Poorly Integrated Quote

Also in episode one we see his vampire knowledge displayed in various situations; he knows Buffy is the Slayer the very first time they meet, and he also was aware of other details, such as the dreams Buffy was having (signaling the Harvest is near). According to Barbara Maio he presents himself as “smart, bookish and quite useful in a non physical kind of way” (Maio 1). These words suit the title of Watcher very well.

I just do not feel like I have discussed the quote well enough after putting it down, although it is not a long quote...

My Blog Problem

Well since Leslie is just so amazing, I only have a few problems that I could possibly address with all my class mates. I think I am gonna go with sources, though. They seem to be my main problem. I am having trouble finding good sources. I know part of it is laziness on my behalf, but I still need some help. I really do not know where to look for sources concerning Giles from Buffy. It seems like a very small area of study and I don't know where to look for VALUABLE resources. What about you guys, what kind of sources are y'all using? Where are you getting them from? And who thinks they have a solution for me?

WB Post 3

As an overall theme, I have chosen writings that have to deal with my research topic, Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The first of my pieces of writing is an article from Slayage Online, a place with a lot of Buffy articles. The article is called "Watching the Watcher: Analysing the character of Rupert Giles. It was written by Barbara Maio. The link for the article is http://slayageonline.com/SCW_Archive/Maio.pdf

The article has many up's and down's, as do most. One huge flaw in this article, as the title suggests is the grammar and mechanics of the author. Although it is clearly a scholarly article with good observations backed up by factual evidence, the fact that there are many misspellings and grammar mistakes really does take away from the credibility of the article. The mistakes aren't drastic or extremely bountiful but again, they seem to "dumb down" the article a bit. I think this woman honestly doesn't know english as well as she knows Giles. The upside to this article is that Maio really does an excellent job of getting her point across. She makes bold observations at the beginning of her paragraphs and then follows up by providing much information and evidence from different Buffy episodes to back up her opinion. This not only helps support her argument, but all the evidence makes things easier on someone who doesn't watch the show much. I have not seen many of the episodes mentioned in the article, but I understood Maio's stand and why she chose it on every issue mentioned because of all the evidence provided.

My second piece is also a Slayage Online article. This one is titled "Rupert Giles and Search Tools for Wisdom in Buffy the Vampire Slayer". It was written by GraceAnne A. DeCandido. The link for this one is http://www.well.com/user/ladyhawk/Giles.html

This article took a somewhat different approach than the other, but it was very effective. I like how DeCandido started out by making her claim right off the bat, gave a generous amount of general background information on Giles's role as well as how he does things (and also gave some background info on other characters, which helped), and then got into the details. I think that by making one's thesis right off the bat really gives the reader something to think about throughout the article, and it really got me (the reader) interested from the very beginning. Putting the background information directly after the "thesis paragraph"made sure that reader knew those important facts about the show before diving into the article. The article felt a little scattered to me at points, but everything went together pretty well. The writer definitely puts a lot of facts about Giles in her article to back up her point that Giles is a good image for a librarian, using a lot of quotes (all relevant to the thesis, mostly about Giles and his books) to really give hard evidence to support her claim. and I think my favorite part about the article was that when it came to talking about Giles, the author stayed to the librarian side of him, staying on topic and not straying to other aspects of Giles's character. This helped keep the article relatively short and to-the-point, which made it readable and entertaining.

If you stuck around until now, thank you for being part of my longest blog ever. Haha!

Song Blog

I had to go with one of my favorite Stevie Wonder songs for this blog. His music is so heart-felt and his lyrics are so deep that I couldn't pass up another chance to brag about him! The song I chose is called "Ribbon in the Sky".

This is a beautiful piano ballad, written and produced by Mr. Wonder himself. It is definitely on the more emotional side, as many people choose for to be their wedding song. The main line of the song is "There's a ribbon in the sky for our love". It is a song about a current love, no heart breaking or missing someone.

The first line basically says "I am so glad to have found you" and "If I can make you happy can we stay together". The second verse says "Our love isn't a lucky chance, it's a ribbon in the sky". It obviously sounds better in song form.

The music is a very important aspect of this song, and basically any other Stevie song. The piano is the biggest part of the music, with one large solo at the end of the song. The slow tempo of the song gives it a lovey kind of feel, too. It is just an amazing song from one of the greats.

Here's a link to listen to the song if any of you guys want to. It's a pretty sweet live version. Stevie's incredible vocal prowess is put on display at the very end of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06F-zwx_9Bc

Fear: The Princess Screamed Once

I saw one particular detail of this essay that I wanted to focus on, and that is how the author is describing how Buffy doesn't fit the princess role. I thought was kind of interesting since she doesn't fit the typical hero role, and both roles are at least partially characterized by gender. A hero is supposed to be a strong, muscly man. Buffy is a hot high school girl. A princess should be a delicate, incapable beauty. Buffy, as pointed out by the author, "... breaks into the tower... swings through the air feet first in battle..." (Wilcox 149). So she basically acts the opposite of a princess, although she physically fits the role. The bottom line is that we keep seeing this theme that Buffy likes to "break the mold" and act the opposite of what her role should stereotypically be.

Is It Art

I thought the author made some interesting connections, one of my favorites being that Moeller noticed St. Francis in the episode "Hush", being extremely significant since, as Moeller mentioned, "St. Francis [is] protector of those who cannot speak". This is very relevant considering everyone lost their voice in the episode.

Moeller also mentioned the Blue Meanies from the Yellow Submarine, who resemble the Gentlemen in that they take something away from their victims. I think as humans we find it difficult to deal with adversity since we are used to schedules and patterns in our lives. When something like our voice or sound & color is taken away, we are dealt a lot of adversity at once. We would certainly find it difficult to handle a situation like losing our voices when vocal communication is our main form of handling problems. It certainly brings out a big weakness in us.

Grimm Realities

As far as the theme of creepy nursery rhymes goes, it seems children and youth involved in horror makes it more creepy. I am not sure what does it, but nothing is creepier than the little girl singing a nursery rhyme about cutting out hearts. One of my theories is that we associate children and our childhoods with happiness and innocence, and when that is turned completely upside-down it sparks a deep fear inside of us. In describing the eerie nursery rhyme of the Gentlemen, Bridges says "the verse is accompanied by eerie music box tones and delivered by a small, blonde girl with a blank stare and a sing-songy voice..." (Bridges 101). Again, the small girl, sing-songy voice and music box are all symbols of innocence, but yet are scarier than any creeper around.

Hush Hush Hush

So I hope we don't have to quote from this episode, considering there wasnt' much said...

Anyway I suppose I might as well tie in my man Giles, who is my research paper topic. In this episode we see him doing his job as Watcher, gaining information on the Gentlemen. He eventually gathered enough knowledge on the group to put together a presentation, which proved to be enough intel to figure out how to destroy the Gentlemen.

As Watcher, one of Giles's main concerns is gathering information and being a source of knowledge for the Slayer, Buffy. He is kind of her "coach", and this episode displayed that very well. He used the overhead presentation to give her the gameplan, and then she executed. It was a blast! (Get it?)

Quote Blog

In examining Giles's role of Watcher, and more closely his role of father figure to Buffy, I decided to use a quote that helps demonstrate the close relationship of Buffy and Giles.

According to Buffy, it is tradition for her real dad to take her somewhere special on her birthday. This year her dad decided to bail out on her, so she says to Giles, "'if someone were free they would take their daughter, or their student, or their Slayer'".

It is kind of funny how Buffy is slightly beating around the bush, but her intentions are perfectly clear; she accepts Giles as her father figure. Not having a father around really opens the gap for someone like Giles to come in and take that father role. Giles being Watcher is really the first step to that. Being a Watcher or parent involves watching over someone without having direct contact 24/7, and protecting that person. Giles meets this criteria well, and since he is a man around the age Buffy's dad would most likely be, he seems to be a perfect fit as Buffy's "dad". When Buffy asks the question, it basically seals the deal on their relationship status.

Research Question Blog

For this blog, I am exploring the role of Giles as Watcher in Buffy. Just so you guys know, Giles eventually becomes kind of a father figure for Buffy, becoming very involved in her slayer "activities". Eventually the Council tries to "fire" him for his emotional attachment to Buffy.

So from clues in episode 1 we see Giles portrayed as a typically intelligent kind of guy. He is a librarian, from a big museum in England, and displays that he has knowledge on the slayer. This kind of shows us he will be the Watcher; the source of wisdom and not the active side-kick fighting with Buffy.

In episode 1, Buffy refuses her duties, which, if continued, would put Giles out of a job. Giles is than forced to push the issue to convince Buffy to accept her duties, and she eventually accepts her destiny. Because of Giles's going beyond his role to convince Buffy, an opening was created for their relationship to become more than straight business (if things would have been easy and if Buffy would have accepted her duties from the beginning, it would have been easier for the two to just have a "business" relationship).

Some, including the council, believe a close bond between Giles and Buffy is not beneficial, and the council uses this as reason to relieve Giles of his watcher duties. The other standpoint here is that a father-daughter relationship means Giles will take better care of Buffy. Now you all will have to wait to read my paper to hear my opinion on things.... Muahahahaha!

Bloggin 'Bout Stevie

For this blog, I decided to write about my favorite musician, Stevie Wonder. I won't do a complete biography, but Steveland Hardaway Morris was born May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan. He started playing piano at age 7, and had t mastered by age 9, which is unprecedented, especially for someone who was born blind. Stevie has been performing since he was 13, and has won more grammys than any other artist with 25.

It may seem kinda weird that a white kid like me would appreciate an old school R&B singer like Stevie, but I believe music is hereditary. My parents grew up on this kinda stuff, then passed it on to me. I used to hate listening to all those "slow jams" and 10 minute R&B sessions (if anyone knows what I am talking about, a lot of older R&B songs repeat the chorus for maybe an additional 3-4 minutes after the song has basically ended), but once I caught wind of Mr. Wonder I was kind of taken by suprise.

The thing that really sets Stevie apart from the crowd is his songwriting ability. The emotion and passion in his lyrics is really amazing, proven by the fact that he was inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame back in 1983. There is always some deep meaning behind his words, which is something lacking in today's music. Stevie also writes music, and with all of his piano and harmonica skills, he really knows how to jam. He basically has two types of songs he does, mellow, intimate, songs with deep lyrics ("As", "My Cherie Amour") and uptempo jams ("Do I Do", "All I Do").

If you have never listened to Stevie, I suggest you look him up, at least to try to gain an appreciation for an artist with talent and influence right up there with the likes of Michael Jackson and The Beatles. Aside from everything else, just listen to his voice. Stevie Wonder is considered one of the greatest singers in the known world, by people who know what they're talking about. He is also a humanitarian who has more love in his heart than I've ever seen from a celebrity, which shows if you watch when he performed at his best friend Michael's funeral in July. This is cheesey but Stevie Wonder is a blessing and I hope I turned at least one of you guys on to listening to my favorite singer!!!

Writer’s Blog Post 2

For my exquisite location to analyze, I chose the place I'm in most, the basement of Halloran (my dorm house). To the right you have laundry room, equipped with four washers and dryers, with a study table on the opposite side of the room. To the left you have the exciting study room. This place has several two person desks for studying and even a foosball table.

Upon first glance it seems like a dull place in which no one wants to be. Well, that's actually correct, but since some of us must be down there for rather long periods, we will look at what makes this dungeon so efficient.

In the laundry room, the large study table serves us many useful purposes. If you are alone doing laundry, you can stay in the room and get work done while keeping an eye on your laundry and an eye out for basically non-existent thieves, although the possibility makes things a little interesting. A large study table being the only table in the room also forces anyone hanging out in the room to sit together, which helps to keep everyone company while waiting for that pesky hooded sweatshirt or pair of jeans to dry while everything else sits folded. To really go on a limb, the table encourages social activity by being the only table in the room, forming bonds of friendship between all those doing laundry.

The sensational study area is large and very spacial, which kind of gives one the feeling of separation and peace when sitting alone. The tables are meant for two, though, which encourages working together with a study buddy. The distance between the tables works to the advantage of study buddies, since buddies have to communicate, and with a solid ten feet between you and the next table, you can talk quietly without disrupting others. You also can't talk across tables without being rather loud, much to the satisfaction of those who wish to study quietly.

I am just so glad my longest blog to date has been about analyzing my least favorite place on campus. I must say enjoyed having to get creative, though, and I hope you all enjoyed it, too!

Primary Source 2

My second primary source episode 3 of Firefly, "Bushwacked". Serenity comes up on a an abandoned ship with one survivior. The ship was attacked by reavers and the survivor was made to watch everything that happened to the rest of the crew, which was about fifteen families. Alliance then boarded Serenity, the doctor and River hid on the outside of the ship and Mal saved the Alliance commander from the survivor who went crazy, and Mal was rewarded by getting the ship back, the end. (just a little summary for you guys who didn't watch it)

One interesting detail about this episode was River's reaction to everything. She had an immediate connection to the survivor of the abandoned ship, and the crazier he went, the crazier she reacted. It kind of guided us through the action a little bit. A pattern I've begun to notice is that the show likes to bring continuous action from different sources, then intertwine them. in this episode the crew found the ship, the Reavers then became slightly involved, and the Alliance became directly involved. In the end, the survivior bascially became a reaver himself as justification for what he saw, and Mal saved the Alliance commander from him, which clearly shows us the connection between the different elements of the plot. I think this makes the show exciting, and helps to wrap everything up by the plot elements "combining" in the end of the show.

Primary Source 1

My first possible primary source is the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I definitely had to suspend judgment on this one, and as with Firefly, it wasn't all that bad. We definitely got some kind of hint that things were right from the beginning, with the opening scene of the girl vampire killing the guy, and Buffy's nightmare. Also form the beginning, we see Buffy denying her duty as "Vampire Slayer" and saying she is retired, with evidence continually popping up, especially from Giles, which pretty much tells us she has unfinished business.

I thought they did a good job portraying the first day of school, too. Buffy immediately got involved the popular and not-so popular, and had a crazy time adjusting with the vampires getting in the day, making the first day crazy, as it usually is for everyone. I really think through Giles's information and events like the dead guy in the locker we are supposed to infer that something big as about to happen, which becomes apparent in the end when we find out the harvest is coming. It looks ie the rest of the series should be very busy and interesting.

The Naked Article

Well this one is proving a little hard for me to write, because I can't think of anything to say! But seduction is a tricky thing. It seems to always have the upper hand no matter the situation. Even the most scholarly guys seem to be dumbfounded once they are under the "spell".

These girls in Firefly really know how to work it, too. Beyond the physical aspect of seduction, their verbal skills are remarkable. Whenever Inara or Saffron want, they can take advantage of a man using their own set of tools. Inara has that ability to always make the man feel comfortable with himself, like with the 26-year old virgin. Saffron is able to make herself look vulnerable while actually gaining the upper-hand. I hope to see a girl fight here soon!

Our Mrs. Reynolds

Ok boys and girls it's time we make a little connection. I am sure you all remember in class when we discussed the teaser to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The main theme was that the girl seemed to be in a situation where she wasn't in control, which was apparent by how quite nervous and submissive she appeared. Then at the last second she turned into the monster.

Now let's look at this episode of Firefly, "Our Mrs. Reynolds". The innocent girl who appeared to almost be a slave ended up turning into the "monster" and really screwed everyone over after messing with the ship and sending them on a course to who knows where. I thought the situations were too similar not to comment. I don't know if we were set-up by Leslie, but those two scenarios were like two peas in a pod.