The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster: Useful Satire

Wednesday we learned about satire, the use of irony to ridicule human folly. After discussing satirical headlines of The Onion and reading Mark Twain’s speech, I asked myself: How could satire by useful? Interested, I searched the web for an answer. Several minutes later, I found one. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Niko Alm.

Austrian Niko Alm became frustrated with a double standard in his country, that Muslims were allowed to wear turbans in drivers license pictures while the rest of the population wasn’t. The Austrian government argued that turbans were allowed to be worn because of their religious importance. To point out how foolish this was, Alm created a perfectly satirical plan to make his point. Alm created ‘The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster’ which practices the religion of ‘Pastafarianism.’ These are the beliefs of Pastafarianism:

-Pirates were peacekeeping explorers and the original Pastafarians.

-Every Friday is a religious holiday.

-All global epidemics can be linked to the declining Pirate population

-All Pastafarians must wear pasta strainers on their heads at all times.

Alm showed up for his drivers license picture wearing his pasta strainer. He argued that because of the beliefs of Pastafarianism, he should be allowed to remain wearing it. Three years later and one court battle later, Alm had won his right to wear the pasta strainer, sparking a reform of Austrian government policies. Alm’s satirical actions furthered equal rights in Austria. 

Jake's Take on Pride and Prejudice

For my second independent reading book I choose Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I had heard from several people that this was a gossipy chick flick type book. I hadn’t concidered reading it, until it conveniently appeared on the reading extravaganza as well. My indolent (gold star for Jake!) ways decided it would be better to read two books instead of one. I prove to be a creature of habit and again read the entire book in the five days before the dealine. Pride and Prejudice was considerably shorter than my first book, which was a big plus. I cannot say that I was disappointed in Pride and Prejudice. The book had many unique characteristics that I have not come across in all the books I have read. Its central topic is marriage, written from a woman’s perspective. Austen described how vastly different the culture of England during the Elizabethan era was compared to today, with marriage mainly focused on social status and class. Another unique thing about the book was the way Austen wrote it. Never have I seen so many long, several claused sentences. Some paragraphs were composed of one or two sentences. If you have never read Pride and Prejudice, I would recommend reading it. It is very unique and differs from all books I have read recently.

My 9 Most Beautiful Words

Phil Cousineau wrote an article last week which he described the art of language in the simplest form. He discusses how an individual word without any context can be beautiful, and continues to list the 9 most beautiful words in his opinion. Cousineau states that words, both short and long, can leave you with a “shiver down your spine.” Now I do not think that words are that powerful, but there are some pronounciations that have an exceptional flow. In judging words on beauty, I picked the words that best roll off my tongue and make me smile while saying them. I do not think that extra long words hold higher beauty (if you want my reasoning, take a look at the back of your shampoo bottle). In no particular order, here are my 9 most beautiful words: 

-Anemone: For anyone who has seen Finding Nemo, this needs no explanation

-Anesthetize: I enjoy saying the middle of the word. Feels odd. Makes me feel like a snake.

-Awl: It’s a simple word and sounds like it is from the South (the greatest country on Earth)

-Hippopotamus: The consecutive p’s are what make this word fun to say for me

-Mirror: This word makes me smile especially when squashing it into one syllable. Meerrrrrrr

-Poop: Try saying poop with a straight face. You can’t. Or atleast I can’t. Argh the 5 year old in me...

-Schladt (as in Becca Schladt): The 4 consecutive consanants makes this word enjoyable to say. It's a mouthful

-Staphylococcus: I know I said I wasn’t a fan of long words, but who doesn’t enjoy saying this?

-Squib: This word refers to a type of kick in football. This word is beautiful because it’s short and gives you that warm feeling inside of you. Or something like that.

Don't be so Dramatic

I was anticipating an overbearing drama unit, but we have already read one play and it has not been so bad yet. Was I the only one worried about this drama unit? I mean this is big, bad, AP Senior English. Given we have not gotten to the Shakespeare yet, I still anticipated trying to translate Old English for hours and envisioned humiliating myself trying to role play in front the entire class. I guess I still had incorrect fears about the AP class after taking advanced last year. Also, this literary analysis stuff seems to be getting a tad easier (credit Mr. Mullins for his teaching skills). All my English reservations have been put to rest. So how bout that play, Salem: A Play with Puppets? I found it to be interesting, drawing parallels between it and The Crucible while watching it. Both conflicts were introduced by a young girl making accusations against an authority figure, and the rumors spreading throughout all the characters. They also both had a supernatural element- witchcraft in The Crucible and the vortex in Salem (though I never fully understood what it represented, any thoughts?). Both plays were also centered arounf a social conflict during that time, the red scare and civil rights. I realize my blog is a hodgepodge of thoughts so comment on whatever you feel like. Also, if you were to second guess yourself about making an appointment to tour a Native American homeland, you would be having a reservation reservation reservation (credit Brian Regan).