Friday, November 30, 2012

English III 11/30: "The Nature Anthem" by Grandaddy


"I wanna walk up the side of a mountain

I wanna walk down the other side of the mountain
I wanna swim in the river and lie in the sun
I wanna try to be nice to everyone"

This is a song I use to put me in a good mood and to remind me of what's important in life. I want you to write about the lyrics (as few as they are) and write about the general feeling of the song... how does it make you feel? Why? Does it DO anything for you? What is the significance of the lyrics "I wanna walk up the side of the mountain"?

Professional COMM 11/30: St Augustine


"Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering." -St. Augustine

Thursday, November 29, 2012

English III 11/29: "Postcards From Italy" by Beirut


The times we had

Oh, when the wind would blow with rain and snow
Were not all bad
We put our feet just where they had, had to go
Never to go

The shattered soul
Following close but nearly twice as slow
In my good times
There were always golden rocks to throw
at those who admit defeat too late
Those were our times, those were our times

And I will love to see that day
That day is mine
When she will marry me outside with the willow trees
And play the songs we made
They made me so
And I would love to see that day
Her day was mine

Professional COMM 11/29: Plato on The Light


"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." -Plato

What do you suppose he means by "afraid of the light"? Are you afraid of the light?

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Professional COMM 11/28: Malcolm X


"There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time." -Malcolm X

English III 11/28: Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You"


If I should stay,
I would only be in your way.
So I'll go, but I know
I'll think of you ev'ry step of the way.

And I will always love you.
I will always love you.
You, my darling you. Hmm.

Bittersweet memories
that is all I'm taking with me.
So, goodbye. Please, don't cry.
We both know I'm not what you, you need.

And I will always love you.
I will always love you.

(Instrumental solo)

I hope life treats you kind
And I hope you have all you've dreamed of.
And I wish to you, joy and happiness.
But above all this, I wish you love.

And I will always love you.
I will always love you.
I will always love you.
I will always love you.
I will always love you.
I, I will always love you.

You, darling, I love you.
Ooh, I'll always, I'll always love you.

WORDS OF THE DAY


17. Enhance- improve; make better or clearer
18. Harangue- noisy, attacking speech
19. Plaudit- statement giving strong praise
20. Knotty- complex; difficult to solve 

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

English III 11/27: "While We're Young" by Department of Eagles


I should have nailed you down

Now you're on that cloud If we're gonna do this
We gotta do it now
While we're young
There you go again
On that horse of yours
If we're gonna do this
We gotta do it now
While we're young

You should have stood me up
Now I'm draggin' you down
If we're gonna do this
We gotta do it now
While we're young

I've lost my head
Prefer foolishness instead
My words just rise

Leaving all good sense behind
Leaving all good sense behind
Leaving all good sense behind

What are you tryin' to prove?
What are you tryin' to prove?
Who are you tryin' to prove it to? (x5)

WORDS OF THE DAY

13. Blunderbuss- 1. ancient weapon (type of gun); 2. a clumsy person
14. Ephemeral- short-lived
15. Pliable- flexible; not stubborn
16. Abstemious- self-denying; refraining from indulging 

Thursday, November 15, 2012

English III 11/15: "A Singer Must Die" by Leonard Cohen


Now the courtroom is quiet, but who will confess.
Is it true you betrayed us The answer is Yes.
Then read me the list of the crimes that are mine,
I will ask for the mercy that you love to decline.
And all the ladies go moist, and the judge has no choice,
a singer must die for the lie in his voice.
And I thank you, I thank you for doing your duty,
you keepers of truth, you guardians of beauty.
Your vision is right, my vision is wrong,
I'm sorry for smudging the air with my song.

Oh, the night it is thick, my defences are hid
in the clothes of a woman I would like to forgive,
in the rings of her silk, in the hinge of her thighs,
where I have to go begging in beauty's disguise.
Oh goodnight, goodnight, my night after night,
my night after night, after night, after night, after night, after night.

I am so afraid that I listen to you,
your sun glassed protectors they do that to you.
It's their ways to detain, their ways to disgrace,
their knee in your balls and their fist in your face.
Yes and long live the state by whoever it's made,
sir, I didn't see nothing, I was just getting home late.

WORDS OF THE DAY


9. Nuzzle- cuddle; snuggle
10. Talisman- lucky charm
11. Nuance- something subtle; a fine shade of meaning
12. Bilk- cheat; defraud 

Professional COMM 11/15: Thanksgiving

For today's blog I would like you all to list ten things in your life that you are grateful for and one thing that you want to change. Let the one thing you want to change be something that YOU can change.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Professional COMM 11/14: Current Events


OK... today we have a free current events blog. Using an online news source (google news is awesome) find a story that interests you and tell me:

1) why does it interest you?
2) summarize the story.
3) what is your personal opinion of this story/event?

**be sure to provide me with a link to the story in your own blog! And don't copy and paste... it wastes your time and mine.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

English III 11/14: "Sierra Leon" by Mt. Eden


Good Morning... today we are blogging about a dub-step song. It is a dreamy and atmospheric track with no words. I would like you to do one of two things: 1) tell me what this song makes you imagine or feel 2) write a little poem that you think might serve as good lyrics for this song.


WORDS OF THE DAY
5. Plummet- fall suddenly and steeply 
6. Obliterate- destroy; demolish; eradicate 
7. Lackluster- dull; monotonous; bland 
8. Objective- unbiased; not subjective 

Monday, November 12, 2012

English III 11/12: Radiohead "Pyramid Song"


Jumped in the river, what did I see?

Black-eyed angels swam with me
A moon full of stars and astral cars
And all the figures I used to see
All my lovers were there with me
All my past and futures
And we all went to heaven in a little row boat
There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt

I jumped into the river and what did I see?
Black-eyed angels swam with me
A moon full of stars and astral cars
And all the figures I used to see
All my lovers were there with me
All my past and futures
And we all went to heaven in a little row boat
There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt
There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt
There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt

WORDS OF THE DAY

1. Cringe- recoil; flinch; shy away
2. Envenom- to cause bitterness and bad feeling
3. Abstruse- difficult to understand; obscure
4. Rescind- retract; repeal 

Professional COMM 11/12: Foucault on Power


"Power is not an institution, and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategical situation in a particular society." -Michel Foucault

Friday, November 9, 2012

Thursday, November 8, 2012

English III 11/8: "Ambling Alp" by Yeasayer


Now kid, I know I haven't been a perfect man
And I've avoided doing things I know I can
But if I learned one thing, the tattoo on my arm will burn into my thumb
It would be that

You must stick up for yourself, son
Never mind what anybody else done
Stick up for yourself, son
Never mind what anybody else done
Stick up for yourself, son
Never mind what anybody else done

Now Old Man Schmelling was a formidable foe
But Ambling Alp was, too, at least that's what I'm told
But if you learn one thing, you've learned it well
Until you must get past yourself
They'll run but they can't hide

You must stick up for yourself, son
Never mind what anybody else done
Stick up for yourself, son
Never mind what anybody else done
Stick up for yourself, son
Never mind what anybody else done

And when those thunder clouds are crying in the skies, in the skies
And when those fireflies keep shining in your eyes, in your eyes
Keep your mind for the time, with your ass on the line
Keep your feet, feet sliding to the side, to the side

Now, the world can be an unfair place at times
But your lows will have their complement of highs
And if anyone should cheat you, take advantage of, or beat you
Raise your head and wear your wounds with pride

You must stick up for yourself, son
Never mind what anybody else done
Stick up for yourself, son
Never mind what anybody else done
Stick up for yourself, son
Never mind what anybody else done

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

English III 11/7: Okkervil River "Wake and Be Fine"


Someone said to me, “I’ll come into your dream and speak it to you.” I already knew. I found her in an attic where, dramatically, she leaned in to me, and she whispered these lines: “Wake and be fine. You’ve still got time to wake and be fine.” Embracers meet with more embracers on the street. They say, “Hold me, dear stranger. Grab on to me. We’re carrying our years around us, or they’re chasing down us. We’re all here at the same time. Can we wake and be fine? Have we still got time to wake and be fine??” Villains on the creep and killers in the crowd are carving apart our childhood house. Lovers in their sheets, dreaming lovers sweetly turn in their sleep all under sunbeams. Everybody’s crashing, running, calling out the coming of things they kind of can see. Someone said to me, “It’s just a dream. Why don’t you wake up and you’ll see? It’s fine.” In those miles racing over endless fields of snow (you already heard, you already know), the rescue party finally lost their hearts, and then they shattered their bones, and then they died all alone. The ships all float from beaches by themselves above the hot afternoons. (Goodbye, you balloons!) Adrift above indifferent clouds. Our hearts are crashing loudly on some rock where the gulls whine, “Wake and be fine.”

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

English III 11/6: "White Room" by Cream


"In the white room with black curtains near the station.
Blackroof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings.
Silver horses ran down moonbeams in your dark eyes.
Dawnlight smiles on you leaving, my contentment.


Ill wait in this place where the sun never shines;
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves.



You said no strings could secure you at the station.
Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows.
I walked into such a sad time at the station.
As I walked out, felt my own need just beginning.



Ill wait in the queue when the trains come back;
Lie with you where the shadows run from themselves.



At the party she was kindness in the hard crowd.
Consolation for the old wound now forgotten.
Yellow tigers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes.
Shes just dressing, goodbye windows, tired starlings.



Ill sleep in this place with the lonely crowd;
Lie in the dark where the shadows run from themselves." - Cream

WORDS OF THE DAY


17. Blithe- free-spirited; carefree
18. Crepuscular- active at dawn and dusk
19. Enunciation- clear pronunciation; accent; articulation
20. Headstrong- stubborn; willful 

Professional COMM 11/6: Current Events


OK... today we have a free current events blog. Using an online news source (google news is awesome) find a story that interests you and tell me:

1) why does it interest you?
2) summarize the story.
3) what is your personal opinion of this story/event?

**be sure to provide me with a link to the story in your own blog! And don't copy and paste... it wastes your time and mine.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Professional COMM 11/5: Andre Breton


"Perhaps I am doomed to retrace my steps under the illusion that I am exploring, doomed to try and learn what I should simply recognize, learning a mere fraction of what I have forgotten." -Andre Breton

English III 11/5: Bob Dylan "It's Alright Ma"

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child’s balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool’s gold mouthpiece the hollow horn
Plays wasted words, proves to warn
That he not busy being born is busy dying

Temptation’s page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover that you’d just be one more
Person crying

So don’t fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear
It’s alright, Ma, I’m only sighing

As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don’t hate nothing at all
Except hatred

Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their mark
Make everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It’s easy to see without looking too far
That not much is really sacred

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have to stand naked

An’ though the rules of the road have been lodged
It’s only people’s games that you got to dodge
And it’s alright, Ma, I can make it

Advertising signs they con
You into thinking you’re the one
That can do what’s never been done
That can win what’s never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you

You lose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand with nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks they really found you

A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit
To satisfy, insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not forget
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something they invest in

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God bless him

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society’s pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he’s in

But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it’s alright, Ma, if I can’t please him

Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn’t talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony

While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer’s pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death’s honesty
Won’t fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes must get lonely

My eyes collide head-on with stuffed
Graveyards, false gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough, what else can you show me?

And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They’d probably put my head in a guillotine
But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only

WORDS OF THE DAY
13. Laconic- using few words; brief; to the point
14. Oblique- indirect; slanting
15. Plumage- feathers of a bird
16. Resignation- acceptance of fate 

Friday, November 2, 2012

English III 11/2: Julian Lynch "Terra"


New Jersey citizen Julian Lynch has been making music on his own terms in his own very unique way for years. His music has powers to transport the listener to places familiar as well as exotic; it's an unique fusion of nostalgia and curiosity. The song we're hearing today (from his album "Terra" out tomorrow) is a fine example of the dreamy, almost trance-like quality of Lynch's musical meditations. Music blogger Michael McGregor said it best on Altered Zones:

"... "Terra" opens with a sultry bass line, clarinet, and shakers before the gentle pat of hand drums ushers in the melody. If you're not deeply engrossed yet, just wait 'til the guitar-synth drizzles down your spine three minutes in. Julian's meticulous arrangements weave in and out of sonic states that feel as virgin as they do familiar; Julian's touch is so genuine, it's almost hard to believe they were captured in the Google era."

**NO LYRICS AVAILABLE**