Biopsych, as I have affectionately termed it, is challenging not because of the material but because of the professor. On an interesting side note, they call someone who holds a class a lecturer here, a professor is the head of the department. So, in actuality I am writing about my lecturer; he does a very poor job of presenting material. His slides are covered in paragraphs of writing which he does not address while he speaks. I am often critical of the professors at Berkeley but this is incompetence to a different degree. I think he is a more talented researcher than teacher; he has had us read one of his very extensive articles about fear and aggression.
European Cinema, is not what you might expect it to be, and it is certainly not what I thought I was signing up for. It is in fact a very detailed look at Weimar Cinema ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic ). All of the films are silent, save one, Blue Angel. The lecturer is very interested in the subject and seems very knowledgable. I am watching Noseferatu, the famous early vampire film, this afternoon. Sometimes, I find these films very slow moving and boring. The acting can be quite melodramatic and verging on ridiculous. However, there is a beauty in the way the actors move through the frames and a simplicity to the plots that are fun. In fact, I would liken early film criticism to something more like art history. We do a lot of frame by frame analysis which reminds me of talking about paintings. I am not entirely sure how important art criticism is, but, I enjoy doing it and so I suppose I will continue.
Now, here are some pictures of my kitchen and room!
