Connections or symbols? Both?

Guernica, by Pablo Picasso is a response to the bombing of Guernica where 1654 people were killed, 200-400 of which were civilians. In the painting, you can see all the distressed faces off all the people and animals. I noticed in the painting that everyone is looking up as if there was someone there that they thought could help. Maybe a call to god uttering a single syllable. Why. Or could they be looking up because they were cursing at the Nazi's who were bombing them from above.

Guernica is probably the most complex painting I have ever laid eyes on an I dont think none could decipher it but Picasso himself. Picasso explains the bull and horse by saying "This bull is a bull. This horse is a horse. If you give meaning to certain things in my painting it may be very true, but it is not my idea to give this meaning. What ideas and conclusions you have got I obtained too, but instinctively, unconsciously. I make the painting for the painting. I paint objects for what they are."A quote that I found that really strikes me is when a Nazi soldier found Picasso, at that time viewing Guernica, the soldier said "did you paint this?" Picasso replied with "I didn't you did". One more thing is that the whole painting is in different shades of one colour. I this this is to go against racism because we are all the same colour just different shades so if you make fun of me, you are making fun of yourself

The painting is an anti war symbol and probably the most complex one I have seen. The secrets of Guernica? We may never know about it. There are many paintings around the world with lots of meanings that have been lost in time. This is probably my favorite piece of work by Picasso. Because I love mysteries.

I chose Starry Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh because the stars are high above the town and that kind of tree thing on the left is trying to reach up and catch the stars just as the sad people in Guernica were reaching up to try to find liberation from this terror. Both artists are great

Music. Self explanatory.

Thxa Soa thinks that Burma is a very closed country and he brings music to Burma. He believes that if the people of Burma like it, then why cant they get it? He also feels sad for the Burmese people because they rarely get to enjoy the great things that music has to offer and sees no reason on why they cant enjoy it.

In my opinion I defiantly feel that Soa is doing the right thing by introducing music to Burma. I honestly cannot think how life would be like without music. Even just taking two sticks and hitting a wall to make a beat is sometimes what makes you feel content. without music life would be so boring. So bland, tasteless. Music is not just for enjoyment, it is to express yourself as it is an art. It is to get your emotions out and if people are denied that, then they are getting denied a human right.

When I get in a bad mood, I instantly pick up my guitar, turn on my amp and start jamming to my favorite songs or just making up improvisation solos. Almost instantly, I forget the world and get into a musical trance. It almost feels as though I am god him/her self. Making the sounds of those notes that just takes the life out of me and eventually triggering me to achieve nirvana, the perfect state. It all depends on my mood. If I am mad I turn it up till I can hear no more. If I just need a fresh start to the day, I use my acrostic or make a cleaner sound with my amp. Both ways lead to the same calm state of a new beginning. I think this relates to religion because I have read in many books about people who have done more than one religion and they all say that the paths are different, but the where the path ends is the same for every religion. Water. When English take the clear blue substance from the tap they call it "water". When Malays draw it from the tap they call it "air". When Indians see the liquid they call it "pani". When the Spanish touch the shapeless form they call is "agua". Ultimately in all languages it is the same. Different languages call it different things but to everyone it is the blue shapeless liquid found in rivers, lakes and oceans, which all of us draw it from.

Music can be used in many different way and no one, not even Chuck Norris has the authority to take it away from people. If they do, we will revolt. What better way than with music itself. Well played Soa

I chose this picture because it represents a persons mind in torment. Painted by Wassily Kandinsky, each individual shape is a different idea and so many ideas at once causes stress. To clear the mind, you must find a path to your perfect state and subdue the thunderclouds that torment you. Music is one of these paths and if people deny it from you, it is hard to express yourself and make yourself mentally healthy. Music is a need and you cant take away needs.

Gods word will be done by us and us only

Eboo Patel believes that we should be able to live comfortably and be friendly to every religion and religion shouldn't matter at all for anything for interacting with one another. What does it matter if you are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Catholic or Jewish? We are still human beings and each person should be treated the same. We are should be looking at the same direction, comfortable, yet apart.

I think Patel is right in saying that we must be comfortable with each others presence and try to help each other. In other speeches, it makes me feel as though they want a Christian person and Muslim person to walk around holding hands all day long. Our school for example is an extremely diverse place. We are all in one community and that is the school community and everyone is in it no matter where you are from, but we are not holding hands and walking down the hall. We are comfortable in each others presence and we dont care if they are Hindu, Christian, Muslim or Jewish. We accept them for who they are.

I have seen people calling each other names according to their skin colour or what they believe in. I do not support this yet like Patel and Jesus Colon, I did not do anything to stop this. This is because I have had other personal experiences where I have seen fights and then there was a good person who tried to stop the fight but in the end, all of them got suspended. If that happened to me, how good would that look on my record? It could affect me for life. Patel has now opened my eyes to see that not taking action will affect me for life because I will be left with the guilt of not helping that Patel and Jesus Colon have now. They have atoned for that by doing good deeds for others to a greater degree. They have also taught me that I have to take action when I can. Action separates opinions and beliefs

I chose this picture because this represents all of the people who want to make a difference but dont have the courage to take action to do so. All our idea are all scrambled up and never made into affect because we are not going further. However it looks beautiful because ultimately our ideas are for the good of mankind. Peace makers all over the world want to shape this not into idea, but an action that we will all follow.