Over the course of this year, I've done a lot of blogging. In AP Composition we blogged regularly for both quarters and continued to do so in College Literature. And now that I'm composing my last blog post for a Mr. Kunkle class, I can't help but miss it. These are the last few days of high school for us seniors, and it's funny how you start to miss things in advance.
I'm sure Rachel Stetenfeld and Sarah Berger feel the same way. We've done a lot of blogging together, and it's coming to a rapid and sad conclusion. I'm going to miss AP Comp and College Lit, but we will always have the old blog posts to look back on. Maybe Kunkle had that in mind: a way of preserving the past, remembering the good times we had in his class...
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Soul Sonic Force
So for the past two years, there's been a band associated with Driftwood known as the Nathan Hughes Band or Soul Sonic Force. While I wasn't a part of this band during its creation, I have played in it off and on over the past two years.
This year the band consisted of Johnny Mitchell, Leif Larson, Mikey Juszczyk, Ross Voelker, James Hickey, Kevin Wendt, Steven Jordan, Tanner Rasmussen, Michael Gray, and me. We played at a couple of Driftwood concerts and as of late a bunch of the guys have been talking about playing more shows. The whole thing's starting to get more serious--for better or for worse.
I guess the whole point of this blog post is to advertise for the band, but more importantly to take song recommendations to help bolster our short supply of jazz/funk numbers. So if anyone has any tune that you would think would work for us, please leave it as a comment. Thanks.
This year the band consisted of Johnny Mitchell, Leif Larson, Mikey Juszczyk, Ross Voelker, James Hickey, Kevin Wendt, Steven Jordan, Tanner Rasmussen, Michael Gray, and me. We played at a couple of Driftwood concerts and as of late a bunch of the guys have been talking about playing more shows. The whole thing's starting to get more serious--for better or for worse.
I guess the whole point of this blog post is to advertise for the band, but more importantly to take song recommendations to help bolster our short supply of jazz/funk numbers. So if anyone has any tune that you would think would work for us, please leave it as a comment. Thanks.
Driftwood!
I'm going to use this blog post to make a sales pitch for Driftwood. First I would like to encourage everyone to buy a copy of the Driftwood anthology. Your fellow McFarland high schoolers put a lot of energy into their contributions to the anthology and if they're going to put their voice out there, it should most certainly be heard.
Secondly, I would like to advocate for submission to next years Driftwood anthology for those Juniors out there. It's a great chance to be published and to gain some community recognition for your literary and artistic talents. Plus it looks good on college applications and scholarships. I recommend it for anyone serious about the craft of writing.
And lastly, I would like to make a case to join the Driftwood committee. It really impacted my senior year. I was able to read other authors and be inspired by their work and creativity. I gained a much better appreciation for the process of editing and revision. And it made me feel a part of a tight-knit literary community. Any involvement with Driftwood will prove to be positive experience.
Secondly, I would like to advocate for submission to next years Driftwood anthology for those Juniors out there. It's a great chance to be published and to gain some community recognition for your literary and artistic talents. Plus it looks good on college applications and scholarships. I recommend it for anyone serious about the craft of writing.
And lastly, I would like to make a case to join the Driftwood committee. It really impacted my senior year. I was able to read other authors and be inspired by their work and creativity. I gained a much better appreciation for the process of editing and revision. And it made me feel a part of a tight-knit literary community. Any involvement with Driftwood will prove to be positive experience.
Pixton Remix
I remixed Brian's comic.
Brian's:
http://Pixton.com/ic:uhoutceb
Remix:
http://Pixton.com/ic:rb6533jy
Brian's:
http://Pixton.com/ic:uhoutceb
Remix:
http://Pixton.com/ic:rb6533jy
True West
After filming our trailer for True West as our final project, I realized how much I liked that play. Kunkle said right before he popped the tape into the VHS that this could be the definitive text of our high school career--it had been for some of his students in the past. And looking back on that play, it wasp probably my favorite text of this quarter.
First of all, it is incredibly entertaining. Lee and Austin's shouting matches are as comical and absurd as they are fierce. I loved Malkovich's lisp and Sinise's whiny shrieks. Even with such an emphasis on chaos, though, Shepard was able to lace a couple of themes in between bouts of drunken rage. True West can be seen as a dialogue on what it means to be brothers, what it means to be "stable" in society, and what it means to be desperate. I guess I didn't appreciate how good of a play that True West was in the moment, but now thinking back, Shepard's play was one of my favorite works we studied.
First of all, it is incredibly entertaining. Lee and Austin's shouting matches are as comical and absurd as they are fierce. I loved Malkovich's lisp and Sinise's whiny shrieks. Even with such an emphasis on chaos, though, Shepard was able to lace a couple of themes in between bouts of drunken rage. True West can be seen as a dialogue on what it means to be brothers, what it means to be "stable" in society, and what it means to be desperate. I guess I didn't appreciate how good of a play that True West was in the moment, but now thinking back, Shepard's play was one of my favorite works we studied.
Persepolis Reflection
Persepolis was my first step into the world of graphic novels (aside from The Arrival which was composed of only images), and I'm still undecided about whether or not I'm a fan of the genre. There are parts in Persepolis that are gripping and interesting, but it also gets trivial at times. I'm not sure whether that is a reflection on the genre as a whole or just this work.
I mean, I like the parts in Persepolis that are concerned with history and regional conflict and Marji's characterization. But the parts that deal with Marji's boyfriends and first kisses seem unimportant to the overall narrative. Perhaps the graphic novel plays into the teenage gossip feel of Marji's social life, making it seem childish. However when the comic deals with big ideas like war and cultural identity, the comic format really adds a lot in my opinion. I guess it all really depends on the content within the graphic novel.
I mean, I like the parts in Persepolis that are concerned with history and regional conflict and Marji's characterization. But the parts that deal with Marji's boyfriends and first kisses seem unimportant to the overall narrative. Perhaps the graphic novel plays into the teenage gossip feel of Marji's social life, making it seem childish. However when the comic deals with big ideas like war and cultural identity, the comic format really adds a lot in my opinion. I guess it all really depends on the content within the graphic novel.
Pixton Comic
Here's the link to my comic: http://Pixton.com/ic:keucbo17. You have to read it clockwise. Enjoy!
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