Desperate for a Humanities Experience this weekend?

Here are some ideas:

• At the Meyerson Symphony Center - the Soluna Festival - Remix of A Midsummer Night's Dream
• At the Dallas City Performance Hall - the Soluna Festival - a lecture on music and the brain 
• At the Art Centre Theatre in Plano - Memphis: The Musical 
• At the Allen Community Theatre - Unnecessary Farce 
• At SMU's Meadows Museum - A Picasso exhibit 
• The usual museums - DMA, Crowe, and Nasher 

Chillin in the Sistine Chapel

Humanitarians,

Today we finished up both the High Renaissance and the Italian Renaissance by visiting the crown jewel of the Ren, the Sistine Chapel and then taking a short stop in Venice to talk about how the do things a bit differently.

First, y'all, the Sistine Chapel is so great, make sure you go there some time! Then we took a trip to Venice, where they use oil paints instead of frescos because of the climate - this is a good transition to the Northern Renaissance, which you read about for today and which we will pick back up on Friday.

Homework? 

The biggest thing is to KEEP being creative! Journal check (10 entries) is next Thursday, 4/27. Need some help? Check it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/mLxfPgQ3R3CslGSYshmGGl/ideas-to-fuel-your-creativity 

This day in history: 

• 1775: The "shot heard round the world" was fired. Colonial Minute Men took on British Army regulars at Lexington and Concord, Mass., starting the American Revolution. 

• 1824: Lord Byron (poet!) died of a fever while helping the Greeks fight the Turks in their fight for independence. 
• 
• 1882: Naturalist Charles Darwin, developer of the theory of evolution, died. 

• 1897: The first Boston Marathon was run. 
• Interesting article on the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as a registered participant (she ran it again Monday on the 50th year anniversary of her first run): Katherine Switzer
• 1943: The Warsaw ghetto uprisings began, one of the first mass rebellions against the Nazis. 

• 1993: The siege at Waco, Texas, ended when FBI moved into the Branch Davidian compound with tear gas and cult members set fire to the compound killing over 80 people. 
• 
• 1995: The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK was destroyed by a car bomb set by Timothy McVeigh. 168 people, including 19 children were killed in the worst terrorist attack in US history up to that time. 
• 
• 
• 2005: Germany's Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI. He was the one who retired, paving the way for the current Pope, Francis I. 

brunch joke

- cbg

Guess who's back, back again

Humanitarians,

Let's see if we can't get this blog back on track. I have faith in us, the humanities teachers. We apologize for letting you down the last few weeks, but you guys know how things go.

OMG, we've been so creative lately! From your BEAUTIFUL chalk recreations (not gonna lie, I'm so vain, so all my favorites were the ones that incorporated us) to today's hopefully helpful creativity journal work day.

Still stuck on how to be creative??? Here are some of my favorite starters from the day...

• Write down 5 of your core beliefs. Pick one and illustrate it.
• Pick a lyric from your favorite song to illustrate.
• If Google changed its banner to celebrate you (or your BFF, or your mom, or your favorite teacher), what would it look like? 
• Write haiku poems about famous people
• Illustrate your favorite moment form the past week 
• What if all your neighbors (teachers, friends) had secret lives? Write about it
• Draw a letter of the alphabet 100 different ways

YOU GOT THIS! You are creative human beings - we can't wait to be enthralled. 

Tomorrow, we are back in the Renaissance with a discussion of the best of the High Renaissance - The David and the Sistine Chapel

Yessssssss.

lol, y'all if you were up for Pope 

Couple of homework reminders:
1. HUM reading due tomorrow over the Northern Renaissance.
2. Ren & Reformations Quiz is NEXT Thursday 4/27
3. ALSO on 4/27 is a creativity journal check - we need to see 10 entries! Keep it up!
4. Words for Nerds due 5/3 - this is only a couple of weeks away!

This day in HISSSSSSSSSSSSTORY:

• 1775: Paul Revere rode from Charleston to Lexington to warn Massachusetts colonists of the arrival of the British troops during the American Revolution. 



paul revere and jack black are totally twins

• 1906: The Great San Francisco Earthquake destroyed over 4 sq. miles and killed over 500 people. 
• 
• 1956: Actresses Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.
• 
• 1968: London Bridge was sold to an American and rebuilt in Arizona. Fun fact - I've been here! My friend got married in front of it in May of 2011.
• 

• 1978: The US Senate voted to hand over the Panama Canal to Panamanian control on Dec. 31, 1999. 
• 
• 2012: American Bandstand and New Year's Rockin' Eve host Dick Clark died of heart failure. 
• 

Hope you have a fabulous 4-day week!

Need some tunes?? I loved Big Little Lies on HBO and am now OBSESSED with the tunes they had in it!

Check the spotify list - play it while you get creative! 

https://open.spotify.com/user/g0u1d1e1/playlist/59nmPZQAE0dX44OF6DXDcE?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open&play=true

- cbg out

Like Pi... this blog has been lost at sea!

This is a much less compelling story than the novel. 

Hee hee... get it? 

Now we need both Siddiqui and Garafola to do this with their respective cats. 

Did you miss us? 

Sorry we up and disappeared on you. We got all confused what with STAAR testing and such and then... well... you know how these things go. But, we're back!

We sincerely hope that you enjoyed reading Life of Pi. It is an excellent story with so much to think about. Again, if you have not seen the movie, or, it's been awhile since you've seen it, take some time to watch it soon. It is fantastic as well. 

Coming up this week

Today we did our final writing over Life of Pi. If you were absent today, make sure you talk to your teacher ASAP, so that you can get that make up rescheduled. 

Tomorrow, we start off to the Early Modern Age! (cue dramatic music)

You've got a reading assignment (pg. 286-299 in your Humanities book) due Thursday. This is going to kick off our studying of the European Renaissance. This is usually a time period that students enjoy studying and often know quite a bit about. Speaking of knowing things... we know that A LOT of you are going to be absent on Friday. Don't worry, we got you!

Soundtrack of the Week

It's anniversary week! 

There are quite a few landmark or just plain excellent albums that are celebrating anniversaries this year. So, I thought we'd play some songs off these albums as they reach their big milestones. 

First up, a little something to get you movin' and groovin'. I hope that most of you have heard of Daft Punk. They won the Grammy for Best Album in 2014. This landmark French duo are seminal for bringing electronic music into the mainstream. 

Daft Punk's debut album, Homework, came out in January of 1997. It caused quite the sensation. One of the first singles off that album is this classic "Around the World". Enjoy! (the video is pretty mind-bending too)

All Li Po-ems

Happy Friday, Humanitarians! Did you enjoy the Tang dynasty poets? We wrapped up our Post-Classical studies by taking a look at two of China's most famous poets of all time, Li Po (or Li Bai or  Li Bo) and Tu Fu (or Du Fu). These gentlemen have influenced poets and artists in general for generation after generation, even now. I actually even read an article yesterday about how China's first heavy metal band counts Li Po as his major inspiration, so take that poetry haters!

That moment when bae asks your advice about another guy.

Just a little bit about both of these two gentleman:

• Li Po was (and really still is) considered the greatest of all Chinese poets. He was revered in his lifetime for his poems and was known by his free-spirited, wilder, and eccentric spirit, although a Daoist. He was, in fact, so eccentric that according to legend he died by drowning when he tried to grab the moon's reflection in the Yangtze River. 
• Tu Fu, who was BFFs with our boy Li Po, is also highly revered among the world's poets. He aspired to be part of the government as a civil servant but failed the civil service exam and could just never quite make it into government prominence, no matter how hard he tried. He had a dear love for China, which showed up in his poetry's themes quite frequently, but at the end of his life, China's courts were under turmoil because of the An Lushan rebellion. 

If you're interested, there are tons more Tang poems that are easy to find online. They're beautiful and pretty easy to read.

Lolz.

For my last venture into SXSW's glorious musical selection, I'll wrap up the week with my favorite new song so far this year, Sylvan Esso's "Die Young". Sylvan Esso is an indie duo from North Carolina, and they're coming out with a new album later this spring. Check out "Die Young", a song about how sometimes falling in love shifts your plans (and enjoy the beat).

Happy weekend friends!!! I'm going to leave you with this because it's probably the most adorable video I've ever seen. Just in case you're needing a little pick-me-up for your weekend.

How's your brain feeling?!

How did the quiz go?! Knocked it out of the park?!

Before the quiz over the last two days, we spent some time reviewing and also discussing. Tuesday was filled with lots of rich discussion for the most part (and some terrifying arguing in 4th period). Tomorrow we will wrap up our study of Post Classical East Asia with some POETRY. A little Tu Fu and Li Po coming your way. Don't forget to grab a copy of Life of Pi for Monday as well.

This weekend is your last weekend to get in your Humanities Experiences. If you're a procrastinator, here are some last minute events going on this weekend (in between seeing Beauty and the Beast):

• Til Midnight at the Nasher is starting back up on Friday! Check out the sculpture at the Nasher (which is the actual Humanities Experience) and then stay for an outdoor movie and concert in the back of the museum. 
• Also on Friday next door is the DMA's Late Night event (which does actually cost money). You have to actually look at the art for the extra credit component, but there are a bunch of extra activities going on as well. This week's theme is Medieval, so check out their Art and Nature in the Middle Ages exhibit and then pop over to hear a talk about how J.K. Rowling used Medieval mythological beasts to write Fantastic Beasts.
• Looking for something nearer to home? Frisco is showcasing the opera Madame Butterfly at the Star. Check this out for more info. 

Today's SXSW performer is truly near and dear to my heart. David Ramirez is a Austinite, a songwriter that used to come play at little tiny venues in College Station when I was going to A&M. His shows are the kind where you could hear a pin drop because everyone is entranced. It's definitely not the most beat-bumping mix, but if you are needing something relaxing and/or melancholy, here's my personal favorite, "Shoeboxes".

Spring has sprung!

Happy Monday friends! Daylight Savings makes it hard to get back to school after Spring Break...

 

BUT we hope you had a wonderful week, and now it's back to work, work, work. Today, we got back to SAQ, which is our last one for the nine weeks, and continued our discussion of Asian art and technology. Post Classical Chinese innovations included heavy-hitters like movable type, the compass, and the Grand Canal, among many others. As far as art goes, we can see the long-standing influence of Asian style, with its bold color choices, landscape imagery, and different perspective than previously used. Asian art is the bomb, yo. Here are some different examples:

Chinese landscape paintings and scrolls:

Lacquerware:

Pottery:

Our East Asian artists also influenced many later artists. Read this article about Japanese art's influence on Van Gogh in particular. 

This week is South by Southwest, or SXSW, OR the coolest music, film, and technology festival in Austin. Over the span of two weeks, underground bands, new films, and other creatives display their work or perform, and local Austinites or traveling hipsters can come check out their work. All my Austin friends love checking out the free concerts (worth in despite the awful Austin traffic). In honor of SXSW being this week, I'm going to steal Stanton's music schtick (just this week, I promise!) and highlight bands performing at the shows. Today's artist is Maggie Rogers, a songwriter whose career was launched when Pharrell Williams heard her song being played; she's kind of funky pop that I personally recommend for driving down the highway. Enjoy her single "Dog Years". 

Happy Monday friends! Welcome back :)

P.S.-Jett Wang's film for 6th and 7th period, as promised. Jett rules.

SPRIIINNNNGGGG BREEEAAKKKKK!

I think that should about cover it!! 

We hope you have a great break and get a chance to make all your dreams come true. 

Are we actually in Asia?

Fabulous job on your projects, everyone! Here are images of some of the great things y'all turned in today! Overall, we were very impressed with your creativity. Seriously, museums should be asking for your work!

Anyone else just love the Buddha in front of a Christian stained glass window?

The cutest Asian synagogue anyone's ever seen