FFW: How are TWN and Just Add Water the same?

There is an emphasis on water in both works

Alcohol and drugs

Love triangles

Disguises
Characters are "living a lie" in both works


They follow the same plot
Both works follow the Comedic Curve: normal--> far from normal--> new normal
In TWN, everything starts out as normal. Orsino keeps trying to woo Olivia. Then, things start to change. Viola and her brother are caught in a storm. Each thinks the other one has drowned. Viola disguises herself as a man and joins Orsino’s court. When Viola tries to woo Olivia for Orsino, she falls in love with him and Olivia falls in love with her. Everything eventually is rectified. Olivia chooses Viola’s brother as her husband and Viola and Orsino are joined as well.

In Just Add Water, Ray has a routine. He works from 9-5, goes to the Rite-Valu to pick up food for dinner, and repeat. This changes however when he comes home early one day. He finds his wife in bed with his brother. His wife tells him that the affair has been going on before she had their baby. She also tells him that Ray is not the father of their child, his brother is. Charlene (Ray’s wife) and his son move out. He starts a new life. Ray begins a relationship with Nora and overthrows Durk, making the town better.

Smith's Obsession With Life

I think Smith likes the animalcules because they offer him an escape from the plain and ordinary. Evidence for this can be seen throughout the entire article, most of it describing tiny bits of pond scum most people have never heard of. One passage in particular confirms this: " I look up from the scope and stand to stretch. Already my viewing eye is dulled. Already the yard beyond the back porch looks huge and messy and cobbled; the flowers seem ragged compared to the bright world beneath the lenses." (pg 26)

Smith thinks that the world of pond scum is more beautiful and intricate than the world he lives in. The creatures in the pond scum he cannot see in everyday life and this excites him because they are exotic and different. He spends pages and pages describing the creatures he sees. His tone is excited and vocabulary suggests that as well.

(Stand up routine: George Carlin) “Consider G. Carlin’s counterpoint on the environment”

To the whole endangered species rant: the reason we save the species is because we’re speeding up their extinction which is supposed to be a bad thing. But we are here so it seems kind of stupid. Maybe the earth wasn’t meant to be industrialized the way we have and they should be saved because it’s our doing. What's wrong with keeping species around? If we were dying wouldn't you want someone to save you?

Also, global warming is definitely happening. There is a ton of evidence to support this. Considering that global warming wasn’t happening until industrialization, wouldn’t you think that it is our fault? Do you believe in coincidences Mr. Carlin? What about cause and effect?

FFW: What emblem/symbol/image best exemplifies that message/argument/point of the film “just add water?” What’s its “small object”?

Umm…I guess it would be some kind of recycle or “green” image. I think this works as a symbol because like recycling or some other kind of good-doing involving improving the planet is what the characters in “Just Add Water” do to their town. Like recycling and the like, these activities have a positive effect on the world around us. Ray and his gang taking down Durk and his meth lab and tyrannical ruling of the town have a positive effect on everyone because they are all freed from having to pay to get into the town etc. Also, it starts to rain after they apprehend Durk, signifying that their deeds will ensure the restoration of the town.

In addition to this evidence, I also think a “recycle” symbol fits this film because a large theme in this movie is the way we waste and consume natural resources and how they affect the environment and us. Ray does his part to restore the environment by picking up trash, and as an audience, we wish more could be done to save the town. Eventually, Ray delivers. But, if the town had recycled their toxic waste properly in the first place, they wouldn’t be stuck in the predicament that they’re in.

"How We Evolve"

This article so far has been my favorite. We've talked about it in my Darwinism class and I like a lot of the observations and research Phelan brings up. The passage about the lactose gene is absolutely fascinating. Evolution is such an interesting topic. I don't agree really with his conclusion about the effects of our industrialization speeding up our extinction. Well, actually, i'm not totally sure if I believe it or not.

It's believable because the thought of massive change occurring rapidly could make sure that natural selection will wipe us all out. It's not believable, because like we've discussed in class, a theory that humans are at the top of the food chain is because they are the best at adapting to a variety of situations. When we didn't have other nutrients besides milk, we adapted to drink it into adulthood. We live in every environment on Earth. No other species can boast that. Our large brains help us invent new tools. Our thumbs are an amazing evolutionary tool that can do millions of different tasks. I can cite about a dozen other references here.
Also, we are able to stop events like global warming from occurring because we are aware of what's going on. We can keep our extinction from happening because we can predict what's going to happen to the environment around us. If all of this is true, I believe that we have a very good chance of surviving just about anything.

My Writing Center Experience

After waking up two hours early to make sure I'd have time to run errands and go to the writing center, the person who I'd scheduled my appointment with didn't show up. They scheduled me with someone else, only 30 minutes before my class. Instead of getting the full hour I woke up for, I only got 30 minutes. Those 30 minutes were helpful though. I brought them my paper that was due for the class I had in 30 minutes and they corrected a few grammatical errors I had. This professor is big on correct grammar so I probably will receive a better grade because of the Writing Center.

"Climate Change and Ethics and Economics, Oh My": Another Article On the Effects Of Our Destructive Habits.

I think Broome reveals that the sudden urgency to change the effects of climate change on the environment raises controversy. This is because of difference in ethics which relates to how people think. In turn, this has an effect on how they think of this issue economically. The economics involved is important because it has an effect on how we deal with this issue. Broome discusses proiritarianism and utilitarianism, two ethical theories and applies them to economics in his article, “The Ethics of Climate Change”.

Prioritarianism in relation to ethics involves placing less value on the wealthy and more value on stabilizing the gap between the wealthy and the poor. This can be done by placing less social value on the upper class’ conspicuous consumption. Utilitarianism is the exact opposite of proiritarianism. This theory states that the gathering of “benefits” shouldn’t be overvalued or undervalued based on economic status. The gathering of that benefit is the same regardless of whether or not you’re rich or poor. These theories lead people to different conclusions about the need to reverse the damage of climate change. Prioritarianism places a higher value on the “return” or “benefit” we get from enacting change now. Utilitarianists believe that the return on changing our habits now will not have a great enough benefit to make a difference. As you can see, ethics play a large part in this controversy and in our perceptions of an issue. Broome believes that the way to solve this is to argue both sides and let democracy run it’s course.

How Do I Feel About Blogging?

Well, I think i might like it if i wasn't doing it for a class and therefore, concerned about the grade I'm receiving based on my content. It doesn't really seem like I'm a true blogger if I'm doing it for a grade. However, it might be nice to voice my opinions about stuff via blogger or whatever site that's out there. I don't think I'd be comfortable using it like a diary for all to read. I've never really understood why people broadcast their drama for the entire world to see. I don't want to hear it, and I'm sure the people in your life don't want you posting it. If you need that much attention, you might as well walk down a crowded street naked. That's essentially what you're doing when you post all the personal details of your life, you expose every part of you for the world to see. It's stupid on so many levels. Some stuff should be kept private for safety reasons and for the comfort of your readers and other internet users. So anyway, I guess I might like it because I could have a voice about stuff that bothers me.

Chart for Just Add Water

observe

no visual

southern accent

car sounds

"Thanks for coming, would you like a receipt with that? Don't forget to take a mint."

narrator

philosophical quote

American dream doesn't exist

Ray Tuckbee

Run down town in California

"Home wasn't a refuge for Ray"

gross, foul-mouthed fat women in yard

Charlene

Nora

Ray and Charlene have a son named Edward

Ray works 9-5

Twinkies recipe

grandmother in a coma, Edward doesn't care

Ray has a pet turtle

used to be water in town

Ray picks up trash

Betsy's

infer

predict that Ray's life will improve/change

need to know

why did Ray take his son to a prostitute when he obviously didn't want to?

what was in the box?

why is the brother with all of the kids so emotional?

why is charlene so thin?

will Edward get the prostitute pregnant?

is Ray going to leave Charlene?

is Ray going to get together with Nora?

is Edward going to get together with the prostitute?

is Ray going to bring back the water?

Analysis

Recall

Ethan Frome

cliche type of story and situation

a song from Just Add Water is in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

FFW: What is a writer? Are you a writer? Why or why not?

A writer, in the broadest sense of the word, is someone who writes down (via a pen or a computer) what they're thinking, seeing, feeling, or some combination of those three. I guess i'm a writer. What i'm doing now though is mandatory so maybe i'm not. It doesn't feel as real if it's a requirement. You should want to write, not because you're worried about a grade, but because you want to. I think a writer, in his or her purest form, writes because they want to, not because they have to. So I guess when I write for pleasure i'm a writer, and when I write for class I'm an impostor.

"Big Foot"

I definitely believe that we are in an "era of creative destruction" as Elkington says. Look at the article we read months ago about technological waste. As we keep creating new technologies, the amount of used computers dumped in third world countries will increase. I agree with Specter that laws need to be put in place to insure that we reduce our carbon footprint. It was interesting to learn about all of the calculations that go into calculating a carbon footprint. One way that we can do this, he says, is be conscious of where the food you're eating was grown. The further away, the greater amount of miles it has to travel, and the greater amount of energy is too. He also mentions a "100-Mile Diet" some have adopted. I'm curious, do they literally only eat food only 100 miles away? If so, this would suck for people who live in the desert. It would suck for me. In a 100 mile radius around my hometown, we have a lot of dairy farms, some soy bean crops, an apple orchard or two, corn made for cows, and a farm where lambs are bred to be slaughtered for the grocery store. Yum. Sounds like a great balanced diet.

As a consumer I feel a little responsible for global warming. We should all be concerned about it. We all eat and it's a problem that affects all of us. I don't feel as responsible as some because I eat meat very rarely. It takes much more CO2 to sustain a meat eater than it does someone who is a vegetarian or who eats meats infrequently.

Reflecting On "The Reality Tests"

“Do we create what we observe through the act of our observations?” (230)

What I got from this...actually I don't even know how to attack this question. Um I guess that we don't create through our observations because we aren't viewing things on the quantum level. In the article, quantum is defined as "energy as whole-number multiples of a basic unit". What we're viewing isn't on this level. We're viewing the creation of the quantum. Also, later on in the article, Zeilinger is quoted as saying, "...But to give up on realism altogether is certainly wrong. Going back to Einstein, to give up realism about the moon that's ridiculous. But on the quantum level we do have to give up realism." I think this supports my claim because he's saying that for the bigger picture, which we are viewing, realism holds true.

Background With Wendell Berry's "Faustian Economics"

On the eve of my second week at my new apartment, I walked down the now familiar hallway, as usual, my black heels clicking a steady rhythm on the tile floor, past the doors of the apartments of the neighbors I still hadn’t met. People in this building tended to keep to themselves. After I got past the door two doors from mine, I smelt the most unusual smell. It reminded me of being on a farm. I couldn’t figure out why. This made me curious. Putting my scarf over my face, I tiptoed closer and closer to the door. The smell got more overpowering. When I got about two feet away from the door, I noticed that it was slightly ajar. I could see a sliver of light hit my shoes. I pushed the door open, saying, “Hello? Is anyone home? Your door was open and I just thought you should know.” The smell was now so bad that my eyes were watering and I was gasping for air. I ventured further in the mysterious apartment and found, to my surprise and horror, a place that looked like the cave scene from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves except, exchange treasure for stuff you'd find in your basement or garage. The room contained so many knick knacks that they were stacked on one another so high that they touched the 12 foot ceiling. A large man was laying down in the middle of the room, on top of two king sized beds, and parts of his body still hung off of the ends. The smell, I realized, was the food piled around him. There was a chocolate layer cake on his stomach and pork rinds sprinkled around it. That smell was familiar to me because it smelled exactly like the compost pile my neighbors used to have. The man started to snore. I was relieved he wasn’t dead, and decided to leave. I tiptoed back out of the strange world I had entered, accidentally stepping on pork rinds and necklaces. I wondered if I should've stayed in my old apartment.