no picnic tomorrow, options will be discussed tomorrow

Joe's moped. Joeped.

Joe, a former student just purchased this and will soon be seen riding it around this neck of the woods.  Maybe he'll let you take it out for a spin...

Poetry at AS220

This Thursday, April 5

From AS220.org:

"Open mic List goes up for sign up at 7:30pm. Doors open at 8:00pm Tonight we have an Open Mic, Feature from Providence Slam Team, and an Open Poetry Slam Your 2011 Slam Team will be featuring solo and group work from the 2011 National Poetry Slam. The Providence team features: Laura Brown-Lavoie, Jamila Woods, Megan Thoma, Franny Choi, Phil Kaye, and Fatimah Asghar. For more info contact poetry slam here: provslam@gmail.com"

I can't make it for the show, but you'd be in for a good night.  You've heard me play Phil Kaye before, I'm a big fan of his poem "Repetition," see below.

  

Keera's Assessment

 The drying process

I pledge allegiance... to a great Thursday...

Some other creative people enjoying a bit of chaos.

Astronomy and love

Carl Sagan's love story. Plus the story of the golden record. Visit here for the whole Radiolab episode called "Space"

The Civil Wars

Falling for this band...

Week 9: Keera Belviy

1. Coldplay & Rihanna                            "Princess of China"
2. MGMT                                              "Time to Pretend"
3. Nervo & Afrojack                               "We're All No One"
4. Niki and the Dove                               "The Drummer"
5. Angels and Airwaves                           "Young London"
6. Red Hot Chili Peppers                          "Especially in Michigan"
7. Owl City                                            "If My Heart Was A House"
8. One Republic                                      "Missing Persons 1 & 2"
9. Symphony of Science                          "We Are All Connected"
10. Slightly Stoopid                                 "Blood of my Blood"
11. Pink Floyd                                        "Keep Talking"
12. Matisyahu                                         "One Day"
13. The Beatles                                       "Mother Nature's Son"
14. Right Away Great Captain                   "Like Lions Do"

I don't wanna hear my records on your stereo/don't play me Leonard Cohen songs

Read an article that touches on something I am hoping to discuss this year.  Be prepared to share your thoughts on it next week.  

Interesting...

The event known as South by Southwest (SXSW) is one of the year's major music festivals, taking place each March-ish in Austin, TX.  Because the annual crush of people weakens the city's wireless infrastructure, an unaffiliated agency came up with a solution: Homeless Hotspots.  Essentially, the homeless shelter sets up residents to wear wireless routers from whom festival attendees can purchase wireless service.  The residents keep all the profits.  
   From the HH website:
As digital media proliferates, these newspapers face increased pressure. Our hope is to create a modern version of this successful model, offering homeless individuals an opportunity to sell a digital service instead of a material commodity. SxSW Interactive attendees can pay what they like to access 4G networks carried by our homeless collaborators. This service is intended to deliver on the demand for better transit connectivity during the conference. 

Thoughts?

For those of you looking for a new set of wheels...

Sean, given the stories you've told about your truck, I didn't think there was a more unsafe vehicle on the roads.  But I think I've found one...

Week 8 - Jimmy Carlson

Week 8 - Jimmy Carlson

1. Shwayze                                  "Hollywood"
2. Woodkid                                   "Iron"
3. Asking Alexandria                      "A Candlelit Dinner With Inamorta"
4. Moonshine Racers                     "November Rain"
5. Good Old War                           "Just Another Day"
6. Mumford and Sons                    "White Blank Page"
7. Neil Young                                "The Needle and the Damage Done"
8. Weezer                                     "Surf Wax America"
9. Cage The Elephant                     "Flow"

Week 7 - Ben Plantz

Week 7 - Ben Plantz

1. Benjamin Francis Leftwich                 Last Smoke Before the Snow Storm         "Atlas Hands"
2. Sin Fang                                           Summer Echos                                      "Slow Lights'
3. Radical Face                                     The Family Tree: The Roots (DE)           "Ghost Towns"
4. GroupLove                                       Colours - Single                                    "Colours"
5. The Naked and Famous                     No Light EP                                         "Dadada"
6. Panic! At The Disco                         Vices & Virtue                                        "Stall Me"
7. Lights                                              Siberia                                    "Everybody Breaks A Glass"
8. Owl City                                          All Things Bright And Beautiful              "Kamikaze"
9. Sleeper Agent                                   Get It Daddy - Single                              "Get It Daddy"
10. AFI                                  Answer That & Stay Fashionable              "I Wanna Get A Mowhawk"
11. Martin Solveig feat. Dragonette         Chemicaljump.com                        "Hallo (DadaLife Remix)"
12. Skrillex feat. Sirah                           Bangarang                                           "Bangarang"         
13. Daft Punk                                      Homework                                        "Around The World"
14. Julian Smith                                   Techno Jeep - Single                                "Techno Jeep"

Week 6 - Joel Kelleher

Week 6 - Joel Kelleher

1. Wu-Tang Clan                                              Bring Da Ruckus
2. Reservoir Dogs                                             See the Truth
3. Reservoir Dogs                                             Mackin' Hangin'
4. Game                                                           The City
5. Game feat. Lil' Wayne, Tyler The Creator         Martians vs. Goblins
6. Reservoir Dogs                                              Mr. Brown
7. Reservoir Dogs                                              Sitting on My Throne
8. Wu-Tang Clan                                               Can It Be All So Simple
9. Jay-Z                                                            D'evils

Vic Chesnutt

An interview with one of the greats. Vic dies shortly after this airs. Access it on your phone, get in the car, and listen.

Vacate not Vacant.

The Nine,
How are your weeks going?  Working, traveling, loving, listening?
As for myself, these breaks always provide me with a creative shot in the arm, and now I'm looking for a challenge.  Let's post little projects/deadlines and then share the results.  So:

1. post your ideas for projects in the comments section below this post
2. pick one (or more) and do it
3. if you can, post the results on your blog (if you post elsewhere, post a link to it on your blog)
4. enjoy each other's late-week creativity  

 A few contributions to get us started:
-record a song using your phone as the only recording device
-write a poem using words from a string of 10 texts between two people
-record and soundtrack a conversation (or a conversation attempt) with a telemarketer (Matt?) or a random number from the phonebook
-paint/draw with a brush/device you have constructed yourself on an improvised canvas
-film/draw/paint/write/record/photograph something and leave it in a place where someone will find it, but not for a long time.
-choose a character from Skyrim and write 5 haiku from their perspective

I'm eager to check out your suggestions and see what comes of it.  Let's get creative!

Craig Finn: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

The pedal steel player here is doing amazing things...

Josh Ritter

Song 1 here, "the Temptation of Adam" has climbed up into my list of great love songs.

Strange brains (bad brains?)

Try here for the foreign accent syndrome wiki.

More about foreign accent syndrome.  And some videos below.

Check out Radiolab, one of the best science podcasts, for an interesting story about unconventional brain functioning (and the phrase "red rumps" said with a great accent).  Listen below or click the link.  
Who Am I? 


TED talks (same place the genius talk comes from) about neuroscience.

Matt's Assessment

Looking forward to your posts regarding your letters to Congressional officials.  
Post your letters on your blogs, and, per Matt's suggestion, send them.  See below for links to lists of senators and representatives.

Senate 
House of Representatives 

Industry rule #4,080: record company people are shadyyyy...

Some music industry food for thought.  The first piece is from this morning's broadcast, and the second is about 20 years old.  Both are very interesting and represent the decades between their writing. 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/01/20/145466007/katy-perrys-perfect-game 

http://www.negativland.com/albini.html


Also, check out below for an expression of the same sentiment in song.  Or maybe just the title of this post...
  

A Tribe Called Quest - "Check the Rhime"

Testing Defiance

2006 OKC Classen Commencement Speech Part 2 of 2

Jellyfish, urine, and the truth from Wayne Coyne.

Of interest...

From AS220.org

9pm, $6

The Famous Winters, Woodsy Pride, Zachary Cale, and Sounds Like Funeral Music

The Famous Winters "...gorgeous, introspective tunes/Listening to these guys was like a slow dance in a dark room" -Allston Pudding
Woodsy Pride "a Brooklyn based trio that plays some kind of haunted Western music with the songwriting skill of Neil Young and the maudit intensity of Nick Cave." -The Deli
Zachary Cale "Zachary Cale is one of those unassuming guys who, once heard, earns your undying loyalty. You just want him to be a breakout star. He’s the type of singer-songwriter that will appeal most to fans of Wilco and Iron & Wine." -The Brooklyn Paper
Sounds Like Funeral Music
RSVP on facebook

http://facebook.com/thefamouswinters http://www.woodsypride.bandcamp.com/
http://zacharycale.bandcamp.com/
http://www.SoundsLikeFuneralMusic.com/

Short Story lines - MC mix assessment

For those in need of a refresher, this was the assessment from week one's mix.  

 

Choose one line to begin your story, and another to end it.  

“She was a really cool kisser and she wasn’t all that strict of a Christian”

“She said, ‘You’re pretty good with words, but words won’t save your life.’  And they didn’t, so he died.”

“My father - you bear the weight on your shoulders, why do you do this to yourself?” 

“Just lighten up the load a little bit, don’t be so hard on yourself, and give yourself a little credit.”

“If I ever want to drive myself insane, all I have to do is watch you breathing”

“And the old voice crackled through the static, and I felt young and alive”

“How I don’t know what I should do with my hands when I talk to you.  How you don’t know where you should look, so you look at my hands.”

“No one force on earth could be weaker than the feeble strength of one like me, remembering the way it could have been”

“They say they want you successful, but then they make it stressful.  You start keeping pace, they start changing up the tempo.” 

“They think ‘Illegal’s” a synonym for ‘negro.’”

“If every angel’s terrible, then why do you welcome them?”

“Well, the flowers have no scent and the child’s been miscarried”

“So why you pushin’ it? Why you lyin’ for?”
“What's-her-face told me you shot this kid last week in the park, that's a lie, you was in church with your moms.”

“I feel Jesus in the clumsiness of young and awkward lovers”

“I’ve had kisses that make Judas seem sincere”

Shopweek challenge

1. Create a blog
2. Create a an interesting first post on your new blog.  (About the Author, what you're listening to, etc).
3. Leave a comment on this blog under "How to create a blog" posting that includes the url of your blog
4. Add on to your short story by extending the story from the point of view of one of your characters (see instructions in next posting)
  

Please check out each others' blogs and comment there, too. 
You must be signed in to leave comments.
Contact me if you have difficulty with any of the above.

-MC 

Week 5: Matt White

Mixtape Club - Week 5: Matt White (1/6/12 - 1/20/12)

1.  Dr. Dog                                       Fate                                                                    "The Breeze"
2.  Kaki King                                     Kaki King                                                             "Sunnyside"
3.  Elliott Smith                                 Elliott Smith                                                    "Southern Belle"
4. Jim James                                    Tribute to George Harrison                           "Long, Long, Long"
5.  Deer Tick                                    Divine Providence/Tornado of Hate               "Battleground John"
6.  Woods                                         At Echo Lake                                                "Suffering Season"
7.  Ryan Adams & The Cardinals        Cold Roses                                                             "Let It Ride"
8.  Mieka Pauley                                Elijah Drop Your Gun                                    "Be Like The Man"
9.  Quasi                                          American Gong                                                        "Repulsion"
10. Rogue Wave                                Out of the Shadow                                 "Postage Stamp World"

How to create a blog

In order to post on the class blog, you need to start your own.
To start your own blog, you will go to:

www.blogger.com

The big orange box at the top right of the page will direct you to creating your own blog on a site called blogspot.com. Follow the instructions to open up a free account. Don't forget your Username and Password!! You will need them to login everytime.

As you fill in the info, you will be asked to name your blog. This title will appear at the top of your blog. (Mine is called "Music Class 2011-2012")

Then, you need to choose an address:

http://_______.blogspot.com

This will be the web address associated with your site. you can call it anything you like. Be clever or simple (or both) -- it is up to you.

You will also need to choose a design template for your blog. Look through the options listed and see what appeals to you. You can change this later and can even find fun, creative templates at sites like PYZAM.

Once you have the account set up, you can start posting. A “posting” is an entry on your blog. (For clarification, you have one blog, but many postings). Give the post a title and then compose as you would any journal entry. When you are finished, hit the button at the bottom that says Publish Post. It will not appear on your blog until you publish it. You can always go back and edit old posts and create new ones.

Your First Post:
Your first post should be something interesting that says something about you.  It could be an "About the Author" - something like you see in the backs of books, or what you're currently listening to, a photo with some text, anything.  When you are done creating your site and posting your first entry, please come back to this blog and post a comment at the end of this posting (scroll down) that includes your blog address so that I can post it in the link list to the right.

Some Tips and Helpful Hints:

• Once you are in your blog, look at the top right corner of the screen. If you click on the word DESIGN, you will be able to make design changes, create new posts, edit old posts, etc. (You can only do this if you are logged in to your blog.)
• Once you are in the DESIGN screen, you can do all kinds of things to make your blog a bit more interesting. Change your fonts and colors, edit a post, change your settings. See the tabs at the top of the screen for all kinds of options.
• Poke around online and make a list of websites related to education, diversity, social justice or anything else relevant and post them on your blog. You can add all kinds of things by ADDING A GADGET from your Design Screen.
• Just do the best you can with this. If you get stuck, don't fret... I am happy to help you anytime as you work on getting this started. Send me an email, come see me Thursdays after school, or grab me after class. And remember: you can't break it. It is just a blog. Everything can be changed if need be!

-MC