Author: Theo

PW#7 – Tangled in a Web of Problems

Just last weekend, I was gifted a small piece of furniture purchased from a ReStore. This piece of furniture was a small cabinet designed to hold various forms of media, with an unmistakable ’80s fake wood grain decal all over it. Well, that wasn’t the only non-aesthetically-pleasing thing on it, or rather in it. As soon as I turned the cabinet onto its side, I saw a huge network of spiderwebs all over the bottom of it, and tons of spider eggs. I got to cleaning all this nasty old stuff when my finger brushed against something that felt suspiciously… alive. I looked to where my finger had just prodded at and lo and behold, there was a pretty large spider sitting in the corner. I was definitely startled, and then I got to trying to get the spider outside when I noticed something on its back: the telltale red hourglass pattern of a black widow. Now, something you must know about black widows is that their actual level of harm is greatly sensationalized. They are very mild-mannered, and will only bite when they are near death, when they are crushed between you and your clothes, for example. When they do actually bite, you can get pretty sick, sure, but the mortality rate of black widow bites is under 1% – even then, that is almost all people with underlying conditions and very young children. With that in mind, I still freaked out: when media portrays something as if it should be feared, it becomes feared. I sprayed it with pine-sol, which killed it within a minute. I do wonder, though – was that really a warranted response? Just based on fear that has been instilled in us by what has been told to us by the TV when we were young, or what we are told by our friends? Why do we immediately assume the worst of what we don’t have an understanding of? This is not only a story of arachnids and creepy crawlies – this is a story of how we are programmed by everything around us. We don’t have the critical thinking skills to even think of researching something we have been told do hate, either systematically, societally, domestically, or otherwise. Social media makes this much easier to do, and creates an echo chamber where arbitrary biases are confirmed and solidified or placed in one’s mind. This is not a story of a spider (though the aforementioned spider story did happen last weekend) – this is a story of the ideas we carry around and refuse to change. Look into your beliefs, biases, and ideals from time to time – you never know what you may see.

 

IRJE #6 – Heart of Darkness

The book I am currently reading, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, needs no introduction. The seminal tale of Western colonialism in the Congo, based on Conrad’s own experience, albeit slightly sensationalized. It is a story of brutal disregard for human life and greed.

“We live as we dream–alone….”

This quote, despite being very short, perfectly portrays the atmosphere of this book. Despite there being many characters, the travel into the dark, the unknown, creates a feeling of solitude. This is also created by the more metaphorical interpretation of the story, which is the journey into the depths of the human psyche, which, of course, is filled with solitude. Despite this, the story is interspersed with many masterfully written character interactions, full of darkness and foreshadowing.

PR to “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

“Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a very interesting ballad. It centers around the Ancient Mariner, an old man, who killed an Albatross for no apparent reason while working on a ship. This caused the ship to get stuck, and led to the death of his 200 crewmates. After a symbolic phantom ship containing “Death” and “Life in Death” came up to their ship, they both gambled on whether he would survive. Life in Death won, so the Mariner was left alive. After his crewmates died, he was left alone on the ship, cursed to float in the sea until he died. A wind that could not be felt caught the sails of the ship, and it eventually made its way back to England, where he had departed from, he was forced to do penance for killing the albatross in the form of being forced to tell people his story. This is told through the lens of the Mariner telling his story to a man going into a wedding.

I believe the story of the Ancient Mariner does draw some ties to Jekyll and Hyde with its narrative. It explores the immoral urges of man, and the consequences of such, through a strict lens of morality. The strict lens of morality, however, in Rime of the Ancient Mariner is strictly a Christian lens, while that of Jekyll and Hyde is a Victorian lens, which is partially Christian, but also encompasses ideals outside of that. I quite enjoyed this ballad. It was very well paced for something so short, and it was an interesting look into late-16th-century ideals. Beyond this, it was also a generally enjoyable story, and the rhythm of it kept it from being too tedious to read. For what reason, I do not know. Its main idea is the idea that every creature is important to their creator, no matter how obscene people interpret them to be. We can see this when the Mariner unconsciously blesses the sea-snakes, which he had previously called disgusting, and is able to pray again.

My experience memorizing the five stanzas of this play was, in fact, quite pleasant. I personally opted to memorize it around a week before, which was quite the help, and allowed me to be more confident. It reduced my stress tenfold, and allowed me to make my presentation very smooth.

PR to The Strange Story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is an incredible story that provides a very interesting look into the human psyche, and pairs this with a harrowing tale of science pushed too far. Right off the bat, there is an eerie atmosphere and an air of suspense. The book makes everything feel completely off, in a way, especially within character interactions. There is a quintessentially Victorian-era formality to these interactions which contributes to this. As our modern world has eschewed such formalities, this leads to a “colder” atmosphere – there is barely any feeling of warmth to the characters, especially with Dr. Jekyll. A quote that perfectly exemplifies this is one said by Mr. Enfield. This is from Enfield’s explanation of what happened when Hyde tramples the little girl:

“Yes, it’s a bad story. For
my man was a fellow that nobody could have to do with, a really damnable man; and the person that drew the cheque is the very pink of the proprieties, celebrated too, and (what makes it worse) one of your fellows who do what they call good. Black mail I suppose; an honest man paying through the nose for some of the capers of his youth. Blackmail House is what I call the place with the door, in consequence. Though even that, you know, is far from explaining all,” p9, p10

Separate from the formality of the dialog, the book also builds its tension very effectively. Very early on in the story, we get the idea that something is completely wrong with him, more so than the other characters, but the book keeps this subtle enough until things begin truly going awry, and you begin to make sense of why Jekyll is doing strange things, shutting himself in, and feigning sickness.

Within Jekyll’s explanatory letter, he delves into the idea of the duality of man, which is also affected by the lens of Victorian morality. This, in my opinion, explores the difficulty of conforming to strict morals due to the human nature of having “immoral” desires, thoughts, and actions. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a story that is most definitely ahead of its time, exploring ideas and beliefs that we are still trying to think about to this day, albeit through a less supernatural lens. The supernatural elements of this story, mainly the concoction created by Dr. Jekyll to turn himself into Hyde, create another level of nuance. This invites the reader to wonder about the possibility of how science can affect humans, and explores the idea of science destroying human nature, creating greed, addiction, and changing people for the worse.

IRJE #5 – The Sisters Brothers

The book I am currently reading, The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt, handles every element with razorlike precision. It is both a mockery of old westerns, as well as a love letter to them, all wrapped up in an egregiously violent, introspective, and darkly humorous piece. I personally love how the book manages more tender parts of the story, involving love that we always know will be short-lived.

“‘Looking up at my face she asked me to take off my coat, which I did, and she pulled a length of bright blue silk from her layers. She tied the sash over my shoulder, fastening it with a snug knot and afterward stepping back to look at me. She was very sad and beautiful, her eyes damp and heavy with their powders and ancient spells. I placed my hands on the material but could think of nothing to say about it.”

This quote precedes a grisly, unexpected scene, and truly shows how much the book can throw you for a loop. As well as this, it shows how the story tries to stay true to classic westerns, with their picturesque love stories intertwined with the main, often action-oriented plot, providing some relief from the intensity that such stories often create.

 

“Our Town” PR

Our Town was a wonderful story, exploring the lives and deaths of those living in a quiet little town. It is minimalistic both in its concept and setting, however the story meanders along with a surprising amount of depth and development. As it is intended to be a play, it is mainly dialog, with a narrator (who is a main character) explaining the quaint town and its past, as well as its future.

In my opinion, character development is one key part of the play. It shows how unstable one’s life can be, while also pointing out how oneself is still kept intact after all the changes in life. In my opinion, we saw the most change in Emily, although that may just be since she was a main character As she grew to love George, and as he grew to love her, they both changed just slightly, with both becoming more mature, and losing some of their childlike joy, and after she died, that joy was lost altogether.

The most important (in my opinion) facet of the story is most definitely it’s view on mortality. Within the story, death is treated without much regard. There is still grieving and such, however it is displayed in a startlingly nonchalant way. Nearing the end of the story, the spirits of the inhabitants of the town all begin to converse with each other. It is revealed that Emily died during childbirth, and George’s mother has also passed. As people visit their graves, they converse about life, painting it as an existence of ignorance. Emily figures out she can relive her memories, as well. She is strongly advised not to, however does it anyways, and comes back devastated, realizing her experiences will never be the same. I felt that this story was very good. It definitely was gripping at times, and really painted a picture of how life and death intertwine. I believe it was a great story, masterfully executed, and as simple as it needed to be.

PW #5 – The Pandemic in Ontario

From what I understand, the pandemic was handled very differently in BC than it was in Ontario. Although I cannot speak for the BC experience, I can speak for the Ontario experience. For a full year, school was online and the province was completely locked down. I remember not even being allowed to go on walks at one point, for fear of infection. After the province moved past that point, I used to take some nice long walks. I frequently used to hit the 11km mark. It was a very enjoyable experience at times, the lack of people being peaceful, and quiet. Although it lent itself to some problems, online school was fun and very low-pressure. The ability to be comfy and stay at home during school hours for a full year was amazing to me, and I most definitely enjoyed that aspect. I did, however, hate one thing: the lack of restaurants! I always loved going to a good restaurant, and during the pandemic barely anything was open. Although, all things considered, it helped me learn how to cook good food, which is a plus. So, all in all, the pandemic in Ontario was a strange experience, some good, some bad, some strange.

Theo G – PR to the story of Joseph

I personally thought this was a masterfully told story, which is one of the reasons it has lasted so long, through so many translations and versions, and influenced world religions. The main reasons I think it is so masterfully told are its simplicity, its character development, and its emotional intensity. The first thing I noticed while reading this story was its simplicity: there were no interweaving storylines, and most of it was pretty literal. This surprised me, given how compelling the story was and how much character development was in place.

Another thing I noticed was the character development. Although it was  relatively barebones, this actually made the story much more compelling, and added a layer of nuance to some of the characters. This was most evident in the case of Joseph’s brothers, who slowly began to regret their decision to sell Joseph, and felt the guilt of their choices. This point in the story demonstrates my next point: the emotional intensity. Although it is common for stories in this time, the displays of emotional intensity are… intense. They rip their clothes, yell, cry, go into isolation, etc., which I find to be a very effective literary device, and it built my connection to the characters much further.

From the beginning to the end, the story of Joseph caught my attention and kept it throughout its (albeit short) runtime, due to its simplicity, its character development, and its emotional intensity. All in all, I enjoyed this story, and believe it was a masterfully told tale.

IRJE #4 – Night

Night by Elie Wiesel is one of the most powerful books I have ever read. It is the horrifying story of what one man endured, when he was but a teenager, during the Holocaust. Straight from the beginning, a mournful tone is set: one of pain, loss and death.

“Behind me, I heard the same man asking:

‘Where is God now?

And I heard a voice within me answer him:

‘Where is He? Here He is – He is hanging here on this gallows…’

That night the soup tasted of corpses”

The writing in this book is extremely potent, and it being a memoir makes it all the more powerful, and horrifying. When a book is written like this, it makes a tragedy such as the Holocaust seem much more real, as opposed to something we just read about in history books. To read a personal account of what a single person had to endure is a truly mortifying thing: but one we must do, to understand the suffering, and prevent anything such as this from occurring again.

 

A radical change – PR to An Enemy of the People

An Enemy of the People is a very interesting political piece. Throughout the story, there seems to be a preference towards sudden change within characters, as opposed to gradual, multifaceted change. What I personally found most interesting was the utterly baffling change in heart Dr. Stockmann had near the end of the story. From the beginning, the Dr. was very interested in spreading values to help the common people, or “compact majority”. After he is opposed, harassed, and threatened by the same populous he sought out to help, something snaps in his mind, and his values completely shift. “Dr. Stockmann: ‘The majority never has right on it’s side!'” pg. 59, line 5. Whether warranted or not, this change created quite a bit more intrigue and dimension in the story, as he begins despising the populous, and saying that the only people with true liberal values are those richer and more educated than the general population. After the climax of the story (in which Dr. Stockmann is proposed an enemy of the people), the aftermath leaves him even more changed. For example, he threatens Hovstad and Aslaksen after they show up in his home and tries to push them out of the window with an umbrella. However, despite all of this, his family is happy with him and begin to support him even more. I found this play to be very unconventional in a political sense, as the belief that the only people with left-wing/liberal values are those that are rich seems a bit redundant, however, the unconventional politics were probably just a product of the time it was written. Nonetheless, this was an incredibly interesting play that kept me intrigued until the very last page.

PW #4 – How I became a decent photographer

Since I was a young one, my house has always had at least one fancy camera sitting around. This is usually due to my father’s interest in photography (and his job, but that’s a story for later). Around 2 years ago, when I was 12, I developed an interest in nature photography. This probably stemmed (pun intended) from this very strange nature based weekend group I was attending (another story for a later time). After pestering my father enough, he let me take one of his cameras out on a walk to take some photos. There was only one issue: I didn’t know how to use it. There were so many knobs, switches, buttons, I couldn’t keep up with it! I scoured the internet, I looked everywhere for some answers, but all I got was more confusion. After a while, I just gave up, put the camera down and forgot about it. A year goes past, and I decide to pick it up again. What harm could it do? This time, though, I took a different approach: I just… tried things. I pressed buttons, turned knobs, probably messed at least something up (probably the autofocus). Just taking this more tactile approach provided amazing results: my photos were beginning to look amazing! Now, as a little disclaimer here: I did bother to learn the technical stuff. I find that the tactile approach was supplementary to learning all the technical jargon behind it. So, if you ever want to take great photos: just mess with stuff. What’s the worst that could happen?

IRJE #3: Hunger

The book I have just finished, Hunger on the Chisolm Trail by M. Ennenbach, is a creepy, foreboding tale of monsters and the anarchy that is the Wild West. Beginning with a spooky encounter, this book has no problem cutting right to the chase, and the pace is just whiplash-inducingly fast, with barely any breaks. This sense of pace is demonstrated perfectly in this passage:

“The hawk’s cry pierced the silence at the same time a different cry came bellowing from the back of the wagon. Chris stared as the wagon began shaking as if in an earthquake. The cross held so tightly in his hands four drops of blood dripped down his forearm. ‘Jesse! Are you alright in there?’ James yelled. Chris watched in horror as the men circled behind the wagon with guns raised. He heard the exclamations of fear, wordless shouts and gasps. Unintelligible. Gunfire filled the former silence as all three men let loose with the steel in their hands.”

Now this is just a piece of tension-building exposition, however it still goes along at a break-neck pace (literally and figuratively). The next few pages, which I will not quote, are even more action-filled, and genuine fun-filled horror action. This book may seem silly, being about monsters (more accurately, a monster), and the wild west, but sometimes a silly book about monsters and the Wild West is all we need in our lives.

 

 

PW #3 – My growing obsession with physical music

Hello everyone, and welcome to my PW#3, which is inevitably going to be a long-winded dump of one of my interests, the interest in question being physical media (mainly music).

It’s no secret I love music: I’m constantly listening to a new album, whether it be through a turntable, CD player, tape deck, computer, or phone. This obsession started when I was but a child, and my dad used to show me his record collection from when he was a child. Rush, Yes, and Pink Floyd, among many other classic prog rock bands, would be echoing through the halls of our home.

Fast forward to 5 years ago, when I was 8. My dad had just got a new turntable. I was quite interested in this foreign thing – it just seemed really strange to me, how a big plastic disc with grooves on it could make sounds using a needle. This truly jumpstarted my interest in the subject.

When I was 11 I decided to buy myself a record and use the turntable myself – I still remember it like it was yesterday. The record was Fortitude by Gojira – not the greatest album, but oh well. In the next year I bought a few more records, listening to them tons. In this time I also grew some interest in CDs as I found an old Discman at a garage sale.

I continued on, buying CDs and vinyl any chance I got, when I grew interested in another format: cassette tapes. I had an old Walkman I got from my dad, so I decided to buy a couple cassettes. The Walkman sounded terrible, and ended up eating 3 of the 4 cassettes I had at the time, but it was a good jumping off point for me.

Just a few months ago, my grandparents visited and brought me something akin to a gold bar, at least for me: a shiny, mint-condition, name-brand tape deck from the 1990s. It sounded great hooked up to a pair of nice speakers, and what’s more, it didn’t eat my tapes! It was truly a glorious moment! Still, to this day, my idea of fun is going to record stores, and listening to music. Some people love video games, some love cooking, some love art, but me, I love physical music.

IRJE #2 – Sober Living

The book I am currently reading, called Sober Living for the Revolution, is a very interesting look into a subculture of punk, called straight edge, in which people abstain from intoxicants. A very common theme throughout the book is linking this subculture to radical politics, and the idea that social change cannot be obtained within the throes of “intoxication culture”, meaning, at its core, the culture we have built around intoxicants.

This is a quote taken from an essay about alcoholism in radical communities

“Think of all the power we could have if all the energy in the world – or maybe even just your energy and effort? – that goes into drinking were put into resisting, building, creating. Try adding up all of the money people in your community have spent on corporate libations, and picture how much musical equipment, bail money, or food it could have paid for.”

p168-169

I found this entire essay very interesting – it showed how much our upbringings, and the political climate really do affect our use of intoxicants, and how it prevents meaningful social change from being attained. Although i may not agree with some of the more radical beliefs in the book (I know how ironic that may sound,) it was an extremely engrossing read, encompassing many essays and interviews, and it really helped make light of many issues our society has with intoxication.

 

Theo G – Master and Man PR, “To Change or not to Change”

Master and Man is seemingly designed to illicit a strong response. Every point in the story is very potent, especially the end, and they all make you ask many questions. As the story progresses, I would like to shed some light on two main elements make themselves very evident. The two main elements I would like to shed some light on are the theme of peasant vs. master and the way the ending of the story completely changes that theme.

The strongest element in this story is the concept of differences and injustices between peasants and the wealthy. While Vasili cheats Nikita out of his money, Nikita is moral, honest, and works hard, even though his wages don’t even go to him. It’s Vasili’s greed that pushes the story forward: From the loathing we feel for his dishonest practices in the beginning, to the sudden, radical change we see in his mannerisms. On the side of Nikita, he is complacent with all of the horrible decisions Vasili makes, and feels sorry for him when he meets his doom, even though he had cheated Nikita for years.

But what if the theme was not differences between the poor and the rich? What if the theme was humans and God? After all, nearing the end of the story, God is referred to as the Great Master. Thinking this way, we could reason that the story is about humans and God, and the characters’ relationship with religion. Maybe Vasili’s sudden change in heart was by the will of God, or maybe his faith was restored, or maybe, while watching Nikita freeze to death, he found some decency buried deep in his soul.

Throughout the story, throughout all of the emotions it evokes, and everything that is up for interpretation, there are two element’s I’m sure of: the theme of the poor and the rich, and how the ending completely changes that theme into god and man. Although I am sure of these elements, they may not be part of the story, and we will never know if they are, or if Leo Tolstoy even intended to look into the story this way. Even though we will never know what Leo Tolstoy intended for the story, we can still appreciate his storytelling prowess, and wonder what his intentions were.

My experiences in live “Music” – PW #2

It’s no secret that when it comes to music, I’m the black sheep of my family. I was probably dropped on my head when I was an infant, as I like barely musical, fast, ridiculously obnoxious music, spanning anywhere from punk to metal to electronic. Since I’ve moved to Victoria, I’ve gone to ~13 weird, DIY shows. (I hesitate to call them concerts, since most of them take place in community centers with barely enough space to house the bands themselves.) As you can guess, the group that goes to these shows is… a little odd. They’re some of the friendliest people I’ve met, don’t get me wrong, but they’re definitely strange. The last show I went to, I got (accidentally) bodyslammed into a wall by a random middle-aged guy who lost his balance and fell into one of the merch tables. Although the shows, music, and generally everything about the scene that I’ve found myself in seems chaotic and violent in nature, there’s an extremely welcoming, group-oriented mindset. If someone falls, there’s at least 3 people there to pick them up before they hit the ground, and if someone’s injured, everyone stops everything they’re doing to help them. As a wise, random person said, “We’re all here to have fun. It’s not fun if we don’t take risks, but it’s even worse if we’re not here for each other”

(IRJE #1) A hamburger was made out of an animal which looked like this:

In Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions, everything is explained. from metaphors, to apples, to the pyramids, within the next page there will be a sketch and an explanation, almost like science fiction novels explain spaceships and lasers. One example that stuck out to me the most was this quote:

A hamburger was made out of an animal which looked like this:

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. | Goodreads

The animal was killed, and grouped into little bits, then shaped into patties, then fried, then put between two pieces of bread. The finished product looked like this:

 

(p.124)

 

It’s a masterfully executed critique on what was, and still is, modern science fiction. Everything always being explained to be “realistic” is considered the norm in science fiction, but when it’s put into our world, we see it as childish, condescending.

This could just be a general critique of people losing their ability to critically think, too, and could also be a silly little quirk of the novel. Since this was written in the 1970s, and I’m looking at it through a modern lens, I’m most likely taking something out of it that may not even be there. But that’s the beauty of this book: many of the messages are still relevant, which just goes to show the stubbornness we have to changing our ways.

PW#1: Deer

Hello everyone, and welcome to my first piece of personal writing.

Ever since my family moved to the Highlands, we’ve been astonished at the amount of wildlife. Coming from suburban Ontario, it’s been quite a shock, as the only animals we saw there were a few squirrels. Although all the flora and fauna here are a bit odd to us, the strangest thing has to be the deer.

Every night, anywhere from 6-8 PM, deer will just come to our property. Sometimes they sleep, sometimes they fight, but most of the time they just sit there. They aren’t aggressive, and sometimes even come right up to us. We’ve asked around and this seems to be abnormal, even by BC standards.

Maybe the previous owners fed them every night, or maybe it’s because our property is in an area with lots of exits, in case of a cougar attack (which are extremely common in our area.) It’s a mystery that we may never find the answer to, so we can do nothing but enjoy the company of the deer.

Me, according to myself.

Hi everyone, my name is Theo, and I’m brand new to Brookes. I love music and everything related to it. I listen to many genres, but mainly listen to metal, and love anything that pushes the boundaries of music itself. I love collecting vinyl, CDs, and cassette tapes, and listen to them in my free time. I also enjoy early 20th/19th century cookbooks as they give a great insight into life in the country and time period they were written in.

As a reader, I am interested in many things. I love horror, fantasy, sci-fi, and westerns, mainly, but will read anything that piques my interest. My favorite book of all time has to be Steven King’s The Shining, as it changed the way I viewed literature. I am currently reading Breakfast Of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, and really enjoy his dry, humorous critique of how our society conducts itself.

As a writer, I don’t enjoy creative writing, but prefer to write reports on various topics. I don’t normally write for fun, but I am getting into it as I enjoy the process. This year I aspire to try and do more creative writing, although I’m not the best at it. I am very excited about all the opportunities I will have for writing this year, and hope to really work on my writing skills.