The Daily Honky Tonk
184th Edition
Friday, May 21, 2010
12:03 PM
So what does it mean that I’m writing a DHT? It means my classes are cancelled for today. And I have enough hours to squeeze in some writing for fun. Which I’ve really been wanting to do. I couldn’t ask for a better summer so far. But eight credits of class hour (which is the equivalent of a 16 credit normal semester), three hours of rehearsal a night, and a new girlfriend will keep one busy . . . A good busy . . . A really good busy :)
Anyway, let’s have some fun talking to each other. Oh . ..what’s that you say? I dominate the conversation? Really? Hmmm . . . I’ll try and include you in my dialogue. Don’t give me THAT look. I am weird . . . But I KNOW it. As long as you can think that you might be crazy - you can’t be crazy- crazy people never ask themselves whether they are- at least that is what David Auburn taught me in his play Proof.
Table of Contents
“Understanding- by Samuel Kellar” This thought provoking article comes from my roommate. I asked him to record down the lesson he shared with me as we were talking one night. After reading his writing and knowing that he and I have conversations about all sorts of interesting things, I think you’ll see why I love having Sam as my roommate.
“YouTube Collaborations”- An observation about changes in technology and their potential
“Mysteries of Monster Grove” - A shameless plug for the play I’m in that rocks!
“Letters to the Editor”- more like letter .. .but still appreciated. I had another one from one of my Mission Presidents that I appreciated .. .but I don’t think you all would understand the Spanish :)
Understanding- Samuel Kellar
Mark asked me to write down a lesson I learned from my parents during the last presidential elections. So this is my simple attempt to put words to the ideas that jump in and out of my mind. I hope it sounds coherent.
As a preface it is helpful to understand that I am studying physics in college. I was raised by two parents who were fairly well educated. My father has a PhD. in logistics and all but dissertation on another PhD. in mathematics. My mother is a docter. She studies family practice specifically and is continuing her education even as she raises her children. Hopefully, I don’t sound boastful but I just want to make clear that I was raised in a house that was very educated. From a young age I was taught to make clear any opinions I had and my father especially would play devil’s advocate commonly to force his children to come to a clear understanding of where their opinions were and why. This was common place for anything that was up for discussion in my house. As a result when I come to conclusions I generally have thought them through and can explain why I feel a certain way.
This hopefully serves as an informative back-story to the story I am about to tell. During the presidential elections I was, sadly, a common college student. I briefly listened to summaries of what candidates said and formed “educated” opinions on their platforms. It certainly was an imperfect way to form opinions but it was what I did. During all the campaigning something that came up consistently was the idea of going green. As a scientist I agree with this idea. I feel I have a decent idea of what good will come from this. These campaigns excited me because I felt they were very important. I paid a bit more attention to what was being said around these campaign points. The more I listened the more frustrated I became. I realized that the conclusions the candidates reached I agreed with but their logic was completely flawed. It was to short sighted. It was to short term. There was no way, I felt, these goals could be reached on the schedule they were laying out. This really frustrated me because I could easily foresee the common people giving up on good ideas because development was to slow. This is the problem with right conclusions from flawed logic. At some point someone realizes the problems in the logic and begins to doubt the conclusion independent of how correct it is. As I went home during a break for school I expressed these feelings to my parents. I gave it my best shot anyway. They did not seem see my point of view much less be persuaded. Finally, in a moment of frustration I said something to the effect that the reason I was so bothered by these campaign promises is that they were lies. They were lies because there was no possible way anyone could follow through with them. It did not matter if I could explain how I knew this. It didn’t change the fact that the campaign promises were wrong and I therefore interpreted them as lies since they were passed along as promises. My father proceeded to teach me a profound lesson. He asked me who had said these lies. I told him that I heard it on the news and on campaign commercials. He asked me who I thought wrote those commercials and the news reports. I told him I did not know but I imagined someone was hired to do so. He asked me what kind of a person I thought would be hired to do that job. Would it be someone who had a Phd. in physics or chemistry and understood the ins and outs of the discussion. Was it someone who had an extensive knowledge on the subject. Was it someone who had thought through all of the counterpoints to convince themselves that the logic was sound. I had to admit I could not imagine anyone like that having written the commercials or news. My father then said that he was not convinced from my words that these campaign promises were false. Though I felt like I understood the subject much better than the people writing about the topic I could not express myself convincingly enough to show the others were incorrect. I have to admit I am not sure if at this moment he was just playing devil’s advocate or if he was serious but independent I learned a great lesson that day. If I with all my education and preparation could not express myself clearly and succinctly at that moment it is very understandable that someone else who was not as prepared would say “lies.” I do not wish this to be a commentary on the people making those campaign promises. I want to expand this to a much broader sphere because that is how I understood it.
There are so many times that I feel like someone has said something that is wrong and I try to show them why. I realized that sometimes people have the correct idea and they simply don’t know how to express it. The example that comes to mind is someone in fast and testimony meeting feeling prompted to speak on the importance of eternal families. They came from an imperfect home that was unfortunately broken during their childhood. They try to express the love they still felt from both their parents throughout their childhood. They are thankful that there are promises that they will one day have an eternal family. With all of these thoughts coming to mind and a short period of preparation they say the first things that come to their mind. They say something to the effect of “I am grateful to live in a divorced family.”
This is clearly incorrect and it is very tempting to nip this in the bud. I began to realize that this is not the important thing. The intent is the important part of the statement. It was clearly not said in any way meant to provoke. Also when someone comes up and corrects the comment it is natural to feel defensive but suddenly they don’t have anywhere to turn. They don’t know how to express themselves and they either fight back or retreat to a corner. It is difficult to really solve the problem because no one really knows what it is. I know I have felt this way in my life. It is uncomfortable especially when you are certain that all parties would agree if proper communication took place. Sometimes we just don’t allow that to happen.
I learned an important lesson that day. The lesson of understanding. It is important to listen to what people have to say. Even when it comes out imperfectly it is important to understand the person. Sometimes we say things and mean something completely different than what we mean. Sometimes we do not comprehend the full effect of our words. If time is not taken to reach and understanding then no progress is ever made. As a result many problems arise from a situation that could have been avoided entirely.
YouTube Collaborations
Among college students, we spend a lot of time Utilizing YouTube. YouTube clips are used to share funny moments with each other from movies or t.v. Shows. YouTube allows individuals a medium in which they can create and share short films. YouTube allows people to listen to new music and for aspiring (and not so aspiring) artists to share their latest creations. And at this point, YouTube is a tool that is effective for allowing teachers to add a media element to their teaching. I’ve learned a lot from YouTube!
One of my favorite recent discoveries is a group called WongFu Productions. A couple of students who found short films as a fun media hobby made it their life job. Many of their short films make the mind ponder over simple interesting aspects of life. My favorites have been a series of three short films entitled Technology Ruins Romance. Type those three words into YouTube and they will appear right away.
The real reason that I wrote this article however, is because I found an Artist called Tyler Ward collaborating with TheBeatboxHitman. Both record in home made studios and are popular YouTube artists. The thing that fascinated me the most is that they recorded a mash-up (combination of two songs) cover without ever having to come in contact in the physical world. I think this is really neat. I love that we can create things together with people and collaborate to make something more than what we could do on our own. If you want to watch this performance go to http://www.youtube.com/user/TylerWardMusic#p/u/22/gRDsPDpdhZg
Mysteries of Monster Grove
We went through our first full dress/ full tech rehearsal last night. The production is gorgeous. I guess gorgeous is a bad word for monsters . . .but they are fun monsters. Are show is designed for an audience of kids (with enough intelligent moments for adults to enjoy it with their kids). I love this play more every day. My cast is a lot of fun to play with. The costumes, lighting, sounds, and props have created a whole new world that we play in and I love every moment in Monster Grove. If you are going to be in Provo anytime from May 26-June 12th I invite you to come see a performance. If not, go check out these sites to get a little taste of what we have done :)
For ticket info:
http://www.byuarts.com/calendar/eventdescription_v2.php?eventid=626
http://heraldextra.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/theatre/article_325d5bc8-774d-567f-805f-17cd399a668f.html
If you go to this page one of the four title pictures it scrolls through is for Monster Grove . . . It’s my favorite picture of some of the monsters in our cast :)
http://www.byuarts.com/
Letters to the Editor
Well I have to see the Dragon movie because I completely agree with you on Blind Side (amazing job with a book), Julie & Julia and The Village. M. Night really makes you think. And the point of the movie that you can’t escape bad things, is so profound. Especially when they have worked SO hard and given up SO much to achieve it. It’s quite sad really.
If you like the 5 hour Pride & Prejudice, I was very pleased with BBC’s 8 hour rendering of Dickens’ Bleak House and highly recommend it.
Shelly Olivier
** I like what you said about the point of The Village. It really is the most profound aspect of the movie. Maybe I’ll point a friend of mine to it and ask her to watch it when thinking about relationships. She’s had a boy pursuing her a little and has been scared to let herself like him. There is a lot of fear of getting into a relationship because it could be painful, especially if it doesn’t work out. But, accepting the pain is also accepting the joy. And in any case, you are just avoiding one type of pain and volunteering to accept the pains of loneliness if you choose not to love. I’ve always liked the oft quoted “The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”(Moulin Rouge or originally Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy” - I just did my research).
The Editor
MARK
