Story Thinking

"Story is basic to how human minds see their world and to how those minds work. I call this story-thinking."

Joseph Gold. Read For Your Life: Literature as a Life Support System. Fitzhenry and Whiteside: Markham, 1990.

When It Comes My Turn

"I’m getting old but I’m not old yet
I’m already worried that I might forget
How to laugh, how to love
How to live, how to learn
I want to die with a smile when it comes my turn

I don’t want to get weary, don’t want to get bored
Don’t want to get tired, walking down this road
I’ve seen that happen so many times
I just want to believe that its still worth trying

I’m getting old but I’m not old yet
I’m already worried that I might forget
How to laugh, how to love
How to live, how to learn
I want to die with a smile when it comes my turn

But I know that it’s easier said than done
And I ain’t that different from anyone
I worry about my money, got bills that I can’t pay
I swear I’m more like my father everyday

I’m getting old but I’m not old yet
I’m already worried that I might forget
How to laugh, how to love
How to live, how to learn
I want to die with a smile when it comes my turn

Maybe I’ll start bowling, maybe I’ll play bridge
Maybe I’ll join a band with my own grandkids
I don’t care if it kills me I’m gonna do what it takes
To keep some warmth in my heart and a smile on my face."

- David Myles "When It Comes My Turn" from the album "Things Have Changed"

What a great song. I first discovered this artist when watching the East Coast Music Awards. It wasn't this performance but one from the year before. The song blew me away and I looked for the album online the very next day. It's a pretty good album too but this song is still one of my favourites.

Collected Wisdom of Angela Chase

I wanted to share a snippet of dialogue from My So-Called Life today as I have done here often on Tube Tuesdays. But then I came across this cool video montage with some of the best lines from this amazing television series. Enjoy!

Rev Run Wisdom

"Good morning everyone. Dont let ur feelings have the last say! U gotta tell ur feelings how to feel...Lets go!! ITS MOTIVATION MONDAY!"

- Reverend Run from Run-DMC fame

Rev Run posts inspirational quotes every day on his Twitter account. This was his message this morning. If you enjoy motivational quotes, you should consider following him at http://twitter.com/RevRunWisdom

Here are a few other of his Tweets that I found inspirational;

"One way 2 surely fail is 2 try 2 please every 1.. (He who trims himself to suit everybody will whittle himself away) Be U. Talk 2morrow :-)"

"Good morning. You are rewarding a teacher poorly if you always remain a pupil.. Dont be a sissy! Get out there and make someone proud!"

"Most people dont have hundreds of arguements. dey have da same arguement hundreds of times! (word of wis) Dont let ur ego drive u nuts"

Twitter has won me over. Read my post about it today on Silent Cacophony.

Books are Portable Magic

"books are a uniquely portable magic."

- Stephen King. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Scribiner: New York, 2000. pg 104

I wholeheartedly agree with Stephen King here. We should remember to never take books for granted. They are indeed magic.

It's Not Easy (Being Green) - Happy Earth Day!

In honour of Earth Day, today's What Wednesday features "It's Not Easy (Being Green)" by MC Lars. Enjoy!

 

"I got a letter from Al Gore the other day 
I opened and read it, it said we're in trouble 
It said "Go Green!" What's that mean? 
Bought a hybrid hummer to save gasoline 
Went to Live Earth in my private jet 
Just like Sting and Kanye West 
Let's save the earth with area rock 
(Pyrotechnics are very sustainable) 
(I'm going green) Can't you see? I keep the AC above 63 
(I'm going green) Hardcore like Slayer, here's 27 fliers on the ozone layer 
(I'm going green) Because I care, use organic aerosols in my hair 
(I'm going green) So my grandkids will remember, 
when you couldn't buy ocean property in Denver 

It's not easy being green (it's not easy) 
Having to change that old routine (it's not easy) 
The climate change could be extreme 
It's not easy... it's not easy 

Went to Sea World with a giant net 
To save the whales but they got upset 
Brought Shamu to the parking lot, didn't get far 
Couldn't even fit one fin in my car 
Recycling's great, but my roommate didn't smile 
When I told him what I did to his old-school Beatles vinyl 
Gotta separate plastics form the glass 
Even though it's a pain the morning 

(I'm going green) Aerosol cans are terrible so I 
Spread the word with spray painted signs 
(I'm going green) Love animals for real, you see me clubbing with baby seals 
(I'm going green) Bought a Prius to save on gas 
But I fly every weekend in first class 
(I'm going green) So my grandkids will remember, 
when it wasn't 500 degrees in December 

It's not easy being green (it's not easy) 
There Will be Blood for gasoline (it's not easy) 
I drink your milkshake like that scene 
It's not easy... it's not easy 

It's not easy being green (it's not easy) 
Santa Claus's sleigh will need jetskis (it's not easy) 
The polar bears might need sunscreen 
It's not easy... it's not easy 

I bought size five Vans at the local mall 
To make my carbon footprint half as small 
I wrote this song to express how I felt 
About climate change and glacial melt 

You know the movie 
The Day After Tomorrow? 
That could happen dude 

I even rap in haikusÉ what! 

Manhattan (could be under water) 
LA (could be under water) 
Vancouver (could be under water) 
London (could be under water) 
Detroit (could be under water) 
St. Louis (could be under water) 
Chicago (could be under water) 
New Jersey (but who'd miss Jersey?) 

It's not easy (it's not easy) 
It's not easy (it's not easy) 
It's not easy (it's not easy) 
Woah, oh 

It's not easy being green (it's not easy) 
We'll tour New York by submarine (it's not easy) 
We'll scuba dive the Bronx and Queens 
It's not easy... it's not easy."

- MC Lars "Not Easy" from the album "This Gigantic Robot Kills"

Blind Spots, Obstacles, and Opportunity

"It's been said that seeing is believing. But the fact is, we all have our blind spots...Sometimes we recognize them ourselves. Sometimes others recognize them for us...Distance has a way of distorting the things we see. But what appears as an obstacle may in fact be an opportunity. The trick is having enough faith to carry through."

- Narrator on Everwood (The narrator also plays a character on the show. This is a picture of him)

Don't Stand By

"The world is a dangerous place to live in. Not because people do evil, but because people sit by a and let them."

- Albert Einstein 

Great words to contemplate here. 

We need to remind ourselves that we always have the power to act. 

We are responsible to stand up, speak out, and act. We cannot merely stand by.

Happy Monday Everyone!

Our's is a Time for Crossing Barriers

"Our time is a time for crossing barriers, for erasing old categories—for probing around. When two seemingly disparate elements are imaginatively poised, put in apposition in new and unique ways, starting discoveries often result."

- McLuhan, Marshall and Quentin Fiorce. The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects. Penguin Books: Toronto, 2003, pg 10

No Formula

"Story is far too rich in mystery, complexity, and flexibility to be reduced to a formula."

- Robert McKee. Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principals of Screenwriting. ReganBooks: New York, 1997. pg 20

5 Year Rut

"So this is the life, this is the life of leisure
The monster's gone, the demon's been raiiiiiiiised
No better time, there's no better time or season
To bury the past, you're no longer a slaaaaaaaave
It's the thorn in your side
It's like your soul divides

But it's over now, the wound's been shut
You can write it off as a five year rut
Well, tomorrow's the life, but tonight
She's learnin'' to breathe...

It's a beautiful ride down a familiar highway
You stop to the side reminiscing away
It's a natural high, it's the final kiss goodbye

Well, it's over now, the wound's been shut
You can write it off as a five year rut
Well, tomorrow's the life, but tonight
She's learnin'' to breathe...

Dooooo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-dooooo

Ohhhh, I beliiiiiiiieve there are no words that can answer
Your deepest desires and dreamiest dreams
Were you alone? Oh-oh, did your world explode?

It's over now, the wound's been shut
You can write it off as a five year rut
Well, tomorrow's the life, but tonight
She's learnin'' to breathe...

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo...

Learning to breathe...she's learning to breathe..."

- 5 Year Rut by superGARAGE from the album Demolition

- lyrics from the band website http://www.supergarage.com/Lyrics/DEMOLITION.html

Photos Can Lie

"When applied to the photograph, the question, Is it true? means only, Is this a reproduction of a real slice of space-time? If the answer is “Yes,” there are no grounds for argument, for it makes no sense to disagree with an unfaked photograph."

- Neil Postman. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Penguin Books 1985, 2005 edition. pg 73

I think photos can lie. We often believe everything that we see. However, I believe there are a lot of things that we cannot see but need to explore so that we may get closer to the truth of our existence.

"Is it true?' isn't the real question here. "What is the truth?" should be the question.

Check the Rhime

- Check the Rhime by A Tribe Called Quest

I know rhyme is spelled wrong but that's how they spelled it for this track. So get past that and watch this awesome video from back in the day.

Classic material.

Here are some of the lyrics,

"Now here's a funky introduction of how nice I am
Tell your mother, tell your father, send a telegram
I'm like an energizer 'cause, you see, I last long
My crew is never ever wack because we stand strong
Now if you say my style is wack that's where you're dead wrong
I slayed that body in El Segundo then Push it Along
You'd be a fool to reply that Phife is not the man
'cause you know and I know that you know who I am
A special shot of peace goes out to all my pals, you see
And a middle finger goes for all you punk MC's
'Cause I love it when you wack MC's despise me
They get vexed, I roll next, can't none contest me
I'm just a fly MC who's five foot three and very brave
On job remaining, no I'm chaining cause I misbehave
I come correct in full effect have all my hoes in check
And before I get the butt the jim must be erect
You see, my aura's positive I don't promote no junk
See, I'm far from a bully and I ain't a punk
Extremity in rhythm, yeah that's what you heard
So just clean out your ears and just check the word

Check the Rime y'all"

It's Like Another Country - Not That I'd Know.

"Walking into someone else's house for the first time is like entering another country. Not that I've ever been to another country."

- Angela on My So-Called LIfe

Every Day's a Choice

"We've all got things in our past we ain't proud of, but every day's a choice... Are you gonna do more things that you're gonna regret? Or are you gonna do good?"

- Vibe from the Justice League Unlimited: Champions of Justice graphic novel

picture credit - Legends #1 by John Byrne

This Day Last Year, Being Erica, and superGARAGE.

I decided to look back at my archives of my main blog at Silent Cacophony to see what I wrote about on this day last year. This what I wrote,

As I watched the episode last night, a song played in the background. Shows do this a lot. Sometimes I recognize the song, sometimes I don’t. It usually doesn’t effect my enjoyment of the show. Last night though, the song they played totally took my mind off of the story.

I couldn’t believe what my ears were hearing. Could it be? I concentrated on the song in the background. Yes, it was. They were playing “Keep” by superGARAGE.

Well guess what. I watched Being Erica this week with my girlfriend and in one scene Leo was playing a superGARAGE song. It wasn't the same song either. I had already told my girlfriend about this great group but I forgot to put them on her mixtape. I will on the next tape, that's for sure. I pointed out, "Hey, that's superGARAGE."

It was an amazing episode of Being Erica last night. Check out my post about it here. I really like this show and can't say enough good things about it. The same goes for superGARAGE.

I first saw superGARAGE play in 1994 in Hamilton. They put on an amazing show and I was an immediate fan. I bought their cassette tape and a T-shirt. The following year, they put out the album on CD. Since then I have bought all of their albums and have seen them perform live countless times. They are an amazing band.

It was so cool to hear their songs playing on a radio in a scene of a television drama again. That's what I wanted to share with you today.

I hope you have a great weekend!

The Poet's Task

"The poet's task is to speak not of events which have occurred, but of the the kind of events which could occur, and are possible by the standards of probability or necessity."

- Aristotle, translated by Stephen Halliwell. The Poetics of Aristotle: translation and commentary. Chapel Hill: London, 1987. pg 40.

What an amazing quote.

That's How It Is

"I write raps and when niggas bite, I clap,
'cause their shit sounds better now.
You done let me down,
I thought it would be dope,
but instead, your shit's dead, you gets fed
To the alligators lurking in the moat,
Peep what I wrote,
You bit so hard, I though your shit was a quote."

- Casual "That's How It Is" from the album "Fear Iteself"

Classic hip-hop for you today. Enjoy!