New leakage… starring Kylesa!

Some good releases are shaping up for 2009; I’ve already talked about some of Merzbow’s (Somei), Napalm Death’s (Time Waits for No Slave ), and Cattle Decapitation’s (The Harvest Floor). But wait; there’s still more.

The Appleseed Cast’s new album has recently leaked. Titled Sagarmatha, it takes us through TAC’s ever increasing fascination with post-rock, coupled with their 90’s emo undertones. Oh yeah, it also has some killer xylophone like the cover promises, and it jumps through moods like a pregnant woman. Might review this soon.

Kylesa’s got a new one coming out that just leaked a couple days ago. It’s Static Tensions, 40 minutes of sludge/stoner rock at it’s best. There’s some good tribal drum beats going on, female vocals, and some of the heavy Kylesa riffs you know are modified to crunchy goodness. I just picked it up and am already a big fan, even when their older stuff was starting to wear on me.

Who else have I been listening to lately…

…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead also released a new album, The Century of Self. I haven’t given the band too many listens, and all I know of their output is their last album, So Divided (which I wasn’t too huge a fan of), and this new album. I’m digging it a lot more, especially the early-to-mid portion of the disc, and it’s got some cool little ditties on there. Check it out.

Black Dice have made a good comeback in my book with their new album Repo. I was not an avid listener of 2007’s Load Blown, and while it was okay, it wasn’t anything spectacular, and certainly not as fascinating as some of the other noise rock that came out. It felt like they were doing Battles badly. But no… Black Dice have given us a new album full of rhythmic noise that, while returning to the same form as Load Blown, is executed a lot more successfully. I’ve been chomping on this one a little bit, though still not my favorite.

Also got some new Zombi, called Spirit Animal, that came out a little while ago. Dark synths, horror soundtrack-esque stuff coming out of the duo that comprise the band, and while I don’t feel this album is as good as their previous masterpiece Surface to Air, it’s still got some great synth sine waves going on. I really like it when Zombi’s pieces take on a darker vibe, but the lighter stuff is still working for them here.

I think that’s about it for right now. Cannibal Corpse released a new one as well (Evisceration Plague), and while it’s in the same form as other CC and it brings some heavy riffs to the table, it’s not varied enough for my tastes for me to give it more listens. Dude, give us some new drum beats too. The same old blasts for every song with barely any fills leaves a lot of us drummers wanting more.

In other news, Cursive will soon be releasing their highly anticipated new album (at least for me anyway) called Mama, I’m Swollen. I’ve heard a few songs off of it – two of them done live which I wasn’t that impressed with – but the other two that I’ve heard are promising mixes between Cursive and Tim Kasher’s other band, The Good Life. Some sweet, sweet sounds coming from Kasher’s mind that I can’t wait to implant into my brain.

Right now, I’ve got some noisy/free-jazzy Jazzfinger on. It’s my second listen, and I don’t know if I like it or not. It meanders and I can’t really grasp a direction. We’ll see…

Keep listening… Matt, I’m getting to your album, I swear! Going home this weekend to give it a listen on my stereo.

Merzbow’s Somei

So far, I’m impressed by what it’s bringing to the table. Part drum solo fest, part destruction, it has equal parts of both that make it interesting in two layers.

Interesting to note how Masami Akita leaves some of his static-y ambience out of the songs, focusing on more of the drums and less on the noise at some points. I think that’s what’s different here than in his recent releases; he’s trying different things here, rather than just layers upon layers of surging, squealing undertones.

In other news, I am working on reviewing Matt Henshaw’s album Unfurled. I meant to listen to it at home on my nice stereo this weekend, where it should be properly listened to, but I didn’t get a chance. I’m still holding out for that opportunity.

The roar of George Plimpton’s Paper Lion

I had to write an extended book review for my Sports Lit class on Paper Lion, George Plimpton’s account of his experiences on the Detroit Lions football team during the preseason of 1963. This is not a normal book review, but an extended one with summary, author bio, critical reception, etc. It is much longer than most reviews, but since I was planning on reviewing Paper Lion here anyway, I decided to post this. Enjoy.

Football is a sport that many know and love, but few of its followers have actually experienced the drives and dedication it takes to play the game. Instead, most fans are happy with sitting back and watching the game with food and a beverage, rather than enduring the grueling conditions, intricate plays, and rigid scheduling that football players must work into their lives. It takes a certain mindset to want to play a game in which injuries are bound to occur and where no play is ever considered “mastered,” or where anything can go wrong simply because of timing. In this regard, it might seem as though football players are a masochistic bunch, almost enjoying the pain and suffering that they are forced to undergo for the game.

However, one ordinary sports reporter decided to put aside fears of physical contact and embarrassment to join a football team. This man was George Plimpton, a writer for Sports Illustrated, Esquire, and author of a variety of sports-related books. Plimpton was determined to join a football team for one season and understand the game from a player’s perspective, rather than an audience member. Plimpton’s goal was to uncover the truth about a football team and its players – not just what the game of football was and how to play it, but also who the players that make up the game really were and why they were so interested in the game. After his encounters in football, he wrote the novel Paper Lion, one that is widely considered an important asset to sports literature.

George Plimpton was born March 18, 1927 in New York City to Francis Plimpton and Pauline Ames. He attended Harvard University until 1945, where, at 18, he joined the Army to fight in World War II. After his time in the Army, he went back to Harvard to finish his degree, and then attended both Cambridge University and King’s College for two more degrees. He became editor of The Paris Review in 1953, which helped him progress to various other magazines such as Horizons and Sports Illustrated.

At Sports Illustrated, Plimpton began writing pieces that required him to join in on various sports. Plimpton was interested in putting himself in different situations; the research and writing that Paper Lion consists of were not the only times that Plimpton put himself in the shoes of a player. Before his stint as a football player, Plimpton took up the pitcher’s position in a baseball event where he pitched to the National League, which became the book Out of My League. He also went on to write more participatory sports books, a golfing book called The Bogey Man, Open Net (a hockey book), and Shadow Box, which focused on boxing.

While Plimpton’s first foray into participation in professional sports focused more on enduring the sport as a whole, Paper Lion is more a look at the culture of football in general. In the book, Plimpton is invited to join the Detroit Lions football team in its 1963 season. To get the overall feel for the game, Plimpton wants to learn the spot of quarterback, since much of the game centers around this position. Although he only stays on with the team through its preseason training, Paper Lion does provide a hilarious account of Plimpton’s struggle at quarterback in an exhibition game.

Plimpton has much trouble being accepted at any football league, and writes that many teams are wary of accepting a journalist who might divulge their secrets to the public. However, Plimpton writes in his foreword to the 2003 edition of the book that he did not “peek into closets or put his feet up onto the nearest sofa.” Instead, Plimpton reports what he feels are both an important aspect of the game and the real story of who the players are.

Throughout the course of preseason training, Plimpton is forced to learn football maneuver as well as how to fit in with the team and take notes relevant to his book. Plimpton writes of the hardship that this meant; rookies are treated as “little brothers” to the veteran team members, who force Plimpton and others to sing their college anthems, play pranks on them, and force them to undergo other normal rites of passage. Practices are grueling and embarrassing, especially for a man who has had little to no experience playing regulation football. Even the players tend to view him as a joke, laughing at his size and ability.

Plimpton tries to keep his personal motive a secret, although most of the players pick up on the fact that he is not a real football player. Over time, Plimpton makes friends with some of the team members on the squad, becoming involved with both their personal and football lives.

One of the first members that Plimpton writes about is the head coach of the Lions, George Wilson. Plimpton describes him as a “wide-shouldered” and “deeply-tanned” man who is more than just his bulky appearance. Plimpton has a tendency to get right to the heart of a man with his intelligent and detailed descriptions of personality, and George Wilson is outlined as being a very gentle, free-spirited man with his players. At one point, Plimpton writes of how there are two different ways of coaching: either to be very strict as to what the players can and cannot do, or to be lenient with them and to allow them to do what they want, but with guidelines. Wilson is the latter of these two, and his players respect and respond well to it. Even Plimpton, with his short time on the team, comes to regard Wilson with some sort of respect. When Wilson is forced to make team cuts the day after a scrimmage, he does so while during a team meeting, having a teammate act as a harbinger of sorts who motions them out of the room, the rookies then dispatched by Wilson. Plimpton at first comments that Wilson’s method seems a bit cruel, and then recants, wondering if there can ever be an easy way to dash a man’s dream. Wilson is every bit a player’s coach, and even treats Plimpton as such during his time on the team. Without Wilson, Paper Lion might never have been written.

But most of Plimpton’s time on the team is not spent with Wilson; instead, he is lodged with the players, both rookie and veteran. One of the things that Plimpton writes about most is his association with the players, both about football and team stories. Part of being on a team like the Lions is the fact that each player has his own perspectives on the game of football and stories that have been picked up from experiences on the team. In his attempts to gain perspective on how to play football, he talks to the players about their strategies.

Plimpton meets Night Train Lane, a defensive back veteran on the Lions team, as a way to get a feel for what he might face in a scrimmage situation that he has to play. First, Plimpton asks about Lane’s life and how he got into football, just as curious about the player as he is about the game. Lane gives tips on styles and where to look to understand the player. What is interesting about Plimpton’s notes here is that he did not just focus on his position at quarterback, but tried to uncover details about all of the different positions on the field.

Other players also help Plimpton out in his quest at understanding the game. Harley Sewell, a guard, tried to cheer Plimpton up after he had a devastating time as quarterback in a big scrimmage game. Sewell is portrayed as a man who will not take no for an answer, almost as if his job is to make Plimpton feel better. He brings up the fact that many people have bad games, as if he is a father reassuring his son. Plimpton bonds with the rookies as well, especially a young player named Lucien Reeberg, who actually asks Plimpton what he thinks of his ball playing. After cuts have been made, Plimpton is even asked to host and create a rookie show, where the rookies get to release their stresses and have fun for a night of parodying and partying.

Throughout the course of the book, Plimpton makes the reader feel as if the Lions team is a welcoming group of men all attracted to the same activity. Each player has his own biases and likes and dislikes, but when they live together as a team, they drop their previous feelings to accomplish the one goal of football that they all agree on: winning. This emphasizes the important role that communication plays down on the field itself. Joe Shmidt and Wayne Walker, both linebackers, talk of the importance of knowing the teammate and how they will respond in game situations. “The big thing is knowing the guy’s with you,” Walker says, “so that if he does something separate you can compensate, and cover for him.” Paper Lion’s message is clear here – one player does not make a team. In essence, it is every player that makes or breaks the team, which is made even more apparent during Plimpton’s failure at the scrimmage; the team realizes that even if Plimpton is a very small part of the team, it is still important that morale stays high.

Plimpton progresses through the season steadily with few problems, making time for both practice and work. However, as time gets closer and closer to the scrimmage where Plimpton has to actually participate in team play, he talks of the stresses of the game. It is not just the rookies who get stressed. Alex Karras, as player who is suspended the season that Plimpton stays with the team, would always get physically sick before a game. There is a story told about a rookie quarterback who forgot what he was doing and punted a ball on a first down while on the field. Plimpton writes that the stresses of the game are normal, probably because of how much knowledge and thought must go into every football play made.

As Plimpton makes his way to the end of the preseason, he finds that football is not his forte. In the scrimmage, he calls five plays, hilariously being knocked down by his own teammate, falling on his own accord, almost relinquishing a fumble, overthrowing a pass, and having his play already read before he even attempts it. Plimpton also tries to get into an exhibition game against the Cleveland Browns, but to no avail, as the coach will not allow it. Discouraged by his lack of football skills, Plimpton leaves the Detroit team early, his accomplishments minimal but his knowledge better from his experiences.

Throughout Plimpton’s book, he gives his opinions on the state of football. But what is most interesting about Plimpton’s experiences is how he shows the team’s bondage into one cohesive whole. Written football games can fail because the author lacks the skills to showcase both the finesse and the tension of the game. Plimpton, however, manages to include both of these because he puts himself in the situations, rather than watching from the sidelines. Paper Lion could have just as easily been another run-of-the-mill journalistic piece on a specific football team, covering the wins, losses, and statistics of the team. In this case, though, Plimpton’s sociological experiment provides the reader with insight into both human emotion and the sport of football, which is of course more interesting to both sports fans and non-sports fans alike. There is something about Plimpton’s ability to recall vivid details that draws the reader to his descriptions; his ability to recount stories with the original humor and emotion makes the reader feel as if they are participating right alongside these old football players, even if the events did happen forty years ago.

The book also shows the plight that football players go through that the general public might not understand unless actually subjected to the game. Plimpton partly undergoes this experiment to see what a football player actually has to go through to play the game, and in fact hears many stories that give him the sense that the job the players work at is not all money and fame. At one point, Plimpton writes that during the exhibition game against the Browns, players deposited their valuables with a coach, and he received “a substantial pile of teeth.” Humility is one of the big emotions that Plimpton finds is an important concept in football. The game must always have some sort of humiliation – either you humiliate your opponent or he humiliates you. The winner is the one who wants to humiliate the other player more. Bruce Maher, a defensive halfback, tells Plimpton that “it’s probably [the other player’s] mistake that’s made you look good.” There is always some sort of embarrassment on the field, and it is part of what makes up the game of football.

What Plimpton seems to take home most from his time at Detroit is not the fun or the friendships that he has made, or the fact that he is now somewhat addicted to the Lions, but the extreme conditions that the players face, the prides and embarrassments, and the pain that the football players hate and love at the same time. Plimpton puts it better than any other words can say in his epilogue, referring to inhuman screams that he heard coming from the players on the football field: “I remembered from my last day with the team when I walked up from the practice field – the long bleat from the players being whistled together by the coaches, almost one of sorrow.” It is that drive to play a game that is not exactly pure fun that Plimpton goes into the book not understanding, and when he ends his time with the team, it is still elusive to him. But that does not make his experiences moot – instead, he has told the stories of the players, and given them a voice. He may have even succeeded in giving others a drive to play the game.

The worth of Paper Lion is immeasurable. Plimpton provides his audience with rich detail that simply could not have been written about by any sports magazine. His infiltration of football is both courageous and telling of his spirit. Plimpton may make friends in the book, but it feels like they are the audience’s friends as well, and when it is told that Lucien Reeberg soon dies after the events in the book, one feels the loss as if he knew Reeberg himself. It is Plimpton’s writing, and his ability to tell a story, that sucks the reader in. But another reason why Paper Lion has so much worth is the fact that the reader can draw from the book what they want to. There are a lot of football criticisms thrown around throughout the course of the book, and sports fans and players alike can gain tips and insight into the game, just as Plimpton does. The human condition, though, is the more important factor in the book, one that Plimpton takes away from the experience more than the football, and Plimpton’s words help paint a picture of a football player’s psyche. From high emotions to the limits of a human being, Paper Lion speaks to our culture itself. The acts of the football players – the pranks, the humor, the (at times) rowdy behavior – are all things that the public has stereotyped, yet Plimpton shows that the players do it for a different reason. They are not the stupid humans the public believes they are; they must be smart and physically sound to play their game. Their emotions get the best of them at times like any other individual, and in most regards, they are still just working men. Plimpton brings out the football player’s bravery and individuality, though, which makes his book stand out from the rest as one of the more telling aspects of the sport.

Paper Lion was received quite well by the critics. W.C. Heinz, a sportswriter, is quoted as saying it is “the best book of football I’ve ever read.” Book Week reviewed it with a similar quote. Eliot Fremont Smith from The New York Times said that it is “a tale to gladden the envious heart of any ‘average weekend athlete.’” The book was eventually made into a film in 1968, which was received with the same amount of praise. It starred Alan Alda as Plimpton, and the Lions team played themselves.

Plimpton’s book is one that must be recommended. There is so much depth to the book that it cannot be expressed in just one review, or acknowledged in just one read-through of the book. Paper Lion is unusually detailed, and speaks to an individual rather than the masses. There is something that will get to the heart of every reader, no matter how different they are. Plimpton is able to meld football into a critique of society, and that is where his book really succeeds – instead of an outsider’s view of the game, the audience is brought right down on the field, deleting that gap between fan and player.

The slums (and boxing) – Fat City by Leonard Gardner

No, this book is not about a city of fat people. And though it does have a bit to do with boxing, it is moreso focused on the lives of the boxers and the city that they live in. Leonard Gardner takes the sport of boxing and melds it with character dilemma to deliver an engaging, but not necessarily entertaining, experience.

Fat City tells the story of a man named Billy Tully, an ex-boxer who hit his peak earlier in his career and is now careening downhill fast. He’s a drunkard, confused about women, and barely scrapes by, being intoxicated most of the time anyway. He lives in Stockton, and when he visits the local YMCA to try to get back in shape, he meets a young man named Ernie Munger, a guy working out but not really attempting to be anything more than a now-and-then boxer. Tully convinces Munger to go to a gym that he had once trained at, the Lido Gym where a man named Ruben Luna works, and finally Munger takes him up on his offer. From here on out, Fat City deals with loss in boxing, loss of the self, and the inability to overcome the dark pasts that are mingled with the city’s slummy life.

First off, Gardner does a great job of painting a vivid picture of a town that no one would ever want to live in. Financial depressions abound here; most people are getting up in the early morning darkness to get on buses, picking onions or shaking nuts out of trees, for a meager pay. Alcoholism reigns supreme; our protagonist Billy Tully is one of them, and he hangs out with some less than commendable fellows, like his girlfriend Oma.

Gardner’s ability to write simple, meaningless conversations that actually have some deeper significance is an envious feeling to writers. He manages to make dialogue feel extremely real, as if what the characters are saying is just endless chatter – when in reality, the dialogue is what pushes the plot of the story ahead.

As for an engaging plot, there really isn’t one. Gardner doesn’t stray too long on any one subject, instead jumping back and forth from different characters’ viewpoints to give the reader a sense that all of the characters they are reading about are turning endlessly in circles, lost amongst themselves, trying to find something that can carry them to their dreams but instead falling for the same old problems that got them stuck in their ruts. In a way, Fat City seems pretty hopeless, and towards the end, when a solid conclusion is not presented to us, it feels as though we have begun to fall into this pattern as well.

But while Fat City provides a very appealing look at humanity’s desperation, the bulk of the story was really not that entertaining. Granted, there are some very interesting descriptions and some activities that one may never really have heard of (cutting the stalks off of onions, for instance). For the most part though, the story lingered too much, not really getting anywhere and losing my interest. I do have to say that the last few pages are some really powerful stuff, though.

Gardner’s story is an interesting perspective, but not one that really held my interest for too long. It was hard to get into the story itself, and just when I felt like I had, the writing switched perspectives and I was then thrown back out of it. Fat City is a concise 200 pages, but it is jampacked with detail; yet all of that goes to the wayside if the book fails to suck the reader into its world, and that’s exactly where Fat City got the TKO from me.

Southern comfort and baseball – The Dixie Association by Donald Hays

The Dixie Association is Donald Hays’ fictional account of a released prisoner who plays baseball for a minor league team in the South called the Arkansas Reds. This man is Hog Durham, who goes by no other name. After getting out of jail, the coach of the Reds, Lefty (who is known as the town communist to the religious fanatics), picks up Hog because of his batting and fielding skills. The Reds need players, and Lefty has a tendency to recruit less-than-perfect baseballers. Hog readily joins, as his friend Julius Common Deer plays for the same team, and soon finds himself immersed in the world of hits and runs, RBIs and double plays. Along the way, however, there comes to be a little trouble with Hog’s parole officer, where a man named Ratoplan comes along and blackmails Hog to send one of his fellow ballplayers back to Miami. When Hog refuses, Ratoplan digs through his past to try and stick Hog with a robbery that he had never been arrested for. All this, and Hog still has to try and be the hero in a game where the Reds are pitted against the Selma Americans for the championship.

Hays gets to the bottom of his characters. The Southern talk is great and humorous, but not to the point where it could be annoying. Most of the characters have some depth to them, whether it be Hog’s own views on marriage and love or another team member’s struggle with human interaction. The one thing that does hinder the novel a little is that there are many characters to remember, causing the reader to have to go back and look at who each person was and their relevance to the novel. A few times, it was hard to distinguish the difference between Ratoplan and a lawyer with a similar name.

The plot wavers a bit between tense conflict and more comedic baseball action, which felt just about right. Sometimes the conflict of Hog’s re-conviction disappears and reappears, though, and it makes one think whether or not it was actually so important to the novel at hand. It is hard to tell which plot line should be focused on more – Hog’s new love interest and his ability to continue playing baseball, or the recurring blackmail and worry of being sent back to jail. It was only here that felt like there was a confliction of where the plot was headed, which was not necessarily a bad thing, but one which seemed like it could be ironed out a little better.

However, when Hays writes about baseball, he delivers fast pitch after fast pitch. He does not stop and give all of the statistical analyses of the games, nor a play-by-play approach. Only during the crucial innings does he resort to this, giving the reader more of a skim through of the game than unneeded slow-motion replays.

Hays’ voice is also very strong. From the first line of the book, there was some sort of pleasant connection of words that made it enjoyable to keep reading. Maybe it was Hays’ sense of humor; maybe it was also the fact that he did a great job of giving voice to Hog. Either way, Hays’ writing makes it hard to put The Dixie Association down.

Yet the novel is rather long for what it has to say. Some aspects of the book were too drawn out, like Hog’s extended bout with the police and the problems he faces with Ratoplan. It makes sense that this would be a big dilemma, but it is just too long and frankly, loses steam in the last fourth of the book.

The Dixie Association does have some serious themes going on. Tackling organized religion is always a tough subject, and though Hays does argue against it to some extent, he has limited himself to a point where it does not seem like a diatribe. In fact, one could even say that Hays gives some pretty valid points about joining a religious sect. Some other themes it touches upon include changes in individuals and if they should be judged for their past sins, the plight of an aging baseball player, and a discussion on individuals’ need to get away from society’s evils to just enjoy a bit of living. Some get a little more focus than others, but even those that are just touched upon seem an important critique.

The voice of the South has been spoken by Hays through Hog Durham, and if one is looking for a good Southern culture novel or a good baseball book, turn to The Dixie Association. It has an ample helping of both, and even after 20 years, the book still speaks to the masses.

Analysis of Scene 5 of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal

Here is an essay that I had written for my Playwriting class, looking at a particular scene in-depth to understand how the playwright uses characters’ knowledge of secrets to engage tension. Just so you know, if you’re looking for help with your essay or something for a class (because I know those are most of the hits I get on this blog), this essay got an A. Just remember it is copyright and you can’t use it for your own, or any of my words. I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN! Is he kidding…?

In Scene 5 of Betrayal, which marks the beginning of act two, Emma and Robert are sitting together in Venice discussing a trip to Torcello when Robert makes mention of a letter that Emma has received from Jerry. Emma begins by asking about Torcello, where she says that she can’t wait for it and then pauses. Her pause seems to indicate that she really does not wish to go to Torcello, but the beat changes because Robert changes the subject to the book that Emma is reading.

Emma relates that she is reading a book by Spinks, who Jerry has told Robert about. In this instance, one wonders if Emma has heard of the book through Jerry as well, and when Robert tells her about Jerry’s reference, Emma acts surprised that Jerry has heard of the book. Robert replies with, “Unsolicited manuscript,” and then a pause, which seems to reference the fact that Robert is both jealous and a little angered by Jerry’s luck at finding this new writer.

After the pause, the dialogue changes a beat again, where Robert then asks if she likes it. Emma does, and Robert says that he, Jerry, and Emma should all get together for lunch to discuss the book. Robert’s motivation in this line feels like he is trying to draw out a suspicious response from Emma; he wants to make her slip up, or make her feel nervous about the truth between her and Jerry. In fact, Emma’s response includes a pause, indicating that she does not want to meet with both of them at once because of the awkwardness that that would entail. After Robert asks her why she will not have lunch with them and she responds with an outburst, Robert changes the beat again, replying that he must read the book again. He does not dwell on the past conversation – Robert has been changing the focus of the conversation each time.

Robert and Emma discuss the publishing of the book, where Robert concludes that the book speaks too much on the subject of betrayal. Emma disagrees – almost as if she is willing herself to believe that her relationship with Jerry is not betraying Robert. This subject also suggests that Robert has a good idea that Emma and Jerry are having an affair because he has brought up the book himself. Robert pauses again, letting Emma know he might be thinking of the wrong book. This statement ties in with Robert’s affairs as well. When Robert says he may be thinking of a different book, he metaphorically states that he might be thinking of himself, because the audience has learned earlier in the play that Robert has been having affairs behind Emma’s back as well. After this, there is a silence, where both of them seem to be thinking about the other. Then Robert changes the beat once again, this time getting away from the book entirely to a new subject.

Robert begins to talk of going to American Express, where he gives in more detail than is needed what he was doing there. He explains why he was there (cashing traveler’s cheques) and why he chose to cash them there, indicating he is either lying or nervous about what Emma will think when he tells her about the letter. He probably suspects that she will think he was snooping through her mail. He explains the whole situation, and then asks if she had gotten it. Emma says yes, and then Robert asks her if she got it when she was out shopping. It is strange that he is concerned with when she got the letter; his direct question indicates that he does not entirely trust her when she says she was out “shopping.” Emma confirms his thought, and then Robert changes the subject again when he pauses to say that he was surprised that they would offer to give him Emma’s mail. His line suggests that he is hinting to Emma that he could find something out about her that he didn’t know any time. He pauses during his speech to say that he did not take the letter because he could have been a total stranger, and in a way, the audience knows that he is a stranger to Emma. They may be married, but they are not really a couple anymore. They have both betrayed each other to the extent where they are almost strangers to each other.

They talk about the letter, where Robert goes on to make comments about how he knew the letter was from Jerry. He keeps getting closer and closer to what he really wants to talk about without letting on, and he keeps pressuring Emma into making a mistake by talking about it. However, Emma does not say very much at a time, because she does not want to give too much away. Robert does most of the talking in this scene because he is trying to force Emma to open up. At the end of the conversation about Jerry’s letter, Robert changes the subject to Torcello. He at first asks her if she looks forward to Torcello, even though she has said earlier in the scene that she cannot wait. Then, before Emma has time to answer, he changes subjects again and asks how many times they have been to Torcello. He is domineering in this dialogue, not allowing her to speak and answering his own questions. He asks if she will like Torcello as much as she did when they were first married, hinting that he understands her loss of love for him. He pauses, and again changes the subject to what she thinks of Jerry as a letter writer, and then again to asking if Emma is cold. She only responds no, and then Robert discusses his friendship with Jerry, as if letting Emma know that he has known and been friends with Jerry longer than she has, and that she has broken up their friendship. He asks if he had introduced her to him, and she says she cannot remember, but Robert is trying to worm answers from her. He then asks if he was the best man at their wedding – he is indirectly inching his way towards the questions he wants answered by manipulating Emma. When Emma responds with, “You know he was,” Robert has drawn out a lie from Emma.

Again, Robert changes the subject and asks if he is mentioned in Jerry’s letter, and then asks about if Jerry sent his love. At this point, it seems Robert has gotten to his motivation for this scene – he has asked Emma (even if he has beaten around the bush) about her affair, and Emma does not lie but lets Robert know that she and Jerry are lovers. Robert then admits that he had had a feeling, and Emma apologizes, but does not seem to be too upset. Robert’s anger escalates, but after a brief silence, he switches the topic to how the affair was pulled off. He wants to know how long it has been going on, and then, after he learns that it has been five years, he wonders if the baby they had is actually his. However, when Robert ends the conversation, he doesn’t dwell on the affair but how much he liked Jerry. In fact, he does not blame Jerry for the affair, and instead asks the repeating question of if Emma is looking forward to the Torcello trip. This is an interesting way to conclude the scene. For one, the statement could be Robert’s sarcasm towards Emma’s betrayal; on the other hand, it could also be Robert’s acceptance of Emma’s affair, since he has also had one for so long that he might think it almost natural.

In this scene, both Emma and Robert are lying because both are hiding something. Robert controls most of the subject changes, because he is the one that is trying to get information out of Emma. He is able to change topics enough to get to his point, which finally causes Emma to admit her relationship. In this scene, it is important for the audience to have seen the scenes that happen later in the actual chronological order, because then the audience realizes that Robert will find out about the affair, and also that Robert has his own affairs. It makes the conflict more intense, because the reader knows that the truth is going to have to come out, but they do not know how or what will come out of it.

Taking a trip to Canada – Canoeing with the Cree by Eric Sevareid

Eric Sevareid once took a journey, one which most normal individuals wouldn’t even dream up. For his buddy, Walter Port, and him, the dangers and terrors of an outdoors adventure were just what they were looking for. Canoeing with the Cree lets us in on that adventure, a non-fiction account with Sevareid giving a narrative of their encounters with not only the treacherousness of the wild but the coming of age of two boys living on their own, sharing their lives with the Cree Indians, and having to survive each other.

Sevareid begins his book immediately, starting in on Walter Port’s plan of taking a 2250-mile canoe ride from Minneapolis to the Hudson Bay in Canada. Instead of giving a vivid description of Port and Sevareid, we are thrown right into the preparations needed to start the journey. At first, I felt a little disappointed that we didn’t get a chance to meet our two protagonists. But throughout Sevareid’s depiction of their journey, we are presented with different qualities of both Port and Sevareid. Instead of throwing character traits at the audience all at once, Sevareid lets the situations that happen to them explain their personalities. At one point, a minor disappointment during the journey prompts a fight between the two; the length of time that they had spent together had brought about layers of animosity that came to a head. I felt like this was an important and vital decision by Sevareid – choosing to let he and his friend be fleshed out by their actions gives an added depth to how their surroundings influenced their lives.

Sevareid has a real knack for providing detailed imagery of the environment. He takes more time to describe the beautiful landscape and the rivers themselves. I liked this a lot, and I thought it showed how much of an appreciation Sevareid gained for the beauty of our lands. One of the most touching parts I found in the account was Sevareid’s description of saving animals stuck in the mud of a river. Sevareid talks of hunting animals for food, but when it comes to suffering wildlife, Sevareid and Port show quite an endearing quality in their rescue. They only kill what is necessary and appreciate the life of an animal.

The duo’s appreciation of the Cree Indians is also apparent through Sevareid’s writing. Sevareid makes it known that if it weren’t for the Cree’s help, Port and Sevareid would have died in the unforgiving climes. It is interesting how Sevareid depicts the Indians, a good cultural study from someone who does not have the same background. He gives them a strong compliment; their ability to perform in an environment that can very easily break a man is impressive.

As for those who are not accustomed to boating or canoeing, I found it a little hard at times to understand what Sevareid was explaining at certain points. I have never been canoeing, so I know very little lingo when it comes to portaging or even the techniques of rowing. That is by far no fault of the author, for Sevareid did not set out to make a book that caters to the inexperienced canoeing individual. It is just helpful to know going into the book that one may need to do a little research on the vocabulary of canoeing and boating, so that one can get the full gist of what Sevareid is making note of.

While at times Canoeing with the Cree can seem a little stale in activity, Sevareid has put together a comprensive account of his travels to the Hudson Bay. Through all of this, he has learned what it is like to really live alone, without the busyness of the city. When all is said and done, it seems Sevareid is glad to have both accomplished the trip and had it over. It must have been both rewarding and nerve-wracking, but Sevareid and Port accomplished a real adventure. While two teens have since done the same journey as Port and Sevareid, (not discounting their own tenacity and bravery) it would seem as though they had it a bit easier than the original travelers. One must admire the fact that Sevareid and Port stuck with their dream, focusing on the positive aspect of what an educational experience the voyage could be rather than the tragedies that could befall them. Sevareid and Port took the trip for the fun of the experience, rather than the recognition that most people strive for now, and with Sevareid’s book so modestly accounting the journey, commendation is in order.

It’s on BC

Favorite Songs #1: City of Caterpillar – Minute Hour Day Week Month Year (The Faith’s In My Chest)

I would like to list some of my favorite tracks, and so I will start with City of Caterpillar. Here are the lyrics:

SIX AWAY to the present day. Couldn’t keep you away. All of you. Greetings in shapes of shadows connected to my feet. Under this LENGTHY SKY SLEEPS…all of you. Let the light in keep the door cracked. My faith’s in my chest. It holds this intact.

Although I’m not a huge fan of ambiguous lyrics, I think that a few of the lines really stand out in the song. But that’s not what I really love, since the vocals blend in to the overall feel of the song anyway.

I’m a big fan of ominous intros, and Minute Hour Day Week… has a ton of it. Actually, a lingering, dark guitar riff opens the song, and it continues on past the 4 minute mark. This is such a great lead-up; the pairing of high fingerings with the low notes really strikes a nerve with me. The bass and bass drum kick in, a low staccatic pulse that meshes with the guitars to create a really nervy feeling. Drums kick in with a second meandering guitar, finally increasing the tension and the build, while various electronics (feedbacks and whirs) set the chaotic background. There’s so much going on, but it really hits the suspense – what does that feedback mean, why is everything so dark! The atmosphere is pervading, the wailing guitars in the background signifying the unthinkable. One can barely imagine what this could be leading up to, what with the doomy sea of rhythmic and dying guitar leading us into a place where the drums drop out again and just a cymbal keeps the beat. This is almost more ominous – there was a climb, an ascent, and to have it just drop off into nothing but guitar and feedbacks signals the worst – maybe there is no end to suffering. The guitar keeps its moaning feedback until the rhythm dies off, and a buzzing and background repeating voice of some kind lead us into the actual hardcore portion of the song. We have technically hit a climax; we have turned omens into reality as the vocals begin.

The beat is fast and furious, guitars and vocals blending together into one rolling rhythm. We lose that darkness for a few minutes, where this has become almost neutral in tone. It’s a reflection on the omens that came before. These screamo parts don’t even last that long, only a couple minutes, until we drop into more electronics and whirring and feedback. Reflection turns into sorrow again. There’s a voiceover of a man talking about how businesses are taking over our world, ruining our lives. This is recognition; this is chaos; we are losing the battle to overcome our losses. The fact that the ominous tone was allowed to drop out seems like taking back power, but the feedback takes us back with chimes and beeps. It is the ultimate doom – we can’t escape this pain and dread.

I’m really enthralled with this song – the dread of the guitar speaks to me. I get shivers every time I hear the man speaking at the end. And I think that this is all real, it’s happening right now; what a terrible thing to think, yet it has to be done – and it just fills my emotions with darkness.

Bicycles and murder? I’m in! Dead Air: A Cycling Murder Mystery by Greg Moody

Dead Air: A Cycling Murder Mystery. If that tagline doesn’t grab your attention, the comic book-like cover most likely will. Mysteries are always fun, and when they’re paired with a situation that is not normal or likely, they become intriguing just because of the entertainment value alone. Dead Air doesn’t do too much to speed by the competition with wheels clicking, but it does provide some immediate gratification.

This book is Greg Moody’s fifth in the Cycling Murder Mystery series, although for those who haven’t read the other four, Moody gives enough background information for one to gain a sense of what happened in the other stories while not giving away too much. It’s probably best to begin from square one, but I found myself reading this book first and wasn’t too confused.

In Dead Air, Will Ross is a struggling widower after his wife was killed in a basketball bombing. Ross is now left with his child, Elena, as he attempts to overcome his lethargy, get back into the work force in the sports section at local television station TV6, and forget about the past. Elena is the one who has really lost the most - her mother but also her father, because Ross is hesitant to take on the job of father alone. Ross has his mother-in-law Rose to look after the baby while he gets on his feet, and he finally goes back to his job, where a new anchor is trying to take over his position. Ross also gets a call from the man who killed his wife, and so he promptly calls his good friend Detective Whiteside back into the case to get to the bottom of things. As all this is occurring, Ross is seduced by a manipulative reporter, Beth Freeman, who is working to get Ross fired from his job and pen an emotional (and faked) special on Ross’ detachment from his daughter. Ross’ friend Zorro, Clyde Zoromski, tries to warn him about Freeman’s bitchiness, but Ross doesn’t want a man to get between him and his sexual desires. All this and bombs, bombs, bombs.

Moody puts so many characters into his stories, and they each have their own distinct personality. This is a good thing, because with so many characters, it is sometimes hard to lose track of who they all are. When their personalities come up, though, it makes it easy to tell who they are. I remembered the characters more for how they acted than their actual names. There are some characters who are just plain likable – Zorro, for example, is a case of a character being more likable in a story than in real life. His attitude is one of negativity, which would probably make him annoying in reality, yet in the novel I wanted to see more of him. Ross, on the other hand, is a helpless bumbling mess, which almost makes sense since he is still full of sorrow from his life, but one would like to hope that a man would not be so enthralled with sex that he would drop all of his morals and wit for it. Ross makes mistakes that are incredibly tedious, being convinced of situations by words alone, that we can understand how he had never found his wife’s murderers.

Ross is not the only thing that seems unbelievable. The detectives are dumb – they can’t figure anything out for the life of them until the inexperienced figure it out for themselves. Ross was better off alone – the police keep getting in Ross’ way, actually, and by the time they figure out the mystery for themselves, it’s too late; everything has already been dealt with. Also, most events seem too coincidental. This just happens to happen which sets off this who happens to be there… Yadda yadda yadda it would be okay if it happened once or twice, but the book offers this up as an explanation again and again.

However, the story is intriguing and thrilling, page-ripping one could even say, once you tune out thoughts like, “How could they really not know!” or “How could he actually FALL for that?” It’s pretty suspenseful and the plot moves faster than Ross whipping down a mountain on his bike. At times, the plot can actually feel a bit muddled with so much happening at once, but it straightens itself out towards the end. The chapters are cut into scenes, too, so it’s easy to pick up and put down the book when needed. The narration shifts between all of the characters, which can get annoying because during any given scene we might be in two different character’s minds in the space of two sentences. The surprise towards the end isn’t a gigantic twist, and it can be seen coming, although Moody provides just enough distraction to keep us from knowing who the killer is early on.

Dead Air does have its flaws, but it’s a fast and easy read for those looking for murder pulp. It’s not rich with character analyses, psychological drama, or metaphors, but it’s still a great read to be entertained, and a book doesn’t always need thick prose to mire in for it to be good. The most important thing about Dead Air is that it’s enjoyable and humorous, suspenseful and ironic, all at the same time, and one other thing – it almost makes you want to go ride a bike like Ross does, mile after mile… On second thought, maybe only one mile – Moody makes it seem as though those 50 mile bike rides are cake, but I have a feeling he’s exaggerating.

Eh I’m on BC

Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and its cultural, educational relevance

In the spirit of my never-ending battle of finishing literary papers for my classes, I’ve decided to again post another one, this time on Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, mainly Book I. While this is categorized loosely as a graphic novel review, it’s not a traditional review and delves both into some recurring themes and relevance to cultural, and since this was for an education prepracticum, the ability to teach the book to classes. Sit back and enjoy, because it’s fairly long for a blog post, and please, let me know how you feel about the book, write-up, or anything at all.

Persepolis, written and drawn by Marjane Satrapi, is a graphic novel that deals with Satrapi’s childhood in Tehran, Iran during the early 1980s. Satrapi writes about both her dealings with the Islamic Revolution – where many Iranian people, including her parents, demonstrated against the Shah’s regime and his persecution against people with differing religious views – and the war between Iran and Iraq after the Islamic Revolution. She documents certain events from her life, including her own participation in demonstrations, her rebellion against the restrictions placed on her by the government, and the losses that she faces throughout the war, and ending with Satrapi leaving Iran for Germany without her parents. Persepolis contains many unique views, because Satrapi does not tell the reader her story, but instead shows them, alongside conversations that she had with her family and friends. Satrapi conveys her attitudes and beliefs of her culture, being one who lived in. She describes the encounters that she had during the turbulent times, which act as a new viewpoint to look at when thinking about Iran. By dividing her life into comic strip chapters, rather than just a long narrative, Satrapi has represented the important themes and events in her life in such a way that she follows a chronological order of situations that were very moving and important to who she is as a person. Some of the topics that Satrapi chooses to focus on deal with the enforcement of beliefs and religion, what it means to be a hero, the effects of being a martyr, the importance of one’s own views, the power of a nation and its demonstrations, the coming of age in a divided nation, and the effects of war on society. These are only some of the very deep themes that Satrapi presents in her memoirs. Satrapi’s graphic novel touches on many different academic areas; art, for one, because of Satrapi’s use of a comic style; English, as a study in literature; socio-cultural anthropology, because of Satrapi’s analysis of both her society and Iranian culture and religion; politics, as Satrapi discusses the government of Iran and its revolutions and wars; and also psychology, because Satrapi looks at both her own thoughts, wants, and needs but also those of the people around her.

What is very interesting about Satrapi’s story is her commentary on the traditions and beliefs of her culture. Satrapi does not leave out her nation’s traditions, no matter how extreme or different they are from American culture. It is important that she does this while also juxtaposing them with her own and her parents’ beliefs, because it shows that Satrapi does not necessarily believe that her country is right. She points out that even though her nation’s government enforces the laws of Iran, it does not mean that the people of the society believe in them. Satrapi makes mention of this in her introduction, which is a strong point – one for anyone judging a culture by its government to make note of. She states, “I believe that an entire nation should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremists.” Even though Satrapi is writing about events that happened 20 years ago, her point is still relevant today, when many Americans blame all Iraqis for terrorist attacks. In the back of their minds, they realize that they are making a mistake to claim that all Iraqis believe in attacking America, but their emotions get the best of them. In the case of Persepolis, Satrapi uses her differing views on governing laws to point this fact out. For instance, Satrapi’s chapter “Kim Wilde” focuses on her parents’ smuggling rock music and posters across the border for Satrapi; here, the reader sees Satrapi and her parents rebelling against the law, but for a cause that they and many other Iranians believe in. Satrapi makes it a point to show how her family rebelled against society as well. In chapters like “The Letter” and “The Water Cell” depict non-violent protests, and the chapter “The Wine” shows a calm, controlled dance party with alcohol that was protesting both the illegal actions of partying and alcohol. Satrapi is sure to indicate that their protests were not violent, nor were they done for the sake of breaking the law. They were obviously done to express the people’s wants and needs, a right that Americans can relate to. It is important that Satrapi tells this from her point of view as well as the fundamentalists’, because it allows the reader to gauge their own reaction and create a perspective.

Satrapi also makes a deep impact from using both personal and regional history in how she treats death and destruction that happen all around her during the war. To Iran’s history and to people who did not know the war, everyone who died was a martyr for their country. But to Satrapi, who knew many people who were killed either protesting in the Iranian Revolution or who were forced to join in the fighting in the war with Iraq, the people who died will always be remembered because she lived through it and saw first-hand the tragedies that people were faced with. In the chapter “The Heroes,” Satrapi is told of the tortures that imprisoned protesters underwent, and even the death of someone her mother knew. In “The Sheep,” Satrapi’s uncle is taken prisoner and then executed. “The Passport” tells of her uncle Taher who died from a heart attack because he was delayed in receiving a passport for medical treatment. The tale that seems to hit hardest is “The Shabbat,” in which Satrapi’s friend is killed after a missile hits her house. All of these deaths are in the past and are probably not remembered by many, but to Satrapi, these were important deaths that she can never forget – she honors these people, and their memories, by presenting them in her book and telling their stories.

As a reader, the graphics have a few different impacts on me. For one, I feel like the graphics are great visuals that accompany the reading. They really help to accompany the story and never detract from it, and it also allows for Satrapi to tell her memoirs differently. Instead of describing the people and places that she knew, she draws them, and her visuals represent the personality of the individual. In text-based literature, it is sometimes hard to get a feel for physical characteristics and expressions, and body language is important, especially in serious situations. Her visuals also offer both a lightening and heightening of emotion. At times, the cartoons can be rather humorous and detract from the tension. Satrapi uses this to her advantage, refraining from giving the reader an overbearing sense of dread. However, the drawings can also add horror and pain. In text, one might feel a little detached from death or destruction, but with Satrapi’s drawings, the reader is presented with a visual that almost makes the story real again. With this reality comes an attachment, and when Satrapi talks of death, the visuals punctuate her fear, anger, and grief, because they bring an added element to the events. An example that seemed extremely well done in this instance was in “The Dowry,” when Satrapi is leaving the country and her family is at the airport seeing her off. The last panel, of Satrapi looking through the glass as her father carries her fainting mother away, is so strong paired with the line, “It would have been better to just go.” Without the visual, Satrapi would have had to explain what was happening in text and then end with her last line, and by the time, the sequence would not seem to have the same emotional effect as it does drawn. Even though it is a cartoon, it still tears at the reader emotionally.

On the other hand, an argument one could make towards the graphics is that many people like to use their imagination to visualize what is going on in the story. Sometimes readers feel like seeing the story detracts from their own views, and they like the story more when they can imagine it for themselves. In a chapter like “Moscow,” some readers might like to create the story in their heads for themselves. Yet in Satrapi’s case, I feel like her aim was to make her story as true as possible to the real thing, and the ability of giving graphics to create the realism was something that she used to her advantage. Rather than have the audience misinterpret her meaning, she used the drawings as a way of explaining a culture that other cultures might have problems understanding.

A great way, I feel, to use Perspolis in a class lesson would be as a study in non-text-based literature. Many times, English classes tend to only focus on novels and poetry, and never really delve into other forms of writing such as memoirs, non-fiction essays, plays or scripts, and graphic novels. I think that it is important as an English teacher to represent the wide range of reading that is available, not focusing on just one form of literature where it seems like novels are the only relevant pieces of writing. Persepolis does both represent a memoir and a graphic novel.

I also believe that Persepolis could be used to present a different outlook on cultures. It could be used in English or history classes, looking at societies and showing differences between them. One could compare and contrast our culture to Iranian culture, showing students diversity.

Students may find it difficult, at first, to associate their beliefs and feelings with those the novel. They may require some hints from the teacher as to how the student can understand Satrapi’s encounters and relate it to their own. A good way to overcome this might be to provide some historical context on Iranian culture that is not a part of the book – research might be done on the customs of Iran, or one could look at the Iranian Revolution and the Iraq-Iran war and compare it to the war that America is fighting now with Iraq, or with America’s own revolution. To understand how and why Satrapi had drawn and written the book, students could do an activity where they were asked to take a situation from their own lives and put it into comic form. In this way, students would be able to use the same processes that Satrapi did when writing Persepolis. It may make her graphic novel easier to read and more engaging when the students understand the reasons and motives behind the novel. Another way for students to understand the book might be to have each student take a chapter of the book and analyze it for themes and important concepts, using the jigsaw method. Students could either present their findings the small groups, or they could each create a Powerpoint and present it to the entire class, building both their ability to understand text and visuals, but also helping their public speaking skills.

Satrapi’s book is very useful in the classroom because of its diversity and originality. Persepolis has a wide range of emotions and feelings that can create lively discussions in the classroom. It also spices up the classroom learning, creating a new and fresh reading that can provide relief from learning from text-based books.