Final exercise

“What kind of name is Death?”

“Not just Death, sir. William Death.”

“Well, let’s hope you never make a captain out of yourself.”

“Excuse me.”

“Excused.”

“No, sir. Just saying, I may fancy captain in my dreams. Why should that be terrible?”

“Can’t you imagine? Captain Death. I’m dreading it already.”

“No Death ever dreamed to accomplish as much.”

“Undoubtedly, a Death captain could only achieve remark for being massacred at the hands of a French privateer.”

“I can only dream of such a life. Glory to England!”

“That courage is frighteningly English.”

Reagan a la Contra

She was on the run from the guerrilla contras, stumbling through the rubble of a makeshift graveyard, oh Mary, you've got to get away.
the soldiers came down with bombs from the hill, supplemented by automatic weaponry, ak's or m-16's? Whatever they coudl buy with American money.
While somebody with some kind of doctrine said, "Nicaragua must burn today."

Words aren't deeds

I remember just lookin', for somewhere to go.
We had no time to argue, n' just enjoy ourselves.
But hey... Some things gotta go, and it's not your fault. No.

We make mistakes. It's part of the game.
You can try to reedem yourself or mess up by placing blame.
But hey... Some things gotta go, and we're going up in smoke.

Sometimes "sorry" won't suffice, 'cause we're bitter and cold,
and cower in our favorite vice.
But hey... That's another story to be told when -you've forgotten who you owe.

There was a man -just like you- had the world in his had,
and tossed it just because he could.
But then he forgot why the world had felt so cold.
Yet he will reap what you sow.

A song about punk rock

One more cretin from the underground's
going to bring you down! Going to bring you down!
Voice of revolution's just a step behind.
It's going to bring you down! Going to bring you down!

We were just looking for a new escape,
finally we found it, in this forgotten place.

One more life taken out of turn, then
we'll bring you down! Then we'll bring you down!
Just one more second till we bring you down,
then you're going down! Then you're going down!

We were just looking for a new escape,
finally we found it, in this forgotten place.

Then it's that again.

There was a lad who said he's quittin',
'cause he didn't get out what he put in.
A plea for peace, a revolutionary streak.
Cut to an end by his, apathy.
Left his job with a sad face, 'cause he didn't think it was his place.

Chorus: So easy to quit! So easy to try! x2 (yeah, that's Brian baby)

In time you're missin' what you could have been livin',
but that's the price you pay,
when you lose yourself in, apathy.
So don't complain to me!

Chorus

Interlude: I bet you guys like poppy songs. Why don't you all just sing along, I said hey, "Don't we all just get along"

Skip town, leave town. Do what you please.
Just remember that you are, a cowardly sleeze.
You know your leavin',
but what's your reason!

Chorus

Cathoholics Anonymous

You got your papal authority,
To abuse the minority.
With the cross in your hand,
the world obeys your command.

You got your new institution,
to defy revolution,
Heretics vs. Jesuits,
for a god who would want none of it.

There's a baby crying,
the children are dying,
in the name of the promised land
shedding blood on their hands.

Chorus:
There's a fine line between this, insanity and what we set out to be.
Must you always be, blind before you can see?
And who's it going to be? Is it going to be you or me, who finally, opens their eyes and sees?

A young boy walks alone,
he's thinking of someone,
he knew before
God called him to war!

And they're marching one by one,
got his finger on the trigger of his gun.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! x2

Chorus

You can paint it all black and white.
What's the wrong -What's the right going through your mind?!
But in time I find that there is something to be learned besides this...
Outdated...
Hypocritical imitation,
of a moral code we sought to follow, but died out long ago...

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Chorus

"introspect"

Life sucks then you suck it up, and now you're all alone.
I guess I'll be on my own. Let's go!

Chorus: Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi!

Looking back -I may have lacked opinions of my own.
Still in doubt without a ring from the phone!

Chorus

But now I've listened, and questioned.
And I'm ready to start a rebellion!

Chorus

Karmas commin'. Who's gunnin'? What's your last reflection?
How meek we all are.

Chorus

Quit quittin'! Start livin' -put on a new dimension.
Stop wastin time...

Chorus

"The Foul"

The Foul, they tell you that they know what is right.
Going to preach us all about it till its stuck in our minds.
And when you think about you will turn to their side.
The Foul are all around us and a there's no where to hide!!

Chorus:
The Foul, the Foul, they push you around.
The Foul, the Foul, they keep on dragging you down.
The Foul, the Foul, obey the overlord.
The Foul, the Foul, the damned no-conscious horde!

The Foul, they tell you they're the ones who are free,
but they're suffering constantly from their own disease,
a sentimental submission to authority,
corruption inbred in justice is a sick tranquility!

Chorus

The Foul are breeding as if they were clones,
and they're living and breathing as someone's drones.
Ignorant enough to think that they're really home.
One day they we realize, that they're all alone!!

Chorus

The Foul are obsessed with patrons and doom,
they march alongside death machines to safeguard their homes,
and all the while new drugs will keep the youth stoned,
CONTENT, AND APATHETIC WHILE THEIR DADDIES AREN'T HOME!!

Chorus

"Stumps Suck"

Stumps Suck! All they do is get in your way, I don't know what else to say.
Stumps Suck! Stumps Suck! Stumps Suck! Stumps Suck! Stumps Suck!

Once I ran into a shrubbery and it really pissed me off so I wrote this song, alright.

Burn the trees! x8
Who needs oxygen anyway? HA-HA-HA!

(This is an actual song)

There's another nerd on the run
Who holds the gun?
You better not blink for a second you see
Or you might find out it's me.

One more second of hope
For a laugh to fix the joke
He won't meet the expectations of her,
And he might not be the first.

Don't let me be your excuse,
For getting used!
I'm just a lose in this scheme
A disappointment for a creep.

All Quiet on the Wester Front, in the MIddle East"

People used to say war was bad, now they sigh and say "war at last"
How long has this been going on? well i goes on and on and on and on
What's the darkest thing man can hide, can we justify genocide?
What's going on in your mind, when faults trip you up that you walked on by

And I'd give anything to see you fall and have this world know peace
But i'll never get my wish so i'll raise my fist and scream til I can't speak
And I won't believe anything you throw at me, It's all hypocrisy.
And still you lie to me, you labeled my brother my enemy.

Beginning of Guns vs Butter

Engaging in politics and all that it really is... well we divide now get to your fucking side!
We forgot about ethics, about compassion, everything we stood for is lost in a sea of lobbyists, interests, and confomity.

And we believe! that we really cared about progressive programs funded which would eventually cut budgets of. Stating simply, "its everyman for himself." The purpose of government has shifted from inalienable rigths to making sure the masses bark. When I say war you say "fight! fight!" (fight! fight! fight! fight!) and its clear that we're not thinking when we fell into this scheme. do you think this costs us nothing. Well the military needs a bigger budget you can only kill so well while you're solving social problems.

Questinably valuable poems:

I sailed the sea, just to make it more than metaphor.
Inside of me! is lacking something more

I sailed the sea in search of deeper things, things with meaning.
Things you can't forget between us but just like that they've bee n abandoned. And who's to say who's the better man, one more thing left uncertain.

An iron curtain sweeping over, consuming the stares, killing lovers

But Just like all things left unsaid, one more thing better off dead. Whoah.

I said the sea, just to watch him die.
Just to find, the word to fit the rhyme.

Things

Here we go again,
Same problems keep recurrin',
I'm paranoid enough for us all,
So you don't have to worry at all.

Here we go again,
Same old emotion trends,
I gotta get outta this place,
because of the tension I can't breath.

Here we go again,
The whole world's sadistically behavin',
I'm more than just a little confused,
About what I'm supposed to do, now.

Here we go again,
Hypocrites criticizing their best friends,
Isn't it just a little odd,
that they're the ones who're wrong, I know.

Here we go again,
You gotta crush, gotta crotch, then you're going insane,
and it's not gonna stop with them,
gunna make the same mistake again, I know.

Here we go again,
I'm all alone throughout the evening,
I'm just looking for a conversation,
Not another thing to lose my mind on.

Here we go again,
It's on me that someone's been depending,
It doesn't matter what you do,
When you're in trouble then you're always gunna lose.

Alan Moore on Writing

Alan Moore's Writing for Comics

Moore's theory places subject/theme/"What the story is about." as the guiding light of good writing. It means a devaluation of plot, and I think it's a wonderful concept. It treats plot like a tool, and helps plot feel more like an element of craft that actually increases my ability to perceive and manipulate of it. Honestly, I don't feel justification in reading something that doesn't feel like its about something. It's one of those important features that distinguish something as literature. It also, makes it easier to accept the tropes of plot. Why be upset that you have to craft a story which ends in a climactic one on one duel between protagonist and antagonist? It doesn't upset me that the only way I can eat Spaghetti is with a fork. Tools are tools.

Asterios Polyp

Asterios Polyp

It's a great book, but there's so much imperfect about it. Mazzucchelli makes the philosophy so overt at times, and often he expresses things sufficiently through the art, style, and characters that some text becomes unnecessary. The best parts of the novel happen when the philosophy manifests itself in the art and the characters struggle out of it. The narrative winds in a Catch-22esque manner making it seem like you're solving a puzzle while reading it. It's not a negative element, but most readers probably couldn't enjoy it. Asterios Polyp is a novel for those with hungry minds that struggle with their own existential burdens, but ridiculing that very concept at the same time.

Mazzucchelli truly employs the graphic medium, and I think this novel elevates the format a bit. This is a work that could only be crafted in comics, as the juxtaposition and arrangement of panels and pages become integral to its comprehension. It experiments widely with the "otherness" of comics, and this makes it stand out as a great work. Definitely, I feel it breaks new ground, but not with a sense of perfection. Sometimes the artistic elements aren't clear enough, and distract from the work instead of adding to it. I feel that with another work the style could be polished to greater success.

A funny story.

I think comics have just entered a new phase whose benefits we are just now being harvested. Because of the trend of movies and increased popularity of graphic novels traditional book publishers have developed infrastructure to print graphic novels. This means that Marvel, DC, Image, etc. are no longer the sole means of large scale publication of comic works. Two graphic novels, Stitches and Asterios Polyp, are what lead me to this conclusion. Most comic shops don't have them. They are printed by traditional book publishers, and they are both excellent pieces of art. Graphic Novels are beginning to exit niche and become a part of general publishing which is healthy for the medium, and may either be the saving grace for Marvel and DC or their final demise (if they refuse to change). I'm not sure that monthly comics are a good idea anymore. That format was designed to appeal to children, and only worked because of their very reasonable pricing. Now monthly comics are expensive and go out of print. Graphic novels can be kept in print. Comics should lose their connection as a collectible and embrace longevity on the shelf. I wonder what would happen if someone took over a classic series like Amazing Spider-Man or Uncanny X-men and continued the series only through graphic novels.

Monday: A poem

Lanscape that provokes emotion,
rhyme, meter, a motif of water,

Mention a color, it will mean.
Write a poem, mean some thing.

Follow a rule—Fuck the rules!
—beauty may come from a crude word.

Ignore intention.
Subconscious authored, And left—

Something playing at the head:

I killed a tree for this.
With my bare hands, I killed a tree for this.

Some thoughts.

I always thought the abundance of traditional multi-Act, closure based storytelling didn't make sense. Conflict happens in life, but almost exclusively without closure. I know that's what makes closure based storytelling popular. Stories can be worth more than catharsis, I think. I always thought the draw of horror films was not the violence or adrenaline, but that they tend to portray the world more truthfully. In horror, bad things happen to good people and the bad guys are allowed to win. I think that's what attracts people to "gothic" and "grotesque" elements. Sometimes the cruelness and the unfathomable in horror stories becomes an externalization of people's inner views. At least it is worth noting that Horror stories defy certain conventions and seem to have their own rules, but are just as popular as traditional stories.

For later: Collect thoughts on this.

Foods

Storytelling succeeds by providing readers something they want. There are different kinds of "food" to use in a story. "Foods" being different story elements that provide something for the reader. The elements are not unrelated, and when used in a story, always live in context to other elements present. The reason I'm making this list is to have a guide for successful storytelling elements. Presently, I believe the big three: Emotional/Catharsis, Intellectual/Philosophical, and Aesthetic are the most important "foods." They appeal to the "stomachs" of the reader: Heart, Mind, and Eye.

Emotional/Catharsis

Character

Climax

Triumph - A singled out emotion, but integral to many story formulas.

Spectacle

Aesthetic

Music

Intellectual/Philosophical

Sexual

List

READ:

Craig Thompson - Blankets

Return of the Dapper Men

Note of Literature

http://www.amazon.com/Stitches-Memoir-David-Small/dp/0393338967/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290575902&sr=8-1

Stitches provoked several moments of enlightenment. As an autobiography it feigns traditional story structure, engrossing the reader as if it did. But this it's a story about life, and so does not wrap up neatly. It gives me the idea that literature works as long as it feeds the reader in some way. Stitches reveals great truths in the author's life and the events which created them. The excitement of a protagonist in conflict presents itself in the story, but the pith that truly cradles our imagination is the journey of understanding one's own life. A second level of entertainment exists in true literature.

I noticed unique elements of the graphic narrative medium from my reading. Every panel/page reads in context of every other panel/page. For example, at one point there is a splash page of young David standing in the snow looking solemn. Viewed as a single piece of art the meaning of the page would be hard to guess at, but prior pages have given us a context for the panel. Contexts: David had learned his parents lied to him about having cancer, David is older, the splash format emphasizes the panel in the readers mind, David's pose seems special having not been depicted this way in any previous panels, unique coloring in the panel. The context and elements of craft in the page distinguish it.

Context is present in all narrative forms, but graphic narratives juxtaposition of panels and pages imposes a constant barrage of art that relate and tie back to each other.

This is the concept/plot for my ten minute play. It's about a 12 year old boy who goes to talk to a Buddhist monk. The boy is depressed because he lost faith in people and thinks they are naturally evil. The monk tries to console him and offering his view of the inherent goodness of mankind. As they walk to monks car they are robbed. It's a philosophical type deally. No, real antagonist. There is constantly rising action. The kid has a moral dilemma, then they are robbed which heightens the dilemma, and then the climax.

War of the Dishes

Did the dishes. Started cleaning my room. Feel sort of like a hero, sort of tired.

Dreading Shakespeare class with Dr. Mayfield. Can't fully express myself for fear of reprisal. I enjoy Shakespeare, but I don't agree that he is the greatest writer of all time. His mastery of language cannot be denied, but writing is more nuanced than realms where Shakespeare played. I think the imagery of Emily Dickinson's poetry achieves more in exploration and relationships to each other and the authors voice. I think Stephen Crane's prose is as eloquent without being as jarring. Shakespeare is certainly not timeless, for language is not. The particulars of culture hold power over context and interpretation.

The Last Post

Well, this class had a really good selection of literature. I didn't really know what to expect. The most surprising read I got was from Mrs. Dalloway I loved the style of it. I usually have a hard time with stream of consciousness writing, but reading through the novel really helped me "get it" although I still find it rather confusing at times. The poetry was all excellent. After writing my report over "The Waste Land" I really got into it, but I realized that a real analysis of that poem would take too many pages to get through. It always feels good to gain some kind of insight, even if its just your personal opinion, into something that you felt you couldn't understand before.

Stream of Consciousness

I love stream of consciousness despite the difficulty of reading it provides. I think that it is one of the only ways to approach certain subjects. There is no way Mrs. Dalloway could be written in a normal style. It is an existential appraisal of modern life that is developed through humans understanding of one another. Clarissa and Septimus are the most important characters. Through their thoughts we experience crisis of faith, Clarissa in her own decision making and Septimus in society.

This week in Literature.

I loved reading Eliot's poems. I never understood anything as I was reading it, but his freedom of expression came across regardless. It was very impressionable on me as I was writing my reading response. I thought it was amazing how he helped shape poetry into what it is today. The eclecticism of his writing may leave the true connotations of his writing known only to himself, but they provide such a engaging response to the reader especially the more distant the images get from each other, and his sense of freedom expands.

More victorian

I really liked Rossetti's poetry. "Goblin Market" had a lot of ways to interpet it, but I thought it had an extremely motivating feminist point of view. I don't see how there wasn't some kind of reaction to it during the time. I know we didn't read any Lewis Carroll for class, but I think he is definitely my favorite author form this time period. I think it's almost necessary to include his private life in trying to interpret his fiction, because it seems so personal. I enjoyed getting to read Charles Dickens. He definitely is one of the greats. I'm looking forward to reading more literature by women, because in this time their writing always seems to have something particular special about it.

Victorian Age

I really liked the Robert Browning poem the most. It was full of interpretations, and appeared to be the most complex. The language of the era, especially in poetry is hard to interpret. I'm very sensitive to connotations of words, and going back in time or reading translated foreign works always messes with my sense of understanding. I like the increase of "political" consciousness in the literature. I wouldn't say the Romantics were as concerned with politics. The Victorian writers feel progressive in a very real way, whereas the Romantics felt more philosophical.

Romantic Period

What I most enjoyed about the Romantics was the conscious of their writing. It always has a purpose that analyzes the human condition. They either detail the horrors of human cruelty or highlight the beauty of life. Their language is vivid and surprisingly not overly descriptive. There is still a reliance on narrative summary that makes the writing feel dated. But, at least with Mary Shelly's case it was bearable and to a purpose. I loved the poetry the most, because pre-modern writing is tough on our moviegoing minds. William Blake was my favorite. I loved his interpretation of ignorance/innocence and experience/understanding.