"It's about us..."

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on this gorgeous brisk november day!
This day is not only set aside to encourage Americans to eat ridiculously large portions of sweet potatoes, turkey and stuffing coated with rich gravy and cranberry sauce; this day is about reflecting on your life. After this reflection I, like many others always realize that, my life is pretty darn good. Beyond declaring your thankfulness for everyone and everything in your life, Thanksgiving is also a day to think of how you can improve upon the next year (whether this means to be more generous with church donations or more sympathetic with neighbors and their political yard signs.)
I came across an article on Obama's thanksgiving address this morning. It really hit home.
The article Obama's Thanksgiving message cites need for bipartisan representation, not only talks of how the Obama's spent time volunteering in a soup kitchen for Thanksgiving, but also on Obama's simple plan in the greater scheme of things.

Obama labels an American's mission as one where all citizens, regardless of their differences (political parties, race, gender, socio economic background etc.), "come together and do what's required to make tomorrow better than today." This simplistic goal makes every hardship a little bit easier to overcome. If we just focus on one day at a time, we will be able to accomplish a lot more...and be happier and more thankful. Every country and every person has hardships, but, at the same time, every nation and  human being has experienced things to be grateful for. A difference in political opinions or nationality does not change any of the core characteristics of a human being.
Thanksgiving was founded after the Civil war in attempts to unite the nation. Appropriately, I believe in Obama's similar message for, if we unite as one and work on making the world a bettter place we can improve our nation. It all start with us though, "it's about us" ultimately.

Fixin' To Die

Everyone is well aware of the impact media plays has in one's everyday life. We know that propaganda is often found in the form of posters, commercials, and newspapers articles. However, I believe music to be the source of a lot of political opinions and anxieties. Artists generally have a large audience and therefore the ability to influence and impact a large number of people. In class, I am studying the Vietnam War and immediately realized it's connection to multiple songs my parents often playedwhen I was younger. My mother, who was a large anti-war activist (and a huge hippy might I add) commented over dinner that "protests were basically free concerts." This really emphasizes that music played a large role in anti-war movements.


One in particular bluntly adresses  the general frustration and anger (at the government) many were experiencing because of the Vietnam War. This song is: I-Feel-Like-I'm Fixin'-to-Die  Rag by Country Joe & The Fish (1965). This song was a huge tool in the anti-war movement. The lyrics speak directly to the complaints, protests, and fear that were circulating at the time. I've noticed that many songs have political messages engrained within them, particularly those at wartime (just look at Woodstock).
There are a couple lines by Country Joe McDonald that pretty much say it all:

"Well, Come On All Of You, Big Strong Men,
Uncle Sam Needs Your Help Again.
He's Got Himself In A Terrible Jam
Way Down Yonder In Vietnam
So Put Down Your Books And Pick Up A Gun,
We're Gonna Have A Whole Lotta Fun. "

This opening stanza speaks directly to the audience of the time. Men, regardless of race or location were being drafted to fight. There is sarcasm in these lyrics, poking fun at "Uncle Sam" and his tendency to get into trouble. He notes the specific irony in the fact that the US government was encouraging young men to give up on their college or educational plans in order to fight. Deep sarcasm is deeply sensed and felt in the last line. McDonald had served in the war, and expressed sentiments felt by many of his fellow veterans and Americans.

This song became almost a theme-song of protestors, and packs an immense deal of emotion into a relatively short song that reached out to an enormous audience. Check out different songs from the 60's and you'll find an overwhelmingly large number of them address the war directly or indirectly through speaking about peace.
Some you might recognize are:
 "Revolution" -The Beatles; "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" -The Animals; "Ohio" -Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; "Masters of War" -Bob Dylan; "Come Together"- The Beatles; "Give Peace a Chance" or "Imagine" -John Lennon; "Light My Fire" - The Doors

The Gossip Industry

November 4th, 2010 was the opening of New Trier's annual Literary Festival. This at first did not thrill me, for I expected to have to sit through endless rambling about writing, grammar, editing and passion for the arts. Adversely, the two hours I spent at the Cornog Auditorium in Northfield could not have been more intriguing, comical or thought-provoking.
Many artists performed, each defying my expectation of what it means to be a poet, musician, magazine editor or author. The last presenter, Davey Rothbart, of Found Magazine got me thinking. This young man, has created a career from the collection of garbage. Why do we care about people's garbage anyway?  Found is a magazine compiled by notes and little artifacts "found" by people in relatively random locations.
It seems that people care a great deal about other people's trash, secrets and past. As he was reading various love notes, threatening letters, and advertisements, I was overcome by a desire to read more, I admittedly did not like minding my own business. But, I was obviously not the only one. Found attracts thousands of readers with each publication.

Found is not the only publication of people's secrets or personal notes. There is an entire chain of websites devoted to sharing one's secrets, confessions and special anecdotes with the world. These websites would not be growing everyday if they did not attract such a large audience. I visit Six Billion Secrets, Gives Me Hope, and their sister sites such as Love Gives Me Hope, Taste of Awesome and more on a pretty regular basis. Humans seem to share an insatiable desire for gossip, stories and tales of other peoples lives. This is almost sad to me because it seems that the only reason for the success of these publicized secrets is that we love to be distracted by other peoples misfortunes or luck so we can avoid the reality of our own lives.

A Hamilton Chang Halloween

This last Sunday was Halloween, a day dedicated to costumes, candy and...campaigning. My friend and I went out to trick or treat for about a half hour. In a mere thirty minutes we came across many Hershey bars, M&M's and the one and only Hamilton Chang himself.
Prior to my encounter with this candidate for Illinois State Representative for the 17th District, I had absolutely no idea who this "Hamilton Chang" was or what he was about.
But now, after meeting this candidate at his own residence (accompanied by many delicious treats, blondies, brownies, candy corn and even chocolate bars with his face and name on the wrapper) I have a pretty warm feeling towards Mr. Chang.

My Halloween encounter with him prompted me to visit his campaign's website where I was able to become educated on his political views and activities. In this way, his Halloween campaigning was very successful.

My trick-or-treating experience with Mr. "Chang for Change" left me feeling a bit confused. First off, I believe his use of Halloween as a intelligent and prime time to advertise and promote his campaign. I give him credit for taking advantage of the trick-or-treat crowd. It was effective. The crowd is greatly composed of Wilmette children and their parents. These same parents will make up a large percentage of voters. Considering that he is running for a district position, his Halloween treats were probably able to reach a large number of his voters. Adversely, I find it sad that even innocent holidays like Halloween are now being viewed as a prime time for campaigning. It is a sign of the times that political advertisement is so prominent in society.

****Side Note: When I was walking home after my short trick-or-treat adventure, I saw a boy who greatly resembled Candidate Chang. After coming closer I noticed that he was wearing one of Chang's campaign t-shirts. This boy was probably his son. I wonder whether it was his  idea to dress up as his father for Halloween, or whether it was suggested to him in hopes of collecting more votes.