read,

He wore his expensive and preppy clothing like a knight,

And he let me know this Swiss character who was priveleged, 

Of such talent and promising character, I saw.

He had many pretty ladies who liked to post on his Wall.

As a well-known gamer, his voice was the main attraction,

For, it was mesmerizing to all of us on Vent to listen to his accent and his voice,

And I, his best friend, would always be his rival though he was better than me.

Even when we were on the same team I’d always try to play better than him,

But I’d always lose in terms of skill, damage, charisma, and beauty.  

So one day I quit video gaming and I added him as a friend on Facebook.

And while I was writing poems to just one lady,
No one cared to read them,
But like all fancies, he paid for a hooker one evening. 

This man, was not a misleading character--he was well-meaning,

And it was to our fantasy that we, like all singles, would eventually get laid.

Then Valentines day came and went and he deactivated his Account,

I wrote a short poem years after I last posted on his wall,
That he slept with my crush and friendship never lasts.
  

Soundscape of Iowa City

During my travels within Iowa City, I've heard many sounds that I've categorized into these categories: ambient, annoying, musical, and depressing.  They have a sort an emotional affect on me whether it is total ambivalence or my emotions are plucked as though they are like a puppet and the sound is the strings.  The majority of my tweets were recorded while on campus, at down town, or my dorm.  Less frequently, though, some were from Ames.

            In the morning, I usually don’t notice the sound of the heat radiator exuding warm air, but this time I did.  It is an ambient noise that is the most familiar, because I hear it every night while I sleep.  It is also the easiest to tune out.

I was sitting in World Music talking amongst my classmates, and I made a common error in the morning--I mistook the sound of a maraca for a marimba.  At the time, I discovered that a marimba is a xylophone type of instrument, and the maraca has beans in it that one shakes.  I was still unclear, since in the title of the piece I was analyzing, the instruments used were "steel drums," but nonetheless, a maraca-type instrument was in the recording.  It was a very infrequent sound compared to the others I recorded in my tweets.  I still think that the sound produced was by a brush being moved in a circular motion on a steel drum...  

One of the less frequent things that people listen for, which I took it upon myself to try something original, was to listen for annoying sounds, and I define annoying sounds as the type that one can’t bear after a while.  While I was at the library, I noticed that many people were typing and if one focuses on its unique sound, it's very difficult to deduce any differences except for distance from the listener, frequency of the keystrokes (the times they are struck), and attack.  I decided to say that it's impossible to tell by sound alone whether the typists had cut or uncut finger nails, which is again something few people listen for during the day...

I've spent most of my time recording my tweets at bars, but after reviewing them, I still have an idea of how frequently they are reproduced.  They fall either into artificial or authentic categories, in my mind.  After my last class ends, usually, I walk to a bar and the snow that I tread upon, which is now melted away, made a squishy sound.  This occurred every day; so it occurred during the mornings and evenings rather rarely since I'd spend at least thirty minutes listening to this ambient noise (usually subconsciously).   Often I've eaten at the Old Capital Mall, which is another location where it's scientifically impossible to listen to every single sound occurring and comprehending them at the same time, (unless one is in close proximity), especially when there's a crowd during typical class hours.

While at one of my most frequented bars, I've discovered that they play my Dad's favorite "oldie music" either from an MP3 player, or the radio.  Some of the sounds played, rather rarely, though they are always repeated since they are classics, are: "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, "Kashmir," "Another One bites the Dust" by Queen, "Who Stopped the Rain?" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and “Another Brick in the Wall,” by Pink Floyd.  I used to be exposed to these songs very frequently because my Dad always plays them at his house, but now that I see him less frequently (he lives in Ames); it always brings back a memory of this pastime.  I heard these songs during the night.  When a waitress ripped the receipt from the register, I tweeted what I had heard.  It is a sound I rarely hear and I probably won’t for a long time.  

One of the characteristics of being a composer is carrying this illusion that one is like Mozart in the sense that one hears notes in one’s head and one writes them down because he was a genius.  Unfortunately, this isn't the case for me.  I was doing my music theory homework at another bar during midday, The Summit, while I wrote down an atypical progression that I was sure my professor would give an A+ (but now that I will drop the course, so it doesn't matter).  I was either hearing the music in my head consciously/subconsciously, which produced this chromatic scale idea for the bass, or I was treating it like a math problem, just filling out the “correct chord values.”  Because, when I listened to what I wrote on my electric piano (when I got home), it sounded very good to me.  This was a one-time deal.

When I was in Ames that weekend I was recording my tweets, I visited my favorite bar—Café Baudelaire.  The owner of the restaurant, a Brazilian of Portuguese decent and friend of mine and my father, was using iTunes to play his favorite music for the crowd.  He hand-picked them—it was not from the radio.  After leaving the restaurant, I returned to my Dad’s house in Ames, and I was thinking again of Pink Floyd lyrics/songs, and the song titled, “Time.”  In the beginning of the piece, a bunch of clocks’ alarms go out.  So I decided to include my Dad’s clock because one can hear the second hand move every second.  It’s like a pulse without meter, or a heartbeat, counting down till the end of time.  And it really was noticeable when I was sitting in on the sofa and all else is quiet.  It to me is a very infrequent sound to zone in on, because I use digital watches/clocks.  Later that night, I had to return via bus because my Dad didn't have time to offer me a ride.  The result was a tweet about the "gentle hum of a bus's air conditioner" during the late evening.  I heard that ambient noise infrequently because I rarely use the bus. 

Back at my house, I turned on some night music, the overture “Romeo and Juliet,” by Tchaikovsky, which is my favorite piece by him and of all time.  I must have listened to all twenty minutes at least ten times that week, making this the most often listened to piece of music of all my tweets.  Another piece by Tchaikovsky, which he named after the-love-of-his-life, “Francesca Da Rimini,” is also about fatal, adultrous love… I listened to that piece once in my room in the darkness of night.   Also, before midnight, I was paying attention to what I was hearing and I made a mental note to tweet the next day that the refrigerator’s radiator had turned on (fading in), subsided, and then turned off.

An Epitaph for A Love Affair

How does one fix a musician's mind?

You send him to the hospital

To make him think someone never loved him,

And then you shove pills down his throat.

And during all this time,

You restrict his freedom,

Remove his sense of insanity.

Except all a psychiatrist hears are barriers to be broken,

Problems to be solved, people to move through the assembly line.

I see her picture in my mind,

This woman who I thank constantly for having met,

I take pills in order to forget

That she ever loved me and that she was trying to help me.

Though I never let her into my space.

You have to learn how to channel the music through your head

And onto the screen.

When it wins her heart she will be here waiting.

All this time she's been waiting for me,

Though she's not a waitress anymore...

When I listen to your music

I reminisce of what my friends and I used to do.

We weren't ex-friends and some have long since passed away.

When I read what she writes I'm on a rush of adrenaline,

And I want to remain forever in this psychotic state.

But enough of this dangerous pastime!

In the distance there's a female's voice who you're in love with,

Attraction is so powerful that few personalities like hers compare.

"The Demander." - a poem

I'm calling because my father told me to
There is a charge on his credit card
Can you refund the money?
I'm sorry we don't have the credit card on file
I no longer have the credit card
It's been destroyed...
I did not authorize payment
So don't charge me without my consent,
Because I don't have have any money...
But you agreed to the policy
The reason we charged you was because it made things easier.
It's so that you don't have to enter the information twice
If you want
I can cancel your membership
And you'll be refunded...
Please delete my profile
I don't have the credit card information
I destroyed the card because an unauthorized charge was made to the account
I only have the last four digits.
Father,
I don't like your attitude
And your fiscal policies
Do not withdraw from my bank account
It is not yours.
Sorry
I didn't mean to say that
I know you are just trying to help me
You can have access to my bank account
I will miss you when I move away.

"El Piano" ~~ Una poema en Español

Soy perdido sin el piano,
Pero soy serio por del piano,
Quiero ser como feliz tan el piano,
Se extraño viendo la cara del piano,
Si puedo besar tus labios que debo tocarlo sobre el piano,
Oyo una pieza que estoy tocando sobre el piano,
No lo fue perfecto pero lo fue música del piano.
Quiero aprender cómo tocarlo mejor por el piano,
Cuándo muero, el cual quiero mis composiciónes estar oidos porque del piano,
A veces estoy componiendo en mi cerebro por del piano,
No lo he olvidado usualmente, pero mi vida es por del piano,
¡No hagas salir con él sin que primero escuchando al piano!
La musica de tu voz es no como importante tan el voz del piano,
¿Por qué estás ir a?  ¿Porque del piano?
Estoy día de soñar de tí sentando sobre el piano,
Estás pensando por de mí y estoy componiendo no por del piano.
Salimos éste lugar y vamos a mi cuarto así puedes oirlo háblame.
¡Acaba de recordar la música y olvida donde estés que ames el piano!

"Father's home."

Sitting on a piano bench feeling the keys at my father's home,
I play some romantic pieces for my ears only,
I begin to improvise some tune on a distant memory,
A distant memory that none have seemed as dismal.
Something about the air is right, the light just the right dim,
The bass plays in the left hand, and the violins in the right,
But they are the sound of voices, and if you heard them before,
They might ring a bell.
Somethings are slightly amiss, while others happen just right.
I can hear the steady footsteps of father,
I continue to play uninterrupted and luckily--
Last night I dreamed of an alien fetus--gosh I hate nightmares!
And I woke up and my eyes moved as if by an invisible force
From the paintings on the wall and I noticed a shadowy alien,
That wasn't an alien, but it looked as if it was painted onto the painting.
Then I slowly realized, God's image is in all works of art.
I hesitated to go back to sleep, today I couldn't find any aliens inscribed in paintings,
And I've tried to recreate the exact conditions to no avail.
Sometime's passed, I've returned to the present and my memory has faded,
For the last four years my standards have been lowered,
The love of my life has remarried.
Alas, I have a recurring flashback in my mind:
I see a new figure right in front of me.
It was of the time I first met her!
And I am as suddenly as I am scarily returned.

Persona poem, "Grandfather"

The yard could use a mow,
It's not raining.
The day looks less gloomy than before.
My son is seemingly happy,
Sometimes I feel worthless like no one really loves me.
That rabbit is again eating the vegetables,
Must I grab the rifle and shoot it?
Why is my son and grandson so lazy and so cold?
It's as if this country has affected them so.
They expect me to cook for them again.
I will make crispy tacos with sour creme.
My grandson can't eat his father's portion.
There's a soccer game going on,
I best go upstairs and watch it by my lonesome self.

I hope to return to Mexico and see my family again.

Hallucinatory poetry, "Condensed."

There's a mad scientist out there,

And he wants to create a love potion.

We bystanders wonder, 

What it would be like to not have the world to ourselves.

We tell him it ethically shouldn't be done.

And though he's duly popular, married, and in love,

He swallows poison and dies.

Hallucinatory poetry "The Wind"

When walking through campus,


The wind brushes against my face,


Making my hair strands curl.


Though another said it's whispering,


The wind’s like a blizzard of warm air outside.


With my earphones on,


If you look very closely,


There's an archway above my eyes.


My eyebrows are like a kelp forest.


Though my nose is small,


I wish I could smell something clearly…






In my memories I reminisce,


Though my eyes are brown as Florida sand,


So are the woman's who’s long gone in her Utopia,


Because I was mad, mad…






In the back of my mind,


There’s a lady who’s not a figment of my imagination,


And at the café, on my tablet,


There’s a picture of a nebulae with some stars behind it,


I wonder, sometimes,


Would she see me as her equal?


That maybe I wasn’t her type,


Maybe I wasn’t her type.

How I compose a piece of music

How I compose a piece of music: 1) listen to what you hear inside your head, 2) anything else isn't music, 3) find inspiration, 4) don't listen to what others say about you if it's negative, 5) find some kind of method to shield yourself from your own music if you find that you can't get that tune out of your head, 6) never lose faith in yourself, 7) listen or read what the great composers before you have done/said/experienced, 8) you are your own person/entity/unique individual, everything you write will reflect that, 9) once you've found your inspiration, the longevity of the piece will last as long as you listen to it, 11) don't give one ounce of care to whether anyone dislikes/likes/or doesn't care about your composition.

The Orchestral work.

I'm being true to what I hear inside my head.
But at the moment, I can't seem to make it go anywhere.
It just get's worse and worse as I progress.
And if I replay it from the beginning I'm already sick of it.
Especially towards the end,
Which is where it's supposed to have some kind of romantic melody.
It doesn't sound like it's coming from me.
It's coming from random pretty patterns I see on the screen with no musical depth.
Perhaps I need to sleep on it before I can come up with a memorable melody.
And maybe it needs to last shorter than twenty minutes.
I'm starting to mix up the pop music I hear on the radio.
Is that remaining true to myself?
I'm not sure,
If I borrow other melodies from other composers it's not like it hasn't been done before.
I just don't want to be reproducing exactly what I've heard before by accident.

I have to keep asking myself:
What is it saying?
What feelings am I trying to evoke?
Are there superfluous fluff I'm adding onto it?
If so, delete the notes right away.    

The American

There I sat on the chair in front of the table

Sipping my diet coke.

She was using the cash register
It was nighttime and the bar was filled with people,

I was sitting next to my dad 

We were talking about philosophy.
As soon as the waitress came over,

I was asking something but I cannot remember it now.

She looked at me

As if to say,

You can talk to me anytime you wish.
She has many men who talk with her,
And my thoughts played tricks on me,
What a mirage is to your sight.
She had a grin on her whitish face.
I tried to get closer,
But it was to no avail.
There I sat on the stool in front of the bar
My mind was cool though uncollected.
It was impossible to look
Because she was hidden behind a pillar

But I caught a glimpse.

My dad and I talked with her often,

But I found out from the cook,

She was engaged and left to Chicago.

I returned to the bar in the future,

The glimpse is fading,
I want to hear her again.

Coping

How are you coping?
What is bothering you?
What is the biggest regret you ever had?
What is the biggest happy moment you ever had?
How many boyfriends have you had?
Are you a lesbian?
Do you speak your nation's language?
Are you bi-lingual?
Do you love to read books?
Do you like my poetry?

there is something uncannily hidden from view,
None of us can make it out.
it is warmer than average in the middle of winter.
There's a glass mostly empty and a mug full of tea.
I'm too lazy to reach over and grab it.
It's just the right temperature, too.

What are your interests?
Tell me who you are in a single sentence.
Do you like big crowds?
Do you like to sing?
Where do you exercise?
What keeps you going
And interested in school?
Do you like the fact
That I love your nation's music?
Your name sounds so... Russian.
Do you think I should stick to ABAB format?

You don't think you're unknown to yourself do you?
I can't make it out whether you hate me or love me.
I'm on a computer that has a big screen.
There's a coke bottle it's half full and my wallet's on the table.
I thought somebody might steal my money
but I left and returned it was still there.

Sitting at a cafe. Thinking about the end of Time.

Where's the Marxists,
The real communists when you need them?!
Where are you fighters for worker's rights,
Fighters for unions,
Where's the fighters for women's rights?
They've all been crushed.
They're all silent.
Their dreams have become nightmares.

It's gone.
It's over.
I'm a walking automaton.

"The West"

In the 1920s, gender politics in Europe continued to change following the transitions of the 1910s. During WWI, many European women had had their traditional roles abruptly changed because it became necessary for them to work in order to provide essentials for the men who were serving in the military and for their families. For this reason, in the second decade of the century, the feminist idea that women deserve equal pay and a greater say in the realm of politics (the right to vote) had become very popular.

In the 1920’s, however, European women’s roles changed little and in some countries became more limited. While socially in the 1920s European women were looked on in art, film, fashion, as more akin to men, economically, women’s income compared to men’s was still significantly lower and in some countries (such as Nazi Germany) educational reforms were rolled back for women. This was because many traditionalists were offended by the social changes that challenged their world views, and many thus voted conservative party leaders to counteract this trend (this happened in Italy and, later, in Germany). So countries like “France, Belgium, Italy, and Spain” outlawed contraceptives (pg. 832). In the United States and Britain, however, women were able to achieve greater education and the use of contraceptives was not outlawed. Also, the new policy of Eugenics among nations confirmed or dis-confirmed the already standing dislike of persons different from one another depending on “class” and “race” factors (pg. 832). Eugenics encouraged or discouraged women from producing children.

Regardless, overall, society changed, though more slowly, in favor of women’s independence. For instance, in the 1920s European women were able to practice “family limitation” in countries (such as England and the United States), which allowed for the improvement of standards of living for women (pg. 831). One of the unique countries that was able to legalize divorce and civil marriages was Russia, after the Bolshevik revolution took place. Also, a fundamental change in women’s roles took place, solely in Russia, and that was the removal of household chores for women by providing “child care centers, laundries, and dining rooms” for working mothers (a practice common in France to this day). It was the growing awareness of women’s conditions in the sense that they were previously expected to only bear children and perform simple tasks in the home that led to these comparatively abrupt changes.

In the 1920’s in terms of the reconstruction of national politics, many European nations underwent tremendous, revolutionary change while others went to the brink of upheaval. In Russia, the Bolshevik revolution took place, which wasn’t really a Marxist revolution; it was Lenin’s belief that an authoritarian rule of the proletariat was needed because workers would otherwise be unable to fight for their own rights, as had been predicted by Karl Marx. Germany, which had undergone a civil war right after World War I, had a shaky political foundation for its Weimar Republic, and regrettably the politics of Germany gradually shifted to the extreme right. The Treaty of Versailles further weakened the Weimar Republic due to the fact that Germany had to pay reparations, which led to widespread discontent at home. This problem wasn’t addressed until 1924 by the Dawes Plan, but hyperinflation never was solved. On February 24, 1924, the Beer Hall Putsch (led by Hitler), whose sole purpose was the overthrow of the waning Weimar Republic, failed miserably (pg. 829). Unfortunately for Germany and for Europe, Hitler’s punishment was trivial, the trial was public, and the publication of his book led to further promulgation of Hitler’s view on Jews as enemies of the state and of democracy as a failed institution. In Eastern Europe, with the exception of Czechoslovakia, all the democracies that had been set up earlier had turned into authoritarian governments (pg. 825). Europe was once again sent into a state of bleak hopelessness. 

The Savannas

 A savanna is defined as a grass-land with predominantly C4 photosynthesis grass, which is slowly replacing C3 grass due to the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere (Ulfstrand).  Savannas are found predominantly in four regions of the world:  Africa, Australia, Asia, and South America from largest to smallest in area.  I will follow this order in discussing the topic.   I should note that there are some savannas in the world, including the United States, that are part of lawns and golf courses, etc.  It is interesting to note that savanna in the United States is recreating the African savannas were humans originally evolved. 

The African savanna is significant to human history in addition to its seemingly simple ecosystem, because the “first, homo erectus… then later our own species, Homo sapiens…” originated and spread out from there (Ulfstrand).  As a direct result of Darwinian evolution, the Savanna was the soil in which the cultivation of the human species occurred.  Before technological advances in weaponry saw daylight (during prehistory), the climate, various predators, the coexistence of other similar primates in the hominid group must have prehistorically given form to the first primitive religions in the savanna.

In general, savannas can be found in multiple climates, and there are three types :  grass savanna, bush savanna, and woodland/forest savanna (Ulfstrand).  For instance, Australia has the largest woodland/forest savanna in the world in the tropical climate zone (Savanna).   The three types are dichotomized by their relative amount of grass to bushes and trees ratios, in obvious respects.   The world’s continents and islands has approximately 20% savannah, and the largest chunk in any continent is in Africa (wiki).   In East Africa, “’niyaka…’ is the word for bush savannah…” (Ulfstrand).  With regards to the various bush species, in the niyaka, many bushes have evolved thorns and poisons to ward off bowser species or species that consume vegetation.  And since at the lower ends of the food change, plants, (which “…are sitting prey,”) are able to regrow lost limbs and leaves and still reproduce after being heavily consumed by bowsers (Ulfstrand).  At an even lower end of the food chain, we have grass, which as aforementioned uses C4 photosynthesis primarily. 

Biologically, C4 is a more sophisticated method of photosynthesis within plants than C3, which allows for the chemical reaction of carbon dioxide to oxygen.  It is interesting to note that grasses in the African savanna have evolved no defenses towards grazing, but rather, have “adapted” a means of “…regrowing bite friendly” rather than becoming chemically or physically inconsumable (Ulfstrand).  This can be explained because grasses are more “concerned” with competing plant space than grazing, which they have already adapted to.  In Africa, all three kinds of savannas can be found, and in woodland savannas, “miombo” is the word “…used when describing the specific vegetation type” of a certain type of tree species that is “…expansive…” (Ulfstrand).  Miombo can be “found in Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe” (Ulfstrand).  

The largest threat to all three savannas (that are in Africa at least) is agriculture, desertification, fires (both natural and human-made), and then bowsers.  Agriculturally, Africa, “as is well known,” has many starving mouths to feed (Ker).  The failure to feed their mouths has been because of excessive dry seasons, causing failed harvests (Ker).  Poverty is also very high (the average GNP is $700), meaning, agricultural equipment is lacking—they still use first industrial revolution tools.  So, because of this, farming isn’t as productive as it can be, and most of it is self-sustenance based anyway.   Regardless, while 71% of people who live in Africa live in rural areas, the remaining few live in cities.  And cities are increasing in size at the fastest rate in the world, which is 5.3% annually (Ker).  While this seems to have no effect on the declining savanna, it is, because with more mouths to feed, more land is needed for agricultural purposes. 

Bowsers can consist of pasture animals like cows.  In North America, the Native Americans had repeatedly burned the woodland savanna down (because of the fire resistant plants that had evolved) to clear large areas for primitive farming (wiki).  Fires have actually been used to created savannas, which were started by “pre-Columbian Native Americans” in the north east United States, Australia, New Guinea (by aboriginals), and India (wiki).  Fires aren’t detrimental to trees in the long run, but are disruptive of other species that need trees as an environment to live in.  Also, fire, which typically occurs at the beginning of a savanna’s respective dry season, is a big-time antagonist towards bushes, and is helpful towards grass (Ulfstrand). 

There are other factors to why African savannas are disappearing. Besides agricultural development and human-induced desertification (by introducing grazers that inadvertently deplete the soil’s nutrients, causing the soil to erode), climate change in general is changing the landscape.  Climatically, like the sun cycle that is every eleven years, rain also has a periodic pattern to it where it can either be excessively dry or wet, which has an ecologic impact on various species that depend on rain for survival.  This trend towards a warmer climate, as has been discussed in the classroom textbook before, is one that is causing the savannas to become more arid, causing desertification by non-human means.

Because trees are highly flammable due to their natural oils, they often die completely in a fire.  However, they have spread their seeds so completely that the now barren landscape, which was the result of the fire, is now highly nutritious for the young seeds to flourish and there is more space for trees to grow when the old ones have died.  Despite the bushes’ and tree’s seeming lack of adaptation to avoid being burnt over, they were the first vegetation to engage in chemical warfare, which is a survival mechanism for “[repelling] grazing” (Ulfstrand).  In the cells of these plants, they are able to in their “normal metabolic” processes create horribly tasting and simultaneously, poisonous substances if they are eaten (Ulfstrand).   

There are many species within the animal kingdom that exist in African savannas, such as the elephant, rhino, giraffe, African lion, termite (and their higher ups on the food chain such as aardvark, pangolins, aardwolfs, and honey badgers), ants, various species of grass, bushes, and trees, and unique birds.  Termite eating is also an African delicacy.  Unfortunately, we humans are having a detrimental effect on the count of these various species that used to live there.  For instance, elephants have declined by 80% over the last 100 years due to their desirable tusks, which make good keys for pianos or good ornaments, jewelry, etc. (Ulfstrand).  If one observes the elephant, one can write whole stories about them when observing their families, deaths of loved ones, and maybe even religion.  Though one can’t exactly verbally communicate to one, they communicate through the touching of trunks between same genders, opposite genders, older and younger (the wiser seems to guide the younger one in most adventures).  And, a cub’s mother is very protective of her children, and they always try to adhere together.  Even the death of a herd member causes emotional response, one would assume; “…they seem particularly interested in the head and tusks… I would guess they are trying to recognize the individual” (Ulfstrand).  One can only conclude that they have a concept of death, but not a graveyard (Ulfstrand).  Although hunting them is outlawed in many countries, illegal bands still get their tusks through their murder.  It is interesting to note that when an elephant makes a threat, he or she means it, and that the murder of a carnivore may result (Ulfstrand).  

There are many interesting facets of our ancestors’ former home (the African savanna), which is disappearing, and radically, our original ecosystem is being preserved to some extent as awareness of their disappearance increases (Ulfstrand).  Mostly, due to the forces of human development, African savannas, which are being replaced by agriculture, are slowly dwindling; we are effectively eliminating the “natural” animals and species that exist.  This is due to the need to feed the mouths of a growing African population, which in Africa is growing at the fastest rate in the world.  This is because of the undeveloped economies and third world status of most countries, (whereas in developed nations, people have adopted a different lifestyle, preferring a smaller family to a large one).  While numbers are painting an accurate picture of how Africa lifestyle must be like, let us not forget that they, too, want a higher standard of living and that their economies are improving especially as political entities are rising from the ashes of post-European colonialism (Ulfstrand).

Bibliography

Wikipedia. 2011. 24 Nov 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savanna>

Savannas.  2011. 24 Nov 2011 <http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/savanna.htm>

Ker, Andrew.  Farming Systems of the African Savanna: A continent in Crisis.  Ontario:

 International Development Research Centre, November 1995. 

Ulfstrand, Staffan.  Savanna Lives: Animal life and Human Evolution in Africa.  Oxford: Oxford University                               Press, 2002.