finally

UFO MIT SAT ACT PST TMZ OMG

UFO, The Best of UFO (1974-1983)



Classic rock, they call it.

Another underrated band, mayhaps lost in the shuffle of Sabbath, Zeppelin, Purple, AC/DC et al.

Key tracks: "Doctor Doctor," "Rock Bottom," & "Lights Out."

Oh, & Eddie Trunk from That Metal Show absolutely loves these guys.

Juniors:
DO NOW:
“What the words will mean to other people will depend on where they are in their lives, and what their interests are, though meaning may also be conveyed directly to their unconscious whether they consciously understand the words or not.”  --John Frusciante



Another quotation from a guitarist, not an "author" or "critic."


Another day of good expression of ideas & opinions, based on my favorite recent concept, interpretation, & the feeling-vs-meaning debate.


Also, the added benefit of a visit from a current MIT student, Zach Ybarra, who gave you some really good scoop on college.


& I'm sure many of you attended AP Night for more info on your future.


Please remember that "table":


(in no particular order)


1. academics--GPA
2. test scores (SAT, ACT, AP)
3. extracurriculars
4. interview/application letters


Sophomores:
You did 1 of these:
A1: describe a time in which you changed your mind about a song/film/TV show/book/whatever
A2: describe a time in which youo & a friend vehemently disagreed about a song/film/TV show/book/whatever
OR
B: explain the idea of liking w/out truly "consciously" understanding.


Then, we went the verb route.


"That's what's happening."


Yes, there is  major difference between the grammatically correct sentences


"I do well."


&


"I do good."


So. let's all do well on the OR tomorrow, & let's do good over the long weekend.


be cool

today . . .

. . . we listened to The Clash.

The Story of the Clash, Vol. 1.

& this has become "greatest-hits week."

There won't be any new Vol. 2 here, as the band broke up many years ago, & singer/guitarist Joe Strummer died in 2002.

The Clash were among the punk pioneers, & their mixture of pop, punk, reggae, & rock stylings w/ politically-charged--& sometimes absurd--lyrics brought us much joy & thought back in the '70s & 80s.

Key tracks: "Rock the Casbah," "Should I Stay or Should I Go," "Train in Vain," "Lost in the Supermarket,"Janie Jones," "London Calling," & many, many more.

Really, just go check 'em out.

Juniors:
THINK NOW:
Shirley Brice Heath, quoted in Franzen's "Perchance to Dream": 
“‘This is precisely what readers are saying: that reading good fiction is like reading a particularly rich section of a religious text. What religion and good fiction have in common is that the answers aren’t there, there isn’t closure. The language of literary works gives forth something different with each reading. . . . But unpredictability doesn’t mean total relativism. Instead it highlights the persistence with which writers keep coming back to fundamental problems. Your family versus your country, your wife versus your girlfriend.’” (49)



We defined "relativism" & discussed situational ethics.

(pause for fist-pump)

Good discussions, covering Toy Story, Spider-Man, TV & film, life in general.

You guys rock.

For tomorrow: pages 32-38 in the Handbook, "Approaches in Practice."

Enjoy.

Sophomores:
Pronouns, adjectives, verbs.

That's what's happening.

NOTE: I forgot to remind you--though it was clearly written on the board & posted on my TeacherWeb site--to bring your unit 7 definitions today, & about 7 of you did the work.

So . . . we reminded ourselves of formats, you started them in class, & I said I would accept them tomorrow for full credit.

Those of you who turned 'em in today get an extra 2 points.

be cool

yesterday . . .

. . . there was no post: I was working the basketball game.

Yesterday's music:



Rainbow, Catch the Rainbow: The Anthology.

Ritchie Blackmore is 1 of the most underrated rack musicians of the past 40 years.

His work w/ Deep Purple is legendary, & his influence on rock guitar cannot be overstated.

Yeah, Yngwie is his fault, but that's OK.

Anyway, w/ Ronnie James Dio, then Graham Bonnet, & eventually joe Lynn Turner singing, Rainbow rocked.

Key tracks:

Dio: "Man on the Silver Mountain," "Stargazer," & "Long Live Rock N Roll."

Bonnet: "Since You Been Gone," "All Night Long," & "Eyes of the World."

Turner: "Can;t Happen Here," "Stone Cold," & "Street of Dreams."

Now, Ritchie Blackmore plays medieval music w/ his wife, Candice Night, in the seemingly aptly--though mayhaps sexist & possessive in a way--Blackmore's Night.

Yep, medieval music.

Juniors:
DO NOW:
In  How to Read Novels Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster explains this relationship:
Much of the continuing appeal of the novel lies in its collaborative nature; readers invest themselves in the characters’ stories, becoming actively involved in the creation of meaning. At the same time, they are rewarded by pleasures that are more intimate than the essentially vicarious genres of drama and film. (xiii)


We defined "vicarious" & discussed further takes on interpretation, readers, & writers.



The precritical response, & now the "traditional" approaches.




Sophomores:
Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, oh my.

Remember demonstrative & interrogative.

Personal, indefinite.

Concrete, abstract.

All that fun stuff.

Ahead, there be verbs. . .

Grammar rocks!!!

be cool

"championship"

Michael Hedges, Beyond Boundaries

Also, notice those 2 words at the bottom of the pic above--Guitar Solos. I love those 2 words together.

Listen to Hedges--he was a true innovator.

Got to go--the "BCS Championship Game" is on, & I'm not gonna go on a tangent about how corrupt the whole NCAA system in general & BCS specifically is, I'm just gonna go watch Oregon's sweet new unis in action.

For the record, I think Auburn wins, & I'm superstitious enough to type that because I'm rooting for Oregon.

Juniors:
Literary geography--you must think about "place" in your reading & in your life.

Remember that.

We'll go over the Prologue tomorrow.

Sophomores:
Library for SSR books, & a few of you used the time well. I appreciate that.

Back to the classroom & the nouns & pronouns.

be cool

end Vai week

Mike Keneally, Steve Vai Piano Reductions Vol 1

Previewed this earlier in the week, & decided to make it the Friday music.

Oh, & I meant to sit down & write this friday evening, & yeah, here it is Sunday . . .

Wow, that there time, she sure flies.

Anyway, I LOVE the fact that this album is called Vol. 1, because that means there will be a Vol. 2.

Keneally takes the huge orchestrations of a typical Vai song & minimizes them to 1-guy, 1-instrument performances. Really, really cool; makes me realize just how great the melodies are.

Highly recommended; also, I'll have more Keneally for you in the future--another fantastic all-around musician, he is.

Juniors:
Back to Foster, that dude who has all the good quotations about literature.

We had some great discussions about politics in literature, & that kind of stuff reminds me why I love this job.

You are in the process of choosing a book or 2 or 3, as you had heard before & were officially "assigned" Monday.

Remember: you are embarking upon cultural-studies research w// a literary slant. You MUST read a new work of literature this quarter, but you may attack that work from a psychological, sociological, historical, biographical, philosophical, structural (or 1 of many other words that end in -al) perspective.

This is gonna get good.

Also, reading quiz MOnday on the poem "To His Coy Mistress" & the short story "Young Goodman Brown."

Sophomores;
All OR, all period--we'll get back to the nouns, pronouns, & such Monday.

For those of you who were having trouble w/ the new OR format, remember that we will do 1 together in class, as it says on the paper, FRIDAY.

So, you have several more days to get a book & get reading.

be cool