Wicked V Wizard of Oz

The musical production of 'Wicked' is the untold story of the witches and their adventures in OZ. 'Wicked' is one of the must see perfomances of today. I, Myself have booked my tickets to see the production in easter, after falling in love with the soundtrack. The soundtrack is magical and enchanting and will light up anyone heart. I cannot contain my excitment with the thought of going in a few weeks time.
I heard recently that Andrew Lloyd webber is looking for a dorothy and toto for a production of 'The wizard of Oz' to be put on broadway. Therefore 'Wicked' and 'The wizard of Oz' will be on high rivarly will both on broadway. (I will defiently stay loyal to 'wicked') However it is not all bad news, as there will be a push for both shows to out do each other, this may mean that there will be a push for 'Wicked' to be made into a film. YES! The enjoyment can continue for home viewing.

Lecture three!

To date this has been my most enjoyable lecture. I have found the topic most interesting and including the set reading. I have never studied Dickens before, and therefore never read any of his work. However I really enjoyed his book 'Bleak house' it takes a while to get into, but after a while I became much enloved with the piece. In the lecture Paul focussed on the Dickens and Cobbett, the poor and the enviroment in Ireland. There are two perspectives focussed on; Urban linked to Dickens and Rural which links to Cobbett. During the period of the Napolic war (England was not involved before 1800) From the military point of view England became very succesful during. During the war they started to build the empire.



The Transatlantic Triangle Trade (The slave trade)- This became enormously profitable, South african slaves where taken and traded in different countries for materials, and ended up being sold to places where they helped make clothing. The Abolitation slavery act came in 1833. At the time Machester was a main point of trade, cotton came in cheap. It was known as Gold for Machester and therefore the introduction of a new revolution.

As the war ended the Corn law was brought in, a tariff which was put on any item that came into britain. This was incredibly bad for the poor. The introduction of Corn Law made the price of bread to rise, and therefore for the poor, who relyed on bread, could not afford to buy it. This pushed people beyond the breadline, making living conditions worse. People were then driven into the city, although the cities were not built for the amount of people 'people drowning in sewage'.
1846- was the repeal of the Corn law. There was more of a concern with people in factories, workers wanted more money to afford the high priced bread. There was a repeal to get cheaper bread for workers.

Hegel

Hegel (1770-1831) Known as another creator of German idealism, the idea of the perfect world. He believed that knowledge begins with the sense of perception. Hegel view followed christian framework and he was interested in change as concept and believed that there was no objects in the world. Hegel was an idealist and therefore believed that we do not percieve the world. Hegel believed that our perception of the world is linked to social concepts.
Hegel also discusses the word 'Giest' which is translated as 'Spirit'. Hegal uses this in terms with society. The idea of spirit can also be linked to the idea of a ghost and according to hegel the Giest does not exist in objects or in our mind, but in another realm, and in this realm it contains the idea that a whole society has a common, a equality between all those belonging. Hegel also mentioned that when considering conciousnous, that human are not always aware of this- although they do have self-concious. This is only apparent through social concepts and identifying yourself or others idenitfying you.

Kant

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is recognised as first major intelect figure. Kant discusses the idea of noumenal and phenomenal worlds: in his book 'Critique of pure reason' he addresses the problems of causalities in empiricism. The idea of noumenal and phenomenal worlds is the thought on weather objects exist when they are not looked at. Many empirist discussed this matter. Hume thought that there was no causality in nature and therefore things only happen in our minds. He also thought that objects flash in and out of reality depending on when we are looking at them or not. An example of this is that, if you have left one room to go into another, the room that you have left has completely disappeared. However you know that it is there, and will expect it to be there when you return. However Kant explained this by stating that objects exist in there own right and it does not matter if they are being looked at or not.

Found that spark notes is a usefuhttp://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/kant/themes.htmll website when trying to understand some of the terms stated by Kant and Hume.

Semester two!!

The first lecture back this semester, and I had the instant impression that I would fully enjoy this topic. This semester we are looking over the book 'A Vindication of the rights of woman' slightly daunting when first looked at, however the read is not as bad as i thought.

Mary Wollstonecraft: Mary had a difficult early life and upbringing; she had a drunken violent father who had numerous affairs. She constantly tried to protect her mother from her father's behaviour. However Mary was critical of her mother for not being more forceful; do something about the situation. She was forced to work as a governess for a family in Ireland, here she was deeply unhappy. She was obsessed with education and with her first publication she expressed her thoughts on education of daughters.

Argued that education given to woman was superficial and was obsessed with appearance. She argued that education can give you power to do what you want, she was a believer in rationality and reasoning. After returning to London she set up her own school and became a rational dissenter. Mary had a fascination with Rousseau, finding him inspirational and aggravating. ‘Mary’ a direct response to Rousseau ‘Emile’: she stated how she liked his ideas of equality however she was critical of him. ‘Woman is made especially for man’ this statement she rejected.

In her book ‘A vindication of the rights of woman’ her central themes is of a diagnosis of the current state. She was writing for middle class woman, woman have accepted a role they have been given. Mary idea was that men and woman should just be human beings; not isolated genders and equality. She tries to limit the areas in life where men are men and woman are woman.

After she died Goodwin wrote a bibliography of her on everything about her, it was scandalous and therefore gained a bad reputation up until after the suffragettes.

The Snow is falling on my small town!!

My home town of Fleet, was reported today on the BBC news as having the most snowfall in Hampshire, victory I say for our small town. However the conditions have left many people stranded and stuck in their homes. Of course this is not minded by all the school children who have receive the day off, and are playing outside till they are too cold to move. I love watching the snow fall, from the inside of the house, but this large amount of snow fall is now becoming a nascence for myself and others. I am worried about my own travel arrangements for this weekend, when traveling to work. I have no clue if the trains will be running by Friday, therefore no train, I get no money from work. As a skint student that is not a good combination. The snow is beautiful but not without its consequences. Hundreds of drivers where left stranded on the M3 last night as the snow fell. Several airports have been closed, meaning thousands of flights cancelled. Other main worries are the supplies for the gritters, with supplies running out quickly a lot of main roads are not being gritted therefore making it harder for the public. With freezing conditions and snow fall till late tonight, it is apparent that many people may be snowed in for a few days yet.

Aristotle

Aristotle- (384- 322 BCE)
I thought it would be worth while looking into the background of Aristotle, as he has had such a major impact or influence on all other philosopher, also for myself so that I can gain a better understanding of Aristotle. Each philosopher is a challenge to get, as I have not studied philosophy before a lot of research is helpful. Aristotle is a huge known figure in greek philosophy, his work contributed to mathematics, physics, biology, ethics, politics etc. He was a student of plato, and Plato was a student of Socrates. Aristotle rejected Plato's theory of form, which according to plato things such as beauty are abstract however Aristole argued that the forms are instrinsic to an object and cannot exist seperately.
Aristole created the earliest point of formal logic. For previous philosphers and including Plato never really understood the logical implications, Aristole said that 'on the subject of reasoning' he 'had nothing else on an earlier date to speak of'.