the royal we

High school is all about where we have been.

College is about where we're going.

I kind of like that 1, & I haven't been here in a while, so I thought I'd put up some words.

Also, I played w/ the pronouns ("you"? "we"? a mixture?).

I like the royal we.

So, we are moving forward w/ research & all kinds of stuff.

Check back here for more in the future.

Recent music:


Mr Big, Back to Budokan

Love these guys (note Paul Gilbert--the guy w/ the red pants from my classroom wall--in the upper right).

Gonna see 'em live at the HofB Sunset before they head to Japan, & I love living near LA.

Highlights:  "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy," "Addicted to That Rush," Green-Tinted Sixties Mind," "Take Cover," & of course the bass &  guitar solos, as well as the & guitar & bass duo.

Finally, "To Be With You," the 1 hit. You gotta hear Finbar & Cedric sing that 1.

be cool

a super post, a veritable cornucopia, a lollapalooza . . .

Wow, it's been a while, as life & School Loop have taken over.

By the way, if you haven't seen it on my board, you will all be onboard School Loop February 22 or 23.

It is a really (REALLY) cool communication device, 1 that will allow you & your parents to be in that proverbial "loop" in terms of assignments & grades.

(In other words, the stuff that you see here, on the TeacherWeb site, on the white boards in room 57, & such . . .)

I am pretty excited.

(& I don't get too excited . . . )

Anyway, to the music!!

Lots o' catching-up to do, so feel free to skip down past the album covers to the school work . . .


Linus of Hollywood, Triangle

Saw him play bass w/ Paul Gilbert several years ago, & the dude rocks.

This album is quite mellow, poppy, top-40 stuff (anybody know what top 40 is anymore?!?)

Really good melodic rock, & a really cool album cover, no?

Also . . .


Hum, You'd Prefer an Astronaut.

(Seems like they'd prefer a zebra, yes?)

Excellent post-grunge rock from a truly underappreciated band

& then . . .


Collective Soul, hints allegations & things left unsaid

An English teacher's nightmare in terms of grammar--at least the punctuation.

I really like these guys, & this, their debut, might be their best effort.

(Side note: I seem to like bands w/ "soul" in their name, like Collective Soul, Soul Coughing, Soul Asylum . . & each may have a better name than band, but they are all cool.)

Acoustic-based pop rock, "Shine" being the lead single back in '93.

So, how about 1 you all know:


No Doubt, Tragic Kingdom

"Just a Girl" was the 1 I heard 1st, but my love affair w/ Gweng began w/ "Don't Speak."

I'm a sucker for those catchy ballads.

1 for Jamie:



Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

1 of the all-time great voices as well as a durn good songwriter (yes, w/ Bernie, I know).

This has to be his best studio record, right?

I mean, come ON:

"Funeral for a Friend (Love Lies Bleeding)," "Candle in the Wind," "Bennie & the Jets," " the title track, "This Song Has No Title" . . .& that's just side 1 . . .

& finally . . .

The B-52s, Cosmic Thing

Let's just say that VHS footage exists of my karaoke performance of "Love Shack" (w/ the help of 1 Elissa Stewart)--on the quad at good ol' ALHS, as I won (or "lost") the "Alta Loma Idol" contest.

& we'll leave it at that

Juniors:

Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, by Jonathan Culler.

Chapter 2: "What is Literature, & Does It Matter?"

This book is so amazingly cool that I put it up there w/ my man Thomas C. Foster's How to Read . . . pair of books as the near-perfect intros to reading & thinking.

& yeah, I love to think even more than I love to read.

I'm glad some os you do, too.

Anyway, get these points for filling in the skeleton outline, so you can support yourself if something goes wrong on that big ol' project.

Speaking of which, you got your official due dates & handout for The Proposal & The Annotated Bibliography, so you are thinking, reading, working, researching.

We hit the library this Tuesday & Wednesday, so be sure to be present & ready, as you can print & make your copies.

Let's do this!!!1!1!


Sophomores:

Grammar--parts of sentence & of speech.

Vocabulary--unit 7 done, unit 8 nearly done, quiz this week.

No Logo got us thinking about product placement, surrogate relationships, the political machinations in effect behind the companies whose products we consume.

& speaking of that, Consuming Kids--& yes, that 1st word can be a verb or an adj.--will make us look more deeply at the issues in the culture we have helped to create.

Obviously, this is all preparation for the Consumer Research Paper, for which you will have 2 choices, as covered in class . . .

(1) the actual comparison-of-products paper, in which you will examine 3 possibilities for a major purchase--e.g. "college education," OR "desktop/laptop/notebook/netbook," OR automobile, OR musical instrument, OR "phone/provider/plan," OR anything else that you can fit into that category of "major purchase."

(2) ad analysis, in which you choose a campaign (check tonight's game for examples, if nothing else), & you analyze the demographic, the theme of the ad, the suitability thereof, & you make your statement on the relative ad campaign's success

yeah!!

let's get in the loop!!

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ya know, what the heck: I'll even risk embarrassment for all my family by providing this . .

me: Pitt 30 GB 28

Aodhan: Pitt 27 GB 21

Finbar: Pitt 41 GB 21

Cedric: Pitt 40 GB 14

& the lone female as well as GB-chooser . . .

Linda: Pitt 17 GB 31, w/ a call for a Roethlisberger injury

note: this may be deleted if we ain't close

so,

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just be

Common, Be

What a super-fantastic amazing album (but note that parental advisory at the bottom left).

My favorite of his, though Electric Circus & Like Water for Chocolate are also very nice.

Allegedly he's now engaged to Serena Williams, too.

Not a bad life.

Key tracks: "The Corner," "Chi-City," & probably my favorite, the album-closer "It's Your World." I love the little kids saying what they want to be.


Juniors:
Some symbols, from literature, fiction, & life,  mentioned Tuesday:
flag
sorcerer's stone
red apple
colors
Grim Reaper
creepers from LofF
maggots & worms (yeah, "ewww")
Greg House's cane
rabid dog (TKaM)
heart
cross
green leaf
pink ribbons ("YGB")
family crest
Superman logo
wedding ring
totems (Inception)
names
blood (Macbeth)
shoes (House on Mango Street)
beard (yeah!!)

Questionnaire, time to work, think, prepare.

Read, write think.

Think.


Sophomores:
Grammar--parts of speech & parts of sentences.

Unit 8 definitions.

No Logo.

(yeah, ironic given the symbol theme here)

be cool

perspective

Jason Becker, Collection

We don't call people "heroes" & such.

We whine a little too much when things don't go our way.

Here's a guy who might make you think, put it all into perspective.

Jason Becker was an up-&-coming guitar god back in the late '80s (& we all thought he'd be the man in the early '90s)--check out his work w/ Cacophony, which also included Marty Friedman.

He got the coveted post-Steve Vai gig w/ David Lee Roth.

While recording the album A Little Ain't Enough, he started feeling strange, stumbling around a little, getting weak feelings in his hands . . . & eventually was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or mayhaps more commonly as "Lou Gehrig's Disease."

He was 20.

He was given 3 years to live.

He lost the ability to speak in the mid-90s, & he was soon completely paralyzed, before age 30 lacking pretty much all movement except for his eyes.

About the disease he says, "It has crippled my body & speech, but not my mind."

Go here for more info on this amazing human being:

http://jasonbeckerguitar.com/

[Also, check out youtube for some pure shred guitar.]

"Hero"? Maybe, maybe not.

"Dude who has done more than I ever will"? Probably.

"Inspiration"? Yeah, that's it.

& as for the music, some key cuts on Collection are "River of Longing," "Opus Pocus," & "Electric Prayer for Peace."

Also, he has another album w/ a great title I wish we all would consider.
'
It's called Perspective.


Juniors:
"Psychological Approach to 'Young Goodman Brown'" quiz today.

Also . . .

Dexter
House
Nina (Black Swan)
Forrest Gump
Sheldon (The Big Bang Theory)
Tyler Durden
Tara (True Blood)
Lisbeth Salander
Amir (The Kite Runner)
Rorschach
Humbert
Boo Radley
Yossarian
Holden Caulfield
Ichiro (No-No Boy)
"one I have yet to come across"

Some of our most interesting characters.

Round, not flat.

Dynamic, not static.


Sophomores:
Unit 7 vocabulary quiz today.

Grammar--parts of speech & parts of sentence--quiz tomorrow.

Unit 8 definitions due Wednesday.

OR 2.2 due Friday.

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circa 1990, that was

King's X, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska

Saw these guys open for Blue Murder & Billy Squier many, many years ago.

Bought this album the next day.

Was not disappointed.

Will begin all "sentences" w/ verbs.

Must like an album titled  Gretchen Goes to Nebraska.

Love these songs:"Over My Head," "Summerland," & "Fall On Me."

Juniors:
Discussed "always" & "never."

Listed other words to avoid, such as many, some, could/would/should, various adverbs . . .

Mentioned time (yep, again), space, music, literature, life, insanity, grammar, CD & CM, & life again.


Sophomores:
Identified all the words in that famous opener from Pride & Prejudice.

(Missed the zombies.)

Collected U7 "completing the sentences"

Reviewed OR 2.0.

Prepared for OR 2.1

Enjoyed.

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stylin'

Echobrain, Echobrain.

The album that got Jason Newsted kicked out of Metallica. Couple of young dudes met him at a Super Bowl party, they got together to record, James from Metallica didn't like it, Newsted left.

Really cool album, & absolutely nothing like Metallica.

Juniors:
Formalism.

(Long story short: concerns about the text, & mayhaps focus on "style")

After "The Death of the Author," we look at that which is left behind.

Mr. King says, "narration," "description," & "dialogue."

& he just may be right . . .

Other cool things: time as illusion & a 4th dimension,

setting in The Hunger Games as well as Lord of the Flies,

character & the revelation thereof,

& a whole lot of other art-&-literature-based inquiry.

Tomorrow: we start the "psychological" approach.


Sophomores:
Grammar for the Do Now, then

Vocabulary return (including the return to the 5 o you who actually did the assignment, which we began in class . . . come, on now, let's do this ).

Back to grammar, specifically parts of the sentence.

Hint: there are but 2.

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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