Thursday, March 6, 2014

My Reflection on Amadeus



Reflection about Amadeus

In the movie “Amadeus”, we learn the story of Mozart, one of the most known and talented pianist and composer of all times. But his story is seen by the point of view of Salieri, one other pianist/composer of Mozart’s time.
Mozart lived in the 18th century, the century of the intellectual movement Enlightenment. In this time period, intellectual people, (philosophes, scientists,…) began to think by themselves, also by the scientific method. But for most people, the most important was God.
For Salieri, Mozart’s talent in music, is directly given by God, he even says that his music is the “voice of God”. At the beginning of the movie, Salieri is always praying God to give him the inspiration to write beautiful music, but after he meets Mozart, (who is really obscene and not a good Christian, for Salieri’s opinion), Salieri begins to think that God is against him and that he is with Mozart. He even burns a statue of Jesus, which at that time would probably have been punished by death.
Amadeus is a movie about jealousy, I already said that Salieri was jealous of God’s preference for Mozart, but he becomes even more envious when he discovers that the woman whom he desires, an opera singer, loves Mozart. After that, he will try to make Mozart’s life as difficult as possible.
The 18th century is a century where art and music in general are important but particularly operas. Mozart is a perfect example of artist, he is innovative, (he does things that have never been done), he is provocative and of course, he is a brilliant composer and piano player.
My impression of this movie is very good, it represents well that artists and in this case composers have to work very hard to create music. It is also funny to see that people almost only pray God for their own well-behaved. In Salieri’s case, it is very strange, because he thinks that God is against him, because Mozart is a better composer than him, but Salieri’s life’s quality is far away from being bad, he also wrote operas and beautiful music, but he is persuaded that Mozart is better than him. If Mozart hadn’t existed, Salieri would have been happy during is whole life with his lifestyle.

Reflection on Amadeus

The story Aamadeus is about in late18th century that is second half of life of Mozart. The contents of this movie is mostly Mozart's second half of life.
 In this time period, art is really important. According to the movie we can see that many of nobles went to theater to see the opera, orchestra played in the square. I really surprised the way the musician write music. They are asked to write music from nobles or rich people. It is a big difference from the present time.
In this time period the central of power was king. Everyone wanted king to be liked and in the movie, everyone tried to butter up the king. In addition, we can see in the movie, the king also loved music.
I think this movie is really good, because it is difficult for us to understand the daily life of the people at that time only learning the history.So this movie helps us to understand more particular information such as cloth and food. Before I watched this movie, impression of Mozart to me was only he was genius. But now I could see his personal part. I honestly, very surprised that he gave himself over to drink and relationship with women.
According to this movie, I felt mental pain of genius and mental pain of ordinary person. Contents of this movie is suggestive one. 
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Amadeus Relfection

Amadeus Movie Reflection
By Masha Westerveen


The time period was still a time where there were rich, as well as poor people. Servants were used, and poorer people wore more dull clothes than the richer ones. According to the movie, richer people wore much brighter clothes (jackets), mostly red, and gold, blue and in Mozart's case purple. It was also a time when people wore wigs on special occasion, and women wore large dresses, and men cloaks, and hats (which were taken off inside), and some wigs had something that looked like a pony tail, tied with a bow. And something that seemed strange to me, maybe it was just an accident, but all men seemed to be shaved. 
The art was mainly portraits at the time.The movie didn't really focus on the art, but there was one piece of art that attracted everyone's attention, which was the portrait of Mozart's dad. Afire Mozart's dad died, the portrait showed how much his father's death haunted him. And since the father was dead, a way the movie showed how much Mozart thought of him afterwards, was through the portrait at which he'd stare at. 
The most powerful there was the King, referred to as the majesty. He was the one who controlled when Mozart would hold his operas, and what specific songs he could sing. In the movie, every time Mozart had a problem, he would seek help from other composers, who would immediately be the ones to seek advice from the majesty. Apparently, the King also had the right to exclude operas and plays that weren't allowed for religious reasons. Then the King had his servants, who were also asked to give a advice to the King whenever necessary. Mozart w could have been of higher class, yet he suffered poverty because he wasted so much money on drinking. In the end his family was broke, and he had to beg for loans.
There were also maids (Mozart didn't know he needed one), who'd take care of the house cleaning. Antonio Salieri was a composer himself, and he owned a servant, which he used as a spy of Mozart. Yet he was very close to the King, and whenever he offered to "help" Mozart, he would refer to the King, telling him that it was the majesty's choice. 

I was really sad towards the end. I just couldn't help feeling sorry for Mozart, after all he had been through, to die of such young age, and because of drinking, felt like a waste of talent. Even though Mozart had done so much in his short life, had he lived longer, he would have managed to accomplish much more. He suffered depression, wasted his money on drinking, and ended up broke. What a poor way to end a life, when it could have went so well. With his successful music, Mozart could have made a fortune if only he had used his money properly. But I have a feeling that Mozart's music was liked more than Mozart himself. He was too full of himself, and called himself the best composer. Even if he was one, because of his egocentric attitude, he was liked less than he could have been.
I do not feel sorry at all for Antonio Salieri. Even in the state that Mozart was in, he couldn't feel pity at all. He was a crazy and heartless man, that no matter what happened to him afterwards, you just couldn't pity someone like that. But what led him to be so horrible? Jealousy. He was jealous of Mozart, and couldn't stand to see someone take his spotlight as a composer. 
Something personal I was quite upset towards the movie because of the death scene. Somehow, for a great person like Mozart, his funeral was not a great one. Apparently that was a ritual at the times in the place where Mozart died. But this movie proves that sometimes people with the best talents, are not the best people themselves. Mozart was a great composer, but as a person he wasn't great himself. And this movie also proves, that jealousy would get you nowhere but an asylum for crazy people.  

Reflection on Amadeus - Chris

The movie Amadeus takes place in the 18th century and it shows the life of Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and their relationship to each other. We got to see a lot of things about how they dressed and how they acted at the time. Even though Mozart had the natural talent, he still didn't act as a person that could handle the pressure on him and his fame, but Salieri had to work for what he could do, he didn't have a natural talent, yet he was still humble and didn't show off. Mozart expected too much of himself and his surroundings which led him to be unemployed and in debt in the end. Mozart did have new ideas, but usually when people hear something good they want something similar and some of his ideas were completely different from anything else. At the time the king had all the power, but people from the music business also had a lot of power for what kind of music could be played and should be made. My impression of the movie was good, it still had a little bit of comedy in it which is always good, but it also took you attention to know what's going to happen next between Salieri and Mozart for example. The movie could be trying to tell us that our desire for something shouldn't become too much and take over our life, like music did with Mozart and also Salieri's jealousy to Mozart's success. 


Reflection on Amadeus by Stelios

The movie was good optically and as a scenario. Interesting characters, a real story put into a movie with great music and talented actors. It also has one of America's best actors F. Murray Abraham playing the role of Salieri.
The movie showed us the society of that time (1756-1791) the power and way the world was governed.
In the movie religion is very important. It is beyond doubt that god exist as a superior being. Salieri was a religious man until about the middle of the movie. The people and the society is not like today. There is a gap between poor and wealthy. There is nobility and normal people. There were a lot of artists and educated people in Vienna at the time science it was the Enlightenment. The nobles are interested in arts and knowledge instead of war and power. Some even try to learn arts like the prince in the movie who was taught by Salieri. The artists of the time are treated like they are nobles too (if they are successful or/and in the service of a lord/prince). Salieri lives in luxury, with servants, a big house with fancy furniture etc.
The normal people of the time also start to get interested in opera and theater. Somewhere after the first half of the movie we see Mozart working in a theater with normal people in the seats instead of nobles with white wigs.  The movie also talks about how a man can be overconfident and lightheaded while being a genius at the same time.
In a way Mozart was like the Heavy metal bands today. What i mean? Not accepted by some people who are old and traditional (Salieri) for their behavior and style, but for their music. Bringing a whole new idea and making music a way never used before.
The movie is very well done and i will remember the meanings of it for a long time.

Stelios Papagiannis

Reflection on the movie "Amadeus"



   The movie "Amadeus" is interesting because it tells us a lot about the time period Mozart lived in known as the age of enlightenment.The movie mostly focuses on the arts of that time period meaning music and paintings. It seems like opera was the most famous genre of music and opera plays were very popular. Also they were not that strict about religion. The prince was in charge at that time, but as the movie shows, Antonio Solieri had some power too. He decided things when it came to music.
  I personally enjoyed the movie. It showed the life of an important man in a comic way. Also, I enjoyed at looking at the movie because I am a great fan of Mozart.
  

Amadeus Reflection

Overall, I thought that Amadeus was a brilliant film production, providing a different view (throught the eyes of Salieri) about the story of Mozart's dramatic and tragic life. It also provided a hint of comedy to the film to make it more interesting and appealing.  Amadeus really showed, in depth, what it was like to live in 18th century, while also following the life of Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. This movie portrayed Salieri and Mozart having a bitter relationship at first, but later ended having a bitter sweet ending. This movie also showed how Salieri was the man who was the hardworker, he never had the natural talent and did not start playing piano until a significatnly older age. Then they showed Mozart as the eccentric and whacky musician who always had natural talent and had always been a piano prodigy since a young age. Even though this movie was about Mozart, the main character was Salieri, who they showed more in detail. I think the main point of this movie was to show the life of Mozart and his brilliant, but dramatic struggle to become the world's greates pianist. The message of this movie was that hardwork may be important to be a succesful person, but a lot of time sheer succesfulness all boils down to natual talent and ability.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Movie Reflection

Reflection

-time period
-arts
-power
-values
-impression
-message
-something personal

The movie is set in the second half of the 18th century, during the period of the Enlightenment . During that time the arts that were most revered are painting and music (and maybe sculpture). In the higher class society, it was expected for an opera to be about Greek myths and legends. Anything else would be viewed in a negative way. People that held the most power were the kings, the religious leaders, and the people with a high position in the music business. The king has the power to decide how long an opera will be showing. The other two have influence, not power.The music has to be sophisticated. It was expected that a composer had to have pupils. People drank to much, and they partied harder than today.
I liked the movie. It is really long, but worth the watch. Tom Hulce did a really good job as Amadeus. It can get boring at some parts. The time was really strict with its custom. They all wore wigs almost 24/7! Well, it was better than the dark ages! I don't really see an intended message for the movie since it is a biography of Mozart's life. The moral of the STORY is not to fall into envy, because it will destroy you. I don't have anything personal to add.

Reflection

The time period that this movie was based in was the classical era from 1781-1791 (when Mozart died). Mozart was introduced as a talented musician at the age of four and he became worldly famous around Europe. Mozart was not someone who was in a high position of power and rightfully so because he did not make the best decisions; he was drunk for most of his late career and he constantly neglected his wife and child in order to work on an opera, all in all not the best personality for politics. To me the movie was very good; it was well thought out, it had serious and funny moments and all of this added up to be a great movie. There were a lot of messages in this movie but the main one to me was don't try to ruin someone's life if they have wronged you because most likely time will ruin it for you. This movie didn't really connect to me personally but I still thought it was a good movie.

Reflection on amadeus

Friday, February 14, 2014

Australian Bushfire-burned deverstateing the huge land

More than 100 bushfire are burning across,Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales because of heatwave that above 40 degrees and  dry air.
Firefighters and volunteers are fighting against fire all together.

The number of bushfire are reported as follows: 68 in Victoria, 21 in South Australia and 48 in New South Wales.
 Especially Grampians in Victoria, it spread really huge zone that is around 41,000 hectare. 

Officials reported that one woman died in Grampians fire at Roses Gap. And  at least two houses in Eden Valley, South Australia have been destroyed.

Victoria's Country Fire Authority chief officer Euan Ferguson says 
"Serious situation is developing, with fear a wind change will worsen conditions. We want to warn the community that many losses historically have occurred after the wind change."
Also in other state, police are doornocking homes and  authorities are also contacting residents in the communities to recommend the evacuation.

This bushfire caused the other problems.
The fire has caused a 12-kilometer convection column and it created the pyrocumulus cloud. This cloud has been creating own weather above the Grampians fire.
ABC weather expert Greaham Creed says "Basically the heat [from the fire] and intense updrafts trigger the cloud to develop."
"It has triggered lightning strikes and large hail. It will be sitting over the top of the region, but there is probably not enough moisture in it to trigger any rainfall"
"So unfortunately we are not seeing any real benefit from that"

There is another problem.
There are also reports that houses in the same area have been lost and properties have been completely burnt out by what locals describe as a "vicious" fire.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay says police believe 12 of the 68 fire have been deliberately lit. 
He said detectives are investigating the suspected arson attack.

Mr.Smith says
"My property was burnt out in 1957, but this fire seems much worse. I think this is a more vicious fire. I don't think I've ever seen a fire burn so fast and cover such an area at night as this one"
"We've got work to do. We will have burnt sheep to attend to and we've got some sheep that we think we've saved and they have to be trucked to some fresh grassland somewhere" he said.

Dead livestock in the aftermath of the Bangor fire

Thursday, February 13, 2014

My rating



Y NEWS                                 NAME: Florian Ruch                                  RATE IT

Group Member: Iris Aguado


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Overall: 1 2 3 4 5 (1= weak / 2= so-so / 3= good / 4= very good / 5= excellent)

Why: I gave a 2 for the title because that it didn’t represent the content very well, a title like “Flappy bird flies away” would have been better.

The hook is fine, it introduces the text very well and it keeps the reader’s attention.

The lead wasn’t perfect, I found the information; what and who, but the information; when and where were missing.

The body was great, we found the information “how and why”, and some quotes were used.

The overall text was great, even if it wasn’t an easy subject to talk about.

Group Member:  Tyler
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Why: The title is clear, it is well-said, and the reader wants to read more.

The hook is fine, it introduces the text well.

The lead is perfect, it answers the questions; where, what, who and when

The body was also perfect, it answers the question; why and how, and it says good information.

The only thing that isn’t perfect in Tyler’s article is that he didn’t put quotes in it.

The overall text is good, we know everything that we should know. The adding of pictures is also something cool.

Olympic Strays Last Chance at a Better Lfe


The hundreds of friendly stray dogs in the Olympic Park of Soshi had been condemned to a horrible death until their reach savior appeared. During the months of the construction of the Soshi Olympic Park, hundreds of friendly dogs had been roaming in the neighborhood as they were being fed and petted by the Olympic builders. Only about a week before the opening, the workers had left, and the dogs had stayed . Most members of the organizing committee already  didn't appreciate the bad image that the dogs would give Soshi to visitors, so when a dog attended the final opening ceremony rehearsal, they snapped. That is when they decided to poison the dogs.

 Soon after many where hearing the rumors of the dog killings in Soshi, one of those person was Mr.Deripaska, a Russian billionaire, who took pity of the dogs as they reminded him of his childhood pet. While the Soshi Organizing Committee built a bad quality shelter to please the media, Mr.Deripaska created a proper shelter, spaying an neutering all dogs it could find.

During interviews dogs were refered to as "biological trash" and "an epidemic of rabies" by Alexei Sorahim, director in charge of the "gathering and disposing of dogs"

"The dog jumped up and started running around in circles. Then she fell down and started spitting up... I called the veterinarian. He said there was a hundred percent guarantee he was poisoned" Yulia Krasova, Animal activist.

Finally many followed the billionaire's example, groups of animal right activists went in the street and fed, spayed and neutered all dogs they could. Even if many dogs died, there are already 140 dogs that were saved and dozens adopted.

Michael Laudrup sacked as manager

Denmark's best player ever was sacked as manager after just 18 months in Swansea City.


In the season 2012/13 Michael Laudrup won the biggest trophy in the clubs history, Capital One Cup. Unfortunately less than 12 months after the triumph he was sacked by the club. Last season Swansea finished in 9th place and it can be a little harsh to sack him for the results this season when Swansea is only in 10th place, still with 14 games left for improvement. There's arguments for whether it's a good decision or if it's a bad, but the chairman thinks it's for the better for both the club and Michael Laudrup. Michael has only won one game out of the ten last games.

The chairman Huw Jenkins explained his reasoning's about sacking Michael to the press "However, after thinking long and hard about the best way forward, I felt it was unlikely we would achieve a stable environment at the club to allow us to get back to basics and produce the performance levels that have served Swansea City so well over the last few years." 
Huw Jenkins doesn't believe that they can get back to a stable environment and he wants to put the uncertainty behind the club and move forward as a united club. Even though he has been sacked from Swansea, there are still other Premier League clubs and other top European clubs monitoring the availability of Michael. 

While Michael was the manager he signed an unknown player from Spain, Michu. Nobody predicted that Michu would be the fifth highest goal scorer, in his first season in the Premier League. 


Original Articles Used:


Signing of Juan Mata saved Manchester United?

Signing one of the best midfielders in Chelsea's team to its rivalry Manchester United is sure to get the hardcore fans mad. Selling him for $ 39 million is sure to make the whole world talk about it, making this the biggest transfer of the January Window (and was the biggest of the year)

Juan Mata for those who do not know is one of the best players, or shall I say was, in Chelsea. Certainly a very talented mid fielder who had a very good career thus far. His goals from the beginning of his career in Chelsea which was from 24 of August 25 up until January of this year to calculate 33 in total: 18 being in league games, 5 being in the FA Cup, League Cup in 3, and 7 in any other tournaments or matches (most probably including friendlies) Keeping in my that this does he play midfield these are some great goal scoring capabilities. Below you will see all of the goals in all of his career starting with his youth in the Real Madrid B Team

CLUBFROMTOFEELEAGUEFA CUPLGE CUPOTHER
APPSGLSAPPSGLSAPPSGLSAPPSGLS
Man Utd25 Jan 14£ 37,100,0004 (0)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)0
Chelsea24 Aug, 1125 Jan 14£ 23,500,00071 (11)1812 (1)57 (1)326 (6)7
Valencia01 Jul, 0724 Aug, 11Signed113 (16)330 (0)00 (0)07 (3)1
Real Madrid B01 Jul, 0631 May, 07Youth35 (4)100 (0)00 (0)00 (0)0
Totals£ 60,600,000223 (31)6112 (1)57 (1)333 (9)8
Goals per Game00:2400:38n / a0.19
This transfer had many things to do with the relationship that Jose Mourinho (which is the current coach of Chelsea, of former Real Madrid, a great coach with excellent vision for his team) and Juan Mata have developed. Now I can not state that they did not like each other, but Juan Mata for the last 3 games in Chelsea (and more before that) had not played but substituted for Oscar. Many have said that Mourinho was fed up with Juan Mata's incapability of waiting to play that he had a feud with him, and later sold him ... TO THEIR RIVALS CLUB. But this quote that Mourinho has stated goes against a lot of things that I and other "witnesses" have stated.

"These are decisions a manager has to make, but for me it was a hard decision. 'D love to have him in my squad, absolutely.
But to have a player in this situation is hard. He deserves that Chelsea open the door for him.
I like people to be happy. 'M so sorry I could not make him happy in this squad - I'm so sad with that, but I build my team around Oscar playing as my number 10 . "

Seeing that Mata has joined the 'Red Devils' (Manchester United) one thing remains to bug their fans. Mata place in the same position that Rooney plays in, a legend who's devoted his whole life to his team. Changing his attitude and physical play to suit the team better. Since the bought many suspect that Rooney will leave the team during summer (which is mostly how it goes in the football industry.) He has not had had the chance to score in his new team, but continues to amaze the crowd with his impeccable playing skills.

Now this is a debate that no one can win because it varies and depends on your thinking and expectations. It is such a fun topic to talk about and write about all the different sides to it and rumors, that have a high chance of turning out to be false, or may even see the light of day. But with out a doubt Mata is a great player!








Chelsea no more!