In English for our In Class Writing we were given a poem to read entitled Barbie Doll by Margie Piercy. This poem really bothered me and once i read it I coundlnt help but be bombarded and angered, disgusted, then empathetic, reminiscent, and then contemplative, and bewildered at how a doll, a plastic doll can have so much power over a society, a nation, the world. We had a big discussion on this in class which took up the whole class period and i just want to see what other people had to say. I feel it is a major issue in society.
This girlchild was born as usual
and presented dolls that did pee-pee
and miniature GE stoves and irons
and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
You have a great big nose and fat legs.
She was healthy, tested intelligent,
possessed strong arms and back,
abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.
She was advised to play coy,
exhorted to come on hearty,
exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.
Her good nature wore out
like a fan belt.
So she cut off her nose and her legs
and offered them up.
In the casket displayed on satin she lay
with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,
a turned-up putty nose,
dressed in a pink and white nightie.
Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.
Consummation at last.
To every woman a happy ending.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Spirit
Spirit
flowing from the figer tips
transferring pain, joy, sorrow,
all emotions of the inner being
into the voice: the soul’s declaration to the world.
Voice; demands your acquaintance,
Is made
Known through its lyrical, rhythmic statement,
“Here Me Now!”.
As some friends and I sat in the Union listening to two pianoists imprint their personalities in the keys, stain the shared piano with their story, I closed my eyes and drifted away from my body, from my seat, from the first floor of the WPU,…from Pitt. I traveled into the music and began to listen isnide the notes. I pried through the song and became one with its meaning. The melodic repititions further engrained it into my memory, connecting me with the song, the keys, the players. This is the power of music.
Amidst all the choas, on offspring of the G20 summitt, which circumscribed our campus: the invasion/intrusion/overpopulation of the police, the protests, the riots, arrests that fueled a hollow bomb, music still managed to serve as an outlet. My friends and I were able to escape, for a little while, into a realm of peace.
Hidden beneath, in between, the rising of pitch, and the increasing volume is the tone.
The softer the volume the closer on comes to envisioning the song in a dream, listening to the whisper of the keys.
The whisper…
The whispering of the keys…
Adds to the loudness of Music’s history.
Music brings us all together. It has done so in the past, is still doing so in the present, and will continue in the futur. A perfect demonstration of the full extent of Music’s unifying powers was made paramount when the whole world (black, white, red, yellow, brown) mourned the death and celebrated the life of Michael Jackson. His music touched people of all ethnicities, cultures, religions, and beliefs. To illustrate this further, I was taught the Thriller dance by my white, republican friend from Philadelphia. Through music, the complexions are disregarded, all is forgotten and we just emerse ourselves in the song.
the pianoists got up to leave, the music stopped, and me and my friends drifted back into reality. I could stll hear the song resonating in me ears, the story, the spirit. I asked on of the pianoists, Reggie Wilkins, what music meant to him, he responded “Music is my life. An expression of who I am. One of the most powerful things on earth. It’s a universal language, an extension of my personality”. He couldn’t have been more correct as another Pitt pianoists put it, “[music] is an oppurtunity to escape through melodies and rhythms”. That is the power, the beauty, of music.
flowing from the figer tips
transferring pain, joy, sorrow,
all emotions of the inner being
into the voice: the soul’s declaration to the world.
Voice; demands your acquaintance,
Is made
Known through its lyrical, rhythmic statement,
“Here Me Now!”.
As some friends and I sat in the Union listening to two pianoists imprint their personalities in the keys, stain the shared piano with their story, I closed my eyes and drifted away from my body, from my seat, from the first floor of the WPU,…from Pitt. I traveled into the music and began to listen isnide the notes. I pried through the song and became one with its meaning. The melodic repititions further engrained it into my memory, connecting me with the song, the keys, the players. This is the power of music.
Amidst all the choas, on offspring of the G20 summitt, which circumscribed our campus: the invasion/intrusion/overpopulation of the police, the protests, the riots, arrests that fueled a hollow bomb, music still managed to serve as an outlet. My friends and I were able to escape, for a little while, into a realm of peace.
Hidden beneath, in between, the rising of pitch, and the increasing volume is the tone.
The softer the volume the closer on comes to envisioning the song in a dream, listening to the whisper of the keys.
The whisper…
The whispering of the keys…
Adds to the loudness of Music’s history.
Music brings us all together. It has done so in the past, is still doing so in the present, and will continue in the futur. A perfect demonstration of the full extent of Music’s unifying powers was made paramount when the whole world (black, white, red, yellow, brown) mourned the death and celebrated the life of Michael Jackson. His music touched people of all ethnicities, cultures, religions, and beliefs. To illustrate this further, I was taught the Thriller dance by my white, republican friend from Philadelphia. Through music, the complexions are disregarded, all is forgotten and we just emerse ourselves in the song.
the pianoists got up to leave, the music stopped, and me and my friends drifted back into reality. I could stll hear the song resonating in me ears, the story, the spirit. I asked on of the pianoists, Reggie Wilkins, what music meant to him, he responded “Music is my life. An expression of who I am. One of the most powerful things on earth. It’s a universal language, an extension of my personality”. He couldn’t have been more correct as another Pitt pianoists put it, “[music] is an oppurtunity to escape through melodies and rhythms”. That is the power, the beauty, of music.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Mr. & Miss Blackline Results
On Thursday November 19, 2009, the College Democrats will be given three bags of paper votes for the Mr. and Miss Blackline competition: two bags of female votes and one bag of male votes. A photo will be taken for verification and the president of College Democrats, Ian Lauer will sign Blackline’s copy of this statement.
The votes will be counted as such: One paper vote with an email address (or the words “Blackline”) written on the back is worth one vote for a respected contestant. Votes that do not have email addresses (or “Blackline”) written on the back are only worth ½ vote for a respected candidate.
Once the paper votes have been counted, each contestant’s total will be multiplied by .75 (the paper vote is worth 75% of the total vote). The College Democrats will return the results to the Editor of Blackline once they have finished counting the votes.
*********************************************************************************
Ian Lauer of the College Democrats returned the vote count to Blackline today November 20, 2009, at 2:20 pm. On a sheet of paper the College Democrats submitted the following calculations for the paper vote. The online votes are below as well.
PAPER VOTES:
Ian Johnson: 12 2/3
Derrick Kirton: 1.75
Aerion Abney: 10 1/8
Keith Green: 6 3/4
David Gordon: 3 3/4
Vince Cunningham: 4 1/8
Gabriel Ekemezie: 24
Amelius: 1
Danae Carter: 11 1/4
Amanda Reed: 9 3/4
Katia Merzilus: 9 3/4
Tanisha Hill: 49 7/8
Marqui Rennalls: 6 3/8
Sharifa Callender: 21
Raina Warren: 18 3/4
Crystal Orr: 20 5/8
ONLINE VOTE (multiply by 0.25 for actual score):
Tanisha Hill 163 (19%)
Danae Carter 176 (20%)
Amanda Reed 73 (8%)
Katia Merzilus 13 (1%)
Marqui Rennals 67 (7%)
Sharifa Callender 190 (22%)
Raina Warren 123 (14%)
Crystal Orr 35 (4%)
Derrick 5 (1%) + 10 previous votes from old poll
Amelius 8 (2%) + 10 previous votes from old poll
Vince 57 (18%) + 34 previous votes from old poll
Keith 14 (4%) + 5 previous votes from old poll
Gabe 39 (12%) + 13 previous votes from old poll
David 11 (3%) + 10 previous votes from old poll
Aerion 89 (28%)+ 16 previous votes from old poll
Ian 85 (27%) + 0 previous votes from old poll
Congratulations to ALL of our MODELS who will ALL APPEAR in our new holiday issue set to drop the week of November 30th, 2009!!! And congratulations to Gabe Ekemezie and Tanisha Hill who will appear on two separate covers of the issue!
Love and Lines,
Blackline
Friday, November 13, 2009
Mr. & Miss Blackline Regulations
Hello constituents,
Thank you all for supporting Blackline's search for covermodels. We apologize for not posting these regulations sooner, but in lieu of excessive and unfair adherence to the rules, these are the regualtions that will be put in place immediately. These will be the same regulations that will hold for future competitions.
How the Votes will be counted:
1.) The online (blog) vote will account for 25% of the total vote.
2.) The paper vote vote will account for 75% of the total vote.
3.) The male votes that were counted at the beginning of the competition (prior to the restart/new addition) will be added to the final online vote.
4.) Voting boxes will be available at the BAS 80s party. (Friday, Nov, 13, 2009) Voters must put their email addresses on the back of the ballot for it to be counted.
5.) Voting boxes/rules will be present in the BAS office.
6.) The paper ballots will be counted by an outside organization/individual. No member of the Blackline committee/no member of the Black Action Society will be allowed/given access to the vote counting.
7.) The online polls for Miss Blackline will end Saturday and the online polls for Mr. Blackline will end Sunday.
8.) The Blackline staff will have the voting boxes from 11am-6pm at a table in the William Pitt Union's food court on Tuesday, November 17, 2009.
9.) The paper voting will end Wednesday at 5:30 pm.
10.) Good luck to all of our contestants.
Thank you all for supporting Blackline's search for covermodels. We apologize for not posting these regulations sooner, but in lieu of excessive and unfair adherence to the rules, these are the regualtions that will be put in place immediately. These will be the same regulations that will hold for future competitions.
How the Votes will be counted:
1.) The online (blog) vote will account for 25% of the total vote.
2.) The paper vote vote will account for 75% of the total vote.
3.) The male votes that were counted at the beginning of the competition (prior to the restart/new addition) will be added to the final online vote.
4.) Voting boxes will be available at the BAS 80s party. (Friday, Nov, 13, 2009) Voters must put their email addresses on the back of the ballot for it to be counted.
5.) Voting boxes/rules will be present in the BAS office.
6.) The paper ballots will be counted by an outside organization/individual. No member of the Blackline committee/no member of the Black Action Society will be allowed/given access to the vote counting.
7.) The online polls for Miss Blackline will end Saturday and the online polls for Mr. Blackline will end Sunday.
8.) The Blackline staff will have the voting boxes from 11am-6pm at a table in the William Pitt Union's food court on Tuesday, November 17, 2009.
9.) The paper voting will end Wednesday at 5:30 pm.
10.) Good luck to all of our contestants.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Mr. & Miss Blackline Cover Competition News
Contestants and Voters,
Please be advised that online voting is not the only way to vote. There are boxes in the BAS office (WPU 613) where you may vote for one contestant once a day until voting ends. Also, there will be voting in WPU next Tuesday (11/17) from 11 AM- 6 PM.
That's All!
Please be advised that online voting is not the only way to vote. There are boxes in the BAS office (WPU 613) where you may vote for one contestant once a day until voting ends. Also, there will be voting in WPU next Tuesday (11/17) from 11 AM- 6 PM.
That's All!
Mr. Blackline of the Month Competition
David Gordon
Ian Johnson
Derrick Kirton
Amelius Carillo
Keith Green
Gabe Ekemezie
Aerion Abney
Ian Johnson
Derrick Kirton
Amelius Carillo
Vince Cunnigham
Keith Green
Gabe Ekemezie
Aerion Abney
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)