Greeting

Happy March, readers! We hope you’re enjoying the first few days of Spring weather. Revel in it! Enjoy the pre-allergenic, post-hibernation high! While digging out your spring jacket, feel free to divulge in the many publishing opportunities of this week’s Culture Corner. Perhaps you’ll be encouraged make your mark on the English Majors’ Magazine, the Junction! We look forward to featuring your work!


- Sun Mei Liu


Image Source: Sun Mei Liu

News Brief

One Big Chana Family



If you thought your family tree had too many branches, the Chana family has their own forest that overshadows your feeble numbers. In Baktawang, Mizoram, India, Ziona Chana reigns as the patriarch of the world’s largest family. The number of family members is staggering (brace yourself): 39 wives, 94 children, 33 grandchildren, and 14 daughters-in-law. If the children are divided evenly, then each wife is assigned 2 or 3 children.

Nadya Suleman, also known as Octomom, and Kate Gosselin, from the television show Kate Plus 8, pale in comparison to this mini empire in terms of numbers and intrigue. Ziona has his own master bedroom, so his bed partner is alternated each night. Therefore, if his wives are equally rotated throughout the year, each wife would get roughly eight or nine days to sleep with her husband. However, this is unlikely; Ziona prefers the younger wives over the older ones. As for the 38 wives that aren’t given the opportunity to lay their head on Ziona’s pillow for the night, they congregate in communal dormitories.

Everyday appears to be Thanksgiving in the Chana household. Dinnertime typically requires of an enormous amount of effort and ingredients; 30 breathing chickens and 220 pounds of rice are typically required for an evening meal. Ziona’s sexual appetite is just as astonishing. He intends to continue his search for other spouses and stated he is willing to find one in the United States. However, this is dubious since America isn’t a fan of polygamy.

Nevertheless, godspeed Mr. Chana.

~Joel Cruz

Image Source: http://www.bharatchronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/worlds-largest-family-mizoram.jpg

Article Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1358654/The-worlds-biggest-family-Ziona-Chan-39-wives-94-children-33-grandchildren.html

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Looking Forward To Your Hotel Stay…?



Skin cells, human hair, bodily secretions, fungi, bacteria, dust mites, lint, insect parts, pollen, and cosmetic remnants -definitely not appealing. These are some of the things that make us cringe. Unfortunately, these are exactly the things we find ourselves sleeping in during hotel stays. In Marnie Hunter’s article, “A Microscopic Look at Hotel Hygiene,” we are forced to question how sanitary hotel rooms really are after microbiologist Phillip Tierno reveals the truth about the “ick factors” we find ourselves living with, or in many hotels.

Ignoring the problems associated with the lack of impervious covers, allergen-free bedding, and bedbug breakouts, Tierno explains how germ infested dormitories are due to countless visitors in a single hotel room and poor cleaning. Most hotels have a rigorous cleaning schedule and certain rules maids must follow, but not all maids follow the strict regulations. A video proved this true after an Atlanta hotel decided to secretly videotape how the drinking glasses in several hotel rooms were cleaned. The recording revealed that one housekeeper cleaned a toilet and drinking glasses with the same set of gloves. In several rooms glasses were rinsed in the sink and left to dry for the next guests.

Tierno goes on to describe hotel rooms that aren’t properly disinfected; some of the “germiest” areas are in the faucet and sink areas as well as the toilet flusher, toilet seat, and the shower floor. As for the bed sheets, we’d be lucky if the top covers were changed and washed at all. Hotel protocol requires deep-cleanings once in a while where the caretakers would have to move furniture around and scrub a little more than usual. Part of the procedure includes flipping mattresses over and replacing blankets and bedspreads. McCarthy, a lecturer at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, doesn’t think this procedure means hotel beds are cleaned more often than that. She says, “If you went through and you had a good system in place and you were trying to deep clean each of your rooms four times a year, is it possible that a bedspread might only be changed four times a year? Yeah, it is.”

Tierno tries his best to make his hotel stays a little cleaner by bringing his own impervious bedding and removing the hotel’s comforter upon arriving to his room. He would rather sleep cold than in the leftover skin cells and bodily secretions. For hotel travelers, be aware of where you are staying. It is better to stay at bigger hotel chains where it is probably cleaner and better kept than smaller hotel chains. In any case, it is important to be aware of any germ-causing agents when staying at various hotels. As the old saying goes, “it’s better to be safe than sorry”.

-Lora Rose

News Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/02/25/hotel.hygiene/index.html

Image Source:
http://cache-01.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2008/09/gross-hotel-mattress.jpg

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The Game Gatsby



Movies based on books are a dime-a-dozen, but video games based on books are almost unheard of -- especially when the book is an 86-year-old literary classic by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby is a story about ambition, re-invention, and ultimately failed imagination. Great material for a novel, but how about for a Nintendo game? The Great Gatsby Game isn’t actually for the NES and is instead a simple Adobe Flash site, but it still plays like an old school Super Mario game with simple graphics and gameplay. You control Nick Carraway as he navigates through Gatsby’s Long Island party and beyond. There are a few liberties taken with the plot of the game, but what are you waiting for? Find out for yourself: http://greatgatsbygame.com/

-James Rodriguez

Source: http://greatgatsbygame.com/

Image Source: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/02/greatgatsbyfab2011.jpg

Culture Corner

                                                       Let's Get Published

There are over 90 Creative Writing Majors at Brooklyn College. Are you one of them? Maybe you are a Chemistry or Education Major but inside you burns the inextinguishable need to write, to tell your story. The truth is, to be a writer, one must be heard. One must be fearless in the face of rejection. The age of Emily Dickinson-esque reclusiveness is over. All across the globe young people are writing and getting published. There is no reason why you shouldn't be one of them. Below is a list of journals that publish work only by undergraduates and should get you started. Unlike campus-based Zines and journals like our Junction, these journals are distributed nationally. This means your work can appear in libraries, bookstores, classrooms, and will be read in colleges and English Departments across the nation.

It is by publishing in journals that I was able to land my first book contract for my book of poems: Burnings. A publisher saw one of my poems in a national journal and asked for a manuscript. Yes, it was also a matter of luck and chance, but none of it would have happened if I wasn't submitting to journals already.

So go ahead and check out the journals below. All guidelines are listed on their websites and some even accept submission via e-mail. Hope this helps you on your way to becoming literary conquerors. Be brave, be fierce, and let us know how you do! Good luck.

Prairie Margins

An undergraduate journal run by the English Majors at Bowling Green State University

Collision Literary Magazine

An undergraduate journal edited by students in the Pittsburgh University's Honor's College.

Susquehanna University

An undergraduate journal edited by undergrads at Susquehanna College.

The Allegheny Review

A national journal publishing undergraduate work based out of Allegheny University.

The Claremont Review

A journal publishing works from writers ages 13-19 only.

-Ocean Vuong

Source Links:

http://www.theclaremontreview.ca/submit.htm

http://webpub.allegheny.edu/group/review/

http://www.susqu.edu/academics/30264.asp

http://collision.honorscollege.pitt.edu/

http://www.bgsu.edu/studentlife/organizations/prairiemargins/guidelines.html

Poem of the Week

Billy Collins Pays a Poem's Ransom



“Introduction to Poetry”

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

This poem was written by U.S. poet laureate, Billy Collins. I was introduced to this poem in a book I bought entitled The Spoken Word Revolution, which is a small collection of contemporary poems and essays that exemplify and discuss spoken-word poetry. Introduction to Poetry complements the essay it follows, which is also written by Collins.

In Collins’s essay, he points out the perks of a poem that is read out loud. The listener is at the whim of the poet because he/she lacks the control to backtrack and peruse the poem. Instead, they must absorb the poem as it is spoken. The listener is given the liberty to close their eyes and feel the feelings behind the words rather than just read them.

Collins explains this difference with “Introduction to Poetry”. In the first few stanzas, he implores the individual to feel, look, and listen to the poem. Instead of permitting the poem to take hold of the reader, the reader abuses it with examinations and interrogations with hopes of finding a deeper meaning. This may veer them away from truly relishing the piece.

Ironically, it appears that I have done the very thing Collins entreats the reader not to do to a poem. Umm, this is a tad embarrassing. Well, I hope you can forgive me, Mr. Collins.

-Joel Cruz

Image Source: http://www.vianegativa.us/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/napomo-131.jpg

Poem Source: Smith, Marc Kelly., and Mark Eleveld. The Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip-hop & the Poetry of a New Generation. Naperville, IL: Source MediaFusion, 2003. Print.

Currently Reading

The Devil’s Arithmetic

How can an author make the Holocaust accessible to young readers? This is a question that many young-adult authors have been grappling with for decades. While there are many Holocaust-themed novels for children, such as Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars, the answer has never been simple. Jane Yolen’s The Devil’s Arithmetic famously takes the least “gentle” approach in addressing the Holocaust for a young audience. The story follows a young girl named Hannah, who falls asleep on Passover and is transported back to WWII. She faces all the horrors of the Holocaust through her strange time warp, experiencing the tragedy firsthand. The incident ultimately gives Hannah much better insight into her family’s past and the ensuing losses.

I describe the controversial novel as the least gentle of young-adult Holocaust stories because of its direct storytelling approach. The details are graphic and readers are not removed from the tale; rather, they are on the journey along with the young protagonist. Holocaust literature is difficult for readers of all ages because it is such a sensitive topic. However, The Devil’s Arithmetic is perfect for younger readers who are not quite ready for even more difficult reads, such as Eli Weisel’s Night.

- Seth Nadler

Image source: http://www.pthsd.k12.nj.us/SCH/BMS/Curriculum%20Projects/LanguageArts/DevilsArithmetic/bookcover.jpg

Currently Watching - The Oscars

I’d Like to Thank the Academy…

Last night was the biggest night in Hollywood: the star-studded 83rd Academy Awards (also known as the Oscars). For people in show business, this awards show represents the recognition that they have worked for all year. For a cinephile, like myself, it is required viewing. I thoroughly enjoy predicting the winners, rating the attendees’ wardrobe choices, and critiquing acceptance speeches. However, I know that not everyone can sit through several hours of any awards show, so I will provide some of the highlights.

In an effort to bring in a younger demographic of viewers, the network chose Oscar nominee James Franco and actress Anne Hathaway to co-host the show. Their opening was a parody of the film Inception, with Franco and Hathaway exploring the dream of last year’s co-host Alec Baldwin for tips on hosting. The pair had fairly good comedic chemistry and certainly brought a youthful vibrancy to the show. However, this was immediately countered by the 95-year old Kirk Douglas’ presentation of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. For a rather strange five minutes, Douglas cracked jokes about the young hosts, Hugh Jackman’s laughter and Colin Firth’s lack thereof, and generally confused me.

My confusion didn’t end there. Melissa Leo’s acceptance speech was just as odd as the presentation of her award for Best Supporting Actress. Why, you may ask? She pulled a major Oscar-don’t and dropped an F-bomb. Classy. She then proceeded to deliver a ridiculously self-indulgent speech, which was equal parts insane, belligerent, and insincerely astonished. Leo made such an impression, that David Seidler and Christian Bale even mentioned her use of the swear word in their own acceptance speeches.

On the other hand, Randy Newman gave a delightful speech in which he mentioned his many losses (only two wins out of twenty nominations), poked fun that only four songs were nominated in the Best Original Song category this year (“You couldn’t have found a fifth song?”), and addressed the producers’ need for a speech that is also “good T.V.”

But what is “good T.V”? Is it seeing the losers struggle to smile graciously when the camera cuts to them, just after their dreams are crushed? Is it the awkward way the previous winners had to present this year’s nominees for Best Actor and Best Actress and pretend to know each other intimately, when it is completely likely that they have never met? Maybe. Or maybe it’s seeing how thrilled those involved in The King’s Speech, the Best Picture winner, were to accept their 8.5 pound golden statuettes.

- Brigida Pirraglia


Image Source:
http://greatoscar.com/userfiles/2011/2/19/images/New%20details%20about%20Oscar%20telecast%20released.jpg

Currently Listening

In the Jaws of the Lords of Death (Japanese Cartoon)


I believe that everyone should push beyond their comfort zone in order to achieve and learn new things. So it always warms my heart when an artist I admire does just that. In this case it’s Wasalu Muhammed Jaco, better known as Lupe Fiasco, with his side project Japanese Cartoon. Lupe Fiasco is originally known as a hip-hop artist, but in Japanese Cartoon it’s obvious that he is reaching beyond that genre.

Rapper Lupe Fiasco, using his real name Wasalu Jaco, formed Japanese Cartoon back in 2008 as rock-electronica music side project. The sound of their first album released in July of 2010, In the Jaws of the Lords of Death, has a distinct post-punk-rock feel to it. The album features fast paced guitar riffs and loud, sharp vocals, as well as electric beats. The truly excellent part is that the whole album is free to download. If you’re a fan of Fiasco and want to check out what Japanese Cartoon is all about, I suggest you give a quick listen. If you like it then head over to allsabotage.com and download the (free!) album.

-Celia Vargas

Here is a taste of Japanese Cartoon:



Image Source: http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/1050730191/I_Want_You.jpg

At This Moment

Nora and Oliver asked BC students: Do you watch award shows like the Oscars, Grammys, Tonys, and Emmys? Do you think they are legitimate reflections of value in the arts or do they only exist as forms of entertainment in and of themselves?

Tiffany R.: I usually don’t watch them when they’re on, because I don’t have time, but then I’ll see the results the next day. It depends on who’s presenting, if it’s someone I like, but I’ll still just watch it afterwards. I think they have a certain type of movie represented at the Oscars, but some things get left out. They’re usually pretty accurate about saying what’s good and what’s not, but sometimes there’s a movie in there, and you’re just like “What? How did this get in there?” It makes you wonder whether these movies are really good or if we think they’re good because they start winning awards. Who decides these things anyway? I don’t have time to see every movie, and the Academy doesn’t either.

Mira T.: I look forward to the award season because of the exposure it provides for international/indie/otherwise non-mainstream movies that I would not have known about otherwise. Plus, the shock factor that comes hand in hand with any show hosted by Ricky Gervais is reason enough.

Jimmy L.: For the first time in many years I watched the Oscars last night. I thought it was boring on all counts, and most likely won't watch it again.

Aliza S.: I don't watch shows like the Emmys or Grammys, etc.

Lukasz B.: I totally agree they are just forms of entertainment..


Overall, it seems that Brooklyn College students have a wide range of interest level and opinion about Hollywood’s big awards shows. But whether they watch or not, most people are willing to admit that these accolades have implications beyond the television screen, at times through the exposure and recognition of great art and at times through the ignorance of different forms of the same. Despite all of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, these ceremonies are worth looking at with a critical eye.

Image Source: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_v8Zg3RjUumY/TE2ww6j5DnI/AAAAAAAADz0/cpruNKvYp14/s1600/EGOT.JPG

Greetings!

Rise and shine, darling readers! Another Monday morning means a fresh set of articles for your reading pleasure. This week, we introduce you to memes, some of the MTA’s best “Poetry in Motion,” 99 entirely different versions of the same written exercise, and a McDreamy take on a Biblical epic. So instead of hibernating this President’s Day, unwind with the Boylan Blog! Oh, and don't forget that this Wednesday follows a Monday schedule. What's that? You don't like Mondays? You'll just have to grin and bear it.

- Brigida Pirraglia

Image Source:
http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/data/media/2/sleepy-bear_4141.jpg

News Brief

Goldberg Demands Acknowledgment




On Monday, February 13, 2011, the host of the daytime talk show The View and Academy award winner Whoopi Goldberg heatedly addressed “the sloppy journalism” of The New York Times for the article by Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott, which left out her historic Oscar win in 1990.

"This is not hidden information," said Goldberg. "People in Somalia know, people in China know because I...am a world-wide person who is known."

The New York Times article, “Hollywood’s Whiteout,” appeared in print on February 13, 2011. For the most part, the article chronicled the sparse amount of black actors who have received Oscars since 2002.

The article makes mention of Halle Berry (the first African-American woman to win an Oscar in the Best Actress category) and Denzel Washington (the second African-American man to win an Oscar in the Best Actor category) who received Oscars in 2002. In the same year, Sidney Poitier was recognized with an honorary Oscar for his historic win as the first African-American man to receive an Oscar in 1964 for his lead role the film “Lilies In the Field.”

However, Whoopi Goldberg has also left her mark on film history. She was the first African-American woman to win an Oscar in 50 years. In 1990, she won the highest award in film for her supporting role in “Ghost.” She followed Hattie McDaniel, who made history as the first African-American woman to win an Oscar in 1940 for her supporting role in “Gone With the Wind.”

In keeping with the moment, Whoopi Goldberg donned her Oscar and upbraided the newspaper for its lapse in memory.

“I am emabarrassed to tell you it hurt me terribly," she said. "I would always be Academy Award winner, Whoopi Goldberg.”

--Kerri

Image Source: http://hookedonhouses.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/whoopi-goldberg-photo-black-and-white.jpg

Article Sources: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/14/whoopi-goldberg-new-york-times-oscar_n_823140.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/movies/awardsseason/13movies.html?_r=1



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The MTA Strikes Again



And finally in a good way. If you live in New York City, there’s a good chance that you’ve gotten acquainted with the sometimes nemesis and sometimes friend: the MTA. Straphangers have held on through back-to-back fare hikes and sporadic construction that makes commuting difficult. To face facts, the MTA has a monopoly on public transportation and can hold the city hostage on any given day. They aren’t the best game in town; they’re the only game in town. But sometimes, even the MTA can get it right.

Coming to the realization that most of their customers are tech savvy, the MTA has introduced up to the minute train schedules right there on the platform. Recognizing that many customers don’t have the cool and trendy smart phones accessing the Internet at a moment’s notice, they won’t need to. By simply texting to a certain number, LIRR users now know where their train is and how long they’ll be waiting for it instantly.

While only available for Long Island Rail Road trains for now, this novice program is an important step forward for all commuters who have grown tired of watching the MTA stumble.

- Kate Conte
Article Source: http://www.mta.info/coocoo/

Image Source: http://nymag.com/daily/intel/20070725mta.jpg



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A Fight For Justice in Puerto Rico




In the Spring of 2010, students at the University of Puerto Rico were told by governor Luis Fortuño’s administration that they would now have to pay an additional $800 in fees because of a budget crunch. Sound familiar? The concept of a tuition hike instituted to cover city and state deficits isn’t news to most university students around the globe, particularly in the CUNY system. When the students at UPR tried to stand up for themselves, however, they were told that they had no rights to free speech and assembly and ended up in the midst of a physical and verbal battle for their rights. Student protests that began in the spring and were revitalized in December resulted in police occupation of the University of Puerto Rico campus. Run-ins between police and students have involved arrests, sexual assault, and other forms of violence.

The situation came to a head on Wednesday, February 9, when 28 students were arrested and even more were victims of violence on the part of the police. These events led to a two-day walk out and the resignation of University President José Ramón De La Torre. On Saturday February 12, approximately 15,000 people—including students, professors, members of civic and political organizations, and representatives of the governor’s administration—marched through the campus’s main roads demanding that the police leave. In response to the protest, which closed down a major highway, the majority of police were removed from the campus on Monday, February 14. The fight’s not over yet, though; just days later students rebooted the strike, as thousands of them face having to leave school for financial reasons.

The treatment of the students at the University of Puerto Rico is a startling reminder that rights to free speech are not universally protected and standing up for one’s beliefs can turn into a violent affair. It is heartening, however, to see professors stand by these students as they pursue justice. The relative lack of media coverage the situation has received from major news sources is disconcerting; the New York Times, for example, didn’t run a full-length story on this round of protests until more than a week after the riot and march. Students attending CUNY and SUNY schools and a number of major London universities are currently facing tuition raises, and we’d benefit from a global perspective.

- Nora Curry

News Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maritza-stanchich-phd/20000-march-to-end-police_b_822735.html

Image Source: http://assets.vbs.tv/blog_articles/images/000/002/370/tumblr_ldr644mmpA1qzxop3o1_500_blog.jpg?1293033326

Culture Corner

It is Pronounced ‘Meem’
The image above is that of Nuts the Squirrel. It has become a “meme,” but I will explain that specific meme later. Now, the question is what exactly is a meme? That question would probably take more than a couple of pages to answer, so I’ll narrow it down to just explaining “Internet Memes” for now. The Internet memes are any abstract idea, concept, or cultural reference that is spread virally through the Internet. In some cases it takes the form of a picture, a video, a link to a website, a specific phrase or word, and pretty much anything else that can spread on the Internet. A really neat way to sum up Internet memes is to think of them as “discrete [virtual] packages of culture.” They are part of the digital age in which we live in now and are quite popular. In fact, there are websites that map out and trend the popularity of many memes.

The word “meme” originated from evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene. Dawkins explained memes to be “a form of cultural propagation, a way for people to transmit social memories and cultural ideas to each other.” Perhaps Dawkins at the time didn’t imagine just how many different types of memes there would be. He probably didn’t expect a picture of a cheeky squirrel posing with tourist to become a huge sensation, but it has. The picture on the top of Nuts, the squirrel’s nickname, is so popular that it even has its own Facebook page. This is just one of thousands of memes out there, and I’m sure they will probably keep growing along with the Internet.

Another popular meme is the Youtube video of Rick Astley’s song “Never Gonna Give You Up.” It involves tricking a person into clicking a link and being directed to Astley’s video, and if the trick works that person is considered rickroll’d:




And here is a meme I made a couple of days ago, and it just shows how easy it is to make one, the hard part might be getting it to catch on and spread:



-Celia Vargas

Image Source:
http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2009/08/20/1225764/210469-nuts-the-squirrel.jpg

Source(s): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme#Types_and_uses
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1310527,00.html
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=meme

Poem of the Week

Wandering Eyes Find A Surprise

If There is Something to Desire

On my way to my high school in the autumn of 2007, I stood in the aisle of a bus. Usually, during the early morning rush hour, the bus was quite crowded. To take my mind off the discomfort of the moment, I decided to stare aimlessly at the advertisements above the taken seats. Much to my surprise, I was in for a treat; it was a little something the MTA liked to call “Poetry in Motion”:

“If there is something to desire”

If there is something to desire,
There will be something to regret.

If there is something to regret,
There will be something to recall.

If there was something to recall,
There was nothing to regret.

If there was nothing to regret,
There was nothing to desire.

The Russian poet, Vera Pavlova, wrote this poem. She is one of the nation’s most illustrious modern poets. She was born in Moscow, and graduated from Gnessin Academy in order to be a musician. Yet, somewhere down the road, her plan to be a musician was detoured and she became a poet instead. She has written fourteen collections of poetry, which have been translated into eighteen languages. The poem of the week is from her first collection of poetry in English, If There Is Something to Desire, which was published by Alfred A. Knopf.

It will four years since I have seen this poem on the bus, and it has left an indelible imprint on me since then. It is my hope that it will do the same for you.

-Kerri Byam

Image Source: http://www.munidiaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/crowded-bus1.jpg
Poem Source: http://www.mta.info/mta/pim/images/07/Pavlova.pdf
Information Source: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/vera-pavlova

Currently Reading

Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau


How many times should you retell a story? According to Raymond Queneau, 99 is just the right amount. Queneau performs an extraordinary feat by publishing 99 versions of the same story in Exercises in Style. What makes this even more impressive is that it is a completely pointless tale consisting of a few simple elements. While you may think anyone in his right mind would be bored reading the same story five or six times, Queneau is guaranteed to change your mind.

Queneau bends the rules of the English language; he creates works in ways that have never been thought of before, blending real and non-existent words to form complete sentences. One example of Queneau’s work is Lipogramme, in which he omits the letter ‘e’ from his writing claiming it is “the most boringly characterless of all letters, because the most common.” He also published Hundred Thousand Billion Poems, an ingeniously created combination of sonnets that would take some 200,000,000 years to read! Queneau challenges himself in his novel of exercises, Exercises in Style, by recreating a typical scene on a bus using almost one hundred different literary styles.

Queneau is capable of turning a simple story into a complex mystery. If you think a commonplace bus ride where one fellow steps on another passenger’s toes can be explained only once, you’ll find yourself rethinking how many different versions of the same situation can be written after reading Exercises in Style. Queneau writes in syncope, permutations, odes, sonnets, anagrams, back slang, and even mathematical equations. After flipping through the dozens of various narrations, you can completely understand what Queneau means when he says, “In het S sub in het hurs hour a pach of tabou swinettyx, who had a glon, hint cken and a tah mmitred with a droc instead of a borbin, had an urmagent with athrone gaspenser whom he uccased of stoljing him on sporeup.”

- Lora Rosentsveyg

Picture Source:
http://19.media.tumblr.com/6WI6JIdOyq2j0inwY08bT7xUo1_400.jpg

Excerpt Source:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/22561409/Raymond-Queneau-Exercises-in-Style-B-Wright

Currently Listening

Screaming for the Past



“Without the Blues, we are nothing.”
Joe Cocker


The sun rises above the roaring snow, tumbling over the sidewalk on Saint John's place. Wind seeps through cracks in the seams of my town-house window frame. Already the people are roused, trudging beside a never-ending flurry of cars as conditioned habits settle into a new week, memory swollen with the frustration of routine obligations. Participation, acceptance, purpose… the compulsion to assist weaving the fabric of the social order.

Guided without deeply ingrained tradition--follow the lead of old lessons, hoping some shining and loving truth guided the memories of ancestors in awe of the same bountiful earth all too forgotten in the glorified present.

Without recollection of the past, we are nothing.

And so, in reverence of an all too forgotten age, I resound the soulful singing of Joe Cocker.

The man attests that we, and therefore he, would be nothing without the Blues, and bellows the passion of his appreciation in his 1970 performance of Feeling Alright with the Grease Band, his break-through lineup that accompanied him at his famous appearance at WoodStock in 1969.

Joe Cocker, inspired by the fervent expressions of Southern life in America, offered his body in service of his spirited performances: watching his concerts over the decades reveals a lifetime of drug use and vocal exhaustion. But Joe Cocker continues to endure with remarkable ebullience.

Tradition confines the individual to a standard of behavior and ideals, and in a society invested in constant growth, tradition is inhibiting. But as the harsh consequences of historical disregard weigh on society, our forefathers may be the only guides for amendment. So I entreat: listen to Joe Cocker, and if a wistful yearning takes hold ask about some of the records grand pappy keeps in the attic.

Oliver Lamb

Currently Watching

Grey’s Apocalypse

Patrick Dempsey is best known for his role on Grey’s Anatomy, but his acting career may have biblical roots. This week, my Professor for CC 3025, “The Jewish Diaspora,” announced that we would be watching a film in class. Since this is a history class we didn’t exactly expect "The Dark Knight” or “The Social Network,” but we didn’t anticipate a biblical epic either. The film we saw was “Jeremiah the Prophet,” starring Patrick Dempsey in the title role. The film dates back to 1998 before Dempsey’s rise as a major T.V and chick flick star. “Jeremiah” is a part of the “Bible Tales” film series. Lions Gate Entertainment released many films based off the lives of Esther, Isaiah, Jesus and Solomon. Jeremiah is repeatedly imprisoned beaten, exiled, and forced to witness the death of his fiancée, but in the end he does not despair. He is chosen by god to force the Judeans to repent or else face destruction and exile from Jerusalem. His unpopularity comes from his messages from God, urging the Judeans to repent their evil ways and forgo idolatry. Patrick Dempsey played the role of the unpopular prophet really well and, unlike most biblical epics, the film moved along nicely. There were a few special effects or commanding speeches, but the movie does a good job of conveying the actual biblical tale.

-Seth Nadler

Image Source: http://www4.alibris-static.com/cover/v53479pj48p.jpg

At This Moment - Planned Parenthood

James and Ocean asked BC students how they feel about the recent House of Representatives decision to cut funding for Planned Parenthood.

Mellisa. J.: I think it's ridiculous that they are cutting these important programs. All our money is going in to serve the war machines across the world anyway. To take away programs innocent civilians rely so heavily on is just more insult to injury. I am frankly just tired of the government picking on those who live in the margins of our society.

Abdul. S: I have many friends who use Planned Parenthood and I really don't understand why they‘re trying to cut wellness programs. I think America is not far from where Egypt is. To be honest, with tuition raises, MTA raises, and with more cuts like this, we will have the perfect ingredients for an uprising.


Erica Q: I have a huge problem with this policy decision, and hope it can be overturned some way. I feel like Planned Parenthood’s services get linked with the abortion debate, but there are a lot of other services like HIV and STI testing that people depend on to live.

Lindsay L: Planned Parenthood is a huge service to a lot of people, and actually helps cut costs for healthcare and hospitals for a lot of people. I hope they can get funds from other places so actual people don’t suffer from this.

Jaime F: Programs that are literally dedicated to keeping people healthy should be the last that get targeted for budget cuts. This is a huge to disservice to thousands of people.

Jessica S: This actually puts a lot more pressure on local hospitals, and clinics like our own at BC for people who need affordable access to these health services.

By and large, this House of Representatives decision is a grossly unpopular one at BC. Most students see Planned Parenthood as an important resource for a number of different services, and a budget cut would hurt everyone who relies on it. Planned Parenthood has issued an open letter to Congress in hopes of overturning this decision. To Stand with Planned Parenthood visit http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ and take action.

Greetings!

Like most holidays (real or otherwise), Valentine's Day can be pretty divisive. Instead of succumbing to the day's perceived pressures, make it your own. Appreciate not just all those you love, but things you love to do. In that spirit, we bring to you, reader, another edition of the Boylan Blog, most lovingly written.

-James

Image source: http://www.funny-potato.com/images/valentine/funny-pictures/valentine-day.jpg

News Briefs

A Difficult Void



From learning to master language, metaphors, and plot to spending hours at a time typing or scratching away at a pad in deep isolation, all writers have a tough time creating their work. However, according to Jim Berhle, poet and columnist for HairPin magazine, if you are a woman writing today, your life is even tougher. Despite fierce feminist movements during the 80s and 90s and the notoriously liberal atmosphere of the literary world, women writers still suffer the brunt of modern-day misogyny and bias.

In 2010, The New Yorker Book Review published a mere 163 reviews from female authors compared to a staggering 449 from male writers. Is it possible that a highbrow and sophisticated publication like the Times is still hampered by close-minded editorship? Berhle says the answer might be embedded in the numbers:

As a small-time literary publisher, I get 10 times more work from men than I do from women, possibly because men are less hesitant to submit work en masse. They're perhaps less afraid of being rejected, more willing to put themselves out there, or more certain that their work will be greetly [sic] fairly and accepted.

Can this be true? Are women more timid than men when it comes to submitting their work? Despite raising the issue, Berhle doesn’t seem to offer any plausible ideas or advice on how to change this disparity. He does suggest the New Yorker publish book reviews by only women authors for the next year, but admits that the chance of this occurring is highly unlikely.

He concludes, however, on a slightly brighter note: “I'd say this to all women writers: start submitting to all these magazines today, because they're on the clock to make some serious changes.”

- Ocean Vuong

Article Source:
http://thehairpin.com/2011/02/women-get-published-and-reviewed-less-than-men-in-big-magazines-say-red-and-blue-pie-charts/

Image Source:
http://thehairpin.com/2011/02/women-get-published-and-reviewed-less-than-men-in-big-magazines-say-red-and-blue-pie-charts/

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Burrowing Beneath the Beijing Skyscrapers



Prices in Brooklyn's real estate market are rising. Minimum wage remains relatively stagnant. Without reasonable access to basic necessities of living, the land of opportunity appears bare of possibility. Lady Liberty submitted to the shackles, emaciated and forgotten.

But the state of the America's majority is reassuring compared to other countries. In Beijing, some 20 million residents live underground in windowless rooms ranging from 54 to 90 square feet. These rooms were originally designed under Mao's reign as shelters to protect against nuclear attacks. Now, in a capitalist market oversaturated with people, the underground bomb shelters are the only viable living options for far too many residents.

Many Chinese workers are limited to menial labor providing meager wages; 30 to 50 pounds is all they can spare for their residence. Eighty percent of those living underground are women working in the wholesale market. The rest? Mostly street vendors. The real estate market in Beijing is consequently bound to erupt in a financial crisis. With colluding land owners profiting off the lower class majority, in conjunction with wealthy investors lusting for higher property values, the crisis is sure to happen soon: a survey enacted by Bloomberg reflects that 45 percent of global investors expect financial collapse within the next five years, with another 40 percent expecting a burst soon after 2016.

Enjoying Wal-Mart? The constant influx of cheap products from China is soon to ebb and will eventually halt to make way for a new flow of market competition and demand! With Americans confused and uneducated, and leaders not held to any moral standards (oh thank you, proliferating champions of subjectivism!), these new fluctuations in the economy are sure to moor devastation on America's shores.

- Oliver Lamb

Article Source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/8291626/Underground-world-hints-at-Chinas-coming-crisis.html

Image Source:
http://www.beijing-travel.cn/images/Beijing_Attractions/Underground_City.jpg

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When Robots Became Self-Aware and Started Using Robopedia…



It is where robots go to upload, share, and gain information about the human world. It will be accessible to all robots. Its robots will be “armed with a growing library of knowledge about their human masters.” It will be RoboEarth…Okay, so that’s not really the whole story; in fact it’s actually the plot for the hit 80s movie Terminator, but RoboEarth is indeed real. European scientists are currently working on this electronic project. Essentially, RoboEarth will be a place where robots can "encode, exchange and re-use knowledge." It is being marketed as the Wikipedia for robots; it will be Robopedia.

What makes this project so brilliant is the sharing of information between robots; that’s the breakthrough that scientists are hoping to achieve. Currently, robots are only capable of processing information individually and according to what their programmers input into their memory. One single robot has no way of crosschecking or affirming what it learns about the world. RoboEarth would become a "communication system and a database." It would allow information that a robot gathers to be found and used by other robots. The information shared between RoboEarth robots “is likely to become a tool for the growing number of service and domestic robots that many expect to become a feature in homes in coming decades.”

Of course this is exciting news for technology and the world, but it raises questions about how much dependency humans have on machines. Again, I’m pretty much quoting Terminator, but it’s warped to think of a robot setting the table for dinner and serving meals. A machine providing the nourishment that the human population needs to grow; a machine that is self-aware, aware of other machines, and aware that they serve humans. Perhaps this is just the rant of someone who has watched too many sci-fi movies, but the capacity for machines to learn and grow is possible thanks to RoboEarth.

- Celia Vargas

Article Source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12400647

Image Source:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/image/1783224

Culture Corner- Holy Cow

HOLY COW!!

When walking down the card aisle in local stores we often come across
Birthday messages exclaiming, “Holy cow- you’re how old?!” Or maybe we
say “holy cow” in exclamation to an outrageous comment. But where does
this “holy cow” terminology really come from? It turns out that cows
are indeed holy.

The Indian culture praises the cow and considers it a sacred animal.
The cow has an important social stance amongst the Indian population.
They believe that the cow is the reason for health, enjoyment, wealth,
success, and religion. It is the animal that gives us more and takes
less. It is believed that if one was to walk around a cow, it is
equivalent to visiting all holy places.

Parts of the cow are considered sacred as well. The milk is compared
to drinking nectar; it gives strength and increases the pure qualities
of the human mind. Feces is considered to be a purifier and the best
fertilizer for crops to grow. Urine is like gold inside the human
body; it is considered the best of presents from the cow and
praised for its therapeutic qualities.

Holy texts like Atharva Veda, Rajni Ghuntu, and Sushruta Ghunta
explain the miraculous effects of cow urine. Studies have proved that
cow urine, with all its natural components such as nitrogen, sulfur,
copper, iron, urea, phosphate, iron, calcium, and vitamins can help
cure chronic diseases such as diabetes, AIDS, and cancer. Cow urine
treatment has also helped patients suffering from asthma, palpitations,
dysmenorrhea, blood pressure problems, and eczema.
Holy cow! It really is holy!

- Lora Rosentsveyg

Source: http://blog.toto-bobo.com/index.php/magic-of-cow-urine-in-india/

Poem of the Week

The Maps
By Leslie Harrison

When I finished coming to California
I burned the maps at the edge
of this wrong sea,

the ash mingling with ash
already falling from fires suddenly east.

I needed a reason not to go back. No maps
was all I had. I also wanted—
the same old want—the outside to match

the inside: the hole I keep throwing
states into, the hole whose size

doesn’t change, the one that looks
like a rearview mirror into which
everything first shrinks, then disappears.

I thought California might balance the ache.
It was a big state. I had to try.


Leslie Harrison’s poem “The Maps” is found in the middle of her book of poetry entitled, Displacement, a four-part exploration of loss—and its effects on the self—that won the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference Bakeless Prize in 2008. Displacement essentially traces the deterioration and rebuilding of a life thoroughly changed by the dissolution of a relationship. While Harrison’s poetic voice is unique and her poems are grounded largely in specific details and emotionally viable metaphors, the themes with which she deals are purely and universally human. Though Harrison’s displacement begins as an emotional uprooting, she transforms it into a spatial one as well; her house becomes an entity in and of itself that reflects the destabilizing changes, and in “The Maps” she literally travels across the country trying to deal with the devastation of her personal life and the way that such losses reflect back on the self. “The Maps” is one of the more direct and unadorned poems in the book, in which Harrison explores the complicated nature of physical removal from the past; she must burn the maps to force herself into a new life. But even as she comes from western Massachusetts to California, facilitating “the hole I keep throwing / states into,” she recognizes that the size of the internal hole remains constant. She learns that there is no way to fill certain voids, merely ways of learning to deal with such gaps in her existence.

Harrison’s poetry is still relatively unknown, and I only happened upon Displacement by pulling it off the poetry shelf at random in the Strand. It was a rare moment, in that I was in that instant grappling with my own sense of loss and was looking, as I often do, for some poetic voice that would reinforce for me the necessity of rendering sorrows into something beautiful and therefore somehow useful. The odds that I would pick up such a book were small, and yet I found myself holding a slim volume of poetry that pulled me out of a disconsolate reverie and reminded me that even when so many aspects of our lives seem transient and we feel displaced, the power of literary and poetic voices are a constant. Harrison’s honest attempt to turn her loss into something tangible and beautiful held an instant power over me, and it is for these moments that I believe poetry exists and continues to thrive in its own quiet way. So that a reader may stumble upon it and find a sense of understanding, a universality amongst specifics. So that someone who is feeling displaced might not have to travel all the way to California to balance the ache.

- Nora Curry


Poem Source: Harrison, Leslie. “The Maps.” Displacement. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. 52.

Image Source: http://slowmuse.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/harrison.jpg?w=263&h=400

Currently Reading

The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson


I like the idea of small-town life. I like the idea that I could mosey into a local coffee shop, have time to actually sit down, and the clerk would know my name, drink order, and something embarrassing I did as a child she could remind me of now and again. After reading The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson, I still like the idea of a small-town. I just don’t know if I could find one.

The Lost Continent is a non-fiction novel detailing Bryson’s quest for the quintessentially American small-town. Chasing his childhood memories along the empty highways and back roads of the heartland, Bryson quickly realizes that what he remembers as a beautiful and flourishing country are only fragments of boyhood’s collage of numerous small-towns meshed together.

Looking back as a man, Bryson’s narrative quickly departs from lighthearted commentary to mean-spirited bitterness. He blatantly bashes almost every town he visits. Upon seeing a teenager driving by in a new car, he writes, “It was obviously a high-school graduation present. If I could have run fast enough to keep up, I would happily have urinated all down the side of it” (71).

With choppy humor and sometimes-inconsistent style, Bryson has captured the essence of a long, grueling car ride across 38 states in the span of almost 300 pages. There are flashes of poignancy and a few attempts at sincerity, but not enough.

Bill Bryson, you are no Richard Russo.

- Kate Conte

Book Source:
Bryson, Bill. The Lost Continent. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1989. Print.

Image Source:
http://bfgb.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/travels.jpg

Currently Listening

(Q-Tip, left; Mark Ronson, middle; Amanda Warner of MNDR, right)

“Bang Bang Bang” by Mark Ronson & The Business INTL featuring Q-Tip & MNDR


I have a habit of searching for new music. In fact, it is a hobby of mine. In one of my recent discoveries, I came across the song “Bang Bang Bang” by Mark Ronson & The Business INTL featuring Q-Tip and MNDR.

As soon as the song started, the up-tempo beat drew me in. It was a bit jarring; as Amanda Warner of MNDR started the song with her staccato French counting, “Un, deux, trios," it definitely caught my attention. The song's catchy and head-bopping lyrics, left me more intrigued with the French words I could not quite understand.

The song was inspired by the French-Canadian children’s song, “Alouette.” The trio in this song takes the phrase “Je te plumerai la tête,” from the children’s song which is translated “I shall pluck your head.” The song is taught to small children in Canada to teach them the parts of their body. However, although the song by Mark Ronson, Q-Tip, and MNDR is didactic, it is teaching an entirely different subject. I believe that the lyrics of the song address and denounce the structure of hierarchy and its failures in society.



In the official music video of the song, the listener is exposed to three languages: English, French, and Japanese. This song is a subtle message to the Western and Eastern Hemispheres of the world. The subject matter the song presents a universal issue. In the physical world, gravity keeps us grounded. Consequently, by human nature, we are compelled to adhere to hierarchy and the redundant climbing of societal ladders. Yet, when we make it there, is there room for our humanity? Who is going to catch us when we fall? Gravity? You decide.

--Kerri Byam




Image Sources:
1) http://bit.ly/eIFZOj
2) http://i.ytimg.com/vi/i4kPz6dKsgY/0.jpg

Video Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM6TCGltfHM

Background information source: http://bit.ly/fxHdJB