No fool, it's a "test"!

With my confidence at an all time low as this semester's "test" looms ever closer, I was nicely reaffirmed today that the test would have some what of a layed back approach to it.

The themes running through this semester have captured my imagination effortlessly. With Chris Horrie's resilient, and at times controversial views, acting as a shining light at the end of the tunnel. If I don't pass this test, which I have been assured that I will, it will be through my own doings; the education I have received this year has been nothing short of exceptional.

Personal highlights for me obviously include Freud (I bang on about him enough), Grapes of Wrath (who would have thought a novel could entertain master Hopley), and of course Orwell, and Wells.

Today's lecture on the works of Orwell was excellent and very formative. I have always had a love for Orwell, and the lecture just acted as a reminder of how truly great this man was. With Animal Farm acting as a somewhat obvious yet potent and poignant allegory for Soviet Russia, and 1984, well, what can i say...? this to me is a work of art. I'm sure any novelist in the world would give up his arm to have written either of these!

For such blatant symbolism, Orwell writes without shame, I mean, come on, who would name a pig "Napoloen" if he wasn't a pig with revolution on his mind. These two novels share great parallels with Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath as both write unashamedly about troubles and strife as a form of propaganda, as they create sympathy within their protagonists. Although Orwell employs allegories within his novels, as opposed to Steinbeck who is clear in his message, both just use different ends to meet their respective means.

I hope I'm not just writing rubbish. If I am then this will be the sort of rubbish which causes me to fail my "test"

Ulysses: Useful links (or not)

Being the lazy person I am, I downloaded the audio book for James Joyce's Ulysses, as I found out within twenty pages that this was not a book I would be dedicated my time to reading. This post is really just a bit on information to help my fellow journos who feel that Ulysses is an uphill battle... maybe I'm the only one, and those of you have read it and loved it will hate me for choosing the easy option. The link is below:

http://librivox.org/ulysses-by-james-joyce/

Furthermore, for those of you struggling to interpret this somewhat challenging piece of literature (as I certainly am) I have stummbled across some useful links, which helps the reader understand the symbolism and parallels within the novel.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/ulysses/themes.html

Hopefully, you guys won't even need to look at these links, as you probably possess greater brains than I, but if indeed you do I hope they help.

Camera Skills

First outing with a camera for loveable ol' WINOL... The life owner. Went down to sunny Southampton on Tuesday eve to review the band Detachments. Quality act, but my camera skils left alot to be desired. In all I estimate I took around 50 pics in total, only four of which warranted the quality to supplement my written article... Ouch!

I'd been a foolish young man and managed to leave the camera on manual focus, purely because i didn't know how to switch it to auto. I was rather lucky in the sense that due to the lack of people at the gig, I was able to get in close on the action and when it counted I took some awesome pics, ones of which that would sit comfortably and gloriously on an album cover or as a promo poster for the band.

As far as the focusing went it was a rookie error, but I now feel very comfortable to be able to take decent photos. "Jono the Photojournalist", that has a nice ring to it

Platform 4, The Tempest

As i become more familiar with my role as Reviews writer for Winchester News Online, I am definitely getting alot better as my confidence is growing thus improving my writing.

My latest review was at the Tower Arts in Winchester where I watched a production of The Tempest(which I managed to get in for free I hasten to add). Below is the full review. 

For a performance with a cast consisting of just three people, Platform 4 gave an emphatic interpretation of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ on Thursday evening at the Winchester Tower Arts. The performance was by no means the best adaptation I have seen of this famous play, but it was certainly an interesting one.

The actors, although playing the parts of numerous characters, managed to establish very believable personas; the relationship between Ferdinand and Miranda was very well done, with the actors conveying great chemistry. Notably, the parts of Miranda and Aerial were played by the same actor and for her to be able to switch between characters so swiftly and effortlessly is a skill to be admired.

Due to a minimal cast, not every character in the original play could be included in this production due to the fact that in various scenes of the original there are more than three characters on at one time. To ignore more than half of the original characters and to perform a flawless recital, really is exceptional. The way the cast managed to do this was by following the story line of Prospero, Miranda, and Ferdinand, and completely ignoring the likes of Stephano and Trinculo, who only offer supplementary story lines.

The set was cleverly crafted to accommodate the lack of actors, and kept the story flowing and interesting by being transformed regularly. Furthermore, the inclusion of props proved very significant as they also made up for the lack of characters; a chess board was constantly used to set the scene and refer to characters that, if it weren’t for the lack of performers, would be in the play.

The night was a real success, with the performance captivating the audience and maintaining tension throughout the hour and a half show; definitely a four star performance.

The Grapes Of Wrath: Propaganda At Its Finest

As far as propaganda goes, Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath is definitely a masterpiece in its own class. It's up there with the best of them. The story tells of a fictional family and their struggle throughout the Dust Bowl period of American history. In my opinion, upon reading what i have read so far, this novel is a superb testament to the struggling of the American Immigrants of the period.

It's biblical analogies and parallels are exceptional, they are very thought-provoking and poignant. As with other great novellists such as Golding, Steinbeck employs this technique to purify something and to ultimately make the subject/subject matter seem to hold "the truth". Brian made reference to the eloquence of Steinbeck's symbolism and told of how Jim Casy is used as a narrative devise to represent Christ When he dies he is seen as somewhat of a martyr, "you don't know what you're a-doin"". By using these allegories, the reader sympathises with the character thus expressing sympathy towards the subject. An exceptional piece of propanda! Using Christ as an allegory is perfect propaganda.

Tom Joad also bares Christian allegories, as he leads his family across the country to get to the figurative "Promised Land". Here there is a clear parallel to Moses, who lead the Israelites to the promised land from Egypt. With these two pieces of imagery alone, one finds it hard not to connect and sympathise with the characters in the novel. With such powerful imagery, Steinbeck has ensured that his novel will be remembered.

Press Officer's and Journalist's Cold War

As described in the lecture today, there is somewhat of a Cold War scenario, which is mutually reciprocated between a Press Officer and a Journalist. Chris used this analogy as both Press Officers and Journalists always threaten each other but neither acts, through fear of total devastation (pretty good analogy I thought). This got me thinking... at the end of the day what makes the Press Officer at the university different from any other? Nothing! What stops me ringing the University Press Officer in middle of the night if I need to? ANSWER: The fact that no one will pick the phone up on the receiving end!

One point which Chris picked up today was that the role of a Press Officer is one which is 24 hour, as news never stops. This does not appear to be the case at the University of Winchester, so why is this? Just because it is a 'job' at a university, this should not mean that someone is not available for the press to talk to at any given moment; after all it's what a Press Officer is put in place to do.

From the reports I have been hearing, the Press Officer at the University has proved nothing but a nuisance and a hindrance, making it very difficult for both me and my fellow students to obtain basic information. Refusing to comment and not getting back to people - is this what we really need at the University? A Press Officer should be as helpful as possible! Perhaps this is why Winchester University is still somewhat of an unknown entity as far as identity goes?!

Below is a Press Officer Job description. Note the first point.

Press officer:Job description and activities

A press officer acts as the official media contact for a specific public or private organisation, handling all media interest.

Typical work activities include:

• answering journalists' enquiries;


• writing press releases and news articles;


• liaising with the press and broadcast media on an everyday basis via telephone, email and networking;


• monitoring press and broadcast coverage;


• arranging press conferences, news briefings, media interviews, visits and public events;


• attending committee meetings and debates;


• keeping up to date with current issues and public opinions;


• managing the press and media in a potential crisis situation.

Is our Press Officer meeting this criteria? I think not.

Citizen Kane

Materialism! a word synonymous with today's culture. Orson Welles' Citizen Kane replicates the way in which modern society is heading, with rich, wealthy, powerful people always under the watchful eye and having their life's destroyed by this. 

Kane initially started out as a man for justice (this can be seen when he takes over "The Inquirer") but became  corrupted by power and cared more about the way in which he was perceived than anything else. With an inability to love, Kane alienated all who loved him as he could only provide them with 'material' love and not the true love which human beings crave for. 

Throughout the feature, it is clear that every cinematic devise somehow works as a narrative implement to dehumanise Kane and the perceived idea that money brings happiness. From the very outset the audience has their metaphorical guard up as to how they interpret Kane, with the dark images at the beginning creating a sense of darkness and isolation within wealth. The way in which the outside of Kane's castle-like mansion is filmed greatly reinforces the themes of the film as the dark images fade into each other, establishing a sense of dread.    

Furthermore, the camera angles employed in Citizen Kane offer great allegorical meanings and symbolism. The film is shot from many angles, which can be interpreted as Kane's disjointed soul, but more importantly I believe the varied camera angles are in place to create a sense of alienation between the audience and Kane as the shots create a sense of distance.      

Possibly the best piece of symbolism in the film is Rosebud. To me Rosebud symbolises everything Kane lacks in his personality e.g. love. It only became obvious to me what the meaning of this word was at the end of the film, where the word Rosebud is burning away on one of Kane's possessions. It clearly symbolises all the great human characteristics, which the one-dimensional Kane did not posses. This really is a great cinematic devise on Welles' part as it works well with other symbols in the film to strike a lasting image in the audiences mind.

All in all Citizen Kane is a great masterpiece, employing timeless visual effects to induce deep thinking; proving actions speak louder than words. 

WINOL first decent review

My first decent review made copy this Saturday. Despite the weather and my soaked clothes I braved it down to the Railway Inn to review this week's dire performance. Although I was soaked for the entire show, I did leave the venue with a sense of achievement and satisfaction as I knew exactly what I wanted to say in my review, and walked home writing sound bites on my phone so as not to forget.

For some reason I find it somewhat easier to write about something when i have distaste towards the subject matter. I think this is true with many people; there are only few ways to praise something but many ways to destroy it, or maybe that's just me. Also, I feel that the general public prefer a negative review to a positive - Don't ask me why. 

Although it's early days, WINOL seems to be great! I am relishing in my position as Commisioning Editor for Reviews and Previews, and wanna make it the best I can cos i bloody well want to keep it (although that won't happen). Below is my article.

On Friday, The Lonely Hearts Club at Winchester’s infamous Railway Inn played host to yet another up and coming band. Holdfast, a female fronted, post-punk four-piece headlined the stage tonight to a decent sized crowed, but why they had such a good turn out baffled me!

Holdfast resemble a poor man’s Blondie. Think Debbie Harry meets the Yeah Yeah Yeahs minus the crucial element of talent. Much of their sound consists of a peculiar mixture of dull electronic drone with glimpses of pop elation, which never manage to prevail. Their music is a cacophony of mundanity! 

BBC Introducing described the band as “It’s fast and it holds my attention. Driven post punk girlie groove thang”. These are merely observations, as a band with such dire musicianship does not warrant anything more than a one-dimensional analysis.

Despite their distinct lack of individuality, it is plain to see why these guys are becoming increasingly popular. Their style very much fits the criteria for today’s scenesters; appealing to people in their late teens who have yet to discover who they are, and relish in a band which they think can relate to the way they feel, even though they sound awful.

Credit where credit’s due, as a unit they were very tight, and for an unsigned band this is often a rare commodity. Furthermore, I must complement these guys on their energy and crowd interaction. They definitely managed to connect with, and create intimacy with the crowd, which so many playing at the Lonely Hearts Club do not manage to achieve. But I get the feeling that this intimacy is only superficial, as their music is not attractive and just mildly resembles the trendy music of today, which will almost certainly be forgotten tomorrow.  

Analyse This

Freudianism on the whole is a flawless, eloquent interpretation of the way in which the mind works. Previously I have applauded the theory of id and super-ego etc, as I know I can relate to what Freud is saying, maybe not to the same extremes as another individual, but I know what he speaks of when he refers to id… By George I wish I lived the id lifestyle, but I don’t because I am not yet mental. Furthermore, if someone is willing enough to open him or herself up to free association, then yet again Freud is a God amongst Philosophers.

However I must challenge him on his views of dream analysis. I have had many a dream where someone has said something fairly innate to me in conversation during a state of consciousness, and I have gone on to have a dream based loosely around what they have said. At the time I have thought nothing of what they have said to me and also after a dream, still nothing. Furthermore, if analysing dreams is so effective then why is it not common knowledge about what dreams mean? People have been arguing for centuries about dream interpretation… still no real conclusions.

I strongly believe in the id interfering with the ego/super-ego whilst conscious, but simply cannot accept that the unconscious state (sleeping) does in anyway resonate the true desires of the id. Dreams to me are merely either a cacophony of rubbish or a representation of my super-ego. 

Maybe I am too boring to have my id establish itself whilst I’m asleep? Or maybe I just don’t need psychoanalysis? Didn’t Freud give up on the idea of unconsciousness in the end anyway?

Plagiarism

Got well and truely caught with my pants down today! Whilst attempting to publish my first preview/review for WINOL today, I became a victim of the deadly plague that is plagiarism. 

In all honesty, I did not intend to make such a fatal error, (I am familiar with the seriousness of plagiarism) but today fell into the figurative trap! The preview which I was asked to write about was on the "Please Note" concert by Winchester musicians and singers, which is to take place next Tuesday evening (10th Nov) at the West Downs Centre.

I am not going to deny the fact that I had little information on the performers/ performances, thus making plagiarism very difficult to avoid, but I did not intentionally plagiarise. I was caught out in the way in which I listed the acts... exactly how they were listed on a website advertising the event. FOOL! 

Understandably, the first draft (which I considered a final copy) was not published and thankfully I have a chance to redeem myself. In my rejected copy I made the mistake of relying on an email reply to help give me more information on the event, but when that email never arrived it made it very hard to review something I knew nothing about.

Tomorrow is a new day, and it is clear that I need interviews to complete my preview. Reliance on emails is the ethos of a mad man!

NOTE TO SELF..... Must try harder