Waking Cities

“The city of Life is different from any other city you will find in your empire, for its sole purpose revolves around the truth of what makes it real.” What is it that makes something real? In Calvino’s Invisible Cities, reality is approached from a particular point of view. It engages us to believe something is real by telling us about something which isn’t. We travel through a series of cities, varying from the most unimaginable to the most disconcerting, and find ourselves looking at a reality based on these imaginary places. It’s almost as if we were lead into a waking life, peering into something that is real while arriving from an imaginary reality. And this is depicted more easily by analyzing the movie Waking Life (2001), where many of the concepts that the various characters try to teach to the main character are also seen as an imaginary city, an invisible city. Invisible Cities shows us a reality through the eyes of the imaginary, giving us guidance and entertaining us at the same time, and which is clearly seen by the dialogues in the more direct Waking Life.

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Marco Polo describes to Kublai Khan a city known as Eusapia. This is a very particular city as Marco Polo describes it. “No city is more inclined than Eusapia to enjoy life and flee care. And to make the leap from life to death less abrupt, the inhabitants have constructed an identical copy of their city, underground.” pg 109. They have made an exact replica of their city for the dead, where when people die, they are taken there and set as if they were still alive. “They say that every time they go below they find something changed in the lower Eusapia; the dead make innovations to their city; not many; but surely the fruit of sober reflection, not passing whims.” pg 110. How can it be that the dead make innovations to their city? It is obviously referring to something else that is not so literal. Also, the city of the dead? Sounds familiar to what Dante describes in his Inferno, but doesn’t necessarily have to relate to that. On the other side, if you think of something mentioned in Waking Life in the part where the couple talks, you do notice a resemblance.

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The guy mentions to his girlfriend on how it is that when a person dies, his brain continues to have brain activity for another 12 minutes. This he then relates to how it is that when you go to sleep you might only sleep for about a minute or two, but in your mind you experience a lifetime of events. Those 12 minutes then become an entire life you could be experiencing while already being considered dead. So are you living after death? In Waking Life it’s stated that you could live an entire lifetime in those few minutes, but when you think of it, when a person dreams, he doesn’t usually dream exactly the things his life is about, but sometimes dreams crazy things that we would never expect to happen in our lives. In Eusapia the same thing happens. “To be sure, many of the living want a fate after death different from their lot in life, the necropolis is crowded with big-game hunters, mezzosopranos, bankers, violinists, duchesses, courtesans, generals- more than the city ever contained.” pg 109. So in both cases, after a person dies, they don’t actually die, but experience a whole new life that may be different from the one they already had.

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Then in the movie of Waking Life a part comes when a scientist begins to explain how it is that we are actually part of an organized set of natural laws where we do not actually decide the things we do. He begins by comparing it to destiny and how the believe in God being the one that decides on what happens, when compared to science might make sense. If we are a system that follows all of the natural laws, and our brain is a system that sends commands to other parts of our body to issue a command, we believe we are free of doing it, but actually all of those things are done by laws such as the chemical laws and electrical laws. So no matter what we do, there is no such thing as free will. We are doomed to live in a world in which everything is predetermined. And then comes another city described by Marco Polo called the city of Perinthia. This city is as particular as any other city Marco Polo talks about, but what makes it unique is how it relates to this theory of predestination.

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“Summoned to lay down the rules for the foundation of Perinthia, the astronomers established the place and the day according to the position of the stars; they drew the intersecting lines of the decumanus and the cardo, the first oriented to the passage of the sun and the other like the axis on which the heavens turn.” pg 144. The city is arranged in a way so that everything about it is set according to the arrangement of the heavens, as if it were a reflection of the organization imposed in space by the natural laws. So the city actually becomes something that was predestined to be like that, it becomes what it was going to become anyways. “Perinthia- they guaranteed- would reflect the harmony of the firmament; nature’s reason and the god’s benevolence would shape the inhabitants destinies.” pg 144. So maybe things are supposed to be predestined in a way, for we are but a set of natural laws, and here Calvino expresses it in a way to make us understand. He tells us how it is that a city is reflected only and precisely on the natural bodies in space, and not how the architects of the city wanted to build it. Everything that happens in the celestial body will automatically cause something to happen in the exact same way inside the city, making the city something dependable on natural laws.

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Also, you can see how in the movie some captions actually help make the points proposed become more obvious and get more emphasis. Depending on how the images are presented, you understand and give importance to certain parts of what they are saying, so presenting them in the correct way can sometimes improve the results you get. For example, the first caption from Waking Life uses a series of elements of composition to help make the caption express what it wants to say in a more emphasized way. The guy moves position from being laid down to moving up and ending up being in a zoom to the previous caption. The characters are also set using the rule of thirds, appearing each on in the best position for this rule. Colors around them are mostly a scale of gray, starting at white and ending on black, all except for the two characters who appear with normal skin color. Also you notice the lines in the back of them which are used as guidance, as well as the fact that the woman is watching the guy as to give him even more importance. This becomes a prime element if you are to give importance to what is being said, for if it were presented in a less articulated way, your interest in wanting to know what is happening would be diminished.

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Then there’s a second image that refers to the scientist talking about the natural laws and about the concept of predestination. During his interview some composition details become even more obvious in the previous image. In this case the caption adapts itself to what the person talking is saying. As he talks about the natural laws, his figure begins to transform to something related to what he is saying. In this case he is talking about how the human is predestined because it works in a way that goes along with the natural laws, so his face becomes a series of mechanical operations. And not only that, but the rule of odds also applies since the number of objects working in the representation are 7, giving more importance to one of them. The colors become different as well. The center one becomes a different color from the rest apart from having the features of the face of the guy talking, while the rest become another color. All these elements come together to once again provide the caption with the necessary ingredients to make it a more interesting thing to pay attention to.

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The city of Life is just a simple addition to the numerous cities presented by Marco Polo in Invisible Cities. Each city tries to recognize an element of society by talking about it symbolically. Reality is transmitted by giving us something completely unreal, and a clear example of how it can relate to a reality is comparing it with some situations in Waking Life. But some things can contain more than one reality. In the case of the city of the dead and how we live on after death you find elements of utopia. By making a city of the dead where everything we do will be what is perfect for us, a utopia is formed. In terms of predestination, the idea of a city being made in accordance with the stars shows us how destiny is present around us. But then there’s the other part of the description of the city where when something happens in the city, the sky reflects it. So there is a trace of taking decisions and influencing our surroundings. What is real and what is not will sometimes switch side, but how are you to know which is which? Being able to understand and take the time to analyze the true meaning of something becomes essential, a tool you will use to discover what is real.

When You Run Out Of Where To Fish

Sporting Equipment: The Real Use

Nothing like a precise pass.

You better practice to send it right where you want it.

You can't paddle him down that easily...

Decided to change your sport to something a bit less demanding?

Did the ball ever slip by?

Horse Riding Clases

Another very satirical piece appears in the following chapters of Gulliver's Travels. This time it's a conversation between one of the Houyhnhnm's and Gulliver talking about Yahoo's and Houyhnhnm's. "... he desired to know, 'whether we had Houyhnhnm's among us, and what was their employment?' I told him, 'we had great numbers; that in the summer they grazed in the fields, and in winter were kept in houses with hay and oats, where Yahoo servants were employed to rub their skins smooth, comb their manes, pick their feet, serve them with food, and make their beds." pg 187. This is a very comical piece that is going on between a Houyhnhnm and Gulliver, because even though it's not exactly what horses are for, he's not saying anything that's not true to him. He says this in order for him not to get mad, which would be the result if he had said to him that humans actually rode on them.
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It's as if we were told that cows in another place on earth ride humans over pastures, using them as transport and a machine of war. It would be something completely unthinkable for us if we were told about that, and would most likely not believe it, or scold them for something so atrocious. That would be the same reaction that the Houyhnhnm's would have if Gulliver had told him the real use for humans. And it doesn't stop there. As the Houyhnhnm hears Gulliver saying this, he responds: "I understand you well, said my master, it is now very plain, from all you have spoken, that whatever share of reason the Yahoo's pretend to, the Houyhnhnm's are your masters." pg 187. Now it becomes even funnier. You can't but laugh at the words he is saying, and even more coming from such a wise figure as the one from which it is coming from. This part can be anything but serious, but the way in which it is described shows it's supposed to be so, so the only thing that makes it funny is the sarcasm that is used by Swift. His use of techniques such as this one help him make out of the serious story it is supposed to be, into something made to make us laugh.

The Noble Steed

The scene that appears in Gulliver's Travels in part IV made me laugh at what was going on. Apparently, some horses appear with a way of being that shows the personification that Swift is using on them. They actually have some sort of intelligence that makes them act as human beings would act. "They were under great perplexity about my shoes and stockings, which they felt very often, neighing to each other, and using various gestures, not unlike those of a philosopher, when he would attempt to solve some new and difficult phenomenon." pg 175. This scene can't but be a satirical scene. Seeing this piece makes you laugh, and when you know the way in which Swift writes and how he doesn't take things seriously, you know it's meant to make you laugh. Thinking about how two horses may come out in the middle of a forest, begin to inspect you with their hooves, make gestures about what they are seeing, and understand what is going on at the moment as to act accordingly to what’s going on is simply something you would never imagine, and therefore makes you laugh. And this is a mixture of irony, absurdity, and target. How ironic is it for a horse that can actually reason, make gestures, and act as a human to inspect a man instead of the man inspecting such an unbelievable creature such as this one? And isn't it absurd anyways that in the middle of a forest a horse comes in and suddenly begins to act as a human? But then there must be a target for this.
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As you read further ahead you learn that these creatures are actually smart creatures called Houyhnhnm's that rule these lands and control human beings that are referred to as Yahoo's. You see how it is that these creatures treat the humans, and why it is they felt so curious towards Gulliver. The humans that were there were set completely off to what we think that humans act. Maybe this was the point brought by Swift in introducing something as absurd as a human acting horse race into the story. By showing us how the humans (or Yahoo's) acted in this place and why it was so strange that these new human acted different from them, he shows us how he sees human nature. He may be trying to show us that people act in a certain way because that’s their nature, and how sometimes it's not the best we can imagine, but then might also try to show us that there are exceptions to the rules as in the case of Gulliver, where he is completely different to what anyone in that place had ever seen.

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Whey: The watery part of milk that separates from the curds, as in the process of making cheese.

Comely: Pleasing and wholesome in appearance; attractive.

Sorrel: A sorrel-colored horse or other animal.

Nag: To annoy by constant scolding, complaining, or urging.

Macbeth Scenes CNG

I really enjoyed doing the Macbeth scenes in groups and acting them out as a class. It's fun watching how other people decided to dress up to try and show the time period in which they were set. The way in which the scenes were acted out was also an important part, since different groups used different techniques to try and show what was happening in the scene, as for example the shadows and the swords being played by an actor. We should do this more often for other plays as well because not only is it something different from what we normally do, but also by acting the scenes out with a group, we get to understand what is happening much better. Also, interacting with the other class was also something I liked, since we don’t get to be with the people in that class, so seeing how they chose to act the scene and how good they actually are at acting was a fun experience. And as I was mentioning before, some elements some groups used in their acting came out really well. The swords part was a really well done one, symbolizing Macbeth and Macduff fighting by just showing the two swords fighting by themselves. Things like this is what makes doing these activities a lot more fun to do, as well as get us to come out of the normal routine we have and do something different.

Style Showdown: Article vs Article

An article is always meant to inform the reader of something, but the way in which the writer decides to transmit this information varies a lot. A clear example is the distinctions and similarities between "Heeeere’s . . . Conan!!!" by Lynn Hirschberg, "The Cost Conundrum" by Atul Gawande, and "JA • • •" by Kevin Heldman. The three articles talk about a situation that is going on, but each of them uses techniques that are different from one another. An example is how Hirschberg uses style in his article. He comments on the history of Conan, and how it is his career works. For it he uses a very formal approach to the reader and includes a very minimum opinion part in it. Most of his data comes from things Conan has said and from factual things. This kind of style is very different from what the other two writers use. Gawande comes in to introducing his article by describing the environment followed by facts about the town he wants to talk about. He goes straight on to telling the most important information about the article, and at a point changes completely and puts himself into the story by telling his personal experience, "From the moment I arrived, I asked almost everyone I encountered about McAllen’s health costs—a businessman I met at the five-gate McAllen-Miller International Airport, the desk clerks at the Embassy Suites Hotel, a police-academy cadet at McDonald’s." Even though he himself is included in the story he is covering, most of the things he does and learns about are all about the issue of healthcare and all relate to what he began his article with.
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He also does not use many personal thoughts without using supporting evidence to back it up, like: "The place had virtually all the technology that you’d find at Harvard and Stanford and the Mayo Clinic, and, as I walked through that hospital on a dusty road in South Texas, this struck me as a remarkable thing." And you notice how it is that in this piece he also applies irony, telling about the huge amount of technology they had while they walked through a dusty road. Finally there's Heldman, who introduces to us the story of a guy he calls JA. His way of writing is completely focused on telling us the story of what JA does. His article is based more on opinion and his point of view on the subject. He rarely gets the point of view of other people, but rather sticks to relating a story from a particular point of view to try and get us to see it specifically from the view he wants us to see it. He could have chosen to do an article about graffiti in the streets and include his case, but in this case its first about his case and then how he graffiti’s. The style in which these writers express things is very different from one to another. Some may decide to use some literary devices, styles, and registers while some decide to use others depending on the audience they want to get to.

Seizing The Minotaur Fleet

In Gulliver's Travels the author comes back after taking all of the enemy's boats with him back to the city. As he approaches, however, the king and the people of the city of Lilliput become scared because they see that the enemy boats are approaching but only the head of the giant is seen, so they believe he is dead. "The emperor and his whole court stood on the shore, expecting the issue of his great adventure. They saw the ships move forward in a large half moon, but could not discern me, who was up to my breast in water." pg 36. The immediate reaction these people had was one of complete horror. The one thing they thought was undefeatable was below water and the enemy ships were coming their way. The situation is very similar to what happened to Theseus during his trip to kill the Minotaur under Aegeus's command. He decided to leave the city with black sails, and promised his father that if he was to return victorious, he would change the sails to white ones. Theseus actually did come out victorious, but when returning from his voyage he forgot to change the sails, so when his father saw the boat coming back with the black sails, he thought his son had died and killed himself.
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It is very similar between the two because in both cases the people who were waiting on the hero to come back with the good news get scared because they see something that is not true from the distance. The result is something completely different, but how are they to know? They think one of the things that were most important to them came out wrong. The only difference is that in Gulliver's Travels the people of Lilliput realize after a bit that the situation they thought was happening wasn't really what they thought, while in the other case the king kills himself because he doesn't get to see that what he thought was happening was really the completely opposite of what it really was. Both stories should have had a happy ending, but in one of them the situation changed completely because one of the characters interpreted a thing in the wrong way.

Gulliver's Kong

In Gulliver's Travels the author is given his freedom with a set of limits set upon him as the only condition to be free. Being given his freedom didn't necessarily mean that he was completely free. The only difference between being free and not being free before and after he was given this opportunity was that he wasn't tied up. Does it make any difference between being tied up and not being tied up if you are free in one case and not in the other? It obviously does. Sometimes, however, it's not enough to bring us happiness. He was given some benefits, as being able to walk around the metropolis and not being tied up, but still he could not leave the empire and he began to be considered a tool of war. The author felt he had gained some trust with the empire, including the king, but now you begin to see why it is that they offered their friendship: to get him to help them in a war. This case scenario is extremely similar to that of the movie King Kong, which is the reason why I decided to choose this caption from the movie: A giant in a city of small people. That was how King Kong felt in his arrival to the human city. Both the author and King Kong might have felt a kind of curiosity about what was happening with all these small scale things, and even more after being left free. Both of them are set free, but are they really free?
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Being awarded freedom in a place where there really is no freedom, isn't much of freedom, or is it? Apart from that, they both have given their trust to someone, as did the author in Gulliver's Travels to the king and King Kong to Dwan, the woman he becomes obsessed with. By giving their trust to them, they await something in exchange, but it is that trust which causes the author to have to accept taking part in the war and King Kong to accept travelling out of his home. Another important thing of the caption from the King Kong movie is the feeling it makes the audience have. When you see this caption you see King Kong with a lonesome, resigned look while holding the one he trusted in and at the same time you see him being located in the middle of a strange city to him. The feeling of loneliness in the picture expresses what it is like to feel alone in a big strange place. The author in Gulliver's Travel is trapped in a place that is unknown to him, a place too "big" and different from what he is accustomed to. Choices he makes are all affected at what he can and can’t do, and how his new environment takes part in it as well.

Night at the Museum: Illustrative

In Gulliver's Travels you come across the fact that the main character ends up being the prisoner of a big tribe of miniature people. He awakens all tied up by his hands, feet, and hair in an island after being shipwrecked. All the small people that inhabit the island are amazed at the giant, and if they sense any danger coming from him, they will attack. "When in an instant I felt above a hundred arrows discharged on my left hand, which, pricked me like so many needles." pg 12. This is why I chose to represent this scene with a screen shot of The Night at the Museum starring Ben Stiller, where he is captured by a tribe of miniature people and tied up as a hostage. He is run over by a toy train and is attacked by mini Mayans with arrows as well.
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In this screen shot you can see the face Ben Stiller has, one that shows how confused he is at what is happening. He also seems to be calm, just as the main character in Gulliver's Travels is when he is captured. You can see the train that just hit him next to him and one of the small cowboys that captures him, starring Owen Wilson. And there are also some characteristics of composition in the screen shot. You can see how the train’s tracks take you directly to look at Ben Stiller’s face, as well as how the lines the mountains make a focus on him as well. The image depicts the feeling both Ben Stiller and the main character in Gulliver's Travels have when being captured by the small race of people.