GO BREWERS!

Non-Places and Solitude

Marc Auge wrote the book Non-Places: An Introduction to an Anthropology to Supermodernity. This week, I had to read a portion of his book. The portion that I read dealt with the difference between a “place” and a “non-place”. His references to non-places are that they distance the people from the place. These non-places are not places that people invest emotional value into them. It is just a place where people go, to either get to another place or use that place for a specific purpose and then leave. Some of the examples that we talked about in class are terminals, lecture halls, elevators, a drive-thru, and a bus.

My assignment was to go to a non-place and write my reflections onto my blog. Since I live far away from campus, I have had to use the Madison Metro bus system. So the last time I road the bus I paid particular attention to the people and what goes on in the bus. When I ride the bus I feel like I am not connected to anyone. I put on my headphones, listen to my I-pod and wait until I get to my destination. As I look around, I see that almost everyone else is doing the same. Some people are listening to their I-pods, some reading, and some doing homework. Even people, who get on the bus together, rarely talk. We had coined the term “shared solitude” in class and I think that it fits for this specific example. There are no relations on a bus; the riders are just using this service as a means to get where they want to be. In the side notes of my reading, my professor wrote that people “can become accustomed to non-places (if it is frequented enough)”. This is exactly how it was for me and the bus. I had never ridden on public transportation before I came to Madison. At first I felt really awkward, I didn’t have an I-pod so I had nothing to listen to and I didn’t know the “rules” or norms that are followed when riding the bus. Sometimes I felt like talking to people that I didn’t know but I never could because people are so engrossed in their own activities or rarely make eye contact. As time went by I became acclimated and accepted the fact that I would just mind my own business until I got off of the bus.

One question that I had about Auges’ book was on Page 87, when he talked about the difference between movement and solitude. I had a hard time trying to connect to the message that he was trying to get across.

Also, this week in class we are watching Lost In Translation by Sofia Coppola. So far I find it very entertaining. The first half had been a story about how Bill Murray, who plays a movie star, and Scarlett Johansson, who plays a newlywed, are strangers who meet in Tokyo and become friends. To me the movie makes fun of non-places and portrays them to an extreme. I think that knowing what non-places are, makes the movie better.

Spring Break

I just got back from Spring Break and I am finished putting away all of my stuff. I went home last Thursday and had to go to work right away. Then on Friday I had to work at The Greens, a restaurant/bar in my hometown that my mom manages. During work, I helped with bussing, doing the dishes, waiting on tables, and cooking. Then, the bartender wanted to leave so I had to bartend until closing time.

On Monday, I went to two movies. First, I went to the Hills Have Eyes 2. I don’t really know why I went to it but I went to the first one so I wanted to finish off the sequel. I don’t know if anyone else has seen it, but I thought it was pretty bad. It was totally predictable. At the beginning of the movie, I guessed who was going to still be alive at the end of the movie. But the bad part, is that they left it open to make a Hills Have Eyes 3. The second movie that I went to see was Blades of Glory. It was much better. But I didn’t think it was as good as I had heard. Everyone told me that it was really great but I don’t think it wasn’t even close to Will Ferrells’ best movie.

On Wednesday, I went to see TMNT with my nephew and my brother-in-law. I wasn’t expecting much because it was animated. But I had to see it because the cartoon is awesome and the first three movies are even better. I thought it was pretty good but I think that if someone didn’t really like the turtles they wouldn’t like the movie.

Then on Thursday, I got to go to La Crosse to see some of my friends that I haven’t seen in a long time. I had a really good time. I got to drink three different kinds of beer that I have never had before. I had a Scottish beer called Skull Splitter, Red Stripe, and a variety of Samuel Adams.

Then I had to work on this last Friday night. We were really busy for the fish fry because it was the last Friday of Lent. Then after work, I got to go out in Sparta with my sister and my brother-in-law.

Then today, I went to church and then I had brunch with my family up at our cabin. We had so much food up there and I ate way too much. That was about all I did over break. I worked and got to see my friends and my family. The bad part, is that I had a lot of homework to do and I didn’t get any of it done. Oh well, I guess I will just have a busy week. Now, I am going to finish watching Boondock Saints.