kerrin's blog

Say Anything is a 1989 film written and directed by Cameron Crowe. It stars John Cusack as the main character Lloyd, Ione Skye as his love interest Diane, and John Mahoney as Diane’s father, the antagonist. The movie is centered on Lloyd, who is fresh out of high school and looking to win the heart of the valedictorian Diane. No one else really believes in their relationship, especially not Diane’s father, who wants her to accept the scholarship she received to go study in England. Eventually, Lloyd and Diane’s relationship progresses, much to the disdain of John, and they begin to fall for each other. However, for John, persistence pays off, and he is able to create a rift between Diane and Lloyd, making them break up. Heartbroken, Lloyd tries to win Diane back in one of the most romantic scenes I have ever seen.

The scene is simple, totaling maybe thirty seconds in length. It begins with the camera panned on Diane, who is lying in her bed trying to sleep. Suddenly, Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes starts to play. Diane, confused, sits up and looks toward the open window. The shot then switches to outside, showing Lloyd standing beside his car, holding a boom box above his head. The boom box is blasting In Your Eyes, a song that held some sort of significance during the beginnings of their relationship. The view shifts back to Diane, lying on her bed looking forlorn, then back again to Lloyd, standing still, strong, and looking determined. Viewers can tell that he is not going to give up on Diane so easily.

The simplicity of this scene is what makes it so effective. There is nothing to distract you from the emotion conveyed without a single line of dialogue being spoken. Because it was featured earlier in the movie, one knows that In Your Eyes plays a significant role in the dynamics of Lloyd and Diane’s relationship. It holds meaning, and both the characters as well as the audience understand that. Lloyd’s action is far from subtle, yet it is not too aggressive either. Crowe, who also directed movies such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, managed to write a scene that was silently articulate, with only a song playing to accompany the actors.

I have seen many movies, especially eighties movies, and no scene has ever captured my attention the way Say Anything’s boom box scene did. If I ever have to think of my favorite scene from anything, whether it be a movie or television show, this is the one that always pops into my head immediately. It is undeniably romantic and is the kind of image that enhances a girl’s dream of “Prince Charming.” I could watch this part of the movie over and over again and never fail to be captured by the weight of it. I love the movie as a whole, and this scene only enhances my affections.

August Rush is a movie about an orphaned boy who believes his parents are alive and are communicating with him through the music he hears at all times. The 2007 film features many different songs and pieces, some of which are covers and others that are original works. For example, Van Morrison’s song “Moondance” is played, as is an original song, “Bari Improv,” written by the film’s composer Mark Mancina. Mancina wrote the final theme, “August’s Rhapsody,” first, so that he could take bits and pieces from that and relate it to things that come beforehand. Each score throughout the movie is like a puzzle piece that fits into the final theme. My favorite piece of the puzzle is an instrumental track entitled “Dueling Guitars.”

“Dueling Guitars” was written by musician/composter Heitor Pereira and performed by him and Doug Smith for August Rush. The song lasts for about two and a half minutes and consists only of two acoustic guitars creating an upbeat sound. The song starts off slowly, with one guitar playing a few chords that the second then imitates. After approximately a minute of switching back and forth, the two play together. The track speeds up, reaching a climactic point after the two minute mark, and slowing back down to come to an end. The distinction between the two guitars is less definitive when they are playing together than it is in the beginning and the end, but it is obvious that two instruments are being played, not just one.

Mancina and Pereira obviously wanted the focus of “Dueling Guitars” to be only on the guitars, so they therefore did not incorporate any other instruments. However, the two instruments in the score are able to keep the rhythm and beat without the need of a bass or drums. The collaboration between the guitars keeps the track flowing all the way to the end. There is no need for the incorporation of any other instrument when the existing components are able to hold the listener’s attention and attraction without fail. It’s like a solo within a typical piece of music, except it makes up the entire composition.

August Rush became one of my favorite movies as soon as I finished watching it for the first time. The base of music that the story line revolves around captured my interest right of the bat. While watching the movie or listening to the soundtrack, “Dueling Guitars” is always the piece that stands out to me the most. I like the simplicity of the two guitars, yet the intricate way the music they create sounds. This movie and “Dueling Guitars” in particular inspire me to want to learn how to play the guitar, or at least to find other tracks similar to this one. It enforces a love of music and creativity within me, and I can listen to it on repeat for hours without becoming bored with it.

Gwendolyn Brooks was an American writer who lived from June 7^th, 1917, to December 3^rd, 2000. She attended three different high schools and one college during her educational career, a leading white high school, an all-black school, an integrated high school, and a junior college. Each Chicago school gave Brooks a perspective on racial dynamics of the city, which was a big influence on her work. Both parents encouraged her enthusiasm for reading and writing; her father provided bookshelves and a desk, and her mother once took her to meet the poets Langston Hughes and James Weldon Johnson. Brooks’ first poem was published in a children’s magazine when she was thirteen, and by sixteen, she had a portfolio of around seventy-five published poems. Her first poetry book was published in 1945, and her second, published in 1950, won her the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, the first given to an African American. She continued on to become a creative writing teacher, as well as to win a variety of different awards, recognitions, and achievements, including becoming the Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress, and being inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Brooks’ The Pool Players./Seven At The Golden Shovel was published in her 1960 book The Bean Eaters. It is a simple, eight line poem. Each line, besides the last, ends with the word “we,” beginning the next sentence. I think she did this to provide unity among the statements about the speaker’s habits. Additionally, each line is comprised of no more than four syllables. None of the words in the entire poem consist of more than one syllable. The monosyllabic, short structure of the poem leads me to the conclusion that the speaker is someone who is not fully educated and whose mind is less than intricate. This conclusion is enhanced by the contents of the piece, including the lines “We real cool./We left school.” The speaker sounds immature and full of himself.

I like this poem a lot. The simplicity is unlike any other poem I have ever read. I feel like the subject encompasses teenage rebellion, even though it is only eight sentences. My reading of this poem was only enhanced when I Googled it and came across a reading of it by Brooks. The audio clip is from 1983, and before reciting the poem, Brooks explains where her inspiration came from. She talks about the boys she say on a school day during school hours hanging out at a pool hall, and how rather than thinking, “Oh, they should be in school,” she imagined what those boys felt like. Hearing the poem read how the author intended it to sound, and read by the other nonetheless, increased my enjoyment of the piece. I was able to hear the inflections of her tone and the rhythm with which she delivered the poem. I have not heard many poems spoken aloud, even though that is one of the main purposes of poetry, but discovering this reading of Brooks’ poem has encouraged me to try and find readings of other poetry I come across.

Also -- here is the link for the recording of Brooks' reading of the poem: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15433

“To infinity” on the left wrist, “and beyond” on the right. Four words that are barely noticeable unless you already know they are there. Not small, but done in white ink, because “I wanted it to only appeal to me.” It’s done in a loose script, much like the Segoe Script font in Microsoft Word. At first the white ink looks almost like a scratch, until you realize it spells out words. The tattoo spans about two and a half inches on the inside of either wrist, the tallest letters just under an inch high. Though it looks as if it might be slightly raised, the tattoo is smooth to the touch.

Jake and I have been friends since our freshman year of high school. He is six feet and three inches tall. He has long brown hair that falls in the perfect skater-flow, swooping to the side in a messy yet gorgeous way. His eyes are the color of the Atlantic Ocean, and his straight, white smile makes girls swoon. It doesn’t help that Jake is the type of person who never stops smiling. He is always in a good mood and likely to brighten anyone’s day. Like many of my peers, Jake decided to get a tattoo soon after he turned eighteen. He said he had been thinking about it for a while, and spent a lot of time deciding what to get and where to get it. At first, he had planned on getting a typical black tattoo, but he fell in love with the idea of white ink when he was browsing tattoo ideas online. When it was done, he said, “It was even better than I imagined.”

The quote Jake chose was not just because he loves Toy Story. Knowing Jake, and knowing how long he spent pondering different tattoo ideas, I figured it had a deeper meaning. I just was not sure of what it was. When I asked him what the tattoo meant to him, he answered “It means to push myself past the point of exhaustion and to never give up even if you’ve gone the opposite direction. Not only that, it tells me of my past, my joyful childhood, and all the memories that made me, me.” After hearing his explanation, I understood completely.

I am not usually a fan of tattoos. I think that unless they hold some deep meaning or significance, it’s a waste to have it permanently inked into your skin. Many of the tattoos my peers were getting after their eighteenth birthdays were rushed and held no meaning, so I liked few of them. Jake’s, however, I liked. It was important to him, and it fit well with his personality. I enjoy the subtlety of the white ink. His tattoo helped me decide that if I were to ever choose something to permanently place on my body, I would probably get it done in white ink. Of all the tattoos I have ever seen, Jake’s is one of my favorites.