Week 7 [19-25.01] Best Presentation

Dear Students
As the course is about to finish, please vote for the best presentation made this term.
Justify your choice.

Week 7 (19-25.01.2015) – THE SMITHS

“Burn down the disco

Hang the blessed DJ

Because the music that they constantly play

It says nothing to me about my life.”

This is a verse that tells us the opposite of what The Smiths are about; a verse sang by Steven Patrick Morrissey, lead singer and half of the main composing duo of The Smiths. It’s a quote from one of the hit singles of the band that reached a peak of number 11 on the UK singles chart and has been recognised as the single of the year by the readers of the influential New Musical Express.

The music of the Smiths is somewhat an image of an era, a chronicle of aesthetic influences and public moods of the British eighties. It's a period of time I find very interesting and colourful, not deprived of social drama and some kind of sadness coming from economically extremely significant time for the British society.

The band originates from Manchester, just like many important English musicians – The Buzzcocks, Joy Division, New Order or Oasis (not forgetting about The Beatles whose members were born and grew up in nearby Liverpool), making the musical scene of the Manchester municipal area a place at least as interesting as the one of the British capital.

The Queen is dead

What I find the most amusing about the band is first of all the music - surprise. Completely unobvious melodic lines composed into very catchy musical arrangements; reflective and clever lyrics full of intertextuality and interesting literary references, written by “The Moz”, brilliant compositions and guitar parts of Johny Marr (with appreciation for the bass and drum lines), and the wonderful, slightly kitschy (or one should say “camp”) vibe of the musical eighties – these are the things that in my opinion make them a great band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRtW1MAZ32M

http://musiqueindieegeste.blogspot.com/2007/12/smiths.html

- Can I call you Steven?

- No.

Second of all, the frontman. Or, The Frontman. Morrissey has always been a charismatic leader of the group, attracting attention with both his on-scene behaviour and way of dressing. He never avoided controversial statements, mostly as a strongly involved animal rights activist and propagator of vegetarianism. Also his sexuality was the matter of discussion, with himself stating that he does not recognise the terms homo-, hetero- or bisexual, claiming everyone has the same needs that cannot be differentiated. It was rumoured that he is a closeted homosexual, at the same time talking about some kind of celibacy Morrissey practices. This matter becomes unclear until now, what makes Moz an even more interesting person.

“I always thought my genitals were the result of some crude practical joke.” 

Morrissey

It is a known fact for Morrissey’s fans that the particular kind of sensitivity he shows, is a blessing and a curse at the same time. On the one hand, all these songs would never become what they are without this interfering sensitivity. On the other, that characteristic of The Moz makes it hard to interact with him ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZDI4PIq8_s ), also for the fans during a concert. There were several occasions, on which he felt someway insulted and left the stage during a gig (the last time being in November at a Warsaw concert).
Lately Morrissey has revealed that he is fighting cancer, a fact not known until an interview for a Spanish magazine he gave in September. Partially his behaviour at the famous Stodoła concert might have been caused by this, the artist himself stated that he was offended by someone from the audience regarding his health issue. No one knows the truth but Morrissey and the offender.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9hzRk7w8LQ

http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,1019393,opage,3,title,Morrissey-przerwal-koncert-w-Warszawie,wid,17045489,wiadomosc.html?ticaid=11430c

To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die

Third of all – the sentiment. The Smiths’ songs are in some way sad and sentimental, and for what’s the most important – critical. At the same time that sadness does not deprive Morrissey’s lyrics of  humorous elements and does not make the musical layer sound depressing. On the contrary – sometimes you can hear the eighties in a less fortunate arrangement of a song that if the right decisions were made, would sound just brilliantly. Right now it sounds only very very good (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoo9Vu1a9bU)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRYpd3_roHg

Exemplary questions:

1) What do you think about artists who are eccentric/have a difficult character? Is it acceptable if it results with extraordinary accomplishments? Can it change ones judgement of the artists personality?

2) If you familiarise yourself with the mentioned Warsaw concert incident, can you put yourself in that situation and choose your side: the offended artist vs the 'ignored' crowd?

3) Did you know that a lot of musicians of the younger generation consider The Smiths and Morrissey one of their major influences? Examples? Deftones, Muse, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, Placebo, Dinosaur Jr., Panic! At The Disco, Belle and Sebastian, The Killers. 

Do you hear any resemblance? 

Week 7 (19-25.01.2015): 2014 was a bad year for aviation.

2014 wasn’t a good year for aviation. It brought some of the most horrifying and deadly crashes in the history. I’d like to look into air disasters that happened, because those events are absolutely unparalleled in recent years. 

Disappearance of MH370

On March 8th Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 took off from Kuala Lumpur on its way to Beijing. Less than an hour into the flight contact with the airplane was lost. It means not only that there was no answer to radio calls but also that automatic systems used to track aircraft went off. There are basically two possibilities, either someone switched them off intentionally or there was massive electrical malfunction. The plane went off the radars not to be seen ever again. In a confusion authorities started to search for the aircraft but they were looking in a wrong place. The information from military radars and satellite services suggested that the plane turned around and should be looked for somewhere in the Indian Ocean.  Despite the most expensive search effort in the history not a single piece of airplane has been found to this day. The search continues.

"Boeing 777-200ER Malaysia Airlines which disappeared over the Pacific" by Laurent ERRERA from L'Union, France - Uploaded by russavia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

It is practically unprecedented event. No plane this big was lost without a trace in the history. Due to this fact and a  big number of people on board (namely 239 persons) it received worldwide media coverage. The mystery surrounding disappearance of flight MH370 keeps spawning conspiracy theories.  You can read nice roundup here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-the-13-theories-that-could-explain-where-the-plane-is--and-what-happened-to-it-9455120.html

Some of them are pretty ridiculous but others have some experienced aviation people backing them up. There are even some books revealing „the truth”. This is an example: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2756315/MH370-pilot-switched-oxygen-supply-kill-SIXTH-example-suicide-flights-according-Kiwi-Airlines-boss.html

I think the author either really believes his theory or is a heartless bastard who tries to earn some money on the tragedy of others.

The last link is to a pretty interesting documentary gathering some aviation specialists and trying to look for any missing information in the whole chain of events leading to this disaster: 

Bloody July

July was particularly ill-fated. Three major disasters happened that month.

On July 17th the Malaysian Airline’s Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over Ukraine killing all 298 persons on board. The incident is still being investigated but it seems that pro-Russian separatists used an advanced missile system supplied by Russia. The plane was flying over the conflict zone at the moment of disaster but was over 10000m high which was deemed as a safe altitude. Officials weren’t aware that separatists could have so advanced weaponry.

The event led to an international outcry but it doesn’t seem it has changed much in regard to the situation in the Eastern Ukraine. 

"Boeing 777-2H6ER which was shot down over Ukraine" by Alan Wilson from Weston, Spalding, Lincs, UK - Uploaded by russavia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

 

On July 23rd TranAsia Airways Flight 222 tried to land at Magong Airport in Taiwan but crashed into the buildings probably due to the bad weather. Of 58 people on board only 10 survived the crash.

Only one day later Air Algerie plane with 116 persons on board veered off course and crashed into the desert killing all on board.

Another disappearance over Pacific

As the year was coming to an end one more deadly incident took place. On December 28th AirAsia lost contact with their Airbus A320 flying from Indonesia to Singapore. There was strong storm forming in the way of the plane but as it is the monsoon period it was nothing extraordinary in this region. Pilots tried to find their way around the storm but something went wrong. Either they stalled aircraft (lost too much speed to keep it flying) or were surprised by another forming storm. It is too early to be definite about it. 

"AirAsia Airbus A320-200 which crashed in a bad weather on December 28th " by Sabung.hamster - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

First debris and bodies from crash were found two days after the crash and the main part of wreckage was  located on January 3rd. For two long days media was seeking similarities to MH370’s case.

Is flying more dangerous than ever?

The accidents were terrifying. The media coverage was broader than ever and the unresolved case of flight MH370 affects people’s emotions and fears. But was this year really the worst in the history of aviation?

The numbers tell us this is not really the case. There is downward trend in the number of aviation accidents and it keeps true in 2014. Actually in 2014 there were the fewest crashes in the recorded history of aviation!  Also the overall number of victims generally dropped although there were better years than 2014. Only one statistic seems to show how bad this year was. The number of casualties per accident is at its ever highest rate.

Here are some of the statistics: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/is-this-one-of-the-worst-years-ever-in-the-history-of-civil-aviation/article19744405/

And what do you think? Are you afraid to fly? Is fear stronger than a year before?

Sources:

http://avherald.com/h?list=&opt=7681

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Alg%C3%A9rie_Flight_5017

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia_AirAsia_Flight_8501

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_17

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransAsia_Airways_Flight_222

Week 7 (19-25.01.2015): HEY! WHAT DOES YOUR TATTOO MEAN?

Shut up!

Nowadays this is a typical answer to the question from the title.

Why is that?

Let’s find out!

Over recent decades the definition of the tattoo has changed dramatically. Once the tattoo was associated with a scar on the body, which had something. Something that was very important in the life of a man bearing a given "scar".  Nowadays we call it scarification. But today we are not going to talk about scarification.

Source: http://www.nairaland.com/1328945/afar-people-redone/1

In the modern world getting a tattoo means getting your body covered with special paint which is injected under your skin with needles. There are many types and styles of tattoos nowadays.

The most simple but a very interesting style is a „prison” tattoo,  because of its long tradition. Prison tattoos have always had a meaning. The decision about getting a tattoo and which exactly is made by the inmates. So they have to be specific, because there are strict rules to be followed.

Source: http://www.barneyfrank.net/15-prison-tattoos-rocked-hard-knock-criminals/

If you are actually interested in the meaning of these tattoos, you can check it at http://www.crimelibrary.com/photogallery/prison-tattoo-field-guide.html?curPhoto=1 you won’t be surprised when you go jail. Just kidding… :-)

Another interesting style was created by the Japanese gang which is very famous because of their tattoos. The gang members get their body tattooed during their whole life. The gang is called Yakuza and I guess that you’ve heard about them. Every tattoo of each gang member has to be unique and is connected with their life story. It also costs hell a lot of money and must be really painful.

Source: http://meebal.com/yakuza-tattoos/

The average healing time of any tattoo is 2 weeks, at that time it hurts and itches but no matter what! You cannot touch it! Forget about sleeping on tattooed back for 2 weeks or more. But tattooing can be very addictive. There are many addictions like trying to make your tattoo as perfect as possible. Because over the years your taste can change dramatically, you probably will change your tattoo many times. The other addiction can be that feeling when the needle sticks into your body and a machine makes the „bzzzz” sound. It is a very relaxing feeling mixed with a slight pain compared to a pinch.

How about now?

Nowadays tattoos are nothing really special. I know a lot of people who’s got one or more tattoos on their body. From the crazy people to entrepreneurs, you wouldn’t even say that a person has a tattoo, because he is not really a „crazy” enough person to think so. But everyone can have a tattoo and it is nothing bad. Tattoos are no longer associated with gangs and prison. The technology of the machines has really changed and the artists can actually make you a tattoo of whatever you want and it will look really fresh, beautiful and colorful. Even the black color has changed to its real blackness and it looks shiny. 

Source: http://larskrutak.com/black-tattoo-art-2-by-marisa-kakoulas/

Today tattoos are more about having the coolest graphic on the body that a human being can possibly ever think of. So you can see that people want to have a lot of colours and the graphic reminds some kind of comics.

Source: http://www.omegaseye.com/arm-tattoo-ideas-for-men-which-one-of-them-that-meets-your-interest/

I personally like to look at cool huge tattoos because I consider this some kind of art., like looking at paintings, but probably I will never get one!

Source: http://www.photozok.com/Color-Tattoo-Art-Comics-Cartoon-Pin-Up-Manga-New.html

Questions:

1. What do you think about tattoos and tattooed people?
2. Do you have a tattoo? What kind of a tattoo and where?
3. If you ever thought about getting a tattoo what would it be and where?