The article about American Memory Project is interesting to me simply because of the fact that I love preserving things. I think it is an important insight into the world of film in its childhood days. The fact that these films (most of them) are preserved so well even now is a wonder because films are prone to fungus and are affected by sunlight too. The interesting thing about these films was their length, the silence, the acting and the audience who came to view them. These films are short (about five minutes at the most) and this makes it interesting because it is really difficult to draw the audience's attention in such a short span of time. However, the Execution of Czolgosz is a very good example of such a film which captivates the audience. Although the acting seems too outwardly and unnatural (perhaps to make up for the silence), the gestures do try to put emphasis on explaining the actions. Another interesting aspect related to these films is the audience. The silence in the film was made up for by the audience and it would be an altogether different experience if the same were to happen in today's world. Also, the clever way that the film about the ghost and the grandfather clock (I forget the name) was shot shows us that people in that era too were clever at making their audience wonder as to how someone could paint such a beautiful portrait just by swiping at the canvas with a brush and black paint.  ¶ 1:50 AM

  Museums are supposed to be a place where "history" is preserved. Its not just a place where artifacts are kept so that they are not forgotten, but if a museum is well organized, in an orderly fashion, one can enter a museum and re-live one's past. The old varnished wooden cases (in case of an art museum, the frames) where the artifact is kept, the whole atmosphere of a museum can take someone to an age which one can only imagine. However, for this blog entry, I have chosen to write about the Jimmy Carter Library's museum. The whole location is like a huge estate and is very scenic. The main building consists of two theatres and the museum itself. The long vacant corridor is more welcome than one filled with a large crowd, shouting and shoving. Each artifact can be concentrated upon. This museum holds artifacts related to former president James (Jimmy) Carter. The museum as a whole is very well organized, starting with a list of all the predecessors to Jimmy Carter in the nineteenth century. Further on, it goes on to describe the former president's life in a chronological order. Starting from his parent's, when he was a child, the museum has artifacts like his sixth grade report. Further ahead, it describes his young adulthood and how he rose to fame; senator, governor and finally, president. Then it highlights his achievements as a president and critical success where his predecessors had failed. Between all this chronological sequencing, there are small showcases of artifacts he received from world leaders when he was president. The museum is not monotonic in this fashion; it has a special room full of articles used for the presidential campaign. There is also a special room which is a replica of his office with his voice being played on the recorder. The whole atmosphere seems "rich in his memories". Blinds all over the exits make sure that the sunlight play the spoilsport. There are also about thirty million archives which are orders, bills, discussions he wrote as president. Thus overall, the museum is quite well organized and has a pattern which is easy to follow. This makes our understanding of the former president better and more effective. Although sprawling gallery spaces are considered a waste of space, they are very essential in order to concentrate on the object of our enquiry. These spaces help us grasp better, what an artifact is trying to say.  ¶ 10:15 PM

  In this blog about visual arguments, I have chosen to write about the television show "Bewitched" which used to be aired in the 1960's and 1970's. The main characters in the show were Elizabeth Montgomery who played the character of "Samantha" (Sam for short) and Dick Sargent who was later replaced by Dick York to play the character of "Darrin". The main reason why I chose to write about this show, is because of the fantasy, the imagination and the clever use of humor through which it passed on to the audience an important lesson about a deeper underlying issue. One particular episode which I clearly remember, which addresses an important social condition is the one aired when racial prejudice was at its height. In a very subtle way, through the actions of an innocent child, the episode depicts how racial prejudice is wrong and unjustified and promotes the sense of equality among humans, independant of their colour or race. In this episode, "Darrin's" firm, and advertising one has a client who is racist. In contrast, Darrin's daughter, Tabitha is extremely good friends with a black girl and even calls her a sister. Due to this misunderstanding, the client thinks Darrin is married to a black woman and so he cancels the contract. When he realizes his mistake, he apologizes and is ready to reinstate the contract. This time around, Darrin's boss refuses to take the contract from him. This little episode, in a very subtle way tells the audience how wrong it is to be prejudiced for or against someone just because of the colour of his skin. Considering the time when it was first aired, it just goes to show that even television shows have an important social and moral responsibility. This is what really pleased me about the show. It also tells the audience how simple and innocent a child's mind is and how the right guiding path of a parent can teach the child right from wrong. Although it uses "magic" to get its point accross, the show appealed to people of all ages, which is why it was so successful in fulfilling its moral duty. The whole concept behind the show alongwith its use of humour made it interesting to watch and what better way to get an important lesson accross than to wrap it in a nice package which everyone likes!
  ¶ 10:13 PM

  The blog about documenting life by way of pictures is an idea that I could never think of. In fact, the idea of publishing one's life alongwith facts and pictures in such a public place, seems like letting and wanting people to intrude into your privacy. One could document one's life and still not say a lot of private things, but then that would be like hiding facts and being dishonest. Thus the whole idea of documenting life sounds a bit awkward. Neverthless, technologies of memory do fulfill their role to certain extent, but not wholly. One cannot remember every important detail by using these technologies. A lot of sweet and important memories can be retauned by using some object related to that incident. This is the more "conventional" way of remembering things. "conventional" because one can easily imagine, oneself, fifty years years in the future, going to the basement and taking out and old box of things from the past and taking out, one by one, queer objects from the box that remind one of the past.
On a personal note, I have always liked to preserve my memories in some way or the other, since childhood. So, each year, while I was in elementary school and later in high school, I used to have a desk full of "nothings" and my mother would always scold me to clear my drawer. Finally, I decided to let go of some of the stuff and hang on to the important ones. So, I stowed them away neatly in polythene bags.
Thus, technologies do help in keeping memories together, but they can do so only to a certain extent; the small little funny and some embarrassing incidents are often remembered by some object, rather than technologies such as photographs or video etc. Although important events (like birth, graduation, marriage etc) can be remembered by the use of digital technology, it is often the small incidents of one's life which remind the person of our "good 'ol days".
In conclusion, technology plays an important part in keeping memories, but it cannot wholly substitute for objects connected with that memory. For example, if a loved one passes away, then an object given by that person to us is a more valuable source of memory than a picture or a blog about that person.

  ¶ 12:06 PM