Another Month, Another Trip

The trip this week was fun and again it was different from the last. I love that we can travel a few miles and have something incredibly new to do each time. I find the city so enriching and when I get older I will definitely take advantage of the fact that we live so close. And furthermore, if I do end up living there I will make it a point to get out and go all over the 5 boroughs.

We first went to the Neue Gallery and saw Messerschmitt and Klimt's work. Personally I found Messerschmitt's busts very entertaining and relatable because I always find myself making really weird faces at myself in the mirror. It's amazing how he is able to get so much detail into it even though it is of himself making it impossible to really see the detail from a different angle or up close. Klimt's work was equally great and I love that this museum had only cool stuff that was consistant. Like many artists you could see the style changing and improving as time progressed with both.

The Guggenhiem was not as impressive although still had some good pieces. It was difficult to really see or understand things. Maybe it was the noise, or the inconsistancy either way nothing stood out to me too much.

Roaming the city later was once again a great feat to get to the destination. We did use the subway after walking aimlessly to find it. Also, I don't see how any other group could have walked so far without the subway. Finding a place to eat was another adventure in addition to a bathroom. Eventually we found both and were able to visit the tree and window displays.

On Commericials

So for the past two weeks we have been working on filming and editing commercial for STAC live. After Mr. Pasquier's commercial was finished I helped Sara in her idea with creating a little story of life before STAC vs life after with her drawings. It was interesting to film because the way she wanted it was so that the there would be a more primitive section of each scene and then followed by a new part with the same paper just added drawings. There were some difficulties in that it was difficult to make the paper seem in the same place as the one before it, but it adds to the look that it was made by us and was hand drawn. Editing was difficult in that I felt I didn't really understand exactly how to do everything and that the picture in one's mind of what the outcome will be is never what it actually is. Overall, it turned out good and decent especially for two newbies.

Why Is STAC Important?

Today, Zach and I interviewed Mr. Pasquier for an upcoming commerical to convince the school that STAC isn't what it's misconceptions say it to be. Pasquier is my french teacher for two years now and it has always been obvious that he is very into the arts in addition to being proud to speak french- living the french lifestyle. He is very interested in the musical aspect of culture and always has a song for each class to sing in french. He almost strives to be unlike any other teacher which is why it is definitely clear why he would produce a great interview for STAC publicity.


There was, of course, a strange moment we encountered. Noticing from the beginning of the interview process, he wasn't as excited to speak up for STAC as we had hoped. In fact, he asked Zach and I to tell him why we thought STAC was good. Initially, this seemed to be a simple teacher-student moment where the teacher wants to get more out of the student. Later on, during the interview, this idea was even more emphasized. As we explained the purpose of these commericals- to clear up the misconceptions about STAC- he changed his tone. Again he asked us what we thought of STAC and why STAC was important to us. Using careful wording he went on to state the exact misconception we have heard numerous times about STAC. Inching along he proceeding with something along the lines of- Have you ever considered perhaps that you as students kind of bring that misconception of isolation from the rest of the school. It almost seems that you are in your own wing of the school. You stay there and... maybe like a cult. At that moment Zach and I or at least I know I didn't think about what could be the right thing to say. He kept on by saying that there should be a collaberation between STAC and other classes where teachers use these students who are more experienced in the arts to help those who aren't. I sort of just nodded and went on with the interview. Now that I had time to consider exactly what he said, I realize that what he said does have some merit. I am also bias in that I see him in class always exclaiming that he wishes the chorus or technical department would help student to student with our projects like powerpoints and movies etc. which would help our class do better in projects and help our skills. But as I thought even more about it.. even in writing this blog entry... I realized that the whole point of this is to get more people, the right people, to join STAC and those kids who would want to learn how to make movies and do all the art stuff should just join STAC. Yes, STAC should come out and help them learn but to a minimal amount where it leaves them wanting more- which is what STAC live is about. Also, the people new to STAC including myself in addition to those who were in STAC last year, we still all do not know much of the skills that can be taught and we aren't really experts yet. We are in this learning process now, we choose to be in STAC for this reason and deserve to have the 3 periods in "isolation" to learn. Why is that a crime?

The Empty Space

This week after the portfolio chaos was over we talked about The Empty Space by Peter Brook and focused on the Deadly Theatre portion. I thought it was interesting for Brook to begin with the bad which I justified by the fact that perhaps he thinks there is too much deadly theatre going on. We had a class discussion and each contributed one significant line or aspect of the section. I spoke about "the deadly spectator" which is the idea that the audience can make the actors perform worse. Overall, it was really helpful and interesting to have a discussion where everyone contributed to the group ideas.

 One of the things I noticed with this book was that there were a lot of references to particular theatre performances, some of which I didn't know. It got me thinking and I realized that this book had a purpose to target artists who have already been working in and have studied theatre, not those who haven not been exposed to theatre. It seems Brook is trying to convince his audience to change their previous views.

This week was one of the most stressful weeks of my life. From dealing with personal issues to trying to succesfully complete essay and projects that were due just for the end of the quarter to attending afterschool programs, jobs, clubs. It was utterly insane. On top of all the computers in my house seemed to have something against me. Anyway, although it was difficult and stressful I am glad and proud that I made through and actually didn't do terribly. STAC was also interesting this week and I have a lot of ideas for my project.

This week in stac we worked on our book-making. So far the entire experience is pretty awesome. It is actually suprising how simple and easy it is to make a book, considering that we are making them in class. I wish all authors would make their own books, then we would see there persepective even more. Often the author never even chooses the cover of their book. However, I know this would probably cause problems because of advertising and publishing companies that don't like the ideas of the author and want to change them, but if the book is really passionately written I think the cover and even the book itself made by the author would represent what is written in the book much better.

Ne le Dis a Personne

It was pretty clear that Tell No One was an amazing movie. For the most part, what makes it great is the fact that it always keeps you guessing while at the same time confused yet eager to know what happened. It was long and had so many plot twists. I didn't really know when or how it would end, until the finally story came out and the ending was clear. Characters were often wondered to be good or bad, even the main character Margot's husband Alex at first was questioned for killing the wife. Although we got the story from Alex's perspective we really didn't get the story from his thoughts. We did not see when or if he had figured things out we only watched. Especially when watching the father revealing the truth, not only until after a fake story was established did we find out the truth. The music also added to the dramatic effect. Each song was perfect for the scene.


Being that I take French as a class I found myself wanting to simply listen and try to understand what they were saying but I really couldn't in addition to try to keep up with the plot. Also what confused me was that the characters weren't really introduced as a specific person; we had to figure them out on our own which was sometimes difficult when I didn't read the captions correctly and often they were difficult to make out because they were white on a light scene. However, this simply added more mystery to it...

The Real City

This is the city I love. Sure, midtown, times square and Broadway are all fabulous and bright, they are not where the real heart of the real people are. I've been going to the city once a week for another program which is on 42nd St, so I've walked down that area so many times I could probably remember most of the stores and signs. Also, you can really meet or even simply see any real new yorkers in that area: only tourists and business people- who are never looking too friendly. The few other times I've been to the city other than midtown I've incredibly enjoyed this included central park of course, Chinatown, I went uptown for my lifeguard classes at the 92nd St YMCA which similar to this trip in that we explored that area- for our lunch breaks-, and one distinct trip to Brooklyn with my friend to a thrift shop. This particular experience was extremely close to this STAC trip in that we had falafal and middle eastern food and in general ran into some crazy looking artistic people at this well-known thrift shop Beacon's Closet. We took the subway and figured out our own way just the same.

Anyway on to this particular trip. When we first arrived, I was brainstorming on what to take pictures of for physcogeography and in started almost randomly taking framing pictures of any objects I saw until I came across a chain for a lock on a door.

I suddenly thought of being chained to something and being restricted. So, I suggested the idea of capturing all the things in my surroundings that I deemed had to do with restrict and constraint. My favorite was this:

As the trip proceeded however, this concept was lost in well getting lost. In looking for the "spectacular" Bleeker St we took wrong turns and ended up walking to a place I don't even remember. Of course this was partly and mostly my fault in being so confident in my map reading skills, but this definitely brought a more interesting aspect to our physco-geography project: getting lost and furthermore the places and people we found when lost.

Our first awesome location which was the lowest of lostness in the trip was this cafe pastry shop called "Paradiso". I spoke to the owner who served us. At first I asked him what was his best hot drink. I honestly just wanted to have whatever he proclaimed as his finest and not just choose some random typical thing. He said, "for you, you look like you'd like a cappuccino." Without a breathe I agreed. Although I never even thought of having a cappuccino and would have probably stuck with a hot chocolate in a dunkin donuts for example, I feel it was necessary to try this new thing. I also pride myself for attempting my interaction with this man to find his nationality to be Argentinian, yet to be brutally honest after exchanging a few words did not find his Spanish to be very good.

 Next we found ourselves at a CVS with wants for a public restroom. However, the staff was quite rude and did not aide us with this dilemma, a nice old woman outside offered to help us find our way to Bleeker St. It was interesting to me how she took the imitative to simply offer her help. "Can I help you find anything?"





Once we got to Bleeker, I loved what I saw. It was calm yet busy. It was the people and shops not the lights and tall buildings that made the streets alive. We walked into a hat shop. To begin with owning a hat shop was an innovative thing, but just standing there and smiling as people threw on and off different hats was pretty cool for this woman to do.

I am proud of where we ate lunch -Raman Takumi. That's how out of the ordinary it was. I ate an amazing dish of beef I believe it was, and some sort of vegetables. -again out of the ordinary. And we had green tea ice cream that came in a dough ball. The meal was great and a success in the trying new things aspect.

Next the Pratt Gallery was also a hit. Although for me it really wasn't what I had expected. They were all cool exhibits but they didn't really go with what physco-geography had meant to me so far. I loved the interactive exhibit where one placed their scent and location on the map- that did seem to have physco geography as I know it. The jello exhibit was amazing but I didn't really see the physco-geography in it. Other than that some buildings jiggled more than others.



Welcome to the Rileys

Scott Bloom's visit to STAC today was a great success and one of the reasons that makes me love stac so much. I was genuinely astonished and absorbent of the information provided for me today. Primarily, I came into this not knowing what to expect except that Scott Bloom must have worked hard and is now a success because of simply accomplishing the feat of producing a movie that is now going to play in some theaters. It doesn't even matter if the film does well, just the mere existence of it is impressive, however, I do think the film should do well. I liked the modern day movie vibe to express potential real life people, with dramatic yet believable issues.

I was intrigued to learn about the role of a producer in that it is not simply about providing the money. Although, all the tasks he mentioned of doing pretty much attributed to the person who has the money. I did have a thought in the back of my mind that producers didn't have the hardest job because all they had to do was provide and let the directors, technical people, actors etc. create the art. However, this was proven wrong. The stress put upon the producer to choose these people correctly and oversee the decisions in order to ensure that the project is a success could be more stressful than any other position just because there is so much to take care of. Like a baby, there is so much more to think about than making sure the baby gets fed.

One thing that I now noticed was the title was never really explained with the story. "Welcome to the Rileys" implies that we are being introduced into this family setting that is actually juxtaposed by the fact that the family is really no longer a typical structure. In the family there is a father figure, accounted for, as well as the child accounted for but the mother is not. Or at least she was not spoken about in our discussion. After watching a preview of this movie and looking at the actors accounted for. The wife is actually very much active throughout the plot. It was interesting to me that we spent class time focused on the father daughter relationship. Perhaps Bloom particularly embraced this aspect of the film more or thought it was more relevant to us as high school kids with parents to connect to.

Busby and Patrick

This week in STAC art we worked on our Busby Berkley inspired circular drawings. I stuck with my tree theme and began to add shading. I did like some of the sections where I shaded from dark to light, left to right, however I am trying to improve the sections where there dark begins from the center and moves into a lighter shade as it goes outward. Also I found that I did not have perfectly symmetrical tracing, which causes a problem because it is difficult to shade in the same way. Then again, the small offsets add to the originality and credibility of it being human work. After all, Busby Berkley's dancers were not all the exact same person. Otherwise it would be like a computer created the symmetrical design.

This week's Prisoner episode, The General, roughly resembled this subject of computers and their power of knowing information. Alike computers making perfect, inhuman artwork, computers in this episode were able to produce answers that were precise and pre-rehearsed: very inhuman. The more obvious theme was that humans were fed information to memorize in history but they really could only answer specific questions asked in a specific context. Human knowledge and really understanding the idea is much different than simply memorizing. Moreover, computers that can only memorize data, can not truly apply it to human life and more philosophical ideas. In fact, at the end, when #6 asks the computer to answer the question "Why?" the computer malfunctioned and completely destroyed itself in confusion. This theme and moral of this episode showed such a different side of the Prisoner compared to that of the first episode. We now see the transition of #6 trying to escape to #6 simply messing with the system and now implying bigger concepts into the audience. Here it is that we as humans and therefore computers are not meant to know these psychological questions like why? or even how?

Here McGoohan expressed his own feelings on the idea of knowing everything. Many people devote their lives to discovering the "meaning of life" or why things happen the way they do, but McGoohan here gives his English audience the simple solution of just letting some things stay unknown.

Tree Branch

Today was my first plunge into STAC art. I actually haven't drawn in a class since the 8th grade. I always did well and did enjoy it so hopefully I will get back into the groove. We drew symmetrical shapes inside a circle with a theme to center it around in simple black and white. When I was watching the Busby Berkley autobiography film, one scene really caught my eye. The dancers were on a revolving platform through an aerial view with their legs sprawling in different triangular directions. I immediately saw with these thin white legs contrasting to the black background, tree branches. Then I decided I wanted to have a theme on trees. I wanted to mostly capture the branches that intertwined together. Then I drew in leaves in oval shapes to add to the theme. It was interesting when I took a look at my drawing and saw that the way I pictured it was different in my mind, mostly because I didn't have a certain image in my mind. However, I was still satisfied with how it turned out. I remember now that this is frequently what happens with art. You come into it with not a completely certain idea but with letting things simply happen in the end it will almost never be exactly what you expected but can still be good. I wonder how tomorrow will be with color, I was never very good with coloring things in...

First STAC Trip

Overall, I was more than satisfied with how the trip to the city to see Matisse at MoMa and La Cage au Folles. I found it gave me so much more development, appreciation and understanding to have the background knowledge on Matisse and his inspirations like Cezane, Gaudin and Signot. When first arriving at the gallery it is like seeing a familiar face in looking at the paintings. Yet, it was completely different to actually see the paintings than to read and see photographs about them. There is so much more detail, brush strokes, scratches, in the painting. I already had my thoughts that Matisse had started out so wanting to be a great painter and do amazingly accurate works of art, only to then later on in his career try to move backwards to have simpler work.

In this painting, one of many examples, shows the simplicity that Matisse wanted to portray. He already proved with his more early on and realistic pieces that he could paint. He could finish painting in all the empty spaces but he choose not to.

This reminded me so much of the prisoner and at first I didn't notice the circular painting on a wall behind this wheel. Then when I properly set up my camera I took this it reminded me more of the prisoner because it is just like episodes where the storyline ends up going in a circle.
Today's episode I found to be one of the best one's I have seen. I now am used to how the episodes are supposed to be and the general style of Patrick McGoohans acting. This prisoner episode had many unknowns at first but were later on all explained in. I really liked the mysteriousness at first and then things seeming more reasonable as opposed to the last Prisoner episode directed by Patrick McGoohan which was so out there.

The "Dan Lane" experiment was unique to our group and was really awesome. It was the ultimate improv acting experience that really proved how believable we could be. The one notable man who approached Elisa and I asking who it was we were genuinely screaming for was such satisfaction.



STAC

The Prisoner- Early on this week we reflected on the last Prisoner episode we watched about A, B and C. We learned about log lines and synopsis. The log line summarizes the entire episode into one sentence and the synopsis summarizes it into a paragraph. We first tried to do this on our own to the recent episode we watched. What makes this difficult is being able to put in just the right amount of detail. A big note is no back story from previous episodes and plots. Then we separated into groups and wrote our own log lines and synopsises on original Prisoner episode ideas based on the title given, "Father Knows Best." This was a bit easier because we did not know as much detail from the plot to put in, but then it was difficult to not get caught up in each scene making the synopsis too long. Also it had to be clear with enough detail. Overall, it takes effort, but it was fun to think of ideas for a new episode. Our group decided to have #6's father come to the Village. Since everyone would think this is a plot of #2's to get information out of #6, we turned the tables at the end and made the father totally innocent. In the end, we made sure to follow the recurring theme of the prisoner ending up in circle leaving him and ourselves with just as many questions and confusions as it was in the beginning of the episode.


Busby Berkley- During stac art this week we began a unit on Busby Berkly from the 1930s. I was pretty impressed at the elaborate dance numbers he was able to create and found it interesting to want to see what he would do next. Also I was astonished as to the fact that there were so many women in each dance and that they seemed to really pull it off to more or less look symmetrical even though every person looks slightly different. What was also impressing was the extensive set designs with revolving stages and waterfalls. He seemed to not only be ahead of his time in wanting to use different camera angles and making things more complex but he was very creative with his unique style or geometric figures.


Improv- On Wednesday STAC took a walk to the community center to work on our improv on the stage. Helping us to prepare for the school play audition, which is to act as different characters, this also was our first introduction for the newbies into improvisational acting. Because I took Luke's theatre class in freshman year I was not totally clueless as to what was going on, yet it still isn't completely comfortable with me yet. I did get some good characters, voices and generally body positions, but a lot of the time I found myself in an awkward state where I wasn't totally letting myself go. Perhaps it was just because I was a bit tired or nervous even. I know that sometimes when I'm  just having fun with friends and I talk in a weird way I can create a character that may even go out of hand and taken to far that stuns other people or even brings other people into this game. I'll admit that at home I could spend hours just looking at myself and making weird faces and voices, so then it is totally natural. Maybe I am not really seeing myself when I make a strange body position or do something with my face, therefore making it more difficult to realize what kind of character I can attribute with the look and feel. All in all, I probably should work on more or less feeling the character rather than thinking about what he or she may look like.

Limited Space

     Like most people, I too had difficultly understanding and discovering what exactly psychogeography of limited space truly meant. Psychogeography is a difficult concept to grasp; it is more so is adding the ideas of limited space. At first I focused on the more obvious meaning that I had figured from what I pieced together from the information I was already given. I took a picture of a hole in a red fence ooutside my house and meant it to focus on the fact that this was a small space. Then later on looking through the pictures, I noticed that it actually had more meaning to it becuase I had focused on what was in this space between the hole and the fact that the trees that could be seen through the hole and stood as a barrier between red fence and red fence. Also looking even closer, it can be seen that there is a limited space between the trees. It reminds me of a mirror reflecting on mirror which in turn relfects on that same mirror creating a chain that is never ending. There is this limited space all around us that goes unnoticed.
     Another different and still ultimalty same example was of a yellow street light. When I was walking home, waiting for the light to change, I considered the concept of yellow lights. They are literaly in between red and green, which both have very distinct meanings: stop and go. On the other hand, yellow has an uncertain meaning. It can me go but quickly, stop but slowly. To careful drivers it means stop and to more daring drivers it means go. Because I just took my permit test earlier in the summer it reminded me of the word yield. I could never truly find a firm and certain definition of what it mean to yield. Yes, one can say it means to be alert and watchful but the confusion comes on how to do this. Every driver should be alert and watchful but yield is so vague. It is not clear like a stop sign which therefore means one doesn't neccesarily have to stop. Yes, you should let others go first when at a yield sign but shouldn't you always be aware of others around you. I found this to be the area inbetween, the gray area, which I thought completly applied to psychogeography of limited space inbetween things. It's that space of knowlegde that can never be fully explained or understood much like the word psychogeography itself.
     Throughout the process taking pictures, it is evident that I discovered more about this conecpt, however, I can definitly not say that I fully understand it and even less explain it to someone else. I can say that I know more than before and have a firm idea or start of what it means.
     The rule of thirds helped me to not only practice photography and not simple snapshots, but it also helped me to stay focused. It allowed my brain to think about each picture for a longer period of time. It also made me see what I really wanted to take. At one point I just looked at a room for a while and finally decided nothing looked the way I really wanted it to feel. I had to get that feeling of satisfaction and comprehension of how the picture related to limited space during the time I was looking through the lens and after I took the picture.
    

    

Psycho Chairs

Orchestra 9th period after STAC 9/17

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Sitting Onstage



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Sitting On A Table In The Cafeteria Afterschool



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Oustide the Front of the School

 

Sitting on Bleachers

 

 

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Desk Chair



TV Couch

Car ride to SAT Class

SAT Room #1

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SAT Room #2



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On the Computer Writing this Blog Entry





Where I ate Dinner- Chair most to the right



Throughout this psychogeorgraphy process I found myself thinking what am I ever going to discover about myself through pictures of chairs? At one point I began to frantically pass through the pictures to see if anything looked significant, however I did not find anything. Then I just thought about the pictures themselves and tried to remember what the chairs looked like. I realized that in most of the pictures I had placed myself in the right of the room or area. At first I kind of disregarded this detail but when I realized perhaps this was all I really had, it came to me that this was incredibly significant. To my gratitude, I frequently found that for most of my pictures I could repeatedly make this "right side" connection. In the auditorium directly after STAC something drew me to sitting in a chair towards the right of the middle section as seen in a diagram I produced. Directly following, the place I was assigned to sit in was a chair seated toward the right of the stage arrangement. Seemingly too coincidental to be ignored. Then when I sufficiently considered it my placement in the cafeteria was on the right side. The next seat was on the right side of the ledge in front of the school. Then on my desk chair which is conveniently placed on the right side of the room. Later I watched a movie and sat on the right side of the couch. It is beginning to seem a bit freaky.  I chose to sit on the right side of the car on the ride to my SAT class on Sunday. Then at the first class I told my teacher about my STAC project to explain why I was taking a picture of a chair. I proceeded to tell her my findings about the right side and she asked if I was right handed. Making this connection I started wondering if this would contribute to something because I am right handed. All in all I found that when I walk into the room and sit down, a significant amount of the time I will move towards the right of the room.



Spy-tastic!

On Monday September 13, STAC watched the second episode in The Prisoner series. All I have to say is wow. At first I was liking this show but it was definitely not completely convinced. Now watching this second episode I am extremely excited to watch more! Honestly, what really got me was that it was a complete cycle of events where Patrick MaGoohan's character number 6 is totally fooled and tricked into this guile yet well thought out plan. Luke today said the British were very tricky with sneaking so it reminded me of this show because of what the British government would have gone through to get this information. I was always suspicious of the escape because it seemed to be going so well so at the moment when number 6 noticed the watch malfunction I knew it wasn't going to end well. Also that bubble is really starting to get on my nerves. It is indestructible and seems to always pop out when nothing else can stop them. I really liked Leo McKern as the character of number 2 because he brought a different aspect and was generally more interesting to watch.

On a side note, Tuesday I was absent because I wasn't feeling well and I wanted to make sure I was well enough for later on in the afternoon. It was the first day of a program I am doing in the city for an organization called the All- Stars Project. Here they organize many events that go on through all 5 Burroughs. Their main purpose started back in the 80s where they wanted to help keep kids out of trouble and started a talent show to keep them busy and entertained. However the program began with political progressors in the 60s, and throughout the communist era I might add, where these political "radicals" wanted to basically "change the world" in not having racism and cruelty, treating others as inferior.. etc. Beginning with Jews like Dr. Dan Friedman and Dr. Fred Newman who had family histories of being racially discriminated as Jews in Europe and later on to the black community with Dr. Lenora Fulani who actually was the first African American Woman on the ballot in every 50 states to run for president in 1988 under the New Alliance Party. These political progressors although creators of the All-Stars Project, do not want the political independent views to be combined with these programs because it pretty much gives the image that they are trying to brainwash these kids into becoming independents however, it is actually a difficult subject to ignore. On Tuesday we had a guest speak Dan Friedman come in and speak about the All-Stars Project and all of this information was exposed. It was great to be exposed and got a taste of this often avoided subject on Long Island  of being Independent. I still need to hear more and truly understand what it means to be democratic or republican to even think about affiliating myself to one of these parties...

    Anyways, this program I am specifically involved in is called the Development School For Youth or the Leadership Program. Being that this program began with actors (Dr. Dan Friedman talked about his youth performing political plays on the streets of Brooklyn at the age of 19 and Dr. Fred Newman has written numerous plays) much of the earlier programs of the All-Stars project are based on acting- Youth Onstage! for example where kids perform a number of plays throughout the season, and this Leadership Program too has roots with acting. It is meant to teach us how to act and be professional. The professional world is a stage in which our characters must act differently than perhaps our normal selves. We all wear professional attire to the meetings which are once a week and learn to ask intellectual and curious questions and so much more which I have not discovered yet.. it was only the first day.. Generally it went really well and seemed really cool to meet new people and experience this professional aspect. I'm excited for next week!

Today Thursday, we played a pretty awesome spy game, although it was very long it got interesting when I became an agent. It was so crazy how we all just agree on someone to kill off it kind of reminded me of Salem Witch Trials or something where one just made accusations just so no one would think it was them. There were 2 tactics when being an agent to save your ass either talk a lot or don't talk at all. I do wish I could have observed everyone else as a dead person but overall being in the game and alive was much more exhilarating.

STAC for me is going incredibly well and I'm really excited for the rest of the year! I'm so glad I Finally joined.

First Week (couple of days) of STAC

   I found this theme of spys and secret agents throughout the week quite entertaining. Watching the Prisoner I really loved the idea of The Village where everything seems so normal to the people there but in reality creates this bizarre and creepy feeling on Patrick McGoohan and everyone watching the show.
     Later on in the day after school I ended up wanting to watch a film and when choosing what to watch I think my mind subconsciously choose an Austin Powers movie perhaps because this theme is really sticking with me and my decisions. Anyway, beginning with it's own catchy theme song I noted the similarities throughout the movie. In this way I watched it in a way I never truly had before. I read that Mike Myer's who plays Austin Powers and producers/ wrote the movies is Canadian with parents from Liverpool, England. This is probably why he was able to play this character so well, because he had a significant connection. Because the movie was meant to be a parody of James Bond and other 1960s inspired spy series I won't go into each specific detail about the similarities however there were two things I noticed that actually connect with The Prisoner series we watched in STAC that weren't apparent to me previously.
     Austin Powers has an inclination to use the word danger and being referred to with danger. Looking at some research on the Prisoner, I found that Patrick McGoohan's Secret Agent Man series was actually originally called Danger Man in Britain.
     Number Two in both Austin Powers and The Prisoner is an important character however plays different roles. Perhaps it is just a coincidence yet I found the connection to be quite intriguing. Number Two in The Prisoner is this cryptic character which in giving more information to the plot, makes one even more urging for information. With this Number Two leading the operation to find more about Patrick McGoohan's character, also unnamed (only by a number: six), many questions come to mind: Why are there no names? Why did "number six" resign? Why does everyone else go along with this "prison" and where they in the same situation as him? And finally where is number one? I really was confused yet interested in the show more when number two was replaced.
    
     With this show I almost don't know what to expect exemplified by things like the random white blob thing and the interesting people he meets in the Village, but I am anxious to see how it will all pan out.