MARYROSS' blogs

This article discusses about how whaling fleets nearly wiped out North Atlantic right whales last century. These large mammals are now threatened by other human behaviors like big ships, fishing gear and entanglement in federal bureaucracy. Hunters nicknamed these whales right whales because of their grounded personalities, shallow feeding habits and 70-ton bodies which make them the easiest or right whale to kill. These whales are one of the most endangered species with only about 300 of them still alive. Collisions with ships are the number one cause of mortality, and entanglement in fishing gear is the number two cause of putting these animals endangered. Some groups suggested that if large ships went faster through the whales' habitat, then the collision would be lower because the exposure would be small. A slow moving vessel takes longer to pass through their area and exposure will be greater.

I think that finding ways to save this mammal and other aquatic animals is important because we don't want to have anymore animals to be extinct. I also agree that there are more animals that are being killed than being born. However I disagree with one of the plans of speeding the ships. I mean would you ever speed up in a school or children zone? The way I look at it, there will be a high chance of collision. At least if it was moving slowly, it can see where it's going and if it sees a whale, it can prevent it from running into it.

Labels: Current Event

Genre:
Rhythm and Blues is primarily African-American music. It is a mixture of jazz, gospel and blues. R&B started around the 1940's which was coined as a musical marketing term in the United States. It evolved during the the World War II period where it became most influential from the rural South to the Midwest, Northeast and West Coast. R&B became popular in places like Chicago, New York, Detroit and Los Angeles until it spreaded worldwide. R&B isn't only about the words of the song but also the instruments that create the melody. Some instruments that are used in R&B music are guitars, bass, harmonica, saxophone and piano. You can say that R&B is a modern form of soul and funk because the melodies and tunes are very similar. Even though R&B began to become popular among the African-American, this music has become very popular with people of all ethnic backgrounds today.


Cover:
The cover that my group and I are doing is the song that was originally sung by Aretha Franklin and was co-written by Stevie Wonder, Until You Come Back to Me. However we are doing the cover that was sung by Camile Velasco. We came up with this song because it portrayed what R&B really is. In this song you'll hear the gospel/soul harmony in the background with some funk beats by the drums. This song also uses the piano, guitar and the bass. Asides from that, the lyrics tell a story and in this case, it's about someone who is waiting for that one person to come back into their life.


Until You Come Back (Camile Velasco) Lyrics

Though you don't call anymore
I sit and wait in vain
I guess I'll rap on your door
tap on your window pane

I wanna tell you,
baby changes I've been going through,
missing you, listen you'
til you come back to me
that's what I'm gonna do

Why did you have to decide
you had to set me free?
I'm gonna swallow my pride
and beg you to please,
baby, please see me
I'm gonna walk by myself
just to prove that my love is true,
all for you, baby
'til you come back to me
that's what I'm gonna do

Living for you, my dear
is like living in a world of constant fear
hear my plea
I've got to make you see that our love is dying

Although your phone you ignore
somehow I must explain
I'll gonna rap on your door,tap on your window pane
I'm gonna camp by your steps
until I get through to you
I got to change your view, baby'til you come back to me
that's what I'm gonna do'til you come back to me
that's what I'm gonna do'til you come back to me
that's what I'm gonna do
I'll gonna rap on your door,tap on your window pane
Open up, baby.
I'll gonna rap on your door,tap on your window pane
I'll gonna rap on your door,tap on your window pane

Our lyrics
Our lyrics are based on the ignorance of the other partner not realizing a relationship to be over. It completely contrasts the original lyrics. We have titled it Out of Love.

Out of Love Lyrics

Slowly falling out of love
Not sure if I should stay
Can’t say ‘I can’t get enough’ (enough)
Nothing’s goin our way (nothing’s goin our way)

Didn’t want to say it
But this can’t go on anymore
Dissing you, listen you
In the past, I’d never say
That you’re no longer my boo

Why did we leave it at that
We could have agreed
I need more than mere chit-chat
You’re not the one
Oh not the one I need
So please let it be (please let it be)
You just have to let me go
In the past, I’d never say
That you’re no longer my boo

We’re not what we used to be
Said I'm slowly fallin' out of love with you
Boy listen
You need to set me free cuz I want to move on without you

Although I'm finally letting go
I know we'll end this artificial show
Oh boy you need to realize (realize)
That I’m not gonna try
Oh I’m not gonna try
We need to say our good-byes (say our good-byes)
I’ve had too many chances with you
Oh boy
In the past, I’d never say
that you’re no longer my boo

Labels: Project

This article talks about how China is beginning to look towards Japan for help and seeks relief operations after the deadly earthquake that destroyed the southwestern Sichuan province. Because of the magnitude of the quake, China is welcoming countries or militaries that are ready to provide them with different materials. Japan plans to dispatch Self-Defense Forces aircraft to transport tents and other relief supplies to the main airports but the troops can't enter and see the disaster in the affected areas. The official death toll increased to 68,516 and another 365,399 were injures while there were almost 20,000 people still missing. In addition about 5 million people are left to be homeless.

Labels: Current Event

We watched this documentary about Louis Kahn and about his accomplishments duirng his lifetime. Louis Kahn was a world famous architect who was renowned for the Exeter Library, Salk Institute and Bangladeshi Capitol Building. During his lifetime Kahn had three different families at the same time. At first I didn’t really understand why Nathaniel Kahn was doing a documentary about his father. However when I discovered that he always hoped that someday this father would come live with his mother, I understood why he travelled the world visiting his father’s buildings and meeting Louis’ colleagues, students, wives and children. Louis Kahn died bankrupt and alone after a heart attack in New York City’s Penn Station. His body laid unclaimed for three days until his identity was established. Going back to the article and journal write we did today in class about ethics, I think Louis Kahn did live his life around his ethical views. Ethics is a philosophical belief of knowing from right or wrong and living a good life. Louis was from a poor Jewish origin. However this origin helped shaped his actions in life. I would say that he had the immigrant work ethic and drive to succeed because in society today we see immigrants working very hard in farms, fields, factories, etc. just to help their families live better lives. For Louis, on the other hand, his ethics helped him win a university scholarship but his ethnicity was discriminated and was blocked entry from Philadelphia’s best architectural circles. However Kahn didn’t let that stop him from expressing his creative side and from there, he found a new direction for his architecture after touring the ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian ruins. However even being the world famous architect still led him bankrupt in the end. In my opinion ethics is just a personal justification instead of a universal truth. Referring back to the journal we did in class today about having ethic lessons to be a graduation requirement, I don’t think that it will help shape who a person is. I mean you do need ethics to be a co-worker, student, teacher, employer and etc. but I think ethics can be learned in the outside world where you make your own decisions whether you think that it is wrong or right. Going back to the documentary about Louis Kahn, he made so many great architectures in his lifetime but those buildings don’t really show who he personally is and reflect the life he lived just to design those buildings. In my opinion I thought that this documentary was pretty dry although I liked looking at the different designs and architecture that Kahn created when he was still alive. His architectures are one of a kind and different from the architectures during his time. However today there are also architectures that were inspired by his buildings and designs which really makes him world famous. He didn’t just have architectures in the U.S. but also in India which really shows how far he has come to accomplish something that, I am guessing, makes him happy.

Labels: Movie Reflection, Writing

Source of Article

Labels: Current Event

In this article by Matt Baxter, talks about how classrooms have become more hi-tech over the years and how it is not necessary to a child's education. I mean in my perspective, I think that use of computers is better than old textbooks. To put it in other words, whatever you read in a textbook can be found on the Internet and sometimes can be more in depth than it is in books. However spending about $5 billion on education technology is way too much. I mean how can they get the money for more hi-tech supplies if they're cutting down the budget for other curriculas like sports, music, etc. I agree that a child should at least know how to type on a keyboard, access the Internet, and use specific programs when they're a bit younger because it gets them ready for the later years to come when they have to work on these programs or research information on the web. Even though not every student will become a computer programmer or graphics designer, they should still be able to know how to access hi-tech gadgets like a computer or laptop. Having a hi-tech classroom in high school is convenient because it gets us ready to use certain programs that we will eventually be using in college. However in middle school or elementary school, I think that just by knowing the basics of using different programs like word processor is good enough. I mean, come on, they have to type up research papers, book reports, projects, etc. so it is necessary that these classrooms are hi-tech. Conversely, I don't think that technology education should be spent over billions of dollars especially at a young age. But it's still better to have some technology background when you're younger because it makes it easier to access different programs.

Labels: Writing