Black History Poem

http://books.google.ca/books?id=i9nX_wGT62IC&pg=PA118&lpg=PA118&dq=from+steel+drum+to+steel+drum+jesse+p&source=bl&ots=VHpIcokdbr&sig=0nDOGuTs3PhS5FAWrTs167OBirM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pVRFT8WgMsjZiAKoxoTfBA&sqi=2&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=from%20steel%20drum%20to%20steel%20drum%20jesse%20p&f=false

#2 Life Observation: The Moon

Looking up into the sky can be great, seeing birds fly, the clouds slowly floating along and the amazing sunsets. A couple of months ago I remember letting my dog outside and stepping out on the balcony. For some weird reason, I looked up and stared at the night sky looking at all the stars, I noticed the moon seems different from when I was younger. It's allot brighter than it used to be. I kept staring at the moon and the dark blue sky around it started to change. The sky around the moon looked as if it started turning black and very slowly swirling, like some sort of vortex. I think this was because of how bright the moon was compared to the sky. I thought it was really neat though. Sometimes the little things in life can be pretty pleasant if you put your mind to it.

Analysis of Illustrated/Animated Poetry

Our assignment was to find a poem made to catch someones eye. I looked around and came across an animated poem called "budapest". I found this poem was enticing and represented how I feel about drawing. It relates to me because most of the time what i'm sketching just comes to me, I usually don't have a concept. My hand is like the wild animal that wants to explore and try new things. I usually feel the need to draw, like a very odd addiction that keeps growing and becoming more vivid.

The style of this video makes it feel as if the hand is a skittish little creature doing what it needs to survive. The lighting is dim and the film looks aged. The narrator Describes the arm and hand as if he's been researching them for a documentary. I find it strange how at the end of the poem describes how he wants to go to Budapest. I think what he's trying to say is that he's not focusing on what he's writing, he is focusing on other subjects. Letting the mind drift away sometimes can trigger great ideas that can have impacts about the way we react to things.

The sounds you can hear in the video are pens scratching and sniffing, most of the video is quiet so you can listen to the narrator. His voice is low and monotoned, it matches the overall mood of this poem. He's not excited, he sounds as if he may even be forced to say these things. The scene were the hand is using the pen and it looks as if it is drinking the ink is very creative, it's although it's an actual animal drinking from a lake.


The poem itself seems as if he's a prisoner doing his job to get money for his family so they will be able to live comfortably. The man dosen't want to do this job, he wants to be free and go explore and travel, but he is caged up in an office that is dark and blue. When he looks out the window, the sky is bright and stands out. This poem is a bit depressing but is how many people actually have to live. I think the author, Billy Collins demonstrates how everyday life can be pain, how some people feel like prisoners in cages.

#1 Life Observation: Michaels

I know allot of people around the world love getting creative. Sometimes, it's difficult to find, purchase or even consider buying the supplies we need. Art supplies can be expensive and hard to find depending on what you’re going to create. One of the best known art supplies stores in my opinion would have to be Michaels. The store sells a verity of different materials sold at a fair price and has special events based on the months that come and go. The store has different courses you can take to learn and create vibrant pieces of art. The courses have cooking, sewing, clay making, arts and crafts, painting and many more with allot of different age groups and family activities so anyone can participate! I’ve been to about 5-10 of these in the past 3 years, I find them really interesting and a great learning experience. One of my favorite items to buy at Michaels are the little make your own foam houses, I have 4 of them. I like making them because sometimes I’m really stressed out and just need to take a day to do something to calm me down and relax. They usually turn out really well but if I don't concentrate they turn out horribly. All in all Michaels is a great artists store and you should check it out!


Link: Michaels Craft Store

The Missing Pages In Canadian History

Our assignment was to research a list of four different historical figures. This post will describe and talk about who they are and what they did to make a change in the world we live in today.

Don Moore:

Born in Philadelphia, 1938 Moore played piano but switched to the bass in 1959. He was a very well known musician who performed with many famous stars such as Jackie McLean, Frank Foster and Lee Morgan. Don Moore Is currently living in NewYork.

Olivier Le Jeune:

Date of birth unknown, but passed away on May 10th, 1654. Olivier was the first recorded slave purchased in New France. He was A young boy who lived in Madagascar He was known to have been less than 8 years of age. In 1632, He was educated in Quebec by a priest known as Father Le Jeune.

Isaac Phills:

Isaac Lived in DartMouth, Nova Scotia, He was A steel worker of west Indiana Origin. He was a hard worker who raised and saved money for his families education.

Negro Creek:

The Creek was discovered in the 1860's, It was a creek located in the east Kootenay region of British Columbia. It was Originally known as "Nigger Creek" but was changed in 1961. The creek was used for mining by Chinese and Europeans.

Principal of design

We are starting the web design unit in CyberARTS, we we're taught the 10 principles to making a good website.

1. Don't make users think
2. Don't squander the user's patience
3. Manage to focus the user's attention
4. Strive for feature exposure
5. Make use of effective writing
6. Strive for simplicity
7. Don’t be afraid of white space
8. Communicate effectively with a visible language
9. Conventions are our friends
10. Test early, test often

This is an example of a BAD website design





Principles of design missing:

1. Don't make users think
2. Don't squander the user's patience
3. Manage to focus the user's attention
4. Strive for feature exposure
5. Make use of effective writing
6. Strive for simplicity
7. Don’t be afraid of white space
8. Communicate effectively with a visible language
9. Conventions are our friends
10. Test early, test often
Pretty much, all of them.

There may even be more, the main point is this web design doesn’t work because it's sloppy. Image files are broken and missing and even some images are overlapping. They are over using the animated icons, which is making it crowded. The background color is hard to look at and is distracting, making you want to leave it. With the pictures that do work there too big and with all of these things happening you can't concentrate on the words.







Now, this would be a better more simple and enjoyable website

Principals of design used:

1. Don't make users think
3. Manage to focus the user's attention
4. Strive for feature exposure
5. Make use of effective writing
6. Strive for simplicity
7. Don’t be afraid of white space
8. Communicate effectively with a visible language
10. Test early, test often


This website design demonstrates clean colours, lot's of white space and a bright look giving it a light and inviting feeling. Each new section of writing has big font that tells you what it's about instead of it being one long page of words. The images and font used are clean and simple which means it's readable.

Rio

This weekend has been so rainy, depressing and boring. On a rainy day, what’s the best thing to do? Watch movies! Today I went to the theater and saw Rio! It was such a sweet and fun movie! There were many beautiful parts of the movie that showed Rio de Janeiro, and the rainforest, and the beaches, and some stereotypical characters and situations. It was an adorable love story about a domestic blue macaw and a native macaw and how they are the only two left of their species! Together Blue and jewel have crazy adventures in Rio and meet new friends! The music was awesome! I really liked it, the music makes you feel anywhere from warm inside to you want to get up and dance! The movie takes place in Brazil, and the main character is from Minnesota. I love movies like these because anyone can watch it and really love it. This movie I would give it a nine out of ten, it's well worth seeing!