An Open Mind

"The Jesuit Pedro José Márquez published two studies at the beginning of the century which argued that notions of beauty are relative, and that the great monuments of the indigenous past should be studied on an equal footing with those of Greece and Rome."
(Dawn Ades, Art in Latin America, 28)

As a percussionist in high school, I was able to attend a master class taught by Michael Spiro, a world renowned Afro-Cuban drummer.  In addition to teaching us techniques on congas and bongos, he spent a fair amount of time talking about music appreciation.  The most memorable thing I learned that day was about keeping an open mind:  even though we may not enjoy a particular genre or style of music doesn't mean that we should dismiss it completely as a valid form of art.  Within a genre there can exist good and bad examples, but to discount it entirely is arrogant.  This concept also applies to literature, visual arts, drama, etc.

For example, I often hear people say things along the lines of “Modern art/music is dumb!  There’s no skill involved - it’s meaningless.  Anybody could produce that type of art.”  I’d never had much of an opinion about modern art, either for or against.  However, after taking MUSIC 201 & 202 (Civilization: Music) from a professor whose specialty is modern art/music, I better understood the genre.  Learning about the context and motives for different styles of art gives you an appreciation for them, even though you still may not like them.

source

I think this is the point that Pedro José Márquez wanted to make - just because indigenous art wasn't understood, it shouldn't be viewed as a lower form than European art.

To me, this idea extends beyond the arts to opposing positions on various topics.  It annoys me when people aren't willing to admit that views different than their own contain any valid points whatsoever.  Because of this, I often play devil’s advocate when talking with friends or family, even if I’m completely against the position I’m defending.  I was reminded of this in class on Tuesday when Dr. Mack mentioned a character from the book The Name of the Wind who had to maintain two diametrically opposing thoughts in his mind simultaneously.  By considering multiple views of a situation or art form or culture, we develop a more complete understanding of it. 

New blog

I'm enrolled in a Humanities of Latin America class this semester.  One of the requirements is that I start a blog for this class, as a sort of reading journal.  For those of you that are interested, click here.

I'm really looking forward to this class, actually.  It's the only non-heavy-duty-science class that I've got, and I will be learning about a culture that I love.  While waiting for our first class to start, our instructor played the following video for us:

I like this video a lot - I think it's a good montage of the people and culture.

California: Paradigm Changer

Before this summer, the only part of California that I had visited was the LA area.  It's nice - I love Disneyland, the beaches are fine, and there are palm trees.  However, based on Californians' claims for how awesome the state is, and only having been to LA, (and being from Texas,) I thought their claims were unjustifiably exaggerated.  BUT NOT SO!  Earlier this summer I visited northern/central California, and it was amazing.


My friend Ammon invited me to go along with him - he was going to visit his sister and participate in one of those obstacle course/race things, and wanted some company for the trip. After making it through the barren wasteland that is northern Nevada, we stayed the night in Reno.  (As it turns out, Reno is not a very classy place.  But we stayed in a "nice" casino for cheap!)  The next morning we crossed the border into California.  As soon as we did, the landscape instantly changed - suddenly we were driving through the mountain forests of the Tahoe area, with occasional vistas of gorgeous mountain lakes.  We made our way south and made a stop at the redwood forest of Muir Woods National Monument (WOW - breathtaking!), then crossed the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco.  SF was a neat city - I'm sad that we didn't have enough time to explore there.  We kept going south, and eventually ended up on Highway 1, driving right along the coast.  We watched the sunset over the ocean as we continued on the winding cliff road.  Eventually we made it to Ammon's sister's place in Morro Bay, a neat little town right outside of San Luis Obispo.  It was pretty late by then, and we went straight to bed.  When the sun came up, we saw that they had a beautiful window view of the beach just a couple of blocks away.  I went with them to the obstacle race (which was fun even though I was a spectator), then back home and cleaned up.  In the afternoon, we visited a really fun beach with Ammon's sister and her family, then went out for dinner for some authentic seafood (more authentic than in Utah, anyway).  The next morning we left early, stopping only for church (Sacrament in Sacramento!).  What a great trip!  Who knew California could be that awesome?!?!

 Here are some pictures from Muir Woods...

(my camera phone can't do justice to how majestic it was)

 Sunset over the ocean driving down Highway 1

Ammon's sister's kids were gone the first night we were there, so we got to sleep in their beds - look how cool they are!  I slept in the pirate ship!  (Also, their room was full of Legos, so I kept busy even when we had down time.)

The view from their living room window... sigh... 

Sea otters in Morro Bay! 

A vineyard we drove through on our way to get to the obstacle race, located on a ranch.

 Here's a video made of the race that Ammon and his sister participated in.

 On the beach!

 We had fun with Ammon's nephews scrambling up and down the beach hills...

 Tide pool creatures

 Cool geology!

You may remember the eclipse that happened earlier in the summer - we were able to see it on our drive home through two layers of sunglasses and a tiny hole made with our fingers.  I tried taking a picture, but you can't tell there's an eclipse going on.

Heroes

Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is impressive - he's a serious artist and the films are amazing (though rather dark).  In light of the deaths surrounding the last two installments, I think the following project (that Nolan is also involved with) will come as a welcome and refreshing change of tone:

"You will give the people an ideal to strive towards.  They will race behind you; they will stumble, they will fall - but in time they will join you in the Sun.  In time, you will help them accomplish wonders."

Memorial Day

I had an exceptionally good Memorial Day this year - probably my best Memorial Day yet.  It started out the night before by watching the movie Glory with some friends.  (I did not forget the true meaning of the holiday amid my day-off activities).  Then early Monday morning, a couple of friends and I hiked up near my old stomping grounds (Pleasant Grove) and sat on the top of a waterfall.  After that, we finished the New York Times crossword puzzle over an all-you-can-eat French toast breakfast at Kneaders (probably one of the most divine experiences you'll ever have).  Then I went home and read my book for a few hours out in the sun while drinking some terere.  Then a friend invited me to go swimming - we did, and in addition I got some lovely sunburns on my legs while reading at the pool's edge.  After that, several friends and I got together and ate strawberries and made hot-dogs and hamburgers on the grill.  Following that I participated in an intense water-balloon war with the rest of the ward for FHE.  Then, after receiving a thorough soaking (cold and wet), a group of us went hot-tubbing (warm and wet).  One of the coolest things was that almost none of it was planned beforehand - hooray for summer spontaneity!