The Wars of the Roses

Let me introduce you to the convoluted series of events that is known as the “Wars of the Roses”.  This book will guide you through the usurper kings, and convoluted family tree of the most powerful in England, the people who lived before and during the war.  Allison Weir has worked wonders in explaining the history in the layman’s terms, and she goes further with her book, The Wars of the Roses.  The first half of her novel is aptly named, ‘The Origins of the Conflict’, and she explains in detail the circumstances and events that lead up to the Wars, such as rise of the Lancastrian Kings.   

Each historical figure with a role in those events is humanized, their faults and their talents displayed equally.  The ‘Flower of Christian Chivalry’, King Henry V, is described as a pious, strong, and brilliant man, but also as uncaring towards his French subjects, and partially cruel.  The convoluted family history, of Dukes who are twice removed from the throne by their mother’s side, and factions created that doom England to civil war, we are guided through by the novel.  Pathos, is used to give each character life, that they were once people too.  Their lives, though brief in story, are detailed, not in the terms of academia, but in the layman’s words.  The joy, sorrow, grief, rage, and memories of the subjects of the kingdom are presented to the reader.  

It is history come alive, when York comes to challenge King Henry VI for claim of the throne.  The shock of the magnates, the disappointment in York that none would support him, the calmness of a mentally unstable King, all of this vividly described with imagery.  Thoughts and words, actions and reactions, all are taken into account and carefully worded to seem as if a movie played, and the reader is watching history in the making, as Edward the VI of York and Edward of Lancaster rode to battle against each other.  The Wars of the Roses successfully guides the layman through the convoluted history of the War of the Roses.  

The Phantom of the Opera at Royal Albert Hall: In Celebration of 25 years Redo

Welcome to the 25th anniversary of the musical, The Phantom of the Opera, based off of a novel of the same name!  This image is a beautiful advertisement of the customary celebration of its time on Broadway at the Royal Albert Hall, built by Prince Albert for promoting the understanding and appreciation of the arts. It is the perfect setting for this long-running musical adored by millions.  The actual Royal Albert Hall is wreathed in light within the image, almost as if to draw in the viewer to come see the musical.  For those who do not know of this musical, the image of Royal Albert Hall will surely draw them in as a famous center of the arts.  

It is important to note that this is as much a digital masterpiece as it is a calling for patrons.  The placement of the images and text are masterful, utilizing the photographer’s rule of threes.  The mask, the very symbol of the musical, is the centerpiece, in front of the falling chandelier in a full-house opera house, giving just a taste of the scenes within the musical to be seen. The name and setting of the musical are depicted in shattered glass words, which, if one knows the storyline of the musical, is a beautiful depiction that draws from the dark plot of the musical and the music itself.  If not, it draws upon the ideas of shattered glass and realities, drawing from the emotions, such as loneliness and despair,  associated with them, it is a wonderfully subtle use of pathos. They are emotions associated with the phantom, who is seen within the eye of the mask, shrouded in shadows.  

The reason for the event is written in elegant script at the mid-bottom left corner, the 25 glittering with diamonds.  The whole advertisement is shrouded in dark clouds and nightfall, conveying the mystery of musical, that shrouds and highlights the plot of the musical.  Surely, many who know this musical and even those who do not, were drawn in by this beautiful advertisement to come see the celebration of 25 years of song, darkness, love, and mystery.  

The Phantom of the Opera at Royal Albert Hall: In Celebration of 25 years

Welcome to the 25th anniversary of the musical, The Phantom of the Opera, based off of a novel of the same name! Quite a beautiful advertisement of the customary celebration of its time on Broadway at the Royal Albert Hall, built by Prince Albert for promoting the understanding and appreciation of the arts.  The placement of the images and text are masterful, utilising the photographer’s rule of threes.  The mask, the very symbol of the musical, is centerpiece, in front of the falling chandelier in a full-house opera house, giving just a taste of the scenes within the musical to be seen.  The name and setting of the musical are depicted in shattered glass words, which, if one knows the storyline of the musical, fits perfectly.  If not, it draws upon the ideas of shattered glass and realities, drawing from the emotions associated with them.  The actual Royal Albert Hall is wreathed in light, almost as if to draw in the viewer to come see the musical.  The reason for the event is written in elegant script at the mid-bottom left corner, the 25 looking like diamonds.  The whole advertisement is shrouded in dark clouds and nightfall, conveying the mystery of musical, that shrouds and highlights the plot of the musical.  Surely, many who know this musical and even those who do not, were drawn in by this beautiful advertisement to come see the celebration of 25 years of song, darkness, love, and mystery.  

Bad Taste, All in Fun

The ugly Christmas sweater; once an embarrassing piece of holiday-wear, and now a fashionable commodity.  But how did this occur? Guy Trebay, a culture and style reporter for the New York Times explains this strange epidemic.  With rhetorical questioning about the beginning of this style, Trebay explains that the true start of this holiday fashion epidemic has no real set beginning.  It might’ve started with the ugly sweater carols on Youtube, or the Ugly Sweater 5k runs, and goes on to an even longer list of possible causes.  It’s a trend that many online stores and brands are and have tapped into, an ironic host of all those old sweaters that an aunt or grandmother may have given and never worn.  All those ugly sweater parties with everyone trying to “one-up” each other with how ugly their sweaters were.  The article’s drawing from cultural memory, a memory of cheesy designs and horror, never giving a true answer to the question -when did this trend start?- but giving hints and reasons that may have all brought this epidemic over the tipping point into what is now a profitable tradition.  But I suppose the true purpose of this article is to show that all these cheesy designs and the remarkable tradition of wearing your ugly Christmas sweater is in fact, all for the fun of it.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/fashion/ugly-holiday-sweaters-are-all-the-rage-cultural-studies.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

Photographer Says Death Photo was Attempt to Alert Subway Driver

This is an article about a subway-picture incident where a man was pushed onto the tracks of a subway and was then run over, while everyone else stood by and watched, and one photographer took pictures.  It is about the ethics of the pictures, and about why the photographer took them.  It was written by Michael Pearson, who graduated Emory University Professional Learning Program and University of Missouri-Saint Louis and is a freelance writer for CNN.  Using and interview with the photographer himself, Pearson paints the picture of what was going on at the scene, using liberal ethos with quotes from the photographer, Abbasi, of how he would have done things differently, and recalling how others urged the soon-to-be-dead man to move, to try to escape the subway train.  Pearson lets Abbasi speak with his writing, why Abbasi took the pictures -to get the subway driver’s attention, to do something productive- as well as the reactions to Abbasi’s pictures.  Using quotes from different people, Pearson presents the arguments for and against the publishing of the picture, which provoked an outcry from readers.  He raises the ethical concerns of the picture and its use.  So the question he leaves for us is, was this ethical? Or was this simply too private and insensitive?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/05/us/new-york-subway-death/index.html

Wars of the Roses

The War of the Roses by Alison Weir, educated at the North Western Polytechnic as a history teacher.  She writes “popular” history, which is history aimed less to the scholar and more for the masses, using layman’s term and emphasizing narrative, personality, and detail rather than academic analysis.  After writing The Princes in the Tower, a popular history novel about last half of the Wars of the Roses between the Tudor and York families, Alison felt that she needed to write a prequel, about the first of the Wars of the Roses, between the Lancaster and York families.  Her main intention was to portray the human side of history - the people and their personalities, the main players in this feud (Weir xiii).  This is a story about not only the history of the Wars of the Roses; the causes, the facts, the analysis, but also the people; who they were, what they were like, why they did what they did.  With primary sources, Weir starts off with the events leading to and indirectly causing the Wars of the Roses.  The characters are portrayed, not as names, but as people, who had dreams, issues, personalities, hobbies, and lived in troubled and peaceful times.  Certainly, with her layman terms, she shares this rich history beautifully, making the characters seem more alive with choice events, such as the vivid death of the usurper King Henry IV.  

House of Parliament -Stormy Skies

This is a beautiful piece by Monet, a very famous Impressionist painter who was quite fascinated with water and light effects in nature, taking great care with the effects in his paintings to highlight them.  This piece is part of a series of paintings, the Houses of Parliament series, as they depict the Palace of Westminster, where the British Parliament met.  Each are painted at different times of day, in different conditions and seasons.  This particular painting depicts the Palace of Westminster with stormy skies in the background.  Monet uses gold to highlight the light of the sun peaking through storm clouds, falling in a single ray that is highlighted in water, making the churning waters sharper in contrast to the more shadow-like palace. The shadows of the palace stretch onto the water, the sky is a tumultuous mix of greys, golds, purples, pinks, greens, and russet brown.  Truly, it is a beautiful play of light and water, and unique in that it shows stormy skies with gold, not grey.  The contrasts in light and color provide for a more natural and unique view, rather than plain old grey.  Of chiaroscuro, which is the use of light and shadow, this truly is a wonderful piece of the House of Parliament on a day with stormy skies.