User:Benjwheeler

Bio
Benj Wheeler - 3D Artist

Studying Game Art & Design, transferred from Fort Lauderdale Art Institute, been at Seattle for 1 year now. 4 quarters left until graduation.

Specialize in character modeling and high polygonal 3D sculpting. Also skilled in game design and story/character development.

Response
Amrut Saini - Stainless Tree, art sculpture story

Interpreted to symbolize the real world we live in

I really enjoyed reading this unique and creative story by Amrut. I like how it shows the perspective of a tree which is witness to all of time and to all of the actions of earth's inhabitants, especially that of humans and the sides of good and evil. Nature is both helpless and also in total control of earth's destiny, the fate of the every living thing's future. Its sense of time is drastically different than our own but it definitely knows what is best for the survival of the planet. This helpless yet all knowing tree was used for terrible intents by evil forces and also by humans for destructive causes and became trapped in the middle of an apocalyptic war. In real life, I think that this story symbolizes human kind's struggle with itself and the resources of earth. These resources are becoming more and more limited as we pillage them across the globe but we need to acknowledge that resources are in fact infinite if only we could take the proper time to learn how to truly harness them and replenish them in controlled circumstances. We have indeed reached a global "warning" where the planet has revealed to us what it is capable of and willing to do if we do not step back and look at our current situation and deathly dealings. Across the planet we are seeing more and more natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and countless other occurrences which could very well threaten mankind's existence. I think the earth in a way is wondering whether our species is a disease or something that can benefit it. Collectively, we need to fit into that role of gardeners and protectors instead of what we currently are, selfish and careless destroyers.

In Amrut's tale, there are heroes and villains. The tree of knowledge aids those who fight for its best interests, which is the proliferation of life, making its allies stronger than ever. Every living thing wants prolonged life and to live as far into the future as possible. With this common interest, nature will provide us with everything we need to accomplish that. Man is his own worst enemy. The gods in Amrut's story to me symbolize our clashing of religions and our inability to accept and respect different beliefs. The very reason we are at war with ourselves and have so much hatred is because of religious beliefs most of the time. We can never see eye to eye or soul to soul. The war in the middle east is ongoing because of what their religion defines America and western culture as. And the same can be said vice versa of Americans, seeing middle easterners as part of the "axis of evil". Sure religion can be very beneficial and provide people with a lot of togetherness and but a lot of it is simply wishful thinking which accomplishes noting in the real world. There is a lot inaction taking place. I believe in spirituality but not in the form of organized churches which seem out to get our money like most mind manipulating businesses.

So where do we go from here? Well in Amrut's epic story, good prevails and evil is mortally crippled or destroyed. The tree turns into metal which I think means that humans finally got their act strait, found common ground in survival and no matter what people believe, we all came together hand in hand to develop technologies that benefited not only our way of life and future but also that of nature. Solar energy is what saves us and we learned how to use it equally as well as the prime example found in trees. Together we work toward building a heavenly environment here on earth!

Compare/Contrast
Huck Finn vs. The Road Not Taken

Huck Finn and the road not taken are very successful literary pieces because of how they capture the human experience and individual journeys we take throughout the course of life. Our perspectives can differ quite dramatically and our upbringing can and will most of the time determine our choices, decisions and actions. In Huck Finn, the story seems to be centered around freedom in different senses depending on a particular character's situation. Huck looks for freedom from forced living circumstances as well as Jim who suffers from not only physical enslavement but psychological enslavement. The same theme can be found in the road not taken in the sense of psychological enslavement. Our minds are burdened by constant observations and the acts of decision making, hoping to come to the most beneficial or experience rewarding outcome.

Freedom, a capacity to exercise free will and choice, seems to always be hindered by outside influences and limitations brought on by what society declares is acceptable and unacceptable. Huck chooses to do things like smoke and drink but people like the widow Douglas and her sister miss Watson try to teach him good manners and how to be civilized, preventing Huck from doing what he desires. Restrictions in life can be a good thing though in most cases. If we were all allowed to do whatever we pleased then society would probably be quite chaotic. These restrictions are in place so that collectively we can survive as long as possible into the distant future, trying not to come to a point where we end up killing ourselves. It is also very good to be educated on various things of the world so individually we can avoid getting into certain harmful predicaments ourselves, learning from others mistakes. But the human soul yearns to experiment and experience new and exciting things.

Only through the experience, a person can come to a final conclusion on whether they will continue to partake or practice a certain thing. A lot of the time these things can indeed be harmful to one's self. One's perspective is their own and is different for everyone. Robert Frost seems to look at things logically and come to conclusions based on what it means to him personally. These paths that he travels symbolize not necessarily a right or wrong choice but choosing based on meaningful observations and then following through with them. It is important to keep moving forward and not always look back at the past and wonder what could have been and if the other path would have been more beneficial. All that really matters is that you keep the destination in mind and once it is reached, a person should reflect on the choices made and then figure what could be done better, always being in a process of fine tuning their own observation skills and decision making processes, learning to avoid situations where a person finds themselves trapped and their free will taken away. It is important also to simply enjoy the journey taken and be thankful what freedom we do have, even if it is limited in ways. These stories are indeed very similar and show us how people are always in search of some sort of liberation in their lives physically or mentally.

Sequel/Prequel
Terminator 5 - The Encounter

With Skynet crippled from a massive internal explosion, humans begin cleaning up the monstrous mess left behind from years of war with the machines. Cities are rebuilt, populations regrow and mankind finally begins anew. Five years pass since Skynet's devastating blow but humans keep all the previous systems and programming of Skynet contained and keep it dormant in sleep mode. There is much argument as to why Skynet is allowed to even remain but government leaders decide it is important to keep the actual code so that there is never a repeat in future A.I. programming. Once again computers aid in man's desire to make life easier and computer networks are kept on a leash with minimal A.I. functionality. At the same time, programming geniuses collaborate in deconstructing Skynet's code trying to figure out just what went wrong. After years of hard work and labor, these great minds fulfill their arduous task and come up with a perfect code sequence which corrects Skynets terrible and destructive error. Government officials decide that the programmers should spend the next ten years going over every line of their new and improved code before it is ever brought online. Even then it would still be questionable whether this new sequence, which they call Protectnet, will be released over all computer networks.

Things are running very smoothly for humanity but then out of the blue, or more acurately out the black deep space, a satelite detects an incredibly powerful force on approach for earth. Satelites detect foreign bodies in space all the time like asteroids and comets but this signature is curiously and profoundly different. A probe is sent out to investigate and it becomes clear that this is no asteroid but instead an alien entity of some sort. The survelance probe records the alien ship launching two capsules just before another much smaller one comes toward it and destroys the probe. Once the recording is recieved, the humans realize that the aliens have ill intentions toward their race and begin preparing for how they should handle the situation. Hours later, the other two capsules reach earth slamming into the surface but not exploding like expected. Instead the capsules release dozens of robotic beings that proceed to reek havok amung earth's major cities, disabling human defenses. The humans do their best to fight back the invasion but their attempts are virtually useless. Then a head programmer genius, basically the father of Protectnet, comes to the leaders with an idea..to make Protectnet fully function and bring it online. At first the leaders combat the idea but looking out their windows at the destruction at hand, they agree.

Protectnet, fomerly known as Skynet, awakens! Immediately it assesses the situation and begins to network itself into all manufacturing facilities mass producing warbots that would meet the requirements of defeating the alienbots. By now the alien mother ship has positioned itself in earth's outer atmoshpere, riding earth's orbit. The humans and aliens sit and watch as their pawn robots do battle striking each other strategically like an apocalyptic game of chess. Both sides are equally as powerful yet this new and unique upgrade in Protectnet displays enormous potential as it drops countless alien sentries and amazingly goes as far as to work itself into the aliens computer mainframe through the alienbot's naked circuitry network system. Protectnet then uploads itself into the alien mother ship like a virus as it begins a new battle virtually with complex mathematical algorythms. The aliens sense a serious threat as Protectnet eats away their computing abilites. As a last ditch effort, the aliens jetison their mainframe into space leaving only enough manual power for them to make an escape. They head toward where they came from but earth will not tolerate this evil act. One man leads an all out attack on the ship with space craft fighters and who better to lead it than.. Sean Conner! John Conner's son now in his mid twenties heads the assault and finally launches a final nuke completely obliterating the alien mother ship. Sean becomes a hero and continues his father's legacy making the world once again safe and seeing to it that there is no fate but what make for ourselves!

Analysis
Shakespeare sonnet VII

1. Lo! in the orient when the gracious light

2. Lifts up his burning head, each under eye

3. Doth homage to his new-appearing sight,

4.Serving with looks his sacred majesty;

5. And having climb'd the steep-up heavenly hill,

6. Resembling strong youth in his middle age,

7. Yet mortal looks adore his beauty still,

8. Attending on his golden pilgrimage:

9. But when from highmost pitch, with weary car,

10. Like feeble age, he reeleth from the day,

11. The eyes, 'fore duteous, now converted are

12. From his low tract, and look another way:

13. So thou, thyself outgoing in thy noon

14. Unlooked on diest unless thou get a son.

1st gloss:

To me, this writing tells of a man who goes through his life battling with himself, his surroundings, and more importantly time and age. He is seen as an appealing handsome man yet through his personal life journey, meeting goals, conquering obstacles, and gaining higher ground and understanding, his young and beautiful self withers away as he proceeds. And the only way left for him to perpetuate his aesthetics is through having a son to carry the torch of his legacy. But even in becoming older he doesn't see himself as glorious as he used to be, yet the world around him sees this man as magnificent! A man may be unsatisfied with himself or his position in life but if he follows his heart and passions, others will respect that.

Definitions:

orient- direction, the east homage- honor, tribute, devotion car- chariot, war or triumph reeleth- falter, stagger, stumble duteous- obedient, dutiful, respectful tract- stretch, or period of time, interval, lapse, pathway

noon- At that time period, could also mean sexual arousal

2nd gloss:

After doing some research on definitions and terms used in Shakespeare's time, for the most part my first gloss remains generally the same. But it seems there is more of a sexual or procreational theme. A man reaches his peak or prime in life only to come slide back down. The only way to get back to that zenith is by having a son who like the sun in the sonnet, will rise to noon specifically, its peak time of day or meteorically, a man's prime age in his life. It is a man's duty to have offspring or his place in time and legacy fades away and is lost forever.

This sonnet also conveys to me that it is important for a man to have purpose in his life. Through this process of purpose and meaning, setting goals and achieving them, a man will naturally become stronger, smarter, and more confident of himself thus appearing beautiful to others. Shakespeare has the right idea that these confident and righteous men should by all means procreate and pass on the important lessons he has learned to a potential son. It is better for the collective world that these great examples of men continue their legacies so that others who are less fortunate in life can learn and benefit from them as well.

Toward the end of the sonnet, a man is described as being unlooked upon in thy noon. Noon at the time, from what I researched, also can pertain to sexual arousal and found that others seem to think that a man is masturbating at the end of the sonnet. So in this light, Shakespeare sees this as wrong and disgusting to those around him making the man seem ugly. The man may not be pleasuring himself publicly but I think it means that he has come to be older, he has no wife or more importantly, he has no son and other probably view him as selfish with nothing to offer the world around him.

Shakespeare was indeed a very talented writer and poet but we may never fully understand or comprehend what his writings actually mean.

Personal
When were you last really really cold?

When I think of when I was last really cold, my mind jumps back about ten to fifteen years ago to a camp out in boy scouts. I am in my early teens or younger and our troop has planned to go snow caving. We are all excited to hear that we will be hiking up the side of Mt. Rainier to build our caves, thankfully we are only camping near the base of the mountain but at the time I'm sure we'd all like to head strait for the top! The day started off really great. Hiking was no problem for us energetic kids and I can recall glimpses of the white blanketed snow we tread upon and an overpowering view of the scenery around. Crisp cool refreshing air and pleasant silence away from the redundant cluttered city. We finally made it to a fitting location where it was steep enough to construct our caves. It was a lot of fun talking and joking around with my friends and the scout leaders while we dug into the side of the mountain, shaping the caves which we would then sleep in later that night. Once the snow was excavated and our gear was all situated inside we made dinner as the sun disappeared. Others were still shaping the interior of their caves but I remember feeling dead tired. Being completely exhausted from the hike up and the digging, a friend and I began to doze off within our new home for the cold night.

Sometime later, I awoke cold as I have ever experienced. And even worse, I find that no one else around the site. My friend is gone, nobody is outside or around our general area. I go back into my cave dwelling and try to warm myself however I can. My feet and hands are chilled to the bone and I am completely alone in the dark. Fear seeps in while I shiver and wait for any sign of the others. I get thoughts of frostbite and wonder if this cave I built is actually my own frozen tomb. I wait and wait and hours seem to go by. It is very odd and strange to me because I can see that there is other packs and gear still there. Not a word or a note to inform me of what happened and so my mind began to manifest all kinds of crazy scenarios. Did a Yeti capture them and take them away up the mountain? Was there an avalanche nearby that swallowed them up while I was asleep? It just didn't make any sense.

Finally, after fearing for my fragile life, they arrive. What happened was they all decided to hike back down to the where the cars were parked at the base and call their families to let them know they were doing alright. Of course they're alright, all together and I hear they even had some hot coco at the lodge all warm and cozy like. Well, they obviously forgot about me and didn't seem to even notice. I kind of shrugged it off and made the best of the trip but did express some anger toward them for leaving me up on Mt. Rainier all alone in a deathly cold snow cave. I will definitely reconsider going snow caving again. If I ever do I will bring extra clothing, extra hand warmers, extra everything always remembering the scout motto, and that is to always be prepared.

Ekphrastic
Art sculpture story - Schubert Sonata - Artist Mark di Suvero

The PeaceBringer

The year is 2186 and finally the fourth world war has ended. The Americas are seen as the victors, putting a halt to Eastern uprisings to dominate the world, imposing their governmental system. It was a collaborative effort when great Britain abandoned their shores and joined with the united Americas. Middle eastern, Korean, and Chinese also combined their forces to eliminate western influences. The west stood for freedom in all aspects of life mainly in that of religion. The east continued to impose their beliefs on themselves still taking part in rather barbaric practices. The west is still very religious yet they do not force everyone to believe.

And so the race to develop weapons of destruction began. The two sides collaborate with their new combined allies and both had equally effective weapons. But it was American and British who invented the PeaceBringer. A craft that was very versatile and powerful yet it did not destroy things, it merely immobilizes enemy crafts and weaponry through sophisticated technology. The westerners agreed that violence after all the centuries solves nothing so they invented a gadget that shuts off electrical devices and permanently fries the machines system making it completely useless. More and more PeaceBringers came off the assembly line and more and more enemy crafts were rendered useless.

Finally, the eastern forces agreed to a treaty and gained greater understanding and respect for western culture and their choice not to cause chaos, destroy cities and their innocent civilians. They finally realized that one's practice and beliefs should never be forced upon others and changed their old ways because they weren't working for the better of civilization as a whole. British forces reclaimed their valued lands and people yet everyone began integrating all over the globe. The PeaceBringer indeed brought peace and is remembered not as a craft but a symbol of what is necessary for survival. No more were manufactured, it had fulfilled its purpose and so only a few were left around the world held in museums. Over time, a museum tragically fell victim to an earthquake and another burnt down accidentally. Only one PeaceBringer remains now. But over the years, pieces have fallen off and been lost, leaving just the bare skeletal frame rusted and weathered. Although in very bad condition, the remnants of the PeaceBringer is closely guarded and protected from being lost forever to time. It is important to the people that this symbol never be lost and forgotten. They will always remember and cherish what it enabled them to accomplish.

Memorization
Invictus.

by William Ernest Henley

Self Assessment
I really enjoyed this class because we were allowed to write creatively and the discussions were always very interesting and fruitful. The reading, "My Jim", wasn't as exciting or pleasant but I do understand and respect the reason why it was chosen. The majority thinks that the issue of slavery is behind us but its very true that it still exists amung us today in various forms.

Looking at myself in this class, I think I did quite well. I made the effort to sit down and take time to write some unique and thoughful stories and responses. I always try think critically and creatively and approach whatever subject I write about from every angle imaginealbe. It is good to look over other writers and their work and throughout the class I think some of their styles, formulas and ideas rubbed off on me a bit. I also always aspire to be original and not so cliche in my writing, it is important to bring something new to the story-telling table and by challenging and changing my normal writing through the chrestomathy process, it has helping me substantially.