Good Will Hunting Essay Example for Free

Good Will Hunting Essay Sometimes our past can cause pain that doesn’t allow us to trust others. People we trust can cause us to put up a wall and look to other things for comfort. In the movie, Will Hunting found his comfort in books. Will Hunting needed a real friendship to help him open up his mind in order to discover that there is more to life than living through the books he reads. In the movie, there are four main characters, each different in many ways, that form individual friendships in the movie. One of the characters, Will Hunting works as a janitor at a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is a foster child and is living life through his experience in books and lacks real life knowledge. This is holding him back from becoming intimate with anyone. While working there he sometimes writes on the school’s math department blackboard and is soon discovered as a genius. Will gets caught fighting and is arrested and in leau of incarceration is put under the supervision of Gerald Lambeau, who attended and is now a professor at MIT. Under his supervision, per court order he must see a therapist and stay out of any trouble. Sean Maguire is a professor at a local community college and also grew up in the same town as Will and went to MIT. He is Will’s therapist and in the sessions challenges him to open up and stop living life through a book. A friendship develops and Sean tries to guide him to break his fear of intimacy. Chuckie Sullivan is a character in the movie that Will refers to as his brother. Chuckie is a nice guy with an aggressive attitude from being brought up in the rough side of Southie, Boston. Then there is a girl named Skylar, cute with a British accent and goes to Harvard University. She gets involved with Will Hunting and soon asks him to move with her to California where she will be attending at Stanford’s medical school program. Unfortunately, fear of intimacy prevents him from forming a relationship with her and breaks this friendship apart. Eventually, Will starts to see his true friendships with Chuckie, Sean and Skylar and starts to open up. He begins to trust others and takes a risk at experiencing life first hand outside the covers of a book. Will Hunting came from poverty, raised as a foster child in Southie. He didn’t trust people because he always looked at every angle of the relationship and assumed that in the end they wouldn’t be there for him. Professor Gerald Lambeau, who took pride in himself because of a Field Medals award which granted him public status, comes around to try to build a friendship with Will. Will soon realizes that Gerald is using him to gain social status, public recognition and to solve his difficult math problems. He then ends his relationship with Gerald because of his intensions. Then Sean, seeing what his former classmate, Gerald, was up to, soon becomes more than just Will’s therapist. Sean becomes a friend and tries to prevent Will from taking the same path as Gerald by only wanting social recognition. As Will’s Friend, Sean didn’t want him to fail. He wanted Will to succeed in life and take a chance and not just live it through a book. The doctor-patient relationship soon becomes a very close friendship. Towards the end of the movie Will leaves a note for Sean, â€Å"I had to see about a girl,† this was a quote from Sean’s story of his courtship with his wife. This lets Sean know he had decided to take a chance on life and to attempt to form a lasting relationship with someone he could trust. Will’s â€Å"brother† Chuckie, who is really Will’s best friend, also wanted him to succeed in life. He tries to encourage Will to take a chance in living a real life and tells Will, â€Å"You know what the best part of my day is? It’s for about ten seconds when I pull up to the curb to when I get to your door. Because I think maybe I’ll get up there and I’ll knock on the door and you won’t be there. No goodbye, no see you later, no nothing. Just left. I don’t know much, but I know that.† Will then sees that Chuckie might have a point and takes his friend’s advice. A few people come into Will’s life, some for real friendships and some just to gain public status. After discovering his true friendships, Will begins to enjoy their company and wants them in his life. He begins to build relationships he can count on. He is willing to take a chance and succeed in life and relationships, no longer needing books to fulfill this for him. He finally decides to trust and to look at the positive things life has to offer. On his 21st birthday, with the car, Chuckie and his other friends gave him, he packs up to head to California to pursue life. In the end, Will finds true friendships and decides to live his life outside of just a book.

Immorality In Television :: essays research papers

Vulgarity in TelevisionIn the early years of television people where much more sensitive to what was said and took offense to any form of obscene language. Even in the movies it was unacceptable. However, for many the standard for the use of vulgar language has expanded. In many shows on television vulgar words are used way to often. In many cases unnecessarily. These words do not bother me in the least. However, there are many parents with young children who are offended by this. This would not such a big deal if only the shows that carried these vulgarities would be shown later at night, as they where for many years. Also, most of the programs are not correctly rated to warn of there content.Besides using the basics of the swear words some programs take it to a different level. Instead of using the words themselves they use a form of slang in order to get around the censors. Although these words are not the same as the ones commonly used, they do share the same meaning. By having these programs use these words they are encouraging the children to use a new language that there parents do not understand. And because the parents do not understand the words the children then think it is all right to use profanity.Profanity in television is not so much a problem as it is an annoyance. It makes television more interesting to watch and can occasionally make a situation more humorous, but I do not enjoy it when a five-year-old calls their parents a-- holes to there face.Rating SystemRecently introduced to all the television shows is the new rating system. This system was implemented to warn about the kind of shows on television. The system tells whether the show is to mature for young children. However, does the system still have flaws? Although it does give an idea as to what the show contains, it does not tell as to the extent to which it is. An example would be the television show "Strangers with Candy." This program is extremely crude with little humor. Normally I enjoy crude humor, but this show is gross. It contains vulgarity, drug use, and sexually references. And to top it off the show is at 10:00. Shows like this should not be viewed any time. My point of bringing this up is to show how lose the system is.

Lawrence and Dobyns Essay Revision

The human mind is a complex and often mysterious force. While it has a great capacity for logic and reasoning, there is also a part of it that reacts in a more primal, emotional way. It not only controls what we think, but how we think, and often this can lead us to do things that we would not otherwise consider doing. These actions can become so much the center of our thoughts that we can think of nothing else. We are forced to follow a course of action that can prove to be quite detrimental, and often even deadly. It is possible for us to convince ourselves that there is only one possible solution to a dilemma, and because of that, we can find ourselves spiraling out of control and into an abyss of destruction with little chance of steering away from it. Both â€Å"Rocking Horse Winner† and â€Å"Kansas† illustrate this fact in different ways. D.H. Lawrence, in â€Å"Rocking Horse Winner,† uses the desire of a child, Paul, who wants desperately to gain the luck that he has been told his entire life that his parents have lacked, and in so doing help stop the whispers of a house that demands money. His mind sets on the need to acquire this luck however he must, and once he starts on the course to gain it, his fate falls into place. In his mind, gaining the luck seems to be a course for gaining his mother’s love instead of the sham with which he has lived his entire life. If only he can stop the whispers of the house, the â€Å"hard little place† (340) in his mother’s heart will dissolve and she will feel a genuine warmth and caring for her children. This hope becomes his obsession, and his mind locks on the solution that he sees, and nothing can deter him from his goals. Conversely, Stephen Dobyns, in the short story â€Å"Kansas,† writes about a farmer who sets his mind on the destruction of wickedness demonstrated by his wife and the man with whom she runs off. His mind is so set on this course of action that the boy who rides with him finds â€Å"the strength of his resolve† (109) more frightening than the gun that lies between them. The boy perceives it as possible that the farmer will do anything to achieve his goal, and the fear that this instills him in prevents him from taking actions that, later in life, he regrets not taking. In his old age, as he is dying, his mind plays over the scene and various possible results if only the boy of so many years before had tried to steer the course of the farmer’s resolve in another direction. Both of these stories by D.H. Lawrence and Stephen Dobyns demonstrate the power of the human mind to make one thought overcome all others so completely that there seems to be no other resolution. The thought becomes an obsession, and, while it is possible that the obsession could be diverted, the task is a difficult one. While Paul and the farmer share the fact that their minds have resolved that they have one way, and one way only, to accomplish their goals, those goals take vastly different forms. Paul wishes to acquire something, and he reaches out with his mind into a realm of fantasy in which riding his rocking horse will help him reach his dreams and make things right. The farmer is more practical in a way, keeping his thoughts focused on a more tangible way of solving his problem. However, while Paul wishes to create, the farmer wishes to destroy. Paul’s desire to grab onto luck and hold on and the farmer’s desire to rid the world of wickedness are both quite logical in their minds, while the futility of these desires is obvious to the reader. However, those who are obsessed can rarely, if ever, realize that such futility is present. They have to learn it on their own, but too often the results of their obsession are tragic. The stories also diverge in their similarities when considering other important characters. In â€Å"Rocking Horse Winner,† while others are allowed to see brief glimpses of Paul’s obsession, no one really knows to what lengths it has gone. Bassett and Oscar only know that Paul wishes to continue to gain money for the benefit of his mother. They don’t see the obsession until it is too late for them to do anything about it, if such a thing is possible. However, the boy in â€Å"Kansas,† quickly gets insight into the obsession of the farmer. While his time is more limited during the short ride he is given, he has a chance to try and divert the farmer from his murderous goal. The task is difficult, but the possibility is there, although his fear keeps the boy from giving it more than a weak attempt. He even goes so far as to promise not to talk to the police, which takes away the one other chance that he has to put a stop to the farmer’s plans. This leads to a dying obsession of the old man that the boy has become to ponder all of the other possible outcomes of his encounter from so many years before. He will never know what really happened, however, and this leads to his last moments being overcome by thoughts of what might have been. Love, or perhaps the lack of love, plays a part in both stories as well. It is obvious that this emotion is what spurs the boy in Lawrence’s story on to his obsession. He sees the chance to gain real love from his mother, and that chance taunts him and pulls him in to his obsession. While it is luck that he convinces himself that he really wants, and even needs, it is the lack of love from his mother that haunts him, and the desire to fill the void in himself becomes all encompassing. He effectively fools himself into thinking that luck is his great desire. In the end, perhaps he acquires his mother’s love, but by then it is too late. Dobyns demonstrates how love can be perverted and turned into something dark and evil. One can assume that the farmer loves his wife, but her betrayal of him, if it does not destroy that love, certainly twists it and makes him want to kill that which hurt him. He convinces himself in his mind that he is doing it to destroy the wickedness that he sees represented in this betrayal, and only by killing the objects of this wickedness will he set things right. Perhaps he believes that by destroying the object of his love he can destroy the pain that he surely feels because of the betrayal. He must â€Å"stomp it out† (108) because that is what he believes he is supposed to do and he resolves that it is something that only he can do, because he is the one who was betrayed, and his wife is his own business and not that of outsiders who he likely sees as interlopers who will rob him of his final resolution. While one might write off the actions of Paul as youthful ignorance, it is more difficult to excuse the farmer. His life experience should tell him that his intended actions are wrong, but his mind finds a way to twist this knowledge and turn it into something that seems justtified and even acceptable. Paul is his own victim, but the farmer has other victims in his sights, who seem right in his mind, for he was a victim of the wickedness exhibited by his targets. So we see in these two stories the power of the mind to destroy those that it rules. It can turn thoughts into overwhelming obsessions which lead people into actions that they would not normally consider. When paired with deep emotion, the possibilities of what a person will do to feed those obsessions increase to degrees that might not seem possible to that person or those people close to him or her.

Essay on The Vaccines for Children - 2506 Words

Introduction Starting in late 1994, the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program is a major privilege program that provides states with free vaccines for disadvantaged children. These vaccines are supplied by clinics and doctors that essentially register for the VFC program. By providers registering for the program, these clinics and doctors’ offices must conform to certain standards set by VFC as well as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) (Richard Kent Zimmerman, 2001). Overview of the program The Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program helps providing the appropriate vaccines to children whose parents or caregiver may not necessarily be able to afford or maintain appropriate health care thus having the children miss much†¦show more content†¦The VFC program monitors the success of children by making sure that are able to receive all of the necessary vaccinations. These children have to be in a certain financial class that has them otherwise unable to receive health insurance due to financial constraints of the parent (Katherine Hunting). Providing these effective immunization programs should not depend on modifications within the system before vaccinations are delivered more efficiently to U.S. children and adolescents. The current healthcare policies and practices in all settings result in the botch to distribute vaccines on schedule to many susceptible preschool-age children. This catastrophe is primarily due to obstacles that encumber vaccine distribution and mi ssed prospects during clinic visits. Modifications in policies and practices can instantaneously improve coverage. Policy development is the procedure of making choices as to how to address public issues. Assessment and investigation provide the suggestion groundwork for the expansion of policies that determine which practices to support, how resources need to be allocated, and how efforts should be mobilized to achieve the defined policy goals (Katherine Hunting). Legislative efforts have facilitated to inspire the delivery of immunizations within a patient-centered medical home. Requiring insurance to cover the cost ofShow MoreRelatedVaccines Do Not Blame Vaccines For Children?1271 Words   |  6 Pagesblame vaccines for making people short too? If parents do not blame vaccines on their kids shortness, why blame vaccines for autism?. For years there has been controversy about vaccines causing autism in children. The vaccine scare originally started when there was a report in 1998 on how the MMR vaccine can cause autism, which was later dismissed as false (Rao). The MMR vaccine is a vaccine t hat is used to protect against measles and mumps. Despite the lack of research and proof that vaccines causeRead MoreVaccines And Its Effects On Children1404 Words   |  6 Pagesadverse reactions from the vaccines? Today, there are many vaccines, they are in such high demand that even a simple flu has a vaccine. Vaccines are created to protect us. The main function of vaccines it to build our immune system and fight against many bacterias. However, adverse reactions have become severe over the last couple of years, leaving some parents with no child. Therefore, parents shouldn’t be punished for not vaccinating their children because, vaccines can cause many adverse reactionsRead MoreVaccines And Its Effects On Children1503 Words   |  7 Pagesawful diseases, while that is the last thing on most of the world’s minds now. Vaccines have transformed human life. Parents should vaccinate their children because it saves lives, the vaccines are safe, and the risks of not vaccinating can harm children more than the vaccines themselves. Vaccines were created in 1796 by Edward Jenner, an English scientist. Edward Jenner formed the Royal Jennerian Institute when vaccines became more popular, but experienced some opposition towards it because of peopleRead MoreVaccines And Its Effects On Children1325 Words   |  6 Pages Vaccines are essential to a person’s everyday life and well-being. A person who sneezed in their hand just touched the same door handle that everyone else does. Most people don’t worry that they touched the same item or breathe the same air as someone else because the risk of them contracting a disease such as polio, or diphtheria are extremely low because most people are vaccinated against such diseases. Without the creation of vaccines the population of the world could be completely eliminatedRead MoreVaccines And Its Effects On Children1339 Words   |  6 PagesNowadays, there are many vaccines invented by different scientists. Vaccines are so much in demand that even a simple flu has a certain vaccine. They have been invented to protect us. Its main function is to build our immune system and allow it to work against different kinds of bacteria. However instead of helping us fight against infection and certain diseases, vaccines can be the main cause of infection a nd diseases. Because of its live-attenuated organism, which means the pathogens were partiallyRead MoreVaccines Do Not Blame Vaccines For Children?1763 Words   |  8 Pagesblame vaccines for making people short too? If parents do not blame vaccines on their kids’ height, why blame vaccines for autism? For years there has been controversy about vaccines causing autism in children. The vaccine scare originally started when there was a report in 1998 on how the MMR vaccine can cause autism, which was later dismissed as false (Rao). The MMR vaccine is a vaccine that is used to protect against measles and mumps. Despite the lack of research and proof that vaccines causeRead MoreVaccines And Its Effects On Children1010 Words   |  5 PagesVaccines Debates have risen lately whether or not to vaccinate children. Although vaccines potentially cause negative side effects, they are a common procedure for most families each year. Over time, several case studies have developed highlighting these side effects and raised concern about whether or not to accept vaccines. However, many people are not familiar with the typical vaccine and what it actually does once inside the body. â€Å"A vaccine is consisted of killed or weakened versions of aRead MoreVaccines And Its Effects On Children914 Words   |  4 PagesVaccines have saved millions of lives since they were first invented hundreds of years ago. But, they continue be a much debated topic among doctors and parents. Their benefits are often disputed because of so-called dangers related to their administration. Although vaccines are extremely effective, parents still have the power to decide if their children will receive them or not. As a result of parents choosing to not vaccin ate their children, others may become ill and government spending increasesRead MoreVaccines And Its Effects On Children1400 Words   |  6 Pages Vaccines have changed the life of children with making some illnesses obsolete. The majority of parents are making sure that their children get vaccinated against potentially serious diseases. The parents that get their children vaccinated are trying to prevent the reoccurrence of these deadly illnesses. The problem arises when you have these children that have not been vaccinated around children not of age to get the vaccine for a particular disease. The older children get the disease and giveRead MoreVaccines And Its Effects On Children1463 Words   |  6 Pagesnot until 1796 when Edward Jenner revolutionized medical technology, with the first record of vaccines. Vaccines have diminished these diseases going from very common to little or none. Setting requirements on vaccines will not assist the reduction or eliminate them, but will also protect our youth from the wide-spread variety of deadly diseases. Multiple individuals do not truly understand what vaccines are and their true benefits and advantages of receiving them. When an individual gets ill,

How to Analyze a File Line By Line With Python

One of the primary reasons people use Python is for analyzing and manipulating text. If your program needs to work through a file, it is usually best to read in the file one line at a time for reasons of memory space and processing speed. This is best done with a while loop. Code Sample for Analyzing Text Line by Line fileIN open(sys.argv[1], r) line fileIN.readline() while line: [some bit of analysis here] line fileIN.readline() This code takes the first command line argument as the name of the file to be processed. The first line opens it and initiates a file object, fileIN. The second line then reads the first line of that file object and assigns it to a string variable, line. The while loop executes based on the constancy of line. When line changes, the loop restarts. This continues until there are no more lines of the file to be read. The program then exits. Reading the file in this way, the program does not bite off more data than it is set to process. It  processes the data it does input faster, giving its output incrementally. In this way, the memory footprint of the program is kept low, and the processing speed of the computer does not take a hit. This can be important if you are  writing a CGI script that may see a few hundred instances of itself running at a time.   More About While in Python The while loop statement repeatedly executes a target statement as long as the condition is true. The syntax of the while loop in Python is:   while expression: statement(s) The statement may be a single statement or a block of statements. All the statements indented by the same amount are considered to be part of the same code block. Indentation is how Python indicates groups of statements.

Psychological And Psychological Aspects Of Psychological...

â€Å"Complex psychological trauma is defined as resulting from exposure to severe stressors that (1) are repetitive and prolonged, (2) involve harm or abandonment by caregivers†¦a responsible adult, and (3) occur at developmentally vulnerable times in the victims’ life, such as early childhood or adolescence† (Courtois Ford C. A., 2009, p.13). Jim experienced prolonged physical and psychological abuse and witnessed IVP between his parents until the age of 14. The abuse by his father continued until he was 18. His entire childhood, he had to live in a place of fear, he was vulnerable, unsure of how he would be treated, and likely felt helpless. As a result, he did not form a secure attachment to his parents, did not learn healthy coping mechanisms, and had to adapt to the unsafe environment and desired an attachment to his parent/s. â€Å"All of the abused child’s psychological adaptations serve the fundamental purpose of preserving her primary attachment to her parents in the face of daily evidence of their malice, helplessness, or indifference: the child resorts to a wide range array of psychological defenses to accomplish this† (Judith Herman, 1997, p. 102). There were many things that were shared in reference to his childhood that, in a different setting, I would have liked have explored. Two areas being his substance abuse and his relationship with his mother after the abuse stopped. Regarding the use of alcohol: Did he drink with his father and did it feel like a bondingShow MoreRelatedPsychological Aspects Of Sexually Abused Women And The Trauma Recovery And Empowerment1593 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction The topic of this article will focus on psychological aspects of sexually abused women and the trauma recovery and empowerment. Sexual abuse can be well defined as sexual assaults and sexual exploitation of the individual, which include the following: Rape, Incest, Molestation and Voyeurism. An assortment of 15 empirical studies will compare and contrast their findings of psychological sexual abuse and trauma recovery. Individuals that are victims of sexual abuse can undergo many issuesRead MoreAnalysis Of The Attacks Of 9 / 11 And The Issue Of Survivors Guilt1147 Words   |  5 Pagesthe psychological problem of â€Å"survivor’s guilt† and PTSD of the attacks of 9/11. Media reports often project the trauma of the attacks of 9/11 through the personal experiences of â€Å"survivor guilt†, which continually effect the victims of the event. The original footage of the attacks of 9/11 shows the gruesome and horrific of the destruction of the Twin Towers and the vict ims, yet over time, the survivors of these attacks are continually neglected by the government in terms of psychological treatmentRead MorePsychological Trauma And Behavior Of The Cold Blood By Truman Capote1139 Words   |  5 PagesPsychological Trauma and Behavior â€Å"In 1990, a landmark case went to trial in Redwood City, California. The defendant, George Franklin, Sr., 51 years old, stood trial for a murder that had occurred more than 20 years earlier. The victim, 8-year-old (Susan Kay Nason, was murdered on September 22, 1969). Franklin s daughter, Eileen, only 8 years old herself at the time of the murder, provided the major evidence against her father. What was unusual about the case is that Eileen s memory of witnessingRead MoreThe Effects of Psychological Trauma on Family Essay1091 Words   |  5 PagesPsychological Trauma can alter, destroy and create a lot of bad impacts in a person’s life. The main definition of psychological trauma is the results of unique individual experience of an unusually event that invaded a person’s sense of security and safety, making he or she feels helpless and at risk of dangerous situation, and the ability to assimilate his or her emotional experience is overwhelmed at certain situatio n. (Lawrence Robinson, 2011) A much more serious psychological trauma canRead MoreVictims Of Fear : The Social Psychology Of Repression1702 Words   |  7 Pages The employment of torture to an individual not only leaves a physical and psychological mark, but creates an altered reality that the victim must now adjust to. The authors of Victims of Fear: The Social Psychology of Repression, argue that â€Å"Like all experiences of trauma, the torture experience needs to be worked through in the context in which it occurred by reconstructing and reliving it in all its horror and thereby coming to terms with its personal and social meaning† (Salimovich,80). AlternativelyRead MoreTorture in Abu Ghraib Essays1643 Words   |  7 Pagesincluding the enhanced interrogation techniques [in which Keller included waterboarding], are harmless psychological ploys is contradictory to well established medical knowledge and clinical experience. (â€Å"CNN†, 2007) In this paper, I summarize the article and identify relevant information and any changes that may have occurred since the publication of this article. I will also offer comments and aspects pertaining to material provided. Article Summary Keller (2008) wrote, documented and describes inRead MoreWhat Makes A Child Butt Out At Their Parents And Others? Essay1593 Words   |  7 PagesWhat makes a child lash out at their parents and others? Does the impact of war life destroy a veteran’s home? These are questions that medical professions analyze daily in psychological treatments of individuals. Psychological theory is the science that models the understanding of human thoughts, emotions and behaviors (Cherry, 2016). What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? PTSD is a very serious anxiety disorder that occurs in an individual following an unsuspected experience or even by witnessingRead MoreAlcohol Use Disorder Is An International And National Problem1006 Words   |  5 Pagesindividual and societal level. This essay looks into the development and maintenance of Alcohol Use Disorder in relation to the Biopsychosocial model. The model focuses on three main concepts, biological, psychological and social factors that affect the addictive behaviours. In particular, genetics, trauma and environmental pressures will be used as examples to illustrate the uptake and maintenance of Alcohol Us Disorder. The theory and the addictive behaviour will be applied to the youth community toRead MoreThe Employment Of Child Soldiers1653 Words   |  7 Pagesmilitias. Worldwide, the employment of child soldiers flourishes, but the damaging psychological, physical, and social effects provides overwhelming evidence for the restriction of this practice. Any trauma has the potential to spark psychological problems that can interfere with a person’s daily routine for the rest of their life. Research on child soldiers has concluded that the greatest contributor to psychological problems comes from experiencing rape, wounding someone, or killing a person (â€Å"StudiesRead MoreDissociative Amnesia Essay1544 Words   |  7 Pagesthe 1800’s. In the article, â€Å"Evidence of Dissociative Amnesia in Science and Literature: Culture-Bound Approaches to Trauma in Pope, Poliakoff, Parker, Boynes, and Hudson (2007)† written by Goldsmith, et al. the authors find evidence of the disorder in the work of prominent historical authors. In fact, Goldsmith writes, â€Å"literary descriptions of amnesia following psychological trauma indicate that this phenomenon has indeed been known and observed over time.† Authors such as Charles Dickens and Rudyard

Phish Essay Example For Students

Phish Essay PhishFriends since high school, the members of Phish have rocked the world and its millions of fans since 1991. Many who are not familiar with Phishs music may hear the songs and consider them similar to the Greatful Dead, after all, they do have many things in common. After reading this paper, hopefully the reader will figure out for themselves the distinction, and experience a new insight into world of music featuring Phish. Trey Anatasio, the lead singer of Phish, had been writing music since high school. A native of New Jersey, Trey failed elementary music class not because he was a bad musician, but because he had poor behavior. That did not hold him back though. Trey completed his high school experience in Connecticut. An avowed Led Zeppelin fan, Trey caught onto the drums very quickly, but still had yet to pick up a guitar. It was not until his junior year that Trey began playing the guitar, but his virtuosity was immediately apparent (Bernstein, 1). Martin 2College was where Phish was put together. In his first month at the University of Vermont, Trey teamed up with fellow freshman, Jonathan Fishman (Fish), when Trey heard drumming through his dormitory walls and investigated the source of the sublime rhythms (Bernstein, 3). The next member, Jeff Holdsworth, was found in much of the same way. The three teamed up and jammed together in one of the rec rooms at school. Mike Gordon joins the band next, responding to signs posted around campus. As it turned out, Jeff knew someone who needed a band for an ROTC Halloween party to be held in the basement of a campus dorm. The band volunteered to take the gig. Even though they had only been playing together for a few months, they had assembled a play list of cover tunes and a demo tape. They played under the temporary name of Blackwood Convention (Bernstein, 4). Around 1985, the members of the band came up with the name Phish, when horsing around with Jon Fishmans last name. It stuck and that became the name of the band. After the name was established, the band started to get more and more gigs. They signed a five week contract with a local bar to play happy hour every Thursday. The bar, although popular, did not attract big crowds, but the band did however, attract loyal fans. One fan, Amy Skelton, Martin 3claims to be the first Phish fan, and is now their merchandise manager. Trey and the band managed to do something few in the rock and roll history have ever done. Some of their very first songs were classics?and remain some of the most adored tunes in the bands repertoire, proving that although it would be another decade before fans would hear these songs, the creative acumen was present at the bands genesis (Bernstein, 5). By 1988, Phish began playing out-of-state shows. They had their loyal fans, but with each show, more and more faces began to show up and stay with the band. Hot spots such as Greenwich Village, Boston, Colorado, and New Hampshire, were all part of the bands first tour. The winter and spring of 1989 marked one of the most important periods of the bands development. They finished recording an album at Euphoria Studios in Revere, MA, laying down six new tracks after putting four on tape in the fall of 1987. The albums title was Junta. By that summer, Phish had an entire staff in place, which would remain with them through their ascent into arenas in the mid 1990s (Gehr, 3). As the staff grew, the bands following and fans grew as well. Their next album, Lawn Boy, was released that September and the 10,000 copies that were printed sold out Martin 4within a short period of time. Unfortunately, the label, Rough Trade Records went out of business shortly after that and the band did not see a dime of the money (Bernstein, 8). Phishs earnings that year were humble, but consistent. They even managed to find their way onto top-concert earners chart. With this little bit of fame, the band still did not have a record label. Elektra Records though, had their eye on them, and Phish saw the deal with Elektra, a definite possibility. .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667 , .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667 .postImageUrl , .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667 , .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667:hover , .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667:visited , .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667:active { border:0!important; } .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667:active , .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667 .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ua88264c2b3fca5cd06c9deaeb6025667:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: A Christmas carol was written by Charles Dickens EssayA Picture of Nectar was the next released album. It took them off the road in June, but fans were craving more, so the band was ready to tour again in July. The next spring, yet another album, Hoist, was released. This became the bands fifth album. Finally, a video was released for the single Down With Disease off of Hoist. The band did not like doing it and they did not like the finished product. Trey told the Washington Post that it was too commercial (Gehr, 11). Controversy did arise, however not between the band members, but the fans. Many were saying that all of the favorite Phish songs were five years old . Phish heard the criticism and responded with a free benefit concert introducing six new songs. The fans loved the new songs along with the psychedelic abandon, the open-ended jamming, Martin 5and the delicate vocalization that they had grown so fondly of. Their next album was the first live album that they had put on the market. A Live One was released the next June and received respectable air-play. The secret of this little Vermont band was starting to get out and this little band was about to get really big. Phish ended their stellar year with two sold out concerts in Madison Square Garden. Their sales exploded from $200,000 in 1991 to $15.2 million in 1995 (Gehr, 24). In 1996, Phish had just finished recording their latest album, Billy Breathes. They played at the New Orleans Heritage Festival and so many fans, soon to be called Phish heads took this Mardi Gras town by storm. The music, similar to the Greatful Dead psychedelically speaking, was and still is something you listen to, not something that you just hear. The fans were made up of college students, teenagers, and hippies who also listened to the Dead. The audience gathered hours before shows and hung out in parking lots. Phish sometimes even made their way to the lots to meet the fans who made them so popular. Phish did not stop there. Their next album, Slip, Stitch, and Pass, also produced show stopper tunes that the fans craved to hear every show. Martin 6All of the Phish shows are different and unique. Since their set lists are always up in the air, each show is comprised of different jams, and unique variations to their songs. Audience participation is encouraged and the fans really get into the whole aura of Phish. The band has toured Europe many times and has always come back to give an amazing performance at some random spot in the United States. From Indian Reservations to Air Plane landing fields, the band now draws over 65, 000 people at each show. Usually, the same people are seen over and over at shows, however the new fans become drawn to the shows and often come back for more. The band will continue to make records and will continue to please its followers as long as they stay together. Whenever the band leaves the stage for good, they will have left their legacy behind. The thousands that came to know the band through other means than radio and music videos are living proof that the power of music can operate outside the confines of the modern business that music has become. Music Essays