Looking like your pet

In class the other day we mentioned that a lot of people look like the pets that they own. When we began talking about this I immediately thought of Disney's 101 Dalmatians. I don't know if anybody remembers this in the beginning of the movie there are the scenes showing all the different dogs and their owners around town. All the dogs look exactly like their owners, I always thought that it was funny as a little kid. In the beginning of the movie Pongo is looking for a woman for Roger, and as he is looking out the window he stumbles across all these different as he keeps calling them breeds.





If you start around 4:45 in the clip it will bring you right to the part with Pongo.


While I was looking for other pictures and things like that of people looking like their pets I came across something very interesting. A book called Dancing with Cats. It is a very odd thing I believe. Its a book about people dancing with their cats. Huh. But you can't deny that they look like their dancing partner. So if you were wondering if daemons exist even in our world, I would have to go with a resounding yes.

Golden Compass characters

So when I heard that we were going to read Dark Materials I was really excited. I had seen the movie and liked it. I thought they did a good job casting all the characters, I really enjoyed all of it as a whole. (Well I mean now I have some different feelings about it since I have read the book but that is besides the point). What is bothering me though is now when I am reading the book I can only picture the characters that the theater gave me. I keep trying to shake the images but I just cant. Its really becoming annoying.

For instance Mrs. Coulter is supposed to have dark hair. I mean come on Nicole Kidman something as minor as that should of been easy to give her. Maybe a wig or dye it. But yeah so now I picture Nicole Kidman in my head and not somebody that I got to create on my own. Boo.









I think they did do a good job with Iorek Byrnison though. I dont have a problem picturing him while reading the books!!!!



I LOVED the choice for Mr. Scoresby. But I think that I only love him because he played the part so well. I really wonder what he would of looked like in my mind if I had had the chance to imagine him on my own?????


Lord Asriel, well he is just incredibly good looking in this movie. Thanks Daniel Craig. I don't think I would of envisioned him as handsome as he now is when I read the books. He probably would of had some serious facial problem, like something along the line of perma wind burn and other arctic things like that. Maybe even a scar, I don't even know because once again Hollywood told me what he was gonna look like. Hm.


Lyra. I am sure if my imagination was given the opportunity to imagine Lyra something totally different would have sprung up. She wouldn't of been so mousy looking I don't think. Oh well.

Daemons/humans..whats the difference?

In Pullman's books the idea of daemons are incredibly interesting. Here is this animal that is supposed to reflect you and be part of your being, just an extension of you. It was not until I was reading the Lantern Slides for the Subtle Knife when I began to think more about daemons. One slide the Pullman describes on page 538 is...

A daemon is not an animal, of course; a daemon is a person. A real cat, face to face with a daemon in cat form, would not be puzzled for a moment. She would see a human being.

Before the small statement I more or less took daemons at face value but after knowing that another animal would only see a human got me to thinking. Would the cat see two people standing next to each other? Would the cat have seen only one human but "whole" like from our world and Will's? If the cat did see a person does that person look exactly like the other person, are we talking twins or would the animal see different looking people but similar? Like looking at sisters or some sort of relations?

That small sentence has really thrown me into a tizzy, I want to know how Pullman would describe this person. I think that in the case of the cat with Pan that the cat would of seen two different people, because if there is two people one has to acknowledge that there is a "soul" of sorts to a person, hence the reason that daemons would exist. But what would this person look like? I like to think that through an animals eyes that they see two different looking people that look oddly similar. You can tell that they are one but for some reason separate. I don't know if that makes sense but it does in my mind, hopefully its translating into blog form alright.

6 Impossible Things...

6 Impossible Things to do before breakfast....

1. CLEP out of my Spanish test that I need to do before semester is over

2. Finish Pullman's Dark Materials. I am only half way through the Subtle Knife

3. Do all of my laundry. Yeah I have a lot of it.

4. Start liking eggs. I think there is a serious problem with that food. I mean come on.

5. Get my private pilot's license. I have wanted it for some time but I just don't have the $8,000 to spend on that.

6. Finally, return all the artifacts and pictures to their rightful owners that I (along with 2 other girls) used for our exhibit at the Pioneer Museum.

There is a lot more than 6 things that are impossible to get done before breakfast, so here are just the top six!

My Daemon...

As we all know in Pullman's Dark Material all the characters from Lyra's world have their daemons. There is a test you can take on the Golden Compass website that will reveal you what your daemon would be. So I took the test to find out what my daemon would take shape as. After 20 questions I was assigned Alchaeon, a jackal. I didn't know how well he would fit me at first but the more I looked at him the more he grew on me. Alchaeon and I are best friends now.

Northern Lights

The first time that I saw the Northern Lights I was up in Alaska in Girdwood. We were visiting my aunt and uncle and we were there in the winter time and because of that it was dark almost all of the day. It was so crazy to be walking outside around 3:00 pm and have it be totally dark outside. Anyways my dad and I were walking around just more or less exploring cause we did not want to help with cooking dinner so we left the house. I am getting off topic, anyways we were just walking around and it was literally like somebody just turned on a switch. Almost instantly the lights were dancing above our heads. One minute there was nothing in the sky but stars and then all of a sudden came then burst of light that danced above our heads. It was the most intense thing to have thrust upon you when you are not expecting it. My father was thrilled about it, but since I was younger and had no idea what the heck was going on I was super confused. My dad explained to me what was going on pretty much in a nutshell, but lets be honest it went in one ear and out the other. I didn't care at age 12 or 13 how those lights got to where they were, I was just happy they were there. Since then I have never seen the Northern Lights with such intensity again. On that afternoon the lights were bright greens and blues and they were such bright and vibrant colors it was almost unimaginable. I have the lights again back here in Montana but they seemed to be more greens and reds. The last time that I had the chance to see them were my freshman year here at MSU back in 2004. So I think its about time that I see them again.

Test on Wednesday? You know it...

Here is the study guide that I threw together while in class on the good ole day of Monday...

Material to know:
1. Tatar endings
Snow White
Sleeping Beauty
Frog Prince
Rapunzel
Rumpelstiltskin
Jack and the Beanstalk
2.Talbot pages
92, 27, 28, 206, 134, around183 - 186.
3. Alice in Wonderland
Humpty Dumpty
Wool and Water
Tweedledee and Tweedledum
Caterpillar
Question of Morals
4. Linda Sexson's lecture
5. My Book and Heart Shall Never Part
6. Classmate questions

Q: Who is the classic illustrator of Alice?
A: John Tenniel

Q: Last word in Beauty and the Beast?
A: Virtue

Q: Who wins after death?
A: Worms, we triumph through art

Q: Oscar Wilde says "life imitates?"
A: Art

Q: 5 themes of this class
A: Myth, dreams, art, coincidences, and history

Q: Who does the white knight seem to resemble?
A: Lewis Carroll

Q: What is the counterpart "How doth the little busy bee"?
A: "How doth the little crocodile"

Q: What does the Mock Turtle sing about?
A: Soup

Q: What is the Mad Hatter's answer to his own question?
A: I haven't the slightest idea

Q: According to Talbot who is the second most quoted person besides Shakespeare?
A: Lewis Carroll

Q: _______ is a depersonalized ______ and______ is a personalized _______.
A: Myth, dream, dream, myth

Q: Who explains a portmanteau?
A: Humpty Dumpty

Q: Stephanie thinks which is the rudest of all the flowers?
A: Violets

Q: The word animated contains what word that means soul?
A: Anime

Q: Where does Alice live in all of us?
A: Collective unconscious

Q: Who is the volcano?
A: Alice

Q: How tall does Alice shrink to when she drinks her first drink?
A: 10 inches

Q: What is the name of the deleted chapter from Alice?
A: Wasp and the Wig

Q: How does Alice offend the mouse?
A: She mentions cats

Q: What was one of the themes of the Protestant Reformation?
A: To teach moral values

Q: What was the language that the first American Bible was printed in.
A: Algonquin

Q: What 2 animals sparked curiosity before Darwin?
A: Mammoth and a monkey

Q: Why is the Mad Hatter mad?
A: Mercury in headbands, misplaced concreteness

Q: Create an anagram...

Q: What does the White Rabbit drop by Alice?
A: White gloves and a fan

Q: What do Beauty's tears turn into during the movie?
A: Diamonds

Q: Reading a story. Trust the ____ and not the ____.
A: Tale and teller

Q: Lewis Carroll's stutter inspired what character?
A: The Dodo

Q: What is "its interesting cause I'm interesting'?
A: Tautology

Q: Goody To Shoes is an emblem that adults lack.
A: Perfection

Q: Tweedledee and Tweedledum say "If I am part of a dream that what are you?"
A: Ditto, ditto, ditto

Q: The theme of this class is to?
A: Look into the darkside

Q: Who was the most accomplished serial killer in England?
A: Maryann Cotton

Q: Who are the two primary ghosts in Talbot?
A: Sid James and the White Lady

Q: Jaberwocky was based on what?
A: Lambton worm

Q: What is the last line in the Looking Glass?
A: "Life wht is it but a dream?"

Q: What is ALICE PLEASENCE LIDDELL?
A: Acrostic

Q: All art inspires to the condition of what? (Walter Peter)
A: Art

Q: The text informs what?
A: Reality



GOOD LUCK!

Reading Alice as an adult...

Alright so I have never read Alice in Wonderland I was simply a Disney movie fan. So when I discovered that we had to read the book for this class I was excited, naturally. I really enjoyed the book when I got through it one lazy afternoon. I loved all of her adventures and the thought that she found another world through the mirror captured my imagination 100%. The only thing that really bothered me once I began looking back on the book was Alice.

I felt like Lewis Carroll put together this amazing piece of literature for everyone to get lost in and everybody does...minus Alice. She bothered me that she was unable to let her self get mixed up in the craziness of the wonderland. She was constantly interrupting all the characters when they began to tell her their stories. One good example is from the chapter The Mock Turtle's Story.

"The master was an old Turlte- we used to call him Tortoise---"
"Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't really one?" Alice asked
"We called him Tortoise because he taught us," said the Mock Turtle angrily. "Really you are very dull!"
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself for asking such a simple question," added the Gryphon.

I just don't understand why she cannot let things just sit and be as they are, it is very obvious that the girl has no imagination throughout the entire book. She just does not have any idea how amazing this place is that she has landed in because she wants to understand it all. But then I guess if she had this amazing imagination then wonderland would a different book all together. So it is probably a good thing that she is the way she is, but oh my gosh does it annoy me.

Children's lit in everyday life...

I remember that Dr. Sexson was mentioning that it doesn't really matter where you go during your day or what you are doing because you are probably going to run into children's lit somewhere along the way. It is almost impossible not to, its just a matter if you realize that it is there. I didn't know if I was entirely sold on that statement but then something happened and I realized, yeah he is right. I was in Boise the other day for a concert and during one of the songs I had Alice smack me right in the face. I realized that the lyrics from the song Live High included phrases from Alice Through the Looking Glass.

I try to picture a girl
Through a looking glass
See her as a carbon atom
See her eyes and stare back at them
See that girl
As her own new world
Though a home is on the surface, she is still a universe

Glory God, oh God is peeking through the blinds
Are we all here standing naked
Taking guesses at the actual date and time
Oh my, justifying reasons why
Is an absolutely insane resolution to live by

Live high
Live mighty
Live righteously
Takin it easy
Live high, live mighty
Live righteously

Try to picture the man
To always have an open hand
And see him as a giving tree
See him as matter
Matter fact he's not a beast
No not the devil either
Always a good deed doer
And it's laughter that we're making after all

The call of the wild is still an ordination why
And the order of the primates
All our politics are too late
Oh my, the congregation in my mind
Is this assembly singing of gratitude
Practicing their lovin for you

Live high
Live mighty
Live righteously
Takin it easy
Live high, live mighty
Oh live righteously

Take it all,
And just take it easy
And celebrate the malleable reality
You see nothing is ever as it seems
Yeah this life is but a dream

Lift me up to the almighty
Raise your hands and start acknowledging


Live high, live high
Live mighty, mighty, mighty,
Oh live righteously
Takin it easy
Live high, live mighty
Oh live righteously
Just take, just just taking it easy
Live high
Oh live mighty, mighty,
Oh live righteously
Take it all, just take it, take it easy
See live high,
Oh live righteously
Just take it easy




The very beginning of the song mentions the girl in the looking glass, and if that is not a giant clue then I don't know what is. The song continues to elude to this girl throughout the first stanza
and eventually there is a direct quote from Through the Looking Glass. The last words of the entire book show up in the form on song "life is but a dream". Hearing this song solidifies the idea that Lewis Carroll is the second more quoted person behind Shakspeare. For some reason Alice and all her adventures have captured the world's attention no matter what year or decade. Alice is very popular girl. Dr. Sexson was right, you can run into children's lit where ever you go if you look for it, even in Boise.

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