Daily Archives: November 11, 2014

Reaction to The Waste Land

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One of the most unique documentaries I have ever watched. This documentary was exposing a huge part of life in the world that I have never been aware of. Whenever I throw out anything, I never give it a second thought about where this is going, who is dealing with my trash, or who is making money off of it. At first, I saw the movie in disgust because of all the trash, and I did not understand why people would go through such hard conditions to pick up dirty things for a living. However, as the documentary went on, I realized how desperate those people are and all they want to do is to support themselves and their family.

It was really interesting to show the world that dirty things can come together to create something beautiful. My favorite part of the documentary was when they gave the picture that was made of garbage to the pickers and they felt proud of it. One of the workers said that she used to be embarrassed about how she was a picker and she did not wanted others to know, but now she proudly tells them that she was a picker and that was the reason why she was part of the famous portrait.

Waste Land

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I had no idea what to expect going into this film, but this was a pleasant surprise, as it went beyond the works of art by Vik. What made this documentary so entertaining and powerful were the relationships formed between Vik, Fabio and the pickers. Early on in the film, it seemed as though Vik was only going to Rio de Janeiro to accomplish a new challenge, but once he was there, it was clear that that was not the main reason he went there. Instead, Vik and Fabio formed strong relationships with many of these people and then went out of their way to help improve their current situation. During the early interviews with pickers, they seemed very happy and content with working in the garbage, once they had gotten used to it. However, as the film progressed, it became clear that they dreaded their job and wished to never have to return. I was initially very skeptical of how the association would use the money from the portraits because Erika’s intro mentioned that their jobs were taken away soon after; however, they actually put that money to great use. They not only set up programs to help young kids, so they would not end up in a similar situation, but also created training programs for their workers when they found out they would soon be losing their jobs.

Carnegie Hall: The Power Behind Music

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Being a former trumpet player, I found much of the first piece of music rather boring.  It just lacked the brass sound that I love.  The second and third pieces fully brought out the crisp brass sound and even highlighted the strength of the sound.  I recall one of the best parts of playing any piece is to be able to gradually play louder and louder, allowing the music to grow in intensity and fill up a room.  It invigorates you with power and makes you feel unstoppable.  Although I no longer play, the pieces brought back the memories of the days I played.

Another thing I had noted was the immensity of the chorus.  We had once talked about the ability of the human voice to completely fill the room when we had gone to the opera, but the chorus at Carnegie composed of at least 50 different people was deafening loud.  There is such great power to the human voice.  It was clearly the dominating sound throughout the final piece (of course the translations also made the song paint a clearer picture of what the song is showing).  It might just be my youth drawing me to the loudness of the brass and chorus but I usually always associate loudness with power (sometimes jubilee and celebration) in a piece of music.

I had also found it very interesting that one of the pieces we had heard was at one point lost for 200 years and was found only days before the composer’s works were being collected to be made into a book.  Coincidence or not?

 

A special song for this “kindness week”

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I’ve just read the missive from “Division of Student Affairs” that Nov. 10th – 14th is celebrated as “World Kindness Week.” Never mind that this kind week is defined a bit short (10th-14th?), we welcome kindness whenever we find it, right?

So here is a special song, in two versions (Lou Reed by himself & then with a full cast of top characters). Have your own perfect day!