for the love of god

Steve Vai, Passion & Warfare

When he got the gig w/ David Lee Roth after DLR left Van Halen, most of us were skeptical.

Then we heard him play.

Unbelievable, & he has, if anything, improved w/ age. Dude can do anything, including orchestration now.

Frank Zappa was his mentor, & the influence is readily heard on all his work.

This one contains 1 of my 5 favorite guitar instrumentals, "For the Love of God."

(Though, I must say that years later he almost trumped that 1 w/ "Whispering a Prayer"; & as a final note, I suggest to you his album called The 7th Song, because Vai traditionally puts his centerpiece song as track 7, & all of them qualify as "fantastic," amazing," &/or "gorgeous."

& as a final final note--especially for those of you who are not as guitar-obsessed as some of us--Mike Kenneally  released a tremendous album titled Steve Vai Piano Reductions Vol. 1 in which he takes these intricate, huge  compositions & reinterprets them as 1 dude w/ 1 piano.

Beautiful.

Juniors:
Theory.

I absolutely love this stuff.

In short: why?

Then some more why?

(Ad infinitum).

(Or, maybe, "ad nauseum")

Religion.

Time.

You were introduced to the idea of the cultural/literary research, & you know that January is your month for choosing, reading, & researching, & February is your month for putting it all together & writing.

This will be tough & fun (well, "English-student" fun, not real fun . . . )

Remember: it's up to you, & I am here to guide, help to focus & then edit & sometimes proofread.

YES!!!


Sophomores:
We got the "Do Now" in, resolution-style.

We went over the 1st 1/2 of the ALHS English sophomore final.

Some of you all are in different periods, & I can barely recognize you.

Let's do this thing properly this semester. OK?

be cool