"eclectic" is the word

Funkadelic, One Nation Under a Groove.

I cannot say enough good things about Funkadelic.

So I won't really try.

But how about this song title: "Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?"

I love this one for so many reasons, but the major one has to do w/ the idea of overcoming boundaries &, especially societally-imposed labels.

Dude said something about my music being "random," & I responded w/ the title of this post.

Eclecticism makes this world go 'round.

Funkadelic embodied this concept.

I remember years ago at a guitar clinic, Gilby Clarke (then of Guns n Roses) stressing to all of us that we need to listen to all kinds of music, rockfunkjazzclassicalrapmetalbluescountrygrungehardcoreshowtunes & the rest.

So the 1st fellow who had a chance to ask a question began w/ "I just wanna say Guns n Roses rule all & I don't listen to nothin' else."

(here should be the "facepalm," preferably Picard, right?)

oh, what the heck:



You all have abilities & ideas that can make this world a better place. & so do a lot of other folks.

& we owe it to each other to . . . well . . . LISTEN.

Who says a funk band can't play rock?

Who says a "D-student" can't get an A when she puts in the effort?

Who says a kid in "honors" can't get way, way past the "nerd" label & still read, write, speak, listen & be really, really cool?

Who says we can't make things just a little better by caring, working, &, as Bill & Ted said, "being excellent to each other"?

Sadly, a whole lot of people do.

So, let's not be those people.

Juniors:

Seriously, Jonathan Swift was a man of ideas. As mentioned, a lot of folks didn't "get" him, didn't "like" his writings, & were probably a little scared about how well he knew them.

You took a cool McB-style quiz, in which there were no pointless facts but a whole lot of "what do you remember?" I mean, you got credit for asking a question.

We talked about kites, chickens, people, expectations, & all kinds of fun stuff.

You now know that Gulliver ate as much per day as 1724 (or 1728) Lilliputians, or that he left May 4, 1699, or that his "enemy" was Skyresh Bolgolam.

I had a reading schedule on the board, & this is what you need to know: you'll be done w/ Part I by Monday. If you read some today, fantastic . . . & if you didn't, you'll have 5 chapters for the weekend.

Sophomores:

Really, the dude just wanted to take a walk . . . I mean, come ON.

Vocabulary quiz, unit 1: every single answer had been covered in class, & even had you not completed the exercises a few minutes of listening gave you a study guide.

Oh, & you had your vision & hearing checked.

OR 1.3 now not due until MONDAY.

But, most important, tomorrow is Friday.

&, dare I say,


FORWARD!!!

be cool

"finally, a song I know"

I heard something like that each period of the day.

Song of the day: "When You Were Young."

The Killers, Sam's Town.

Big uproar when this one came out, because (gasp!) . . .the guys looked different. They went from Duran Duran to Bruce Springsteen. Didn't sound a lot different, but gave up the skinny ties for facial hair.

Good band, & singer Brandon Flowers has a solo album coming out next week.


Juniors:
Jonathan Swift had a fantastic mind, & he has made a ton of folks laugh out loud in the past 300 years. & yes, he has also angered lots of people. Today you got a taste of his "Thought on Various Subjects," & we had a pretty good little discussion on nice men, vision, religion, love & hate.

You also got started on the reading, & for tomorrow you will have read the 2 letters & chapters 1, 2,  & 3 from Book I.

HINT: the Lilliputians are really small.


Sophomores:
"The Pedestrian."

Dude just wanted to take a walk . . .

We went over the "completing the sentence" exercise, & you know that tomorrow's vocabulary quiz will have definitions, synonyms, & completions.

Many of you have been choosing not to do the homework, & that will negatively affect your grade, as you don't get those points . . .& it's hard to know the words if you, like, don't know hte words.

So, let's do this!!

(Double-exclamation point!!)

Also, vision & hearing screening tomorrow.

OR Update 1.3 due Friday..

"Forward," I say.

FORWARD!!!


(& large-style "be cool")

BOI-SE STA-ATE (clap clap clapclapclap)

Sufjan Stevens, Come on Feel the Illinoise.

He was going to do an album for each state, but that has yet to happen. Great album title, anyway.

Very nice folksy, mellow-ish stuff. Check it out.

Juniors: You learned a little about satire, which mostly seems to come in the animated world these days. Yes, that is a gross exaggeration, but The Boondocks,  South Park, Family Guy, The Simspons, maybe even Metalocalypse come to mind before anything else.

With permission, check out also The Onion online, the fakest news money does not buy.

This all leads into Jonathan Swift, the master satirist, whose Gulliver's Travels we begin in earnest tomorrow. Have your book & I guarantee you some reading time.

Speaking of "reading," as for the "outside reading" requirement . . . the advent of "Forward Fridays" has caused me to re-think Literature Circles & the assignments for the class.

Choose one of the books your classmates have presented, & get started reading. You must read 500 pages per quarter, which I know some of you do weekly.

Some assessment is to come, but it will be a few weeks away.

Just make sure you are reading.


Sophomores: you got your class-ring info, & don't forget --IF YOU ARE ALLOWED--to text that message & get in the raffle for the free ring.

We almost wrapped "A Very Old Man . . ." & you got back your "marginal notes" from that story, the OR 1.2, & unit 1 synonyms. I gave you a break, & if you turned in the "Completing sentences" today you could have earned 2 bonus points .  . . tomorrow, they will be collected for full credit.

 Unit 1 vocabulary quiz Thursday: definitions, synonyms, & "completions." The words will be on the quiz, & it's a veritable matching assignment.

Oh, & I have been a documented Boise St. fan for more than 10 years, for those of you who see the title & think "front-runner."

The list of "McB's  favorite college FBS teams":

1. Florida St.
2. Pitt
3. Boise St.
4. Oregon
5. LSU
6. Michigan St.
7. Georgia

be cool