One More Song You Have to Hear: "How it Ends" by DeVotchka

I am not in the habit of recommending so many things within such a short period of time, but when you strike gold, you gotta get yoself a grill made and smile so it can shine (shout out to Paul Wall, Lil Wayne, and kids in my class who smile and light up the room like a disco with the proppa amounts of bling on their teeth)!

Whatever you do with your gold and your teeth, you need to hear this song. I have a soundtrack that I've been compiling my whole life which, in the depths and dark corners of my metacognition, I have called "The Soundtrack of My Life -or- Who The Hell is Running The Jukebox?!?!" This song just made the playlist: "How It Ends" by DeVotchka (I think it falls somewhere in between "Rescue Is Coming" by DC*B and "Mathematics" by Mos Def on my soundtrack playlist).

The words to this song articulate things I believe and the score behind them makes me weep about these same things I believe. This is what art-- a good book, a powerful image, a gut-wrenching movie, or a song-- can do: it can turn us inside out. A lot of what I love about this song is probably associated to the other things which I have passion for that introduced me to this song. It was on the trailer for the film version of "Everything Is Illuminated" (a book, as I have mentioned, that I love) and the band sounds like a combination of U2 and an Eastern European band from the 20's (I love U2... and the Eastern European thing is just a bonus).

Go to your downloading medium of choice (they have it in the Apple iTunes store) and get "How It Ends" by DeVotchka.

Here are the words:

Hold your grandmother’s bible to your breast
Gonna put it to the test
You wanted it to be blessed
And in your heart
You know it to be true
You know what you gotta do
They all depend on you

And you already know
Yet you already know
How this will end

There is no escape
From the slave catcher’s songs
For all of the loved ones gone
Forever’s not so long
And in your soul
They poked a million holes
But you never let them show
Come on its time to go

And you already know
Yet you already know
How this will end

Now you’ve seen his face
And you know that there’s a place in the sun
For all that you’ve done
For you and your children
No longer shall you need
You always wanted to believe
Just ask and you’ll receive
Beyond your wildest dreams

And you already know
Yet you already know
How this will end

You already know (You already know)
You already know (You already know)
You already know
How this will end.

No Alanis, it isn't ironic.

I thought a lot of you might enjoy this article by a new favorite writer of mine (Zoe Williams), a columnist from an English news outlet called The Guardian. I was putting together a lesson on irony and stumbled upon an article by her which was so entertaining and informative that made me read more of her work (all very good).

Irony is one of the most misunderstood elements in English thanks in large part to people like Alanis Morrisette.

Here is the link to the article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,985375,00.html

Here is the link to a compilation of her other articles:
http://www.byliner.com/writer/?id=6171

I will try not to let you down too badly when I post stuff like this. I'm trying to make you happy. That's all I want.

The Right Books -or- Things Oprah May Be Keeping From You

(from Good WIll Hunting)

Will: (to his psychiatrist) "You ****** people baffle me. You spend all your money on these ****** fancy books, you surround yourself with them, they're the wrong ****** books."

Sean: "What are the right '******' books, Will?"

Will: "Hey, Whateva blows ya hair back."

I'm not here to pull the English teacher/literature snob card on you. Don't worry. But if Oprah can have a book club and tell everyone the books she likes and reads, then why would it be strange for me to recommend books? Am I less human than Oprah? Do we not both bleed blood? Aren't all of our literary tastes equally important? To answer these questions: Yes. No, hers is money, and no. But that won't stop me. So let me share some reads that "blow my hair back." If you are looking for some pages to read, I know some which I have loved over the past year or two.

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (the movie version of this with Elijah Wood comes out Tuesday on DVD)
-Someone leaked to me that David Crowder read books, and that this is one of the ones he has read. Distrubingly, I bought it for that reason alone. (Please do not submit DcTalk's reading lists to me as a result of the comment). It was an unbelievable book. It made me laugh and weep, which are my main criteria for most life-things being validated as life-things... they must at times make you laugh, and at others weep (relationships, books, foods, etc).

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
-When I found out this man wrote another book... I bought it. It made me weep even more. The things this guy does with pages and ink and a book are unbelievable.

Beakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
-I'm a Vonnegut guy, everyone knows it. This is the second Vonnegut book I read, upon reccomendation from my mom. It has been my favorite. It is hilarious and deep.

Big Fish by Daniel Wallace
-The book that inspired one of my favorite films... I back-tracked on this one, and it was worth it. The book and the film are different, but both very good in their own right.

Savage Innequalities by Jonathan Kozol
-This is s non-fiction piece about the state of public education in America and how it is usually split right down racial and economic lines. Once you read about East St. Louis, you will no longer think the issues originating in slavery, racism, and the battle for civil rights are over.

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
-Picked up this title after reading his "The End of Education," it is an analysis of our media-driven, entertainment-addicted culture, and the subsequent problems. This guy is one of the best writers-who-writes-philosophical-texts-rather-than-articulating-his-ideas-in-fiction out there.

Stephen King's On Writing by Stephen King
-I wish I could use this book to teach English and writing, but the FCC won't let me be. Everyone I know that's read it has had nothing but good things to say for what it did for them. Think William B. Strunk on LSD.

Losing Battles by Eudora Welty
-Literature of the South introduced this one to me, and it is as entertaining and insightful as it gets. Put a big fat LITERATURE label on this one, because it is will make you feel like you're reading something important, like Moby Dick (maybe a bad reference because I realize most people hate Moby Dick).

Things Fall Apart by Chineua Achebe
-Also the name of an abum by "The Roots" that I love. Love this one so much I will teach it, and find a way to re and re and re read it.

A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest Gaines
-A history of racial tension in one entertaining, insightful, courageous, intense, and humorous story. If you don't like Gaines, well then I don't think you can like books, friend.

I'm sorry I did that to you, my loyal readership of about 5 people. You should have seen the book list coming. I'm not making you write book reports... but I am ASKING you to...

I don't think these books are somehow better than all other books, nor will I hate you if you didn't like them (I might lose all respect for you, but I will not hate you).

If you or anyone you know can support my claims to any of these books' greatness, please share. If you or anyone you know want to drop some general amounts of knowledge about books that you've read that you can give me for my summer list, please share. Until then, let me remind you of my favorite poster featuring Dan Marino, MC Hammer, Bea Arther, Tim Allen, and Nancy Kerrigan; "Reading is FUNdamental!"