Judgements

It’s funny how people judge one another by where they come from like that can actually make a person who they are. All kinds of things determine a person’s character; like who their parents are, the people they spend time with, their hobbies, their religion, their education, and the lessons they have taken from life.

I moved to Dunlap four years ago but I worked on Signal Mountain. It seems like both towns hate each other for the most part and I sensed that before I ever moved here. Dunlap believes Signal Mountain is full of stuck up rich people and Signal Mountain believes that Dunlap is full of redneck trash (this is just my observation). However, both of these stereotypes are true and false. I have met some of the most incredible people from both places and one stereotype can never encompass a whole group of people.

If I have learned anything in life it is that any preconceived notions you have about people before actually taking the time to know them should be ignored. People will always surprise you. It’s sad when the people you judged the hardest and think you know all about, actually turn out to be the most genuine of all, because let’s face it – we all judge. There are good, humble, hardworking people from Signal Mountain and there are people in Dunlap that would feed strangers.

There is selflessness and love in all people and it doesn’t matter where they come from. I believe that beautiful people are not born but made, and only the circumstances of their lives can make them who they are. There is good and bad in all people. You can never really know someone’s journey until you know them, and even then there are still secret parts to it that you can never understand. I will never regret being nicer to people than they deserve, even if they break my heart or attempt to crush my spirit. I will always try my best to be the bigger person. People are incredible and interesting and if you think you have them figured out before they even tell you anything about themselves then you are cheating yourself.

-Hannah Childress

An Analysis of Arcade Fire’s Single “Reflektor”

The Canadian based band Arcade Fire have released their first single, the album’s title song “Reflektor”, alongside an incredibly visually attractive and interactive music video, providing a wonderful glimpse of their up-coming album. The title track is also the first track on the album, and through it’s musical composition and lyrical arrangement, the band gives us an astounding perspective on how they have continually improved their sound while staying true to their previous work.

Here’s a quick break down of why Arcade Fire’s new album will be worth the listen.

“Reflektor” immediately launches into an irresistibly catchy tune almost impossible to keep from tapping your foot to, or straight up dancing.

The first verse opens with Win, the lead male vocalist and husband of lead female vocalist, Regine Chassagne. “We fell in love, alone on a stage in the reflective age,” Win sings. Regine responds in the Pre-Chorus singing in French, “Entre la nuit, la nuit et l’aurore. Entre le royaume des vivants et des morts,” roughly translated as, “Between the night, night and dawn. Between the realm of the living and the dead.” The husband and wife duo sing to each other before the Chorus, implying the concept of their love as being a distortion via the reflector.

Verse 2 is directed to the listener, “Now, the signals we send, are deflected again. We’re still connected, but are we even friends?” This statement asks the listener if they’re even friends if the original message is deflected in the original concept.

Verse 3 then examines how the medium, in which this very song is presented, distorts the original, “Our song escapes, on little silver discs. Our love is plastic; we’ll break it to bits. I want to break free, but will they break me down?”

Here the couple specifically points to how their music in Verse 1 literally “escapes” onto these mediums in the form of CDs, and even worse, digital files.

Ultimately, the song ends by placing the interpretive responsibilities in the listener’s lap. The interactive video specifically does this as at the end of the song the video is totally under the listener/viewers control. “It’s a Reflektor, just a Reflektor, Will I see you on the other side?” Arcade Fire has given us an amazing single that stands by itself as a remarkable achievement in creating a statement on the connection between the musician and audience, a connection that has been degrading ever since the evolution of digital file sharing. Will you see Arcade Fire on the other side?

A Review about a Zombie Podcast: We’re Alive

Unlike most podcasts which usually feature one to two main hosts speaking on a specific topic with featured guests and music, We’re Alive is a whole new breed of podcast. The format is much like older radio dramas, with characters and scenes and sound effects, oh my! But the real hook is something that has been gaining popularity in our culture for years: Zombies! Listeners listen as a group of everyday people struggle to survive in Los Angeles as the city, and the country, is overrun with flesh eating corpses.
As the creator, writer, and producer of We’re Alive, Kc Wayland uses not only his background in animation and film making but his experiences as a soldier overseas to make the world come alive in his podcast. Each and every character is multi-faceted, deep and integral to the plot, even if it isn’t clear how just yet. If that wasn’t enough, the quality of the production is beyond anything else that you’re likely to find out there. Listening puts you right into the action. Into every argument, every gun fight and every quiet moment.
Every episode is about twenty minutes in length, and all are available for free on iTunes, Zune, Feedburner, and on the We’re Alive website itself, which is easy to remember as simply http://www.zombiepodcast.com. Go now and immerse your ears into the gory, gritty, human story that has started its fourth and final season. Two Mondays every month and you’ll be hooked, I promise!

Who’s the Good Guy Now?

It is a tough decision to decide who is genuinely good or bad in the AMC TV series Breaking Bad and a lot of fans realize this as the show comes to an end this year. The lack of an all-around “good guy” in the series sets Breaking Bad apart from the rest of television. Practically all of the major characters in the show are written to be hated to some degree, but the main character is the worst of them all.
Each character has a flaw that not only makes them unlikeable, but so very real. It is the inability to label any character solely good or bad that brings reality to this fictional storyline. Walter White, the main character, is at first driven to become a methamphetamine dealer to provide money for his family after being diagnosed with cancer. The original purpose and motive behind Walt’s decision originally made him an admirable character, but his actions throughout the series indicated that he’s not the good guy we thought he was. We find Walt obsessing over the money the business has brought him well after he made the minimal amount he needed to keep his family out of debt. After experiencing the awkward interaction with his old friend and colleague who has made millions off of the business he and Walt created, we then see that it is not the value of money but the validation it represents that drives Walt. It is in that moment we can determine that pride and jealousy are Walter’s main motivations.
There are other characters to be analyzed in Breaking Bad to be determined as “good” or “bad,” but it is most assuredly true that Walter can be ruled out as the show’s good guy or hero.