Tractor Pull Pro Stock Semi "Big Mack Attack" Accident

I just downloaded IOS 7 tonight. This Sucks!

Well, here is my response people. I am completely disappointed in IOS 7. I can deal with the cartoon coloration on the Icons. It is very Grand Theft Auto style and kind of cool. I like the photo album dividing the videos and pics. I like several of the other things. My only problem is the fact that is runs SO DAMN SLOW!!!!!!!! Like a 486 trying to run an XBOX 360 game slow. I'm about to delete my music off the phone to see if it runs better. If it doesn't I will use my free upgrade from Verizon to get a run of the mill android phone or just cancel my data plan and use one of my insurance replacement phones I kept in a box in case of emergency. So my question for the Iphone 4 users, are you having problems with processing IOS 7? Is it taking you 5 million years to type out a text message?

Frida Kahlo and Her Emotional Art

Frida Kahlo was an interesting woman to say the least. Remembered today as a famous Mexican artist, she spent her whole life expressing herself in ways that seem deviant from the status quo. There are many reasons she chose to live the life she did, but she was also very much a product of her environment. Born in 1907, just before the start of the Mexican Revolution, and using this event as a corollary for her life, she embarked on a journey that would leave a surrealistic impact for generations to come.

            Frida could have lived a more normal life if she so choose to, but some people are destined to be different. She was raised by an atheist European father and a Catholic native mother and had a life greatly affected by tragedy. As a child she contracted polio, which left one of her legs shorter than the other, and this was later complicated by a severe injury due to a trolley accident that negated any chances she would ever have of having children. She was involved in politics, as a member of the communist party and she was married to a muralist by the name of Diego Rivera, a communist also, who greatly influenced her life and her art. It was evident in her early years that she would not conform to typical societal norms. She flew in the face of tradition by rebelling against typical female roles. At times she dressed in men’s suits for photos, and had relationships with women.  It was her life with Diego, her political leanings, and her marriage that really shaped who she was in her later years. She was also plagued throughout her life with many surgeries and several miscarriages, which she expressed in many of her paintings in very great morbid detail.

            Frida’s paintings were a visual journal into her soul. Instead of painting neutral landscapes and people, all of her paintings carried a meaning beyond just the subject. They all told a story about a particular time in her life, or of a certain event, and the accompanying emotions. The paintings covered many aspects in their composition: Her love and frustration for her husband, Diego, her origins, political overtones, tragedies she suffered, and morbid representations of herself from her surgeries and suffering.

            Frida was not afraid to express her Ideas as she saw them in her head. She once said “"I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration." (2) It was this concept that drove every painting that she made. It is also this mindset that propelled her into recognition. It is what set her apart from the other artists of the period.

This no restraints theme is really exemplified in a lot of her paintings. One of her paintings, her family tree picture titled “My Grandparents, My Parents, and I.” The picture depicts a surrealist timeline of how she came to be. It clearly shows her grandparents descent. The native grandparents depicted on the left and the European ancestry on the right with her parents in the middle. It is set over a Mexican landscape with the typical buildings, arid landscape with cacti, and rugged terrain. It is also another timeline within a timeline of herself. It shows her fertilization, her mother carrying her embryo, and a young naked depiction of herself. It tells the story of the reality of how she came to be and her ties to the land where she was born. This picture is also a good representation of the fact that many of her paintings told a story about Frida.

            She expressed, in several paintings, her love for her home. In one painting titled “Self Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States.” She shows a story about her dislike for America, and her love of home. On one side of the painting, her home country is depicted. The skies are clear, and the sun is shining next to the moon. Exotic plants, and Mexican sculpting are strewn across the landscape. On the other side America is depicted with factories and clutter. Windowless buildings rise into the sky with smoke billowing out of chimneys around a representation of the American flag. It shows a stark contrast between where she is and where she came from. The technology and expanse of manufacturing are shown as a negative aspect when compared to her home where her roots were.

            Her paintings weren’t limited to her attachment to place or family, and they were not all neutral. Many of her paintings explored her pain. Pain with her marriage was one recurring topic. The marriage between herself and Diego was rocky to say the least. Many times he was referenced in his marriage was because he was being unfaithful to Frida. It is important to note that it wasn’t just Diego that was unfaithful. There were numerous occasions that Frida had extra marital affairs. One painting titled “Diego and I” clearly symbolized her pain. It depicts Frida in anguish. “Frida painted this self-portrait during the period when her husband, Diego Rivera, was having a notorious affair with the film star Maria Felix, a relationship which provoked a public scandal. The beautiful film star was also an intimate friend of Frida's as well.” (3) The symbolism of the painting relates the pain that she felt, and that she couldn’t get Diego off her mind. This was actually in opposition to what she conveyed in public, and highlighted her own inner struggle. Interestingly after their first divorce, they remarried and stayed together for the remainder of Frida’s life.

            Another topic of pain expressed in her art was related to her injury in the trolley accident. Throughout her life she had to have many operations on her back and pelvic area. This had her laid up in the hospital for long periods of time, and gave her a lot of time to think and paint. Her obsession with her failing body was shown in her painting “The Broken Column.” In this picture, she depicts herself torn open and in a strap-like medical devise. It is obvious through the visuals of tears, a broken landscape, and the nails in her body that she is in severe pain. In this picture it was related to her failing back which is depicted as a broken stone column.

            She had many other sources of pain that she also painted. Her lifetime battle with the injury took away any chances she had of bearing children. This didn’t stop her from becoming pregnant on multiple occasions, but every pregnancy ended in tragedy. This was a source of inspiration for some of her most topically graphic paintings that she ever did. Her painting titled “Henry Ford Hospital” depicted the ordeal of the abortion of one of her failed pregnancies. The picture shows Frida laying nude, bleeding, and still swollen from pregnancy on a bed with no blanket for comfort. Attached to, and surrounding her are images of the ordeal. The upper three images are one of her defective uterus, the soon to be dead fetus, and a snail. The lower three images are of medical equipment, a flower blossom, and her pelvic bone. There is an inherent significance to each of these images that shows how fragile and painful her life was.

            Painting wasn’t the only thing that she did to express her emotions. During the later period of her life she also kept a journal where she expressed her deepest feelings. It is also here that true insight can be gained into her obsession with her own death and her thoughts about taking her own life. One popular quote from her journal also delves into the aspect that she knew she wasn’t a normal woman. “I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you.” (3)

            Aside from self-expressionism through surrealistic paintings, Frida, along with Diego had an impact on politics. Both of them were firm in their communistic ideals. Throughout their lives they hosted other communists in their home, including famous figures such as Leon Trotsky. An interesting note with this was that this was one man that Frida had an affair with. Both of them didn’t have a smooth relationship with communism though. At one point they both left the party, but they later rejoined.

            Frida Kahlo was one of the most interesting painters of the 20^th century. Through the course of her short life she painted many pictures that speak to people of all ages. The paintings tell the story of her life and her emotional struggles. They show her troubles with her husband, the pain of not being able to have children, her attachment to her land, and many other aspects that made her who she was. If not for her difficult life, it is certain that society would be without her legacy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

1.    "Frida Kahlo - The Mexican Surrealist Artist, Biography and Quotes - The Art History Archive." Frida Kahlo - The Mexican Surrealist Artist, Biography and Quotes - The Art History Archive. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.

2.    "Gallery." Frida Kahlo, Paintings, Pinturas, Works, Art, Obras, Self Portrait, Autorretrato, Cuadros, Significado, Meaning. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2013.    

3.    "Frida Kahlo Quotes." Frida Kahlo Quotes (Author of The Diary of Frida Kahlo). N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2013.

4.    Herrera, Hayden. Frida, a Biography of Frida Kahlo. New York: Harper & Row, 1983. Print.

An Examination of Moral Leadership and Hypocrisy in Webs of Smoke: Smugglers, Warlords, Spies, and the History of the International Drug Trade.

There were many great leaders during the period of the late 1800s to the mid-1900s that held themselves to a moralistic, opium opposing code. There was a great many more individuals, and companies that fell into the pit of hypocrisy and greed, serving their own self-interests, political agendas, and bank accounts. The book Webs of Smoke gives an in depth narrative of the opium trade, and the way the web of smuggling opium was sown around the world. It provides the needed proof that the global smuggling web wasn’t a government conspiracy as many have believed.

Webs of Smoke was written by Kathryn Meyer and Terry Parssinen. Both were highly educated in general and in respect to the information throughout the book.  Kathryn Meyer graduated with her bachelors from the University of Vermont, and received her doctorate from Temple University. She was a professor of East Asian History and was a teacher at Temple University-Japan, Ohio Wesleyan University, Lafayette College, and Wright State University. She was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship for support in research for this book. Terry Parssinen graduated with Bachelors from Grinnel College and his Ph.D. from Brandeis University. Both were in history. He was a teacher at Grinnel College, Temple University, the University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of Tampa. He has previous writing experience in the narcotics trade. (WOS: about the authors) Both of these authors have significant experience necessary in order to be professionals writing a book such as this. They used countless case files, books, and interviews in order to combine all of the needed information to present a historical story of the days before during and after the peak of the illicit opium smuggling days.

            As the book highlights throughout the beginning chapters, in the middle nineteenth century, the opium trade was something that went about without much hassle. Traffickers in opium saw it as just another commodity that they could use a good profit maker because it had low bulk and high value however, this low hassle profit maker wouldn’t last long. 1906 marked the year that the British, Americans, and Chinese would work toward regulations that would rid illegal uses of opium within ten years. (WOS 2)

            There were several key players that would be at the forefront of this mission to eradicate illicit opium use: Sir Malcolm Delevingne and Harry Anslinger. They would make their careers sole purpose eradicating the practice of smuggling, and using opiates. Their careers were plagued with problems from beginning to end. They were plagued with uncooperative countries that had lenient sentences for criminals caught trafficking, politicians and movements that used opium to their advantage, wars that stalled conferences, resourceful smugglers and crime rings that found new sources when others dried up.

            It is unfortunate that their careers were so plagued with problems. Their mission would have been much more successful if it weren’t for the rampant hypocrisy throughout the world in relation to opium use. Instead of ultimate success in all areas there was an enduring legend that the political world imposed genocide among different ethnic groups, such as was the case with the article “Dark Alliance” when the author accused a link between the CIA and the cocaine traffickers that sold to the black community. (WOS 278)

            The book does a good job throughout proving that rampant political hypocrisy was the reason that certain ethnic groups fell into the grips of opium, not a global conspiracy to impoverish certain ethnic groups. Every country was guilty, to a degree, of providing china with opium to further their cause. The British, Turks, Japanese, Chinese military leaders, and even the Chinese Communist party, as well as others all had some involvement with providing Chinese citizenry with opium. When it was legal, the British were a major shipper of the drug, but they were willing to gradually reduce the supply “if the Chinese could demonstrate a willingness to end opium use in their kingdom.” (WOS 42) As all sides worked towards tighter control the supply of opium shifted from a legitimate shipping source to more nefarious illicit trafficking. That was the point in the book where the magnifying glass transitioned from countrywide scope of shipping, to the individual groups. Some were corrupt politicians that turned a blind eye, some were warlords using the opium as a source of funding, some were businessmen who needed capital; and others militant organizations looking for a way to rise in power. The interesting thing is that none of these groups could really function independently of one another. They needed cohorts from other groups that wanted either money or drugs, or both, to be able to accomplish their missions.

One interesting example was the case of Du Yuesheng, Huang Jinrong, and Zhang Xiaolin. “The men belonged to the Green Gang, a secret society that dominated the wharves and water transport along the Yangzi River.” (WOS 145) These men were involved in many things, but they were also interested in shipping opium for cash. This was troubling because being caught was never good for future business prospects. “Huang brought to the opium organization a second crucial link for success: police contracts.” (WOS 146)

This evidence is central to the premise of the book, as well as other similar tracts, because it shows that the whole government itself typically wasn’t involved with the trafficking of narcotics. It was dirty dealings between organized crime rings and corruptible government officials. Often government officials would be bribed to turn a blind eye, sometimes they were also members of the crime racket itself. It was hypocrisy of government officials, not a clandestine conspiracy theory.

Though the book is very good at narrating a general timeline but, it is slightly chopped up from chapter to chapter. Instead of a normal general from beginning to end story, it is more like a textbook used for chapter learning. All of the chapters cover and recover a slowly progressing timeline, but each chapter is a story in its own category. Such as a chapter on warlords from the period of 1916 to 1937(WOS 141), then the following chapter involving soldiers of fortune, which covers 1927 to 1937(WOS 175). Each is like its own book. The reader has to remember the names from chapter to chapter to gain the ability to put any general storyline together. Such as with the fact of the quick mention of Harry Anslinger in the beginning, and then the whole chapter involving him near the end. That choppiness is somewhat troublesome for character development. It was time consuming at times to go back and re-read a section on a specific person, such as Goto Shimpei. He was mentioned, and briefly talked about seven times, over the course of about one hundred pages.

This book could have benefited with a better linearized track from the beginning to the end. A good book to use as an example for a more linear path would be The Lizard King: True Crimes and Passions of the World’s Greatest Reptile Smugglers by Bryan Christy. Both of these books were very similar in the smugglers actions throughout them. Smugglers in both instances operated in much the same way: fake shipping labels, fake compartments, dirty deals, paid off officials, and double crosses all to make money from a low bulk item. It was just easier to follow Christy’s book than it was it follow Meyer’s and Parssinen’s book.

Webs of Smoke is definitely a book worth reading. Most people have passing knowledge of the fact that China had opium dens, but outside of movies and pop culture, most people don’t know what really happened during the war on opium. The authors do a good job of informing the prospective reader about the major events surrounding the trade, and, many minor events and players in the trade. With a little imagination, the reader is able to imagine being in the opium dens watching the users smoke opium. They are able to imagine being a fly on the wall listening to all of the backroom planning needed to coordinate a big shipment, or seeing paid off officials just brush by what they know are chests full of opium. It was an in depth historical story of the action, deals, money, and treachery of the big players on both sides of the law. It portrayed a real wild-west story during the turbulent years before, during and after the world wars.

To the Women Who Look For Love on Craigslist

Why do you even bother trolling the classifieds for something serious when the men that post here are looking for an easy score?

So what if they say they are looking for something serious and have a somewhat attractive photo?
If your even lucky enough to find a post like that, most of them are a picture of a penis or in reality the picture is 10 years old and the dude is actually fat at married?

I could tell you that I'm 23, but you would have no proof.
I could tell you that I'm fit and comfortable walking around with my shirt off, but you would have no proof.
I could tell you that I am a romantic guy, but in reality I'm just looking to get in your pants.
You just don't know.

Maybe you should get off the computer, go out with your friends, and bat your eye lashes around the bar. Maybe you should actually say hi to that cute guy in English class.
Just do something! Sitting around passively looking gets you nowhere and makes you depressed.

Anyway.......................................
If I havent scared you off yet..
And If you are.............:
Brunette
Short
Fit
Funny
Sarcastic
and have an Amazing butt. EMAIL ME!

Or if you are a SPAMMER.
Do so also, because spam is the only response anyone ever gets.
I love the random Email messages from spammers, and i get nude photos.
Its like Christmas!

Medea’s Tragic Medicine

The tragedy of Medea illustrates the actions of a woman scorned. Left by her husband and her heart destroyed she chooses how to best get back at him for his unloving deed. This play showcases the wits of a woman who has been hurt and the dark thoughts that she has in her mind. In the opening of this play, Jason, her husband, has left her for a more prominent woman in the city. Medea, left alone with her children, will choose how to exact revenge on him. Throughout the story she came up with many different ideas of how to accomplish this, but in the end she decided to kill her two sons and poison the woman Jason now loves. In killing her children Medea hopes to show Jason how wrong he has been in leaving his wife for someone else. She wants to cause Jason the same amount and kind of pain that he has caused her by going to bed with another woman. Also by killing the children it is to protect them from a life of poverty brought on by having no father to take care of them.

            In this plan there is much reluctance from Medea because of her maternal love for the children. She did manage to overcome her maternal feelings and kill both of her sons. In overcoming the hardships of this action she thinks about many aspects that will help her overcome the difficulty she blames herself for getting into the situation, when she destroyed her family to be with Jason. She tells herself that Jason didn’t treat her well and appreciate her for the way that she has treated him, and that the gods are concerned with keeping of promises. There were also several key events that pushed Medea towards fulfilling the plan. The first instance is when Creon comes to Medea’s home to banish her. Being told to leave the only city that she feels somewhat safe hurts her. Creon thinks that because of her public outcries to the chorus that she will plan some revenge. This suspected action from him starts to set the plan into a concrete resolution. Creon decided, after pleading from Medea, that she can stay one day to get her affairs in order and figure out where she is going to go. A second event that further hardened her plan was when Jason came to see her. He came saying that what he did was for the best of the family and that Medea should be grateful because the marriage to another woman furthers the whole family. He tells Medea that she is being selfish for being so upset and trying to turn him into a bad person. This makes her very angry at him because, even if it did further the family, it broke the sense of security that marriage is supposed to provide. The 3^rd point that finally would bring her plan to fruition was her friend from another city coming to her town. After talking with him about what happened she gained a place of refuge for herself, and her children, even though they wouldn’t actually be going with her.

            The audience of this play would feel somewhat tied to what happened because of the way that the chorus and the rest of the characters interacted with Medea. What happened to Medea could have very well happened to many other women at the time of the play, and even today. The ideas of moral injustice are very well suited to immersing an audience in the play. People in the audience could have felt as if one particular character or another could have very well been representing them. In society there are people who have been hurt by a lover. There are people who have left a lover. There are people who have been in the chorus’ position, and in the position of the woman who Jason was to marry.

            A character who I felt most tied to was Jason. Every man has had thoughts of leaving his current lover for another. Feelings of attraction fade overtime, especially when the initial start of the relationship was formed from an injustice. Karma comes back to get people when they aren’t morally just. Medea lost her life that she knew, but that life was formed on a bad action. Jason lost his new love, but that new love was a result of leaving a wife and children. 

Dog vs Cat in a Bag Attack

This has done real well on my YouTube page so I thought I would share with you all.

Powerblock TV Blogged My Video!

I'm just going to give you the link and not embed the video so you can see its actually come true. After years of talking about cars, someone in the auto industry blogged about something I recorded.

http://blog.powerblocktv.com/2011-ford-mustang-vs-1970-pontiac-gto/

Titan Arum (Corpse Flower) Blooming at the Ohio State University

The Titan Arum, also known as the Corpse Flower for its smell has the largest non branched inflorescence in the world. This one is currently blooming at the Ohio State University and will still be blooming for the next day or two. If you are in the area check it out, because it is rare to see one of these titanic flowers in bloom.

Hemlock Grove Review

This will be short with no spoiler alerts, so those of you looking for them should probably migrate elsewhere. Due to the news of the less than favorable reviews, and the fact that I am generally picky about the shows that I will finish out on Netflix, I thought I would put this out to the readers interested in the series that may have not finished, or watched more than a few episodes. Hemlock Grove is worth the watching. As with many books (I know it is a TV series), there is a lot of buildup to the climax. Everything will be made clear in the end, and the conclusion of the season sets it up for another run very well. It is very well worth watching. It is also important that you watch, because your viewership dictates whether or not another season will come to pass. I give the series a 4.5/5 for the overall quality and recommend that those of you that read this watch it. The transformation scene was particularly pleasing as far as werewolf transformations go.

The MKIII Supra from Hell

I remember this car when it was ONLY 600 horse. Ill be saying that about this video in a few years because he just topped 1100 horsepower.

Evil LolCats

Obama Sequester

President Obama, stop acting like an oligarch. nobody believes it anymore. You cut White House tours that cost "$74K a week" because of sequester, but still fly around in Air Force One which costs $180k an hour. You still go golfing with your celebrity buddies and take expensive vacations. Maybe you could cut back on the once a month Vaca and allow a few weeks of tours instead. You know....balance it out...for the good of the people. Nobody else gets to jet around the world for vacation once a month or every other month except for the top 1% and you say they should pay their fair share. Pay your fair share and give some back. Set the example.

Political Lies in Socrates Imaginary City

                The goal of the conversation between Socrates and the others in the republic was to come up with an imaginary, ideal city where all involved would show a sense of brother ship and an overall vision of peace and luxury to others that came to see the city. Throughout the reading man conundrums rear their heads to the characters. It is decided that the people can’t live as human nature would suggest, but they would have to live under rules that fool them into thinking everything is good, luxurious, and at peace. In order to create this sense of peace, luxury, and cohesion of all people in the city Socrates says that the city leaders must be told a lie. This idea is formed from the base that there will be 3 distinct classes; the gold class, guardians, will govern the people, the silver class, the people who will produce luxury for the city, and the bronze class that will produce the bare necessities for the city. The whole purpose of the lie was to get the city to adhere into one functioning unit.

                The lie addresses many topics. It deals with the feeling of being stuck as you are. It speaks to the fact that even though the people are assigned to certain classes based on what they do, will be able to have children that move to another class and won’t be stuck with the same job as their father. This is saying that the offspring of guardian parents might not end up as guardians themselves. The children will do the job that is appropriate to them. This is the same with children of other parents. They will do as their talents illustrate.  Another part of the lie deals with the guardians and keeping them civil and civic minded. Socrates said to prohibit the guardians getting wealth so that they will exist just to serve the people. He isn’t making the desire for wealth to disappear he is just making the ability of it to happen disappear. He wants the guardians not to be people who are getting more for themselves or getting things that they desire. He is making a rule that makes them act like people that have no desires. Since the only possessions that they have are the ones that they share in common. Adamantus says that the guardians won’t like this. People won’t want to live in a city where the only things they have are the things that they have in common.  Especially in a city where they are protecting people with wealth. It won’t make them happy.  Socrates in answering adamantus shifts his view. He says that when we founded this city it was not our object to make one class of people less happy than others; the object was to make the city as a whole happy. He later discusses their role and the role of families. Every person has a certain nature that is equipped for one certain job. Socrates tries to get away from this idea because how classes are divided. It’s like some people are trained to think and some are just trained to work. Women make this a problem. On the one hand nature seems to have distinguished women from men. Women are like specialized labor classes. Men have different jobs, but women are child bearers and homemakers but they can do jobs also. Socrates says that the division of labor thought about before wasn’t well thought out. Different natures shouldn’t do the same jobs the whole problem with the city is getting it to go together. Referring to what the professor says, maybe the city was already together but they didn’t see it.

The case of women displays an point of this. The women will be homemakers and mothers. Women who do all the different jobs those men do now, it turns out, that every one of these differences is a similarity to men but they are all still women. They are mothers because it is what they do. Instead of the way people were divided like different types before, now they are looked at as a whole group with different talents. Socrates then goes on to describe the system of child rearing. The breeding will be decided upon by experts in the city. The children will never know who their family is. Everyone in the city should feel as if they are connected like family to everyone in the city. So they will call another person brother or son just because they don’t know. The reason for this is to create cohesion. This exposes another problem. It would be solidarity that is imposed upon the people. The idea that no one is ever going to know who their relatives are can create cohesion. It brings out a kind of good feeling that is naturally inside us towards others

Socrates has kind of discovered the idea of brotherhood. In order for there to be brotherhood everyone has to think that everyone was their brother and the fact that classes are organized for the good of everyone.  The point of the lie wasn’t bad. It’s a lot like the way our government operates today. They do what they feel is best for the whole of society, but it doesn’t address us as individuals. A good illustration of this is the problems surrounding Four Loko. I honestly think the drink is disgusting, but I don’t believe that its best for the whole of society to take that choice away.  Lying to the people and saying its dangerous is a lie. The ingredients of the drink have been consumed safely apart and together. How long have people been drinking coffee after a long night at the bar? How many people have ended up in the hospital from drinking too much alcohol by itself?

Antigone's Gods

Antigone’s Gods

            The tragic play of Antigone showcases a young woman in a dire situation. Caught between moral rocks, she must make decisions based on what she feels as being right or easy. She shows throughout the play that she is a very strong woman and very religious. The Greek gods play a big influence on the choices she makes, and also shows a big contrast between several major characters in the book.

            In this play the main character Antigone shows much moral courage. The beginning of the play opens to her trying to convince her sister to do something that was commanded by divinity and bury their dead brother so he could move forward in the after live. The issue with this action is that the new ruler, Creon, will shortly be making a proclamation that nobody will give respect to the body of the man and bury him (her brother attacked the city because he didn’t get his year as being the ruler like agreed). This one choice that Antigone has made that gives the tragedy its forward momentum to a tragic end. This one choice to follow the rules of the gods over the rules of man shows much character and religious backbone.

            Some insight into the mind of Antigone can be gleamed from several important quotations. In the very beginning of the play, when she was outside the wall of the city talking with her sister Ismene she stated “I shall be a criminal- but a religious one. The time in which I must please those that are dead is longer than I must please those of this world. For there I shall lie forever.” (85-90) This one quotation sets the premise of every decision she makes throughout the entirety of the play, and also shows how deeply religious she is. This says that she doesn’t care as much what is going to happen in this life because the length of time that she will be here will be small compared to the amount of time that she will spend in the afterlife. It also means that honoring the laws of man don’t mean as much as honoring the laws of the gods because she is going to have to live under the laws of the gods for all eternity.

            Another important quotation from Antigone showing how firm she was in her choice was directed at the ruler Creon after he found out that she had done the deed of spreading the dust, minimalist burial, on the body of her brother. She tells Creon that she doesn’t care what it is he said not to do because he is not god. “Yes, it was not Zeus that made the proclamation; or gave it justice.” (494-495) She goes on in the next quotation to explain further why she committed the act that she did. “I did not believe your proclamation had such power to enable one who will someday die to override god’s ordinances… They are not of today and yesterday; they live forever; none knows of when they first were. These laws whose penalties I would not incur from the gods, through the fear of any man’s temper.”(496-504) Antigone basically sets forth in this statement to Creon that she doesn’t care what he thinks. She won’t deny what she did. She tells him that his words and his human power are not strong enough to merit not following the god’s demand of the honor of burial.

            Aside from just looking at Antigone alone several comparisons can be made between her and Creon and Ismene to exemplify how noble she is in making the choices that she has made to this point. When you look at Creon you see a man that is insecure in his position of power, but he is in a sense a power lover. Although he is family to the throne it is only because his sister was queen and he was the last choice in the line because everyone else was dead. He makes note of the gods, attributing pushing the enemies back in the last battle to them and their will. However he doesn’t make much more note of the gods from that point on, whereas Antigone continues to reference them on and off throughout the whole story. In comparing Creon to Antigone the more that is read and thought about the more he seems like the attribution to the gods pushing the enemy back would be more like telling the story of a family that says grace before a meal, but is completely faithless. He puts up a façade of faith for the people. It shows up when Antigone is speaking to him about how burial was an honor that is commanded by the gods. He, in turn, responded to almost every point she made, but when it came to referencing what she said about the gods, it was as if he didn’t want to answer to it because he knew deep inside himself that she was right. One of the only times that Creon talks about the gods, in reference to Antigone, is when he says “In that place she shall call on Hades, god of death, in her prayers. That god only she reviers. Perhaps she will win from him escape from death or at least in that moment will recognize her honoring of the dead is a labor lost.”(844-848) He is not really being serious when he is saying this. He is speaking with a hint of sarcasm the whole time, and not at all actually believing a god would help her. He is basically saying that when she is locked in the tomb that he is sending her too with little food or supplies she will cry to the god of death for help, but no way in hell will he do anything for her. Maybe she will actually realize following the path she has followed, burying her brother, was stupid and pointless. The only time in the tragedy when Creon seemingly comes close to believing the gods is when the blind seer comes to tell his prophetic vision. This isn’t however following or believing the gods as Antigone does. Creon follows the seer because of a more personal superstition. He has always taken the advice of the seer, so he will continue to take the advice of the seer. One way of looking at it is, Antigone believes in the Gods. She follows the ideology of the gods. Creon puts on a face of believing the gods to win over the people. Deep inside however, he believes more in the power of himself and his rules.

            A second person that is noteworthy to compare Antigone too, is her sister Ismene. This is less of a black and white contrast as Creon to Antigone. Ismene is more of a middle ground between the two of them. When Antigone asks Ismene to help her bury the body of their brother Ismene won’t do it because she is scared of the laws of man. “I will not put dishonor on them (the gods), but to act in defiance of the citizenry, my nature does not give me the means for that”(90-93). Ismene tells her sister Antigone that she does care about what the gods think, but she also cares what the laws of man dictate. It is not something that she could just go break the commandment from a ruler to do something that is morally right in the eyes of the gods. Later in the play Ismene does seem to convert more to how her sister thinks when she hears that her sister has been condemned to death. She wants to die with her sister. It is more out of guilt than actual faith in the gods though.

            This play has a lot of dynamic characteristics. Antigone’s faith in the gods is a major role that shapes the play. All of the decisions that she made throughout are based on the belief in gods. If she were to have taken the easy way out this would have saved many people heartache. As a consequence to following a divine command she dies, her future husband (Creon’s son), and Creon’s wife dies. If I were Antigone and in this situation I would have a hard time making the same decision that she made. I would have followed more in the path of Ismene. It is quite brave and noble to put yourself at risk to honor the dead and follow the commands of the gods. The comfort and the ease of making the choice to leave the body of my brother to rot would be very tempting. It would be a hard thing to do what I knew was right given the consequence of death if I were to be caught burying the body. If I did indeed bury the body, I probably would have been more secretive, and denied ever doing the deed. I’m sure the gods would be more forgiving of lying to spare my life and neglecting the body of my brother.

NICS Background Checks Chart

Wonder what the trend for NICS background checks have been through 2012? Here you go.

Gun Control Scare=Amazing Gun Sales

Pro-Touring A-Body Chassis Parts

Want to freshen up your 64-72 A-Body? Don't want to pay for the kit? Here is a list of quality parts that I used to build my chassis. It saved me hundreds and I haven't one issue with fitment or use in the last two years. You will want to note the type of front control arm bushings that you have, the Pontiac lowers are oval, the Chevelle uses round. Also, this "kit" assumes you have front disk brakes. If you don't a conversion kit is needed.
All these parts can be ordered on
www.jegs.com
www.summitracing.com
www.advanceautoparts.com
www.autozone.com

Parts List

Advance Auto Parts

·         Moog Ball Joint (Upper)                                          K5108                    2              $29.99

·         Moog Ball Joint (Lower)                                          K5103                    2              $34.99

·         Wearever Silver Brake Shoes     (Front)                 FR246                    1              $12.99   +$5 Core

·         Wearever Silver Brake Shoes (Rear)                      FR245                    1              $15.99 +$5 Core

·         USA Brake Drum Hardware Combi-Kit                   7008                       1              $7.99

·         Tru-Torque Drum Brake Wheel Cylinder
(Rear Right)                                                               W45873                1              $8.89

·         Tru-Torque Drum Brake Wheel Cylinder
(Rear Left)                                                                   W45873                1              $8.89

·         Reese Wheel Bearing Kit 1’’                                       72791                    2              $13.99

Total

$222.69 +Tax

Jegs

·         Rear Lower Control Arms                                             550-40082            1              $126.99

·         Red Control Arm Bushing Set                                     355-3-3172R       1              $57.99

·         D52 Dual Piston Caliper Kit                                       950-140-11291-R               $374.99

·         Premium Steering Rebuild Kit                                   515-CHESTR024                 $314.99

·         Sway Bar Set                                                               350-52873            1              $351.99

·         Front KYB Shock                                                               575-343127         2              $22.99

·         Rear KYB Shock                                                                 575-343157         2              $17.99

·         Edelbrock Upper Control Arms                                  350-5268              1              $142.99

Total

$1451.90 +Tax

AutoZone

·         Duralast Brake Rotor                                                      5514                       2              $54.99

·         Duralast Brake Drum                                                      8818                       2              $45.99

Total

$201.96 +Tax

Summit

·         Eibach Lowering Springs                                               3856.140              1              $249.11 Total with Tax/shipping

Personal Protection Insurance

Part of the reason why it would be stupid to break into my house.

History Does Repeat Itself