Uli Jon & Cee-Lo & Roland Barthes & Judas Coyne

Last Friday, it was this:

You can read it.

& that guitar--the "Sky Guitar," he calls it--is simply awesome.

He played w/ The Scorpions in the '70s & then unleashed his Jimi/neo-classical stylings threafter.

Yep, he did.

Great guitarist.

Key tracks: "War of the Winds," Transfiguration," "The Heart of Chopin," & "Sky Overture."

Today it was this:


You can read that 1, too.

We won't get into the difference between "Forget You" & the other version, except to sat I am interested in the controversy around the Grammy nomination. Last I remember was The Black-Eyed Peas song "Let's Get It Started," which also came to be w/ a different title.

I am no fan of censorship--part & parcel to being an "English teacher"--but I can understand this one completely. Really, really catchy song.

Juniors:
Does the author matter?

Well, it probably all hinges on the way in which you choose to think about that question.

Barthes says "no," but I say "sometimes."

& I think many of you agree w/ me.

& in our discussions, which included Christopher Nolan & Rob Zombie from the movies; Snooki, Hillary Duff, Joe Hill, John Edgar Wideman, Tim O'Brien, & many others from literature (well, at least "fiction"); & even Salvador Dali in at least 1 class, we all saw the differences between our preconceptions of "author" & mayhaps the reality therein.

In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster states that

Long story short, Barthes wants us all to think about the work, not just the author.

I love the final line: "the birth of the reader must come at the cost of the death of the author."

See, that empowers you to do what you want to do w/ this reading, this writing, this project.

I know some of you are a tad "scared" now, wanting me to tell you what to do.

Think of this as your 1st college paper: you are choosing the topic; I am giving you the advice & the tools--& the 1 serious prepositional phrase "w/ a literary slant," but you will read, write, think, & learn in about as close to  guided independent study as we can get.

Those of you who have spoken, w/ me--great stuff thus far.

Those of you who haven't--well, you're probably not reading this anyway, but, I implore you to take control of your education (at least as much control as we can offer).

Sophomores:
We discussed the character in the book I just read, Heart-Shaped Box, by Joe Hill, in order to provide an example of character analysis. Many of you chose to do the OR assignment--1/2 of which we did in class last Friday, & the other 1/2 which you could have finished in class today.

Note: his name is "Judas Coyne." Think about it.

Note 2: he re-named himself. Think about it.

Note 3: he re-names his girlfriends by their birth states. Think about that.

What we get: he wants to distance himself from his past (hence the name-change); he wants to shock people (hence the "Judas" & to another extent the "Coyne); he wants to keep distance form his "girlfriends" (hence the lack of using their names).

A pretty good paragraph can be written about this guy just from the info above, & a really good 1 w/ more info added in, oh, let's sya the 50 pages you should be reading each week.

It's time to choose to succeed.

More grammar tomorrow, vocab Thursday, OR Friday, good times all around.

be cool

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